SCS Engineers

July 9, 2021

Anna Cerf conducted research at the Environmental Research and Education Foundation, had an internship at the Environmental Defense Fund, and worked for SCS Engineers. Now she’s off to Germany.

Cerf graduated from UVA in 2020 with a degree in civil engineering and a minor in urban and environmental planning. The course work for her program will cover three fundamental disciplines: sanitary engineering, groundwater remediation, and hydraulic engineering.

She is a Rotary Global Grant Scholar, using an award to fund her two-year master’s program in water resource engineering and management at the University of Stuttgart. “With the support of ISWA professors and access to University of Stuttgart’s premier research facilities, I will research the transport and treatment of emerging contaminants for my master’s thesis.”

Cerf feels having a master’s in water resource engineering and management will further her career at the intersection of environmental issues and public health. “The University of Stuttgart has top-of-the-line water research facilities,” Cerf said. “It is also home to the Institute of Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality, and Solid Waste Management.

“By the end of the program, I will be able to anticipate, understand and evaluate water management-related issues,” Cerf said. “As climate change exacerbates existing water scarcity issues and environmental degradation damages water quality, these skills become increasingly important.”

Read more about this accomplished SCS Young Professional.

Well done, Anna!

July 8, 2021

David Hostetter from SCS Engineers® and Dennis Siegel from Waste Management® are the feature speakers on Inductive Conversations, a podcast about the unique processes and challenges within the waste management industry, from residential to the engineering and life cycles of landfills.

Dave and Dennis discuss how operational improvements are being made in this essential service and its environmental footprint. They dive into the 24/7 maintenance and monitoring of landfills, adjusting to changing conditions in real-time, reducing cost, generating renewable energy, improving the health and safety of operators, and being proactive in a changing world. We also hear about an Ignition-based solution called Connected Landfills that improves connectivity, mobility, and visualization by using data science to facilitate better decisions.

Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify  |  Google Play  |  PodBean  |  TuneIn

See more technology in our recent video – landfills are now able to see subsurface well conditions. It’s better than x-ray vision!

July 7, 2021

The EPA’s published clarifications, technical revisions, and new rule versions for the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) and New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for MSW landfills may feel like alphabet soup right now.

SCS Engineers’ upcoming webinar and open Q/A forum on July 15, 2021, at 1:30 Eastern Time is free and could help keep you informed and on track for compliance by September 27, 2021.

Our panelists will advise on the essential key information, deadlines, and changes to field operations to address during the transition from the old to the new NESHAP and NSPS rules.

• Surface emissions monitoring;
• Wellhead monitoring and corrective action requirements;
• Delegation of authority to the state, local, or tribal agencies for emission standards;
• Applicability of the General Provisions under 40 CFR 63, Subpart A to affected landfills;
• Monitoring data for control devices during startup, shutdown, and malfunctions (SSM);
• Gas collection and control system installation;
• Compliance timing and reporting;
• Open question and answer throughout the webinar.

REGISTER for Compliance During the NSPS/EG and NESHAP Transition Period

July 6, 2021

Recently published in Zweig is an article by two SCS Engineers professionals discussing career growth. Montgomery Spillane, PG, a project professional, and Dillon Reio, GIT, a senior project professional at the firm, provide their perspectives in this short and inspiring article entitled Accelerating Development.

The co-authors make valuable points, including that career growth is not a linear path, then provide advice for career accelerating growth and responsibilities.

SCS’s CEO, Jim Walsh records Town Halls every two weeks for employees – our executives like to stay in touch. He just happened to finish a segment on SCS’s Mentorship Program for his Town Hall. Both mentor and mentee reflect the same advice in the Zweig article; they point out a few more benefits for both managers and young professionals during the discussion, such as discovering new pathways, networks and staying on goal.

It is gratifying to observe SCS YPs not only embracing our 51+ year culture of client focus, but they’re also growing our pay-it-forward attitude to build even more value into SCS Engineers every day. It’s truly wonderful to work with so many gifted people.

Thanks for creating an environment where the work experience is as rewarding as the results of our work.

Read Accelerating Development

Our SCS Co-Authors:

Montgomery Spillane, PG, a project professional

Dillon Reio, GIT, a senior project professional

July 2, 2021

If you thrive in a friendly, collaborative, and client-focused company, SCS Engineers is the place for you. We’re looking for field technicians to work collaboratively on our Field Services teams nationwide. Use our job search to find your desired location. Specific information is posted for each open position.

Under general supervision, our technicians operate, monitor, and maintain gas migration control and recovery systems, including gas well monitoring and adjustment, troubleshooting, and system repairs. Be part of a team working for the good of our clients, communities, and the environment.

Open Positions at SCS Engineers

Become one of the engineers, consultants, scientists, and technicians that help private and public entities run cleaner and more efficiently, build stronger communities, and develop renewable energy solutions. A very rewarding place to have a career!

July 1, 2021

The EPA’s published clarifications, technical revisions, and new rule versions for the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) and New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for MSW landfills may feel like alphabet soup right now.

SCS Engineers’ upcoming webinar and open Q/A forum on July 15, 2021, at 1:30 Eastern is free and could help keep you informed and on track for compliance by September 27, 2021.

Our panelists will advise on the essential key information, deadlines, and changes to field operations to address during the transition from the old to the new NESHAP and NSPS rules.

• Surface emissions monitoring;
• Wellhead monitoring and corrective action requirements;
• Delegation of authority to the state, local, or tribal agencies for emission standards;
• Applicability of the General Provisions under 40 CFR 63, Subpart A to affected landfills;
• Monitoring data for control devices during startup, shutdown, and malfunctions (SSM);
• Gas collection and control system installation;
• Compliance timing and reporting;
• Open question and answer throughout the webinar.

REGISTER for Compliance During the NSPS/EG and NESHAP Transition Period

July 1, 2021

The most recent update expands SCS WDT™ to enable Yokogawa data uploaded to SCSeTools using wireless data transfer to the document gallery. The data is filed in the Flow Data WDT folder for each site and is easily available as raw data for air monitoring reports and other uses.

Technicians onsite insert the flare’s data card into a dongle attached to a mobile phone. The application automatically downloads the data to SCS DataServices, a secure web-based LFG management application. The phone’s GPS locates the flare and places the data into the appropriate landfill site. The data is available immediately, literally in seconds, for review and analysis. This app saves on average 5 labor hours per site per flare by removing extra steps in the process. Several landfills report even higher labor time savings.

Landfill technicians can choose to download data from a range of dates or all of the data. Managers can see exactly where the readings originate when taken and immediately see exceedances. This MobileTools app’s interface gives clients access to information that drives critical operating decisions and provides historic data for corporate directives and landfill gas OM&M programs. Quick access to raw data is valuable for air monitoring and modeling commonly conducted for EPA’s criteria pollutants and NMOCs.

Download the app and learn more at SCS MobileTools®.

June 30, 2021

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 was signed into law on March 11, 2021. It provides funds to address health outcome disparities from pollution and the COVID–19 pandemic.

EPA is assisting under-resourced communities by quickly getting out ARP funding to leverage important programs that improve air quality, drinking water, revitalization of brownfields, diesel emissions from buses in low-income communities and communities of color. In addition, the agency is awarding its first competitive grants focusing directly on the unequal impacts the COVID-19 pandemic has had on communities of color, low-income communities, and other vulnerable populations.

Projects include training, developing citizen-science tools, pollution monitoring, and educational campaigns to enable EJ advocates such as SCS Engineers, scientists, and decision-makers to address pollution and create thriving communities.

Funding currently being distributed totals approximately $2.8 million for 14 EJ-focused projects, with more to be announced soon throughout the country. In addition to the Baltimore City grant, today’s announcement includes funding for the following projects in underserved communities:

• City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin – for outreach and education through a Healthy People, Homes, and Neighborhood campaign.
• City of Fort Collins, Colorado – for a housing intervention program targeting indoor air quality.
• South Coast Air Quality Management District, California – to establish an Air Quality Academy to provide resources and training to improve environmental literacy and air quality data.
• Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, California – for a community health worker pilot program on asthma awareness.
• Public Health-Seattle & King County, Washington – for community health worker training on healthy homes and home assessments.
• Tohono O’odham Tribal Nation, Arizona – for developing local plans to address air quality issues.
• Virginia Department of Environmental Quality – for developing and implementing an EJ training academy and EJ map-based tool.
• Alabama Department of Environmental Management – for public education on air pollution and disinfectants.
• City of Houston, Texas – to launch the Houston Inspires/Houston Inspira public education campaign to engage with communities about clean air and COVID-19 creatively.
• City of Madison, WI – to implement Intervene Against COVID-19, a public education, training, and emergency planning program.
• City of Hartford Department of Health and Human Services, Connecticut – to implement a new strategy to increase outreach on asthma and environmental hazards.
• City of San Pablo, CA – to deploy an afterschool internship program for disadvantaged high school students to raise awareness and mitigate the impacts of COVID-19.
• Massachusetts Department of Health – to support the Asthma Prevention and Control Program, which seeks to improve asthma outcomes in multiple underserved communities.

EPA also announced for the first time how the agency would distribute the $50 million in ARP funds.

