Scientific Solutions: Sustainable Results – The HGL team brings exceptional qualifications in the fields of environmental engineering, site characterization, risk assessment, remedial design, and remedy implementation. HGL builds project delivery teams that combine in-house expertise in design, engineering, remediation, construction, and geospatial technology to deliver top quality services that integrate green practices and sustainable solutions. HGL’s environmental and other A/E service areas encompass the following:
|
|
The following four projects demonstrate HGL’s ability to successfully provide A/E and related environmental services:
- Perfluorinated Compound (PFC) Enterprise-Wide Response at 82 Air Force and Air National Guard Installations Nationwide: fire training areas and other release sites potentially contaminated with PFCs,
- Historical Research and Litigation Support for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality: industrial and commercial properties contaminated with a variety of hazardous substances,
- West Highway 6 & Highway 281 Superfund Site, Hastings, Nebraska: a former industrial site contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and chromium, and
- Misawa Air Base, Misawa, Japan: an active United States air base that required hazardous materials/waste management support.
Perfluorinated Compound Enterprise-Wide Response at 82 Air Force and Air National Guard Installations Nationwide
HGL performed Preliminary Assessment (PA) activities at 82 U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard fire training areas (FTAs) and other locations 
to determine if environmental releases of aqueous film-forming foam containing perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) could have occurred. Work included performing historical research and interviews, visiting all the installations, and preparing PAs that addressed whether probable releases 
of PFCs from FTA activities, fire suppression system testing and use, and fire and emergency incident response actions had occurred. The PA reports also discussed potential pathways for any releases. HGL, working with the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, developed a common assessment and location scoring approach using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency PA guidance and a common PA report template to ensure delivery of all reports within the tight 18-month project schedule.
| Project Highlights | |
|---|---|
| ✔ | Developed a sequenced technical/logistical approach, used experienced team leaders and trained additional staff, and incorporated input from PFC subject matter experts to complete the project in under 18 months. |
| ✔ | Performed chemical testing on a range of media (groundwater, soil, sediment, surface water, and indoor air) for a full range of contaminants of concern, and managed the large volumes of data generated using established tools and procedures to ensure that all data quality objectives and reporting requirements were met. |
| ✔ | Used the results of the investigations to score each location and develop a list of installations and locations recommended for advancement to the site inspection phase. |
Historical Research and Litigation Support for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
HGL has performed potentially responsible party (PRP) investigations for 23 Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund (WQARF) Registry sites under five (5) successive Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) contracts. Tasks performed under site-specific task orders include records collection, industrial surveys, mailings of information request letters, interviews, title searches, business and individual financial viability research, cost allocations, and aerial photograph reviews. Records obtained through these research efforts are processed into document databases to allow for full-text searches of relevant information, and results are summarized in deliverables such as PRP reports and case summaries. The liability analysis sections of the PRP reports and case summaries identify the PRPs for a site and are used to allocate response costs among PRPs and to assist ADEQ and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office (AGO) in cost recovery efforts.
Sites investigated include complex industrial sites, mine sites, landfills, and dry-cleaning facilities. In some cases, contamination at these sites has not been characterized and intrusive investigations are ongoing. The findings of HGL’s research are used to identify potential sources of contamination and to focus future field investigations. HGL has also conducted Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act preliminary assessment-type investigations and provided community relations support under the ADEQ contracts.
