The following is a list of EHS Support’s 2022 Brownbag Series topics, in which we discuss our various Strategic Growth Projects (SGPs). These projects, which are part of our long-term growth plan, are focused on addressing anticipated client needs, including research in regulatory trends and changes, as well as scientific advancements.
EHS Support’s team is happy to present on any of these topics to you and your company at a time that best fits your schedule. For more information, please contact Tom Silverman.
Topic: Boron – Toxicity and Regulatory Limits
- Presenter – Austin Wilkes
- Boron is a critical micro-nutrient for biological functions and criteria in many states have been developed which consider standard dose response curves. This study reviews the processes effecting boron toxicity and the applicability of regulatory limits based on both positive and negative responses to boron exposure.
Topic: Fluoride – Toxicity and Regulatory Limits
- Presenter – Sam Parker
- Fluoride is a heavily regulated inorganic ion which has promulgated drinking water standards and, in many states, ecological/ambient water quality criteria. This presentation discussed a meta-analysis of toxicological studies and the derivation of alternative criteria considering toxicity modifying factors.
Topic: PFAS – Regulatory Trends and State of the Science
- Presenter – Dana McCue
- Update on the current regulatory trends and anticipated changes to regulatory standards for PFAS.
Topic: Legacy Impacts of Low Head Dams and Opportunities for Proactive Risk Management and Restoration
- Presenter – Gary Long
- More than 80 percent of the approximately 90,000 dams listed in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers National Inventory of Dams (NID) will exceed their 50-year engineered life expectancy by 2030, creating potential hazards to life and property in the event of catastrophic failure. In addition to dams tracked in the federal government’s inventory, it is estimated that up to 2 million dams were constructed in the U.S. to manage water resources for irrigation, mining, milling, water supply, manufacturing, and power generation. Many of these dams are obsolete and thousands have been deemed unsafe. Environmental impacts of aging dams are associated with the loss of ecological functions (e.g., fish passage) and the potential downstream release of contaminated sediments accumulated behind dams following a failure. The removal of obsolete dams and restoration presents opportunities to proactively manage risks to the environment, life, and property and to enhance the natural ecological functions of flowing waterways.
Topic: Environmental Forensics – Beyond Fingerprinting
- Presenters – TAL IJAZ, JR FLANDERS
- Recent high profile CERCLA allocation projects have drawn attention to source allocation tools and methodologies. Recognizing when fingerprinting and other forensic tools are being used incorrectly is critical when defining allocation responsibilities.
Topic: Options for Managing Low/No Value Real Estate
- Presenter – Tom Silverman
- Removing the burden and Reducing Risk From Idled or Underused Property. Addressing idled high value sites is easy – but how do you handle low and no value properties?
Topic: Fluoride Fate and Transport
- Presenter – Andrew Fowler
- Groundwater modelling is extensively utilized in risk assessment and feasibility studies to define remediation criteria, technologies and identify uncertainties. However these tools have most extensively been used for organic constituents and the application of modelling to inorganic constituents poses numerous challenges. This presentation discusses the limits on fate and transport modelling for inorganics and discusses more simplistic tools that should be considered for mobility evaluations.
Topic: Managing Water Resources
- Presenters – ERNIE MARKS, PAUL JEFFERS, CHELBI STROMBLAD
- Data based decision making is becoming and increased focus in infrastructure projects and water projects are no different. This presentation discusses how to effectively build GIS and data visualization systems that connect water management/resource clients with their data in order to accelerate decision making via automated queries, alarms and notifications.
Topic: Groundwater Pump and Treat System Optimization
- Presenter – TBD
- The capital costs, ongoing operations and maintenance costs and equipment replacement on aging systems are all key costs for P&T systems that need to be considered and while a transition to MNA is ideal the potential for regulatory approval is challenging. This assessment discusses critical concepts of P&T optimization and discusses the use of real time data in decision making with the goal of managing/ reducing costs while maximizing cleanup efficiency.
Topic: Data Visualization & Reporting
- Presenters – PAUL JEFFERS, TOM SILVERMAN
- The ability to communicate complex data sets is critical when dealing with regulators, the public and during litigation, but technical experts can struggle to convey their argument to non-technical audiences. Data displays tailored to appeal to the visual processing centers of the brain are more quickly and efficiently understood.
Topic: Carbon Sequestration Modelling
- Presenter – Brandon Dean
- Ensuring that you have an exact understanding of your carbon footprint is critical to determine your baseline GHG emissions. Accurately modeling carbon sequestration provides a high level of confidence for investors and stakeholders that your GHG calculations are accurate. As carbon offsets and carbon based taxes are looming for may industrial operations – the ability to model emission and sequestration accurately and provide the results in a manner that is transparent, reproducible, auditable and peer reviewed is critical.
Topic: Environmental Due Diligence Trends
- Presenters – BRUCE MARTIN, BETH HESSE
- The deal volume in the last 12 months has been at a record setting pace. Join us to discuss the trends and changes we are seeing in due diligence. Including; pending changes to the ASTM Phase I standard, emerging contaminants, such as PFAS, and Environmental Justice risks and how they are changing the scope of environmental due diligence.
Topic: ESG – Trends and Tools
- Presenters – BOB PICKERT, LIZ HOERNING, JESS MYER
- With the continued focus of investors and boards on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) metrics and performance; the ability to define goals that fit the company culture and strategy while navigating shareholder demands is the new EH&S business challenge.
Topic: Regulatory Compliance and Auditing Trends
- Presenters – AMY BAUER, LEAH KRAUSE
- The impacts of COVID on facility compliance, manpower shortages, and the recent funding of EPA within the infrastructure bill, has created multiple challenges for business to maintain regulatory compliance. We will discuss trends and tools for increasing efficiency and maintaining compliance.
Topic: H&S Compliance Trends
- Presenter – Monica Meyer
- High Hazard/High Risk health and safety demands are increasing. High turnover and manpower shortages are increasing these risks combined with increased funding and mandates to OSHA. We will discuss the areas OSHA has additional focus and tools and trends that can assist with maintaining compliance.
Topic: Environmental Justice
- Presenters – DANA MCCUE, AMY BAUER
- Within a week of taking the oath of office, President Biden issued a sweeping executive order with a number of environmental justice (EJ) initiatives. The EPA is forecasting a $1.4B 2022 budget to address EJ issues. We will review environmental justice and its history, and what it means to your operations. We identify current trends, what to expect, and how to understand and mitigate your risk and better position your business and its relationship with the community.