A breakdown is provided below:

• $16,650,000 will be used to fund EJ grants. This includes State EJ Cooperative Agreement awards (SEJCA), EJ collaborative problem-solving (EJCPS), and EJ small grants (EJSG). Tribes and territories are eligible for each of these programs, and the application requests have closed for this fiscal year. This funding also helps with capacity building, training and assessments, the Puerto Rico drinking water systems capacity assessment, and a new Appalachia Initiative for Revitalization. It will provide technical assistance and environmental youth STEM training in overburdened communities.
• $7,000,000 will fund a tailored use of the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) rebate program to address priority EJ issues for reducing diesel pollution. This DERA rebate program will fund electric school buses using screening criteria with the goal of reaching fleets in underserved communities with multiple air quality and health challenges.
• $5,130,000 will be used to expand civil and criminal enforcement to include monitoring near low-income communities and drinking water sources for pollution, including air toxics and hazardous metals. It also supports EJ analyses related to oil and gas production and refining and support for environmental crime victim outreach.
• $5,000,000 will help communities tackle the challenge of assessing, cleaning up and preparing brownfield sites for redevelopment. This educational video helps you understand how funding may be used.
• $4,850,000 will go to children’s health issues and fund the Children’s Healthy Learning Environments Grant and Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSUs). PEHSUs build capacity in vulnerable communities to reduce children’s environmental exposures in child-occupied settings and address children’s COVID-19 environmental health risks.
• $4,700,000 will be used for drinking water and compliance monitoring in rural and tribal areas. This supports small and underserved public water systems and wastewater treatment facilities through in-person technical assistance, including a circuit rider program, and supports integrating EJ into EPA permit writing.
• $2,150,000 will support the agency’s community-driven solutions to collaboratively build community capacity to address air and water issues in underserved communities. Specialized technical assistance will help align school reopening investments with clean air and neighborhood cooling shelter needs and promote equitable resilience and revitalization.
• $1,600,000 will support the Tribal General Assistance Program. This program supports efforts by tribes to engage their community members on priority EJ water and air quality issues. Tribes and indigenous organizations will also be eligible for all the above support mechanisms.
• $720,000 will be used to enhance the development of EJSCREEN, the EJ analysis tool, and support related resources.
• $700,000 is allocated for a climate protection program to advance data analytics work in the Office of Air and Radiation to identify cumulative burdens, improve equity outcomes for vulnerable communities, and advance regulatory analytics and policy modeling to incorporate environmental justice considerations better.
• $500,000 will support new methods of outreach and support for those performing analysis and outreach related to critical EJ issues in the oil and gas sector.
• $1,000,000 will be used for administrative costs under the 2% reserved in the law for this purpose.

June 29, 2021

The findings of the studies reviewed in this report are encouraging concerning the ability of today’s U.S. WTE facilities to effectively treat solid waste that contains PFAS and not emit detectable levels of PFOA in the process. For the formation of PICs, the pilot-scale investigation conducted at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology is encouraging in its findings that the combustion of PTFE did not create any of the 31 types of PFAS suspected of being potential PICs produced during the combustion process.

In conclusion, based on this research, SWANA is cautiously optimistic regarding the role of WTE facilities in the destruction of PFAS in MSW. The thermal destruction of PFAS in high-temperature combustion systems such as WTE facilities may represent one of the few commercially proven options available to society to destroy these problematic, forever chemicals.

The full report, PFAS Fate and Transport in Waste-to-Energy Facilities, is currently only available to SWANA ARF subscribers. SWANA members receive free access to ARF industry reports one year after publication; the abstract is available online and worth reading.

June 28, 2021

SCS periodically prepares Technical Bulletins to highlight items of interest to our clients and friends.  We publish these on our website.

Our most recent Bulletin summarizes and updates the TCEQ’S New Rules Implementing Compliance and Registration Requirements for Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) Management. In addition, this Bulletin covers TCEQ’s development of a program for implementing the Federal rules governing CCR facilities in Texas. While TCEQ’s CCR program needs to be at least as protective as the federal CCR rules, there are important distinctions in Chapter 352.

CCR facilities will be required to submit a detailed application in 2021 to obtain a TCEQ registration. 

SCS’ Texas-based professionals are experts on TCEQ’s new program for registering coal combustion residue (CCR) sites. We are currently working to support multiple sites needing to meet the December application deadline. Our engineers and geologists know how to use site-specific design and related technical documents to complete TCEQ’s detailed application for a registration consistent with TCEQ’s new regulatory program.

For additional information on the updated regulations, deadlines, and compliance requirements, contact:

• • • • Ryan Kuntz, PE, 
      • Roy Murray, PE,
      • Kevin Yard, PE, BCEE, 
      • Glen Collier, PG (groundwater)