Brownfields, particularly those in urban infill areas, can be successfully redeveloped into housing and other productive uses with significant benefits to the surrounding communities. Redeveloping brownfields is also an important strategy in addressing California’s affordable housing crisis.
However, funding for brownfield redevelopment falls well short of the need, which is exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting impacts on budgets. But there is hope. Proposed legislation and budget requests for new sources of funding for brownfield redevelopment are proposed in excess of $100M. These policy shifts and resulting funding would make a big difference.
At the upcoming California Land Recycling Conference, several experts from the public and private sectors will share their insights and the latest information about these potential funding sources and opportunities for affordable housing and infill sites in California.
Moderated by Dan Johnson, Vice President & National Partner for Brownfield Redevelopment at SCS Engineers, the panelists are:
The conference is scheduled for Sept. 22-24, 2020. To join this interactive session, Sept. 23 from 2:15 to 3:00 PST, register at https://bit.ly/2FoWI89. Non-profit and student tickets are $25, government tickets are $50, and General Admission is $75.
In lieu of the 2020 Joint Solid Waste and Recycling Conference scheduled for October 28-30, SWANA is offering educational sessions as a webinar series with CEUs available from August through November. Register for just a few or pay one flat fee to participate in as many as you would like.
This week’s Webinar is on Thursday, September 10 at 10:00 am ET, 1 CEU.
Webinar Schedule and Registration
…it’s like balancing a chemical equation to get the right answer.
SCS Engineers works with insurance firms, and we understand the insurance industry’s involvement in environmental and engineering projects. Our professional staff, located according to their knowledge of regional and local geography, regulatory policies, and industrial or scientific specialty, are available nationwide. SCS professionals are sought after as technical experts, admitted as expert witnesses, and support legal counsel in a variety of environmental and regulatory litigation matters.
Rising to meet the needs of insurance companies, SCS has the resources and professionals to assist commercial, industrial and municipal clients with a wide range of environmental and engineering issues and scenarios that can occur in the course of business operations. As a result, SCS also assists clients who have the need for, and exposure to, environmental insurance policies, assisting with coverage-related matters and claims. For our engineering and environmental clients, SCS has the depth of insurance experience and technical expertise to provide the guidance needed to help with environmental claims and can act as a liaison to facilitate a more straightforward claim process.
Environmental insurance can cover regulatory agency-required cleanups, bodily injury, property damage, and associated legal expenses that may result from a contamination event. Contamination and the mitigation process are expensive, often more expensive than prevention. Contamination is usually accidental, such as a spill, but may transpire over time or be a pre-existing condition. Environmental insurance protects companies by covering the expense of assessing contamination and performing remediation, thus restoring the environment and helping to keep the business operating safely. Our experience includes a wide range of environmental claim scenarios (i.e. gasoline/service stations, transportation accidents, the oil and gas industry, manufacturing and industrial facilities, asbestos, mold), which dovetails extremely well with SCS’s own numerous business sectors.
The 5 W’s of Environmental Insurance
SCS Engineers Environmental Insurance Services and Case/Claim Studies
If you want to know how to lead a company in a downturn…listen to this podcast from Oilfield 360 Media as David de Roode and Josh Lowrey interview Gabriel Rio, President, and CEO of Milestone Environmental Services.
Gabriel explains oilfield waste, how it is regulated, and managed, along with some of the better practices evolving in environmental waste consulting.
I have known Gabriel since his early days at R360 when he found my presentation at the International Petroleum and Environmental Conference (IPEC), regarding evaporation ponds; I believe it was 2010. He invited me to stop by his office in Houston, which I did while presenting at the Produced Water Society’s annual conference in Nassau Bay that year. I worked with Gabriel for several years and into the start of when Waste Connections bought R360. He has some useful insights and knowledge of the oilfield waste industry, what is happening now, and what they are doing to weather the current 2020 pandemic storm. Part of the discussion is about carbon sequestration and oil field waste. – Neil Nowak, SCS Engineers, Oil & Gas Exploration and Production
Oil & Gas Exploration and Production
SCS Engineers announces the expansion of its environmental consulting team with the hiring of Senior Project Manager Michael Dustman.
