Environmental

October 7, 2016 · (Updated: February 4, 2022)

October 7, 2016 by

Client: Confidential Law Firm
Location: Colorado, USA

Challenge. Determine and allocate the level of responsibility of numerous potentially responsible parties for remediation of a large-scale groundwater contamination plume in an industrial area.

Solution. INTERA personnel led an investigation to accurately determine the separate contributions of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) from landfills or other sources, and develop a groundwater model to simulate the flow of PFCs in groundwater. For decades, PFCs have been used in hundreds of industrial applications and consumer products such as carpeting, clothing, upholstery, food containers, fire-suppression foam, and chrome plating. These chemicals are persistent in the environment and are resistant to degradation. Support of our client’s position consisted of reviewing environmental data, geology, and historical information regarding locations of nearby landfills, chrome plating facilities, and training facilities where fire-suppression foam was used, and utilizing that information to develop a site conceptual model of potential sources of PFCs. A groundwater model was developed to simulate the migration of PFCs from the contaminant sources to drinking water wells, and eventually to a river, in a karstic system.

October 7, 2016 · (Updated: March 3, 2022)

October 7, 2016 by

Client: Confidential Law Firm
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Challenge. To support our client’s position in a natural resource damages case brought forth by the State of New Mexico.

Solution. INTERA provided technical and litigation support for a geologic and hydrogeologic evaluation of a Superfund site in New Mexico. Our efforts included completing an evaluation of the existing groundwater resources; assessing the groundwater-surface water interaction and the groundwater contamination caused by halogenated organics; simulating the groundwater flow and contaminant transport through the use of modeling; and completing a feasibility study to assess the most feasible and appropriate groundwater remediation approach and the associated costs. As part of our services, we prepared an expert report and provided deposition and hearing testimony in the case involving the State of New Mexico v. General Electric et al. in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.

September 3, 2015 · (Updated: February 4, 2022)

September 3, 2015 by

Client: Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico

Challenge. Protect a municipal water supply from being impacted by one of the largest jet fuel releases in the U.S.

Solution. INTERA has provided technical review of activities carried out by Kirtland Air Force Base (KAFB) to address a large jet fuel release that threatens Albuquerque’s most productive water supply well field. Estimates of from 2 to 4 million gallons of jet fuel has contaminated the 500-foot-thick vadose zone and underlying aquifer. Contamination includes LNAPL in the vadose zone and aquifer and dissolved-phase plumes, the largest of which contains ethylene dibromide (EDB) and is migrating toward the City’s Ridge Crest well field. INTERA reviewed all work plan and design documents, including those for characterization of the vadose zone, the LNAPL lens near the water table, and the dissolved phase plumes; interim containment designs using soil vapor extraction and dissolved phase capture; aquifer testing plans; well design; and sampling protocols and strategies. After each review, INTERA provided detailed comments and recommendations to ABCWUA with the focus on improving the scientific defensibility, cost-efficiency, and effectiveness of the proposed activities and designs. As part of evaluating the dissolved phase capture, extraction, and treatment containment option, INTERA developed a groundwater flow and contaminant transport model. Using analytical element methods, extraction and treatment of the dissolved-phase plume was assessed considering the number, location (vertically and horizontally), and pumping rate of wells placed downgradient of the leading edge of the plume. Results of the modeling provided the Water Authority and other agencies with an independent evaluation of potential remediation schemes for comparison to those being provided by KAFB’s consultants.

August 28, 2015 · (Updated: February 4, 2022)

August 28, 2015 by

Project-Steve-Herrera-Judicial-Complex-Before

Client: Santa Fe County
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Challenge. Address a free-phase petroleum hydrocarbon plume to allow construction of a new judicial complex to proceed

