Terra Mentis Environmental Consulting

Hazardous Waste

In the early 1980's, with the advent of Superfund, the U.S. became aware of the damage cause by hazardous waste in our environment. The risk assessment process is central to not only Superfund but also managing wastes that include incineration, clean up, and waste site management. The following are examples of our work in this area.

Waste Sites

Colorado Department of Transportation, Denver, CO: Responsible for risk assessment and toxicology activities for the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) Materials Testing Laboratory (MTL) over a 13 year period. This project was of high concern because area residents were actually exposed to chemical compounds migrating into homes and apartments from a potential underground source.

Preparation of a risk assessment work plan and human health risk assessments for groundwater and indoor air quality
Reducing data for multiple chemicals from multiple groundwater wells to select chemicals of potential concern and develop exposure point concentrations
Prepared groundwater risk assessments for residential and commercial exposure scenarios. These assessments were negotiated to give clean up goals above the MCL and were approved by CDPHE
Developed sampling and analysis plans for the collection of indoor air data at the appropriate risk-based detection limits
Prepared a community relations plan and attended public meetings as well as provided ongoing support to CDOT and the public when they had concerns or questions about clean up, health effects, or remediation

Lowery Air Force Base, Denver, CO: Provided expert review and input to a potentially responsible party on the clean up of chlorinated solvent contamination in groundwater.

Reviewed air quality data, selection of chemical of concern, recalculation of risks for PCE, TCE, and DCE in indoor air
The report was reviewed by the CDPHE as part of the indoor air remediation plan for the base

Raytheon Aircraft Manufacturing, Boulder, CO: Human health and ecological risk assessments for groundwater chemicals at a former rocket and missile manufacturing facility

Reduced the groundwater risk assessment data for multiple chemicals including solvents such as TCE, and PCE, explosives such as ammonium perchlorate, RDX, HMX, and TNT to select chemical of concern
Groundwater risk assessments were prepared for residential, commercial and ecological exposure scenarios. Exposure pathways included groundwater consumption, showering, the inhalation of volatile compounds and plant uptake of non-volatile COC
Negotiated with EPA Region VIII to give clean up goals above the MCL

The Ensign-Bickford Company, Louviers, CO: Prepared risk assessment work plans and preliminary risk assessments for a former explosives manufacturing facility in Colorado.

Preliminary groundwater risk assessments were for residential groundwater use and included the development of groundwater cleanup goals for explosives and their degradation byproducts
Explosives included RDX, HMX, TNT and associated degradation products
The risk assessment work plans were submitted to the CDPHE

ARCO Milltown Superfund Sediment Site, Milltown, MT: A unique, committee-driven, multi-million-dollar site investigation, risk assessment, and cleanup feasibility for a National Priorities List site in Montana. Chemicals of concern included arsenic, lead, cadmium, copper, and zinc.

Directed the development of site-specific sampling programs that included a river, a reservoir, soil and sediments, domestic residences and gardens, and human biological samples
A unique committee-driven risk assessment process for the site with significant public involvement and risk communication
Prepared Work Plans, Sampling and Analysis Plans (SAPs), in addition to risk assessment and remedial investigation reports
Used groundwater modeling and model results to prepare human health risk assessment for metals in groundwater, surface water models and ecological risk assessment for surface water and sediments
Extensive negotiations with the U.S. EPA and the Montana DHES, and conducted extensive public presentation work

Livingston Rail Yard, Livingston, MT: Provided risk assessment and toxicology support and guidance to consulting engineers on a state-led active railroad site that contained hazardous wastes, such as chlorinated solvents and diesel, in soil and groundwater. High levels of TCE, and PCE in groundwater were migrating into indoor air on- and off-site.

Worked with the PRP to determine the potential risk and liability associated with human exposures to groundwater and indoor air
Groundwater risk assessments included residential and industrial exposure, and ecological exposures at the groundwater-surface water interface
Attended numerous public and agency meetings and was involved in agency negotiations

Landfills

Many landfills have become superfund site with multiple PRPs because the wastes going into these landfills were unregulated. The range of waste in these landfills vary and range from metals to SVOC, VOE to pesticides and many other compounds.

Triangle Wire Cost Allocation Project, Confidential Client, CT: Project to allocate costs for the disposal of chemicals from a former wire and cable company, which disposed of industrial wastes in a solid waste landfill that later became a Superfund site. To further complicate the technical aspects of the project, the landfill was in the center of a mine waste dump that leached metals into the landfill.

Provided expert technical review and risk assessment support to a PRP in a litigated cost allocation case
The project involved risk assessment to allocate costs for the disposal of chemicals

Neville Island Landfill, Pittsburgh, PA: A superfund-listed hazardous waste site and landfill coal tar residues, cyanide, pesticides, dioxins, and volatile organic solvents.

