Category: Company News

One of EnviroForensics’ strong points is expertly handling remediation in a crowded environment.

Recently, an EnviroForensics field team lead by Keith Gaskill and consisting of Will Garnes, Jan Schimmelmann and Annie Bierma conducted a remediation of a drycleaning solvent known as tetrachloroethene (PCE) from beneath Vista Cleaners and surrounding properties in Mooresville, IN. We were working for the owner — who complied with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (DEM) Voluntary Remediation Program — after purchasing the property previously known as Crest Cleaners.

After a period of investigation and characterization of the release, EnviroForensics injected chemicals which enhance a natural process called reductive dechlorination where microbes in the ground break down the solvents into nonhazardous compounds.  The injected materials included food-grade lactates and fats with an iron reducing solution as wells as more of the microbes to assure complete breakdown.

There was some inconvenience to motorists as a lane of Mooresville’s South Indiana Street was closed for two days — of the 3 1/2 week project — to make way for drilling and injection.

Nearby residents and business owners were concerned about safety and traffic flow, as would be expected, but the EnviroForensics team went out of their way to keep them in the loop on the project’s progress.

Calvin Kelly conducted a phone interview with Mekayla Yohe, a newspaper reporter. The story in the print edition of the Mooresville-Decatur Times reassured readers of the safety and long-term benefits of remediating the site.

Bruce and James Marine co-own the property. Bruce Marine says, “Investigating the issues and developing a plan has been a long process but one we undertook willingly because it was the right thing to do.”  Starting the cleanup is a big step and we are looking forward to the positive outcome,”

This Vista Cleaners is a drop site and dry cleaning solvents are no longer used at this location.

On March 21^st – 24^th, 2016, the Association for Environmental Health and Sciences (AEHS) Foundation held its 26^th annual Conference on Soil, Water, Energy and Air. The annual conference brings together 500-600 environmental professionals to share information on technological advances, new scientific achievements and the success of current environmental regulation programs.

EnviroForensics Director of Vapor Intrusion Megan Hamilton and Vapor Intrusion Team Member Kathleen Nazareth had the opportunity to present two presentations at the conference this year.  The presentations on “The Production and Management of Methane in Soil Gas during Remediation at Drycleaner Sites” and “The Costs and Liability Associated with Evolving Vapor Intrusion (VI) Technical Guidance” piqued a high amount of interest and were a great success!  “The Production and Management of Methane in Soil Gas during Remediation at Drycleaner Sites” explained how the use of in-situ enhanced reductive dechlorination (ERD) inoculants as a groundwater contaminant mass reduction method produces methane in both the dissolved phase and vapor phase. Preliminary estimation, monitoring and mitigation methods were included in the presentation, as well as a discussion of lessons learned and upcoming advancements.

“The Cost and Liability of Evolving Technical Guidance” is a study in which a number of sites with subsurface releases of PCE or TCE have been reassessed in light of technical guidance changes that have occurred since 2002. The presentation included a comparison of the assessment and mitigation costs that would have occurred if performed under older state and federal VI guidance (more conservative) versus the latest version of the Final USEPA VI guidance (less conservative).  This study pointed out some interesting trends, identified investigation parameters with the biggest influence on costs, and empirically demonstrated that advances in science and regulatory guidance directly decreases the costs and liability associated with VI investigation and mitigation at environmental clean-up sites.

These presentations have also been approved for presentation at the Tenth International Battelle Conference on Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds, which will take place May 23-26 in Palm Springs, California. The Battelle Conference is one of the industry’s premier remediation conferences, attracting attendees from across the country and around the world. EnviroForensics Senior Geochemist Keith Gaskill and VI Team Member Grace Randall will present these studies.

2016 has been an exciting year for EnviroForensics. We celebrated our 20th anniversary April 1st, and this summer, we anticipate the completion of our new downtown Indianapolis headquarters. We have also begun new employee-focused initiatives. Our talented employees are the major force behind our success, and we want to ensure that the EnviroForensics Team remains as engaged and efficient as possible.

One such program that began in January was our remote work policy. This allows our technical staff to schedule two to four days per month to focus on complex writing, communication or analytical assessment activities in a suitable remote environment, free of common office distractions. Although we had never offered remote work options before, employees had shared their strong interest in such a program, and we were eager to make this happen for them.