Mr. Dustman brings 17 years of experience providing environmental consulting to public and private entities desiring to assess, delineate, and remediate environmental conditions adversely affecting properties and facilities. Clients often utilize Mr. Dustman’s expertise following natural hazards like hurricanes, tornados, and floods, causing significant risk to health and property.
As a Senior Project Manager, he will continue to focus on remediation and the planning for, and the recovery from natural and human-made hazards. His experience also includes health and safety (IHS) consulting to clients in Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Ohio, and Oklahoma, all locations with SCS clients. He has previously supported municipal agencies, private clients, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 4 Superfund Technical Assessment and Response Team, hospitals, and the U.S. Postal Service, among others.
Mr. Dustman has a wide range of environmentally hazardous conditions he mitigates, including asbestos, lead-based paint, and other hazardous materials, mold, radon. He regularly performs soil and groundwater testing and air monitoring.
“We genuinely strive to understand our clients’ challenges and goals, states Vice President and Environmental Services Lead, Michael Miller. “We appreciate the quality, standards, and leadership that Mike Dustman brings to them and our environmental teams.”
SCS Engineers’ environmental solutions and technology are a direct result of our experience and dedication to industries responsible for safeguarding the environment as they deliver services and products. Mr. Dustman’s educational credentials, professional certifications, and training are available on the SCS Engineers website. For more information about SCS, enjoy our 50th Anniversary video.
Chemical companies are phasing out certain PFAS commonly used in fast food wrappers – read the full story and report at C&EN.
Chemical manufacturers are planning to gradually ramp down sales of certain short-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) used as grease-proofing agents on fast food wrappers, take-out containers, and other paper-based food packaging, the US Food and Drug Administration announced July 31.
AGC Chemicals Americas, Archroma Management, and Daikin America will phase out sales of substances that contain 6:2 fluorotelomer alcohol (6:2 FTOH) for use in paper and cardboard food packaging beginning in January 2021. The process is expected to take 3 years, with up to an additional 18 months to use up existing stocks. A fourth company, Chemours, told the FDA last year that it has already stopped selling the substances in the US market.
PFAS that contain 6:2 FTOH replaced long-chain PFAS in food packaging nearly a decade ago because of concerns about the safety of long-chain PFAS, which are linked to cancer and immune disorders. FDA scientists, however, are now questioning the safety of those replacements. Data from rodent studies suggest that 6:2 FTOH accumulates in the body, the FDA reported in January (Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 2020, DOI: 10.1016/j.taap.2020.114878).
“The data suggest the potential of 6:2 FTOH to also persist in humans from chronic dietary exposure,” the FDA says in a statement. “Further scientific studies are needed to better understand the potential human health risks from dietary exposure to food-contact substances that contain 6:2 FTOH.”
Rather than conduct those tests, the three manufacturers of the substances in question agreed to phase out sales in the US. – read the full story and report at C&EN.
Find more information on PFAS removal and treatment systems.
As reported in the July 29, 2020, digital news by Environmental Business International
Electronic waste represents billions in lost value
A record 53.6 million metric tonnes (Mt) of electronic waste was generated worldwide in 2019, up 21% in five years, according to the UN’s Global E-waste Monitor 2020. Only 17.4% of 2019’s e-waste was collected and recycled, meaning gold, silver, copper, platinum and other recoverable materials conservatively valued at $57 billion were mostly dumped or burned rather than being collected for treatment and reuse. The report predicts global e-waste will reach 74 Mt by 2030, making e-waste the world’s fastest-growing domestic waste stream. Global E-waste Statistics Partnership is a collaboration between UN University, International Telecommunication Union, International Solid Waste Assn. and the UN Environment Programme.
What can consumers do to help protect human health and the environment?
We can’t simply toss phones and electronics into our trash or recycling bins at home. To protect our health, water resources, and our communities we can reuse many of our devices and electronics. Try these; the links help you find local resources.
Discarded products with a battery or plug such as computers and mobile phones are electronic waste or (e-waste). Toxic and hazardous substances such as mercury, brominated flame retardants (BFR), or chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are found in many types of electronic equipment and pose a severe risk to human health and the environment if not handled in an environmentally sound manner.
