Mr. LaConde joined SCS in 1974 with 14 years of previous experience in private industry, including 4 years in agricultural and fertilizer formulation and control. In his 25 years with SCS, Mr. LaConde has held many key positions for SCS, including Director of the Long Beach Office and the Director and Vice President of Analytical Services.
As a Project Director for literally hundreds of hazardous substances investigations, Mr. LaConde has an extensive background in the evaluation of analytical data; evaluation of remediation technologies; estimation of remedial action costs; and implementation, management, and oversight of cleanup actions, including groundwater, soils, and soil gas.
Mr. LaConde has been involved in various complex projects, including the following:
Since 1989, Mr. LaConde has served as reviewing principal for the Kaiser Steel Resources (now known as the Kaiser Ventures) site in Fontana. This State Superfund site, located on 1,100 acres of land, is proceeding through the RI/FS process, and ultimately will be developed in part into an automobile racing complex. Site activities include Preliminary Endangerment Assessments, underground storage tank closures, two RI investigations, ongoing treatability programs, RCRA impoundment closures, and risk assessments.
For a private client, free product (gasoline) in groundwater was encountered during excavation for a major high-rise project. Mr. LaConde directed efforts to identify the spill sources, and implemented a remedial action groundwater treatment system. More than 3,000 gallons of free product were removed from the groundwater. The dissolved phase was successfully treated with on-site dual carbon contractors to meet drinkingwater standards. Mr. LaConde testified as an expert witness (The Sydney and Sarah Gross Family Trust vs. Mobil Oil) on the subject of the on- and off-site subsurface soils investigation, the nature and extent of groundwater contamination, the selection and implementation of a groundwater remediation treatment program, the origin(s) of gasoline contamination, and the costs of implementation and regulatory compliance.
In the City of Santa Fe Springs, Mr. LaConde directed a site investigation on a parcel of land that had been used as an illegal disposal site by a coatings manufacturer. Mr. LaConde correlated chemical species detected on site with those chemicals and chemical characteristics of raw materials and products used in the manufacturing process by the coatings company.
Mr. LaConde is currently leading the on-site activities at a former electrical circuit board and aerospace manufacturing facility at which significant concentrations of chlorinated hydrocarbons, (TCE, PCE, and 1,1-DCE) have been detected in soil, soil gas, and groundwater. Pilot vapor extraction tests were conducted to determine the feasibility of extracting TCE (the principal constituent) from the vadose gasses. A full-scale vapor extraction system has been designed, installed, and operated by SCS to remove the chlorinated hydrocarbons from the complex geology found on this site. Soils signoff by the RWQCB is pending based on the outcome of verification soil sampling. Groundwater monitoring is ongoing. In addition to these tests, Mr. LaConde led a team of geologists in several localized excavations to remove acidic soil contaminated with nickel and chromium.
Mr. LaConde served as lead investigator and project director for the subsurface and groundwater investigative activities surrounding a major release of hydrocarbons from a major oil refinery. Encompassing a portion of the Los Angeles-South Bay area, this investigation included soil, groundwater, and soil vapor sampling and analysis. Both aromatic and chlorinated hydrocarbon plumes were delineated. Treatment strategies and alternatives were developed for several clients within this study area. A vapor extraction system was utilized to mitigate significant concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, and 1,2-DCA.
Mr. LaConde served as project director for an RI/FS investigation of a former Southern California oil refinery (Golden Eagle Refinery, Carson, California). This approximate 70-acre site was used for the production of motor vehicle and airplane fuels. Numerous accidental spills, pipeline, and other leakage events contributed significant volatile and semivolatile hydrocarbons contamination to surface and subsurface soils and groundwater. A massive on-site treatment program was initiated under the direction of the RWQCB and included a combination of biological in-situ and vapor extraction techniques to reduce contaminants to acceptable levels. Regulatory signoff on soils was granted. Groundwater treatment (periodic air sparging) and monitoring are ongoing.
Over the last several years, Mr. LaConde has served as Project Director on a RCRA facility investigation for a site owned by the Los Angeles County Agricultural Commission. This site, with its beginnings dating back to the 1920s, was a rodenticide formulation, mixing, and distribution center. In its latter years, after installing an underground tank, it served as an area-wide liquid pesticide disposal center operating under a RCRA permit. Upon removal of the tank, a variety of contaminants were discovered including chlordane, DDT (and its analogs), silvex, and several dioxin isomers. While the shell of the building still stands, the interior rooms were characterized and demolished. SCS identified arsenic, thallium, and strychnine as chemicals of concern. Special precautions were taken for handling the debris as SCS personnel provided oversight during all demolition activities. SCS also assisted in clarifying soil wastes that were originally thought to be (and had been misclassified) RCRA wastes, saving the County over $500,000 in potential disposal fees. Currently, a groundwater monitoring plan is underway to determine the long-term effects, if any, of on-site septic tank disposal of rodenticide and other formulated products rinseates. RCRA closure of the site is pending the outcome of these monitoring events.
EDUCATION