Provided extensive data management, analysis, and risk assessment expertise to attorneys and client
Developed work plans for risk assessment and remedial investigation at the site
Provided risk assessment guidance durig negotiations with the U.S. EPA

Stoughton Landfill, Stoughton, WI: A solid waste landfill in Wisconsin that was found to have risks within the EPA acceptable risk range.

Project manager for multi-pathway, multi-chemical human health risk
Conducted the assessment in compliance with RAGS and State of Wisconsin guidelines
Involved in extensive negotiations with the U.S. EPA and the State of Wisconsin

Tippecanoe Landfill Superfund Site, Tippecanoe, IN: A Superfund landfill used in the disposal of pesticides and chemical wastes in an unlined landfill that was formerly a gravel pit.

Risk assessment manager and principal author of a risk assessment work plan and risk-based site investigations
The project included agency negotiations for approval of the work plan and risk-related site investigations and products

Paint Disposal Site, General Electric, Pittsburgh, PA: Risk assessment oversight guidance at a large PRP-led landfill investigation.

Conducted a groundwater risk assessment for the COC for possible residential and commercial exposure
Chemicals at the site included PCB manufactured by the client, metals, chlorinated and nonchlorinated solvents, and phthalates

Incinerators

Kimball Hazardous Waste Incinerator, Kimball, NE: A multi-pathway, multi-chemical risk assessment for a hazardous waste incinerator proposed in Nebraska. Result of the project was the acceptance of the risk assessment-based project design.

Estimate air quality risk from volatile organic compounds, semivolatile organic volatile compounds and metals from multiple sources
Estimated volatile compounds against screening levels for air, chronic and acute, deriving a list of high-risk chemicals for monitoring once the facility was built
Public meeting presentations, agency negotiations, and presented risk to public
Reviewed air quality data to determine if quality emissions matched the estimated releases

MERCK Pharmaceutical Company, Nutley, NJ: Risk assessment for submission to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in support of a pharmaceutical product incinerator.

Estimated risk from the incineration of exotic pharmaceutical and drug products
Reviewed air quality data from monitoring stations to select chemicals of potential concern, including products of incomplete combustion

City of Boulder, Boulder, CO: Working for the City of Boulder to provide environmental consulting and risk assessment review for a municipality regarding a proposed fume incinerator.

Reviewed air quality data to select chemical of potential concern
Presented at numerous public meetings, public presentations, and consulting to the city's environmental department and planning board

University of California, System

Berkley, Medical Waste Incinerator, CA: Conducted risk assessment calculations for a medical waste incinerator used by the University to destroy biological and research wastes.

Evaluated combustion by-products, products of incomplete combustion, and biological and chemical constituents released during combustion

Santa Barbara, CA: Conducted risk assessment calculations for chemicals released from the University.

Formulated air quality data into a database
Evaluated the quality of the data for suitability in risk assessment and identifying deficits
Prepared a risk assessment with the data after selecting chemicals of potential concern released from the University from multiple sources

San Francisco, CA: Conducted risk assessment calculations for chemicals released from the University.

Formulated air quality data into a database, evaluating the quality of the data for suitability in risk assessment and identifying deficits
Prepared a risk assessment with the data after selecting chemicals of potential concern released from the University from multiple sources

Industrial

Bia Mare, Romania, European Bank Consortium: Part of a five-member international team of experts sent to Romania to investigate the causes and potential adverse effects from a cyanide release at a gold recovery operation. The release was one of the largest in Europe and had environmental impacts through Romania, Hungary, and into the Black Sea.

Evaluated groundwater, surface water, and fish tissue data to determine potential chemical concentrations and potential ecological and human health effects with time and with distance from the spill
Investigated the scope of impact to human health and the environment due to free and metal-complexed cyanide

Old Demolition Area, Lone Star, TX: Served as primary risk assessment expert for the human health and ecological risk assessment at the Old Demolition Area, on the Lone Star base. The project involved the development of a risk assessment work plan and representing the plan to the Texas DNR, evaluating and reducing the data for the site, and preparing the human health and ecological risk assessment. Assisted the sampling team with the selection of sampling locations, sampling methods and data quality objectives. The compounds of concern were primarily explosives (HMX, RDX, TNT, and associated degradation products) and metals. The work also included conducting a human health risk assessment for groundwater.

U.S. EPA Region VIII, Spanish Fork Site, UT: Former weapons manufacturing facility with elevated concentrations of RDX, HMX, and TNT in fruits and vegetables grown in soil and groundwater.

Prepared risk assessment on the potential exposure pathways. Modeling included root uptake, deposition, and ingestion modeling for adults and children
Part of an ongoing site remediation

Red House, ACF Industries, St. Louis, MO: Consulted for excavation and disposal of dioxin-contaminated soil at a former rail road car tank washout area. Contaminated soil was removed by rail from West Virginia to Utah for disposal

Provided risk assessment expertise and developed risk assessment documents
Assessed risk for dioxins and difuran wastes and included the calculation of TCDD-toxic equivalents and congener specific risks
Assessment was approved by the client, by multiple EPA administrative regions, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers