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January 2012
Dr. Trexler has completed a remedial action plan for a
Coastal Plain site in the REC program where soil has been impacted by cobalt
from a manufacturing process. He evaluated
three remedial alternatives: natural attenuation, soil fixation, and soil
excavation. To determine the best
product and the dose required for fixation, Dr. Trexler considered site-specific
attenuation of the soil and treatability testing of reagents to fixate cobalt. He evaluated the selected remediation reagent
he chose for stability using EPA’s Multiple Extraction Procedure (MEP), which simulates
the leaching that a waste will undergo with repetitive precipitation of acid
rain on a landfill for 1,000 years of leaching through 10 cycles of
leaching. The 10 cycles of the MEP are
the equivalent to approximately 800 years of leaching. Duncklee & Dunham is preparing bid
specifications, developing engineering cost estimates, and building a
construction schedule for excavation of contaminated soil, site restoration,
and stormwater management for an area of approximately two acres.
January 2012
Dave Duncklee is
conducting a groundwater assessment in central
North Carolina under NCDENR’s Registered Environmental
Consultant (REC) program to define the
vertical and horizontal extent of tetrachloroethene in fractured and competent
bedrock. We designed this assessment in part
to determine if the use of high-capacity, water-supply wells
formerly used at the site influenced the plume geometry. We
used colorimetric test kits in the field to test groundwater samples during the
advancement of air-hammer borings to depths of
up to 580 feet. We used real-time data, packer
testing, a downhole camera, and test results from a fixed-base laboratory
during borehole advancement to define the vertical extent of the plume. Test results confirmed one of the three water-supply wells pulled the chlorinated organic
contaminant downward.
Duncklee &
Dunham has three Registered Site Managers on
staff in our Cary office and is working on multiple sites in the REC program.
November 2011
As Student Liaison for the Carolinas Section of the
Association for Environmental & Engineering Geologists (AEG), Rick Kolb
works closely with geology departments within the UNC university system. On
November 10, 2011, he arranged for two speakers to make presentations to the
NCSU Geology Club to help students prepare to take the National Association of
State Boards of Geology (ASBOG) Fundamentals of Geology (FG) exam. The FG exam
and Practice of Geology (PG) exam are required, along with recommendations, work
experience and transcripts documenting geology course work, in order to become a
licensed geologist in the State of North Carolina. Thirty states utilize the
ASBOG examination in their licensure requirements.
Dr. Richard Spruill of East Carolina University, and
President of ASBOG, was the first speaker. His presentation to the group
related to his work as a ASBOG board member, where his group works to refine and
evaluate each ASBOG exam both before and after it is given, as well as new
questions for future exams. It is a lengthy process that is designed to make
each exam comparable, as well as to establish that a geologist has mastered the
minimum requirements to obtain licensure as a professional geologist. Some
universities are considering use of the FG examination as an “exit” requirement
for undergraduate geology majors.
Daphne Jones, a senior geologist at Duncklee &
Dunham, took the FG and PG exams in March 2011 and passed both. Clark Wipfield,
a staff geologist at Duncklee & Dunham, passed the March 2011 FG
examination to become a Geologist-in-Training and is now preparing for the PG
exam. Matt Flinchum, also a staff geologist, is currently preparing for the FG
exam. Daphne Jones’ presentation to the NCSU Geology Club, with geology students
from UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke, and Wake Technical Community College also in
attendance, was geared more towards how to study for the exam and test-taking
hints. She brought in a variety of study materials obtained by the Duncklee
& Dunham geologists and gave advice related to recognizing your learning
styles and organizing study groups.
October/November 2011
The Carolinas
Section of the Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists (AEG)
held field symposia on two, sunny, fall Saturdays on the campuses of North
Carolina State University in Raleigh and the University of North Carolina at
Charlotte, during which we demonstrated for geology students the field methods
commonly used by environmental and engineering geologists. Each symposium was
attended by 35 students from universities across North Carolina. At these
symposia, drilling contractors donated their labor and equipment to advance soil
borings and construct monitoring wells. Matt Flinchum was one of the “field
geologists” at the symposium at UNC-Charlotte and Clark Wipfield was one of the
“field geologists” at NC State University. Matt and Clark and other volunteers
showed approximately 65 students the techniques for collecting soil and
groundwater samples, bailing wells, measuring depth to the water table, and
testing soil samples in the field. The students were able to see first-hand the
types of activities field geologists conduct and were effusive in their thanks
for the demonstrations. After each symposium, we hosted the students to a
barbecue dinner, during which the students were able to interact with practicing
geologists. Rick Kolb organized both events.
September 2011
Governor Perdue
has appointed Rick Kolb to a three-year term on the North Carolina Board for the
Licensing of Geologists. The board is comprised of six members, four of which
represent different geological practices: consulting, private industry, mining
and academia. Rick represents the consulting community. The fifth member is a
non-geologist from the public, and the sixth member is the State Geologist, who
serves ex officio. The board meets four times a year to review
individual and corporate applications for licensure, review/discuss disciplinary
actions, and discuss other business associated with licensure and the practice
of geology.
September 2011
Tom Dunham and Dave Duncklee recently led a
successful effort to ship hundreds of feet of 4”
PVC water well casing and slotted screen to
Haiti. These efforts are to support of a former
employee who works to rehabilitate/install water
supply wells when he and his wife are not
teaching at a local orphanage located south of
Cap Haitian. The casing and well screen should
be enough for 10 to 15 new water supply wells.
Valuable support of this effort was generously
given by Tom Proctor of Mid-Atlantic Associates,
Steve Taylor of Geologic Exploration, Inc., and
the membership and Board of Directors of the
Carolinas Section of the Association of
Environmental & Engineering Geologists (AEG).
We hope to ship additional supplies late this
year or early next.
September 2011
Our
professionals are involved in all aspects of soil and groundwater remediation.
For example, a sampling of our current remediation projects includes the use of:
steam catalyzed persulfate to oxidize chloroform dissolved in groundwater, a
bench scale test to evaluate whether permanganate or persulfate is optimum for
the destruction of 1,4-dioxane and other chlorinated compounds in groundwater,
the use of magnesium oxide to stabilize metals in soils, pilot testing to
determine if zero valent iron plus carbon substrate is effective in reducing
dissolved VOCs in groundwater, bench scale testing to evaluate whether KB-1 is
effective for VOC removal, and the conceptual evaluation of the use of hydrogen
oxidizing denitrifying bacteria to degrade nutrients in groundwater.
May 2011
Daphne Jones,
Senior Geologist, and Clark Wipfield, Staff
Geologist, took the National Association of
State Board of Geology (ASBOG) exam on March 4,
2011. These standardized examinations are
currently used by 30 states to test for
professional geologist (P.G.) licensure. On May
5th, Daphne Jones was notified that she passed the
Fundamentals of Geology and Practice of Geology
exams, and qualifies to become a P.G. in the
state of North Carolina. Mr. Wipfield passed the
Fundamentals of Geology exam, and is now a
registered Geologist-In-Training for North
Carolina.
May 2011
The
Brownfields Services Group completed additional
Phase II work in Greenville, NC under the City's
EPA Brownfields Petroleum Assessment Grant in
early May. Work included pulling five hydraulic
lifts in a former tire service center. Soil
samples were collected under the lifts to
determine if the site could be clean closed.
Lifts are considered underground storage tanks (USTs)
in North Carolina, and work is conducted under
the DENR UST Section's guidelines. While lifts
could be pulled in order to sample underneath
them, over excavation as allowed by the UST
Section is considered remediation and cannot be
funded under an assessment grant. If the soil
samples collected exceed the levels for clean
closure, the non-profit foundation that is
redeveloping the site as a regional science
museum will be responsible for further
excavation and sampling to reach closure levels.
February 2011
REC Team staff
members met to discuss the findings of a January
2011 technical training session with DENR IHSB
REC Program regulators in their Raleigh office.
Items of discussion included the addition of
phosphorous to the Appendix 1 list in A.7.1.1.3
and new requirements for hexavalent chromium
soil testing. In order to stay current and
provide a consistent work product, Duncklee &
Dunham sends an RSM to each technical event held
in the Raleigh DENR office. Upon returning, the
results are discussed with other RSMs in the
company. The meeting notes are placed in our
corporate REC Program Notebook for future
reference.
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