| Project Highlights | |
|---|---|
| ✔ | Worked closely with ADEQ and AGO to develop an approach for meeting the WQARF statute’s unique “best efforts” requirement in which the liability allocation process is based on each PRP’s proportionate share of liability, a standard more rigorous than CERCLA’s “joint and several” liability scheme. |
| ✔ | Developed a matrix to identify the statutorily required PRP and community relations tasks to be completed at each stage of the WQARF process. |
| ✔ | Managed over 20 Concordance® databases with an average of 2,400 documents (24,000 pages) each for WQARF sites for which PRP investigations have been conducted. |
| ✔ | Completed four industrial surveys and 90 facility letter reports, and compiled a Microsoft Access database documenting relevant information from a review of regulatory records for over 1,600 facilities to support the Remedial Investigation of a WQARF site in a heavily industrial part of Phoenix, Arizona. |
| ✔ | Conducted over 1,000 interviews with private and government parties to identify over 250 PRPs associated with a landfill site in Tucson, Arizona. |
West Highway 6 & Highway 281 Superfund Site, Hastings, Nebraska
HGL executed a multiphase Remedial Investigation (RI)/Feasibility Study (FS) at a facility that had manufactured cast iron piston rings. The main production building housed four degreasing units where the piston rings were cleaned with chlorinated solvents before plating. These operations resulted in volatile organic compound (VOC) and metals contamination in on- and off-site soil and groundwater, and a groundwater treatment system installed as an interim remedy had not maintained hydraulic control of the plume or reduced contaminant mass.
HGL’s extensive RI included groundwater sampling and a hydrogeological investigation, surface and subsurface soil sampling, air dispersion modeling of stack emissions, subslab soil vapor sampling to evaluate the vapor intrusion pathway, and concrete chip sampling to determine potential risks to workers in the building. HGL used direct-push technology to advance soil cores to bedrock at 240 feet below ground surface to determine the nature and extent of VOC and chromium contamination in soil and groundwater. The lithology in the borings was characterized using downhole geophysics, and a membrane interface probe was used to determine total VOCs and aquifer conductivity over depth. Subsurface soil samples were collected from varying depth intervals and analyzed in an on-site laboratory to facilitate decision-making in the field. Point-source groundwater samples also were collected and analyzed in the on-site laboratory. Permanent monitoring wells were installed and screened based on the results of groundwater and soil profiling. HGL also conducted human health and ecological risk assessments as part of the RI. Based on the findings of the RI, HGL completed an FS to evaluate potential cleanup alternatives
| Project Highlights | |
|---|---|
| ✔ | Used the Triad approach for systematic project planning, dynamic work strategies, and innovative rapid sampling and analytical technologies. |
| ✔ | Developed an accurate conceptual site model, which was used to identify data gaps so that additional data collection efforts could be targeted to support the quantification of risk posed by the site and lead to an effective site cleanup strategy. |
| ✔ | Conducted on-site sample analysis in a mobile lab that allowed for rapid field decision-making on sample locations and depths as new data was obtained. |
| ✔ | Determined from the RI that the groundwater contaminant plume extended 2.4 miles off site and was co-mingled with the plume of an adjacent Superfund site, which caused the treatment plant being designed for the adjacent site to be expanded to treat the co-mingled portion of the plume. |
Misawa Air Base, Misawa, Japan
HGL supported the Hazardous Material and Hazardous Waste (HM/HW) Management Program at Misawa Air Base, Japan, for solid waste, pesticides, PCBs, asbestos, radon and related products, investigation-derived waste, lead-based paint, lead, and other hazardous materials and wastes. HGL provided the following HM/HW management services basewide:
- Regulatory reviews and regulatory interface assistance,
- Permit and licensing assistance,
- Recycling,
- Training,
- Material control and tracking,
- Emergency preparedness studies,
- Environmental Management System (EMS) and compliance auditing,
- Reduction assessments,
- Health and Safety Plan preparation,
- Record searches,
- Compliance inspections, and
- Abatement planning.
HGL also provided specialty services such as interpreting and analyzing Japanese regulations, Material Safety Data Sheets, Spill Prevention Plans, and other applicable documents.
| Project Highlights | |
|---|---|
| ✔ | Instituted effective management and cost controls that resulted in substantial cost savings. |
| ✔ | Ensured that no violations occurred when operations were shut down because of a tsunami through proactive education/training and HM/HW management processes. |