So far, our remote work policy has been a success! Employees have expressed that the program has enabled them to be more productive by allowing them to work in a distraction-free setting when completing major writing or analytical tasks. They have enjoyed the flexibility this option provides. Not only has productivity increased, but employee satisfaction has grown even more.

At EnviroForensics, we know that our employees are the key to our success. Our staff of engineers and scientists are some of the best in the industry, and we are constantly seeking ways to help them further develop in their skills and conduct the best work that they can. We take their feedback seriously, which has helped us to better serve their needs and launch programs such as the remote work policy.

Friday, April 22^nd is Earth Day. This year’s Earth Day will focus on trees as part of five major goals the Earth Day Network is undertaking for the five-year countdown to Earth Day’s 50^th anniversary. The goal is to plant 7.8 billion trees in the next five years.

Trees contribute to a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable planet by absorbing harmful excess CO2 from the atmosphere. On their website, the Earth Day Network says that in one year, “an acre of mature trees absorbs the same amount of CO2 produced by driving the average car 26,000 miles.” Additionally, the website explains that trees also absorb odors and pollutant gases and filter particulates out of the air.

In honor of Earth Day, EnviroForensics has compiled a list of tips and ideas to Make Every Day Earth Day. We believe it is important to carry the spirit of Earth Day throughout the entire year by taking steps each day to practice sustainable and eco-friendly habits.

Some examples of the tips included in the slideshow presentation are:

• Turning off non-essential lights;
• Using alternative ways to travel to work, such as riding a bike, taking the bus, or coordinating a carpool;
• Eating local and seasonal food;
• Practicing minimalism by getting rid of what you don’t need and living with less material items.

To view the full slideshow and the rest of the tips, click on the following link: How to Make Every Day Earth Day.

Join us in Making Every Day Earth Day to help make our planet a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable place. Every habit you can change, no matter how small, will contribute to a healthier planet for everyone to enjoy for generations to come.

EnviroForensics’ monthly Lunch & Learn program is designed to bring employees together to learn more about a specified company- or industry-related topic. Our 2016 series, What We Do & How We Do It, will take employees step by step through our unique and challenging way of supporting our clients. The first installment last, How Past Dry Cleaning Practices Resulted in Environmental Releases,took place in January and delved into the history of chlorinated solvents and the dry cleaning industry—taking attendees back to the roots of the environmental consulting industry.

Last week, EnviroForensics’ employees were invited to attend a presentation to learn more about funding sources for the environmental work that we do. We have had many successes in helping our clients find hidden financial assets to help them address demands for environmental investigations and cleanups. Attendees enjoyed an employer-sponsored lunch while learning more about this aspect of our business.

Although the majority of our employees may not be involved in this part of our company on daily basis, we feel it is important for employees to possess an understanding of every component of what we do. Not only does this ensure that we remain a cohesive team, but also helps everyone to better recognize their own role in the overall business model and see how everything fits together. It is for this reason that we have established the What We Do & How We Do It series, which will continue through 2016.

Forbes has ranked Indianapolis eighth on its 2015 list of Best Places for Business and Careers. Charlotte, North Carolina and Dallas, Texas are among the cities Indianapolis outranked. Furthermore, the State of Indiana was ranked eighth on the Forbes 2015 Best States for Business list.  Forbes credited this ranking partly to Indiana’s top ranking in the regulatory category of the Mercatus Center’s “Freedom in the 50 States.” Forbes also named Indiana sixth in quality of life.

EnviroForensics is proud to have its headquarters located in a business-friendly city like Indianapolis. We have been located in Indianapolis since 2001 and headquartered here since 2005, and we have experienced continued growth ever since. We’ve grown so much, in fact, that we have outgrown our current building.

To accommodate continued growth, we are constructing a new, larger headquarters in downtown Indianapolis. We are renovating 23,000 square feet of space for the new building, which will be located at 825 N. Capitol. Its anticipated completion date is April, 2016.

For the past month, we have been posting weekly updates of construction on our EnviroForensics Facebook page. We will continue to do so until the building is complete, so follow us on Facebook to watch the progress!

Below is a picture of the building’s current state, as well as what it will look like when finished.

March 21-24 2016, the Association for Environmental Health and Sciences (AEHS) Foundation will hold its 26th annual Conference on Soil, Water, Energy and Air in San Diego, California. The annual conference brings together 500-600 environmental professionals to share information on technological advances, new scientific achievements and the success of current environmental regulation programs. Attendees are able to present findings, ideas and recommendations to professionals from a variety of specialties and backgrounds, such as state and federal regulatory agencies, environmental engineering and consulting firms, the petroleum and chemical industries, military and academia. The program is tailored each year to meet the ever-evolving needs of the environmental field and focuses on important and relevant environmental issues.

The conference includes platform and poster sessions detailing research, advances in science, case studies and the presentation of new investigatory and remedial methods and regulatory guidance. The EnviroForensics Vapor Intrusion (VI) team will present two abstracts that have been approved at the upcoming conference: “The Production and Management of Methane in Soil Gas during Remediation at Drycleaner Sites” and “The Cost and Liability of Evolving Technical Guidance.”

“The Production and Management of Methane in Soil Gas during Remediation at Drycleaner Sites” will explain how the use of in-situ enhanced reductive dechlorination (ERD) inoculants as a groundwater contaminant mass reduction method produces methane in both the dissolved phase and vapor phase. Preliminary estimation, monitoring and mitigation methods will be included in the presentation, as well as a discussion of lessons learned and upcoming advancements.

“The Production and Management of Methane in Soil Gas during Remediation at Drycleaner Sites” has also been approved for presentation at the Tenth International Battelle Conference on Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds, which will take place May 23-26 in Palm Springs, California. The Battelle Conference is one of the industry’s premier remediation conferences, attracting attendees from across the country and around the world. EnviroForensics Senior Geochemist Keith Gaskill will present the study.

“The Cost and Liability of Evolving Technical Guidance” is a study in which a number of sites with nearly 100 subsurface releases of PCE or TCE have been reassessed in light of technical guidance changes that have occurred since 2002. The presentation will include a comparison of the assessment and mitigation costs that would have occurred if performed under older state and federal VI guidance (more conservative) versus the latest version of the Final USEPA VI guidance (less conservative).

If you’re a business owner, Indiana is the place to be. Indiana ranked eighth in Forbes’ 2015 list, Best States for Business. In particular, Indiana is a great state for manufacturing. The state was given an A rating for manufacturing Industry Health in the Conexus Indiana 2015 Manufacturing & Logistics Report Card, scoring higher than the nearby states of Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio. To give some more concrete statistics, almost 17% of Indiana’s workforce is employed by manufacturers, and over 30% of the state’s gross product is manufacturing.

Factors that help support this great business and manufacturing climate include favorable environmental policies and legislation. In fact, Forbes ranked Indiana second for regulatory environment.

In contrast, however, a bill was proposed (H.B. 1241) in 2014 that would have prevented business owners from being able to use their commercial general liability policies to cover pollution damages and remediation costs. The bill would have allowed an insurer not to cover well-known pollutants or to define pollution in vague terms to avoid paying for cleanup.

Business owners protested the bill, contending that it would harm small and large employers alike and put jobs in jeopardy. The bill also would have hindered cities working to address environmental issues at various contaminated sites. Ultimately, the bill didn’t pass, which shows the importance that Hoosiers place on providing an ideal climate for successful businesses and manufacturers.

Manufacturers in Indiana have a great opportunity to not only be in a state that supports business and manufacturing on the whole, but also to deal with environmental liability in a way that doesn’t drain financial resources or harm their business. Because of the legislation Indiana has in place for insurance, EnviroForensics is able to locate and use old insurance policies, via our sister company PolicyFind, to pay for site investigation and cleanups, as well as associated legal fees. We are also equipped with a team of expert engineers and geologists who have extensive expertise in the remediation of soil and groundwater contamination, as well as vapor intrusion exposure issues.

To keep their businesses thriving, Indiana manufacturers should take this great opportunity to deal with any environmental issues on their properties. While Indiana law is currently favorable toward manufacturers, you never know when legislation and policies could change. Don’t miss your chance.