While most electronics are not designed or assembled with recycling in mind, separate collection and recycling of e-waste can be economically viable for products containing high concentrations and contents of precious metals. Cell phones and computers contain base materials such as gold.
Recycling programs are often confronted with the costs of recycling vs material recovery markets, and because the recovery of some materials is especially challenging. Within the paradigm of a circular economy, the mining of e-waste can be considered an important source of secondary raw materials.
Thanks for helping us keep our communities safer!
For community recycling and reuse program development visit our Sustainable Materials Management website.
The Pros and Cons of FAST-41
Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, 42 U.S.C. § 4370m et seq., commonly known as the FAST-41 program, provides a set of tools to help coordinate the environmental processing and approval of most major infrastructure projects.
While not perfect, even presenting certain disadvantages at times, it is worthy of study. FAST-41 can lead to a variety of benefits, including a more predictable permitting path, increased accountability and coordination among federal agencies, and certain legal protections.
In the end, any potential FAST-41 project applicant should spend the time and resources to weigh the pros and cons of obtaining FAST-41 coverage. That coverage may help achieve the often-elusive goal of corralling disparate agencies and timelines for essential infrastructure projects, all without compromising the depth and integrity of the NEPA process.
Read the article published by the American Bar Association here.
About the Co-Authors: Nathan Eady is a vice president/project director, and land-use planner for SCS Engineers. He provides both technical and managerial support for various environmental, regulatory, and land-use projects. He is also SCS’s National Oil and Gas Expert and an expert in the safe permitting of plants and facilities. Mr. Kane, P.E., J.D. is president of P3 Collaborative LLC; Mr. Marsh is a Partner at Downey Brand LLP; Mr. Veasy is a senior associate at Downey Brand LLP.
SCS Engineers is known for sharing best practices, and now we’re expanding our video library online in the SCS Learning Center. Our first video is for Solid Waste Managers and Departments struggling to keep their programs funded, especially recycling.
Strategic Planning for Financial Security is an educational video providing insight into the relationship between solid waste strategic planning and financial security. Less than 30-minutes and available for association events with Q&A.
The video discusses strategies that are useful when developing a business case analysis for SMM, recycling, or composting programs. The process also helps you identify opportunities to increase efficiency and reduce operating costs; design a Capital Plan and secure support for rate increases.
Moderated by Bob Gardner, Michelle Leonard starts with an overview of the effect of the pandemic on recycling programs, state regulatory policy, and funding challenges.
Vita Quinn presents a financial modeling scenario employing financial modeling and solid waste facility software packages to help decision-makers visualize the impact of various alternatives on the planning process. The model is helpful when planning scenarios for budgeting and testing alternative outcomes regarding future solid waste policies, strategies, and funding.
The model is especially useful for cost-benefit analysis of alternatives, fine-tuning strategies as more detailed information and data become available, or when revenue streams or funding levels change following natural disasters, pandemics, market swings, or economic downturns.
SCS Management Services® offers financial sustainability with preventative solutions and long-term financial management plans to public agencies facing environmental and market challenges, shifting regulations, and those aiming for new clean energy goals. Utilities and public-sector organizations provide life-sustaining services to their citizens and communities; providing these services while managing budget constraints; reporting, compliance, and operational challenges; and maintaining affordable rates. We support agencies and companies responsible for managing solid waste, stormwater, wastewater, brownfields-remediation, and energy programs that require integrated skill-sets and financial sustainability for optimal value.
… according to the experts, and continue through its active life. All along, operators should consider what they will need to show regulators once they are ready to install the final cap.
Choosing the right designer for liquids and gas management is critical. The complexity of landfills varies from site to site, and issues related to conflicts among gas and liquids pipes, and pipes and final cover geosynthetics vary depending on the geometry and other landfill features involved at each location. In short, your designers must understand and work closely with your operations and monitoring team.
The best way to resolve conflicts before the closure is to have a coordinated effort among parties involved in the design to discuss and find solutions to every conflict at the design stage.
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