Solution. During construction of the Judge Steve Herrera Judicial Complex (the Judicial Complex), a light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) plume was discovered at the water table beneath the site. As a result, Santa Fe County (the County) stopped work to develop and implement a remedy to address this contamination. INTERA completed a soil and groundwater investigation that showed the LNAPL plume was predominately present in the proposed location of the subsurface parking garage. Furthermore, it was determined that the LNAPL was the direct result of leaking from underground storage tanks located at several former gasoline service stations in the area. The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) Petroleum Storage Tank Bureau (PSTB) operates a soil vapor extraction system for the areas outside of the Judicial Complex excavation to remediate the historic contamination. To address contamination within the excavation area, INTERA designed a remediation work plan that included isolating the site from the area-wide LNAPL plume using a grout injection barrier wall. The barrier wall was designed to prevent LNAPL from flowing back into the excavation during remediation and construction activities. As part of the on-site remedy, INTERA removed approximately 27,000 tons of petroleum contaminated soil (PCS) within the excavation footprint of the parking garage. INTERA provided oversight of the PCS excavation activities and collected confirmatory soil samples at the base of the excavation to ensure that all targeted soil was excavated and removed. INTERA then worked with the County to develop a long-term monitoring plan for soil vapor and groundwater for the Judicial Complex that is now being implemented. On behalf of the County, we entered the site into NMED’s Voluntary Remediation Program (VRP) and a Certificate of Completion is pending. INTERA’s success in delineating and remediating the soil and groundwater contamination beneath the site enabled the County to resume construction, and the Judicial Complex was opened to the public in 2013.

Project-Steve-Herrera-Judicial-Complex-After

August 27, 2015 · (Updated: April 13, 2022)

August 27, 2015 by

Client: United States Department of Energy
Location: Richland, Washington, USA

Challenge. Integrate modeling and risk assessments to support decision making by multiple contractors and regulators on the largest environmental restoration project in the United States

Solution. INTERA is providing modeling, risk assessment, and data analysis services to support the safe, environmental cleanup of the Central Plateau area of the United States Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hanford Site. Established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project, the Hanford Site included nine nuclear reactors along the Columbia River and five large plutonium processing complexes, which produced plutonium for most of the more than 60,000 weapons in the United States nuclear arsenal. As a result of early safety procedures and waste disposal practices, operations at Hanford released large amounts of radioactive materials and other contaminants into the air, soils, groundwater, and the Columbia River. Today, it is the site of the largest environmental cleanup project in the United States. INTERA is a key member working under the Plateau Remediation Contract—a 10-year, $4.5 billion effort to eliminate risks at the Hanford Site and protect the adjacent Columbia River. Environmental restoration activities at the site are being conducted in accordance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) through a Tri-Party Agreement between DOE, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the Washington Department of Ecology. INTERA’s ability to develop and apply high-quality risk-informed decision support tools has been recognized by DOE’s Richland Operations Office and Office of River Protection, as well other major site contractors, as one of the keys to building consensus among all project stakeholders. These tools support the definition of preliminary remediation goals; the evaluation, design, and optimization of remediation systems; the identification of additional site characterization data needs; and the communication of site risks to stakeholders. We have made major contributions to decision documents developed under CERCLA, RCRA, and DOE Order 435.1. We have also developed tools and prepared web-delivered annual reports for the groundwater monitoring system and the pump-and-treat operations that allow stakeholders to query underlying data, create charts and geologic cross sections, and display complex analyses information. INTERA has consistently delivered services and work products in accordance with established schedules and budgets, and made significant contributions toward meeting nearly every Tri-Party Agreement milestone specified in the contract.

August 13, 2015 · (Updated: February 4, 2022)

August 13, 2015 by

Client: Native American Pueblo
Location: North central, New Mexico

Challenge. Evaluate risks to the health of tribal people resulting from potential releases of radionuclides from nearby Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

Solution. INTERA has evaluated human health risks for both the Valles Caldera, a volcanic highland located adjacent to LANL and the Pueblo village proper. We analyzed soil, surface water, sediment, and air quality data to determine whether a statistically significant difference exists between the point-of-compliance data set and LANL’s regional statistical reference. The data was grouped according to media, location, and date of collection, and analyzed statistically according to sample populations that are spatially and temporally related. The risk assessment model, based on standardized risk assessment methods, includes risk pathways that are unique to the tribal people, including ingestion of wild game, plants, surface water, and crops that are irrigated with water from the potentially impacted watershed and religious ceremonies. Information regarding tribal lifeways has been obtained through interviews with elders and cultural leaders. The risk model was developed to fit the population of the “Tribal Person” and incorporates additional exposure parameters that are pueblo-specific.

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