Selected
Project Descriptions:
•
Pinal Creek Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund Site, Arizona
Mr.
Norris supervised and reported field, laboratory, and numerical
studies comprising the RI/FS for this site regulated under Arizona's
equivalent of the federal Superfund program. The site consists
of groundwater, surface water, and soils contaminated by acid
and metals in the watershed of a 100-year old mining district.
Mr. Norris provided support to companies conducting the remediation
as lead technical consultant throughout the RI/FS process and
as part of the design team implementing the remediation. Specific
work includes:
Development of an interim remedial action plan based
on geochemical analysis of metal and acid migration, and numerical
modeling of transport under the proposed plan accepted
by ADEQ and EPA.
Manager of human health risk assessment which considered carcinogenic
and non-carcinogenic risk to humans from exposure to metals in
groundwater, surface water, and soil.
Developed
and implemented program to collect and evaluate water samples
from kitchen taps and 100 private wells within and proximal to
a plume of acid- and metals-impacted water. Managed replacement
of 30 drinking water wells impacted by metals.
Manager of ecological risk assessment using numeric criteria,
toxicity testing, and biosurveys to evaluate potential risk due
to metals in surface water, soils, and vegetation.
Provided technical guidance for development of the community relations
plan, including participation in public meetings and briefings
for interested parties.
Conducted screening and detailed analysis of remedial action alternatives
leading to recommendation of a preferred remedial action. Managed
civil and chemical engineering teams providing design and cost
data.
Manager of laboratory and pilot-scale treatability tests for acid
and metals, including lime neutralization, aerobic wetlands, and
sulfate reducing bioreactors.
Negotiation of Consent Decree terms for the technical scope of
work and implementation strategy for the selected remedy.
Numerical modeling and conceptual design of two containment wellfields
for pumping up to 10,000 gpm based on performance analysis considering
operating uncertainties.
Developed Engineering Evaluation and Economic Analysis for a time
critical removal action under a Compliance Order. Hydro Geo Chem
managed the engineering design and procurement for the required
3,000 gpm wellfield and 6-mile pipeline.
Negotiated the NPDES permit for a 6,500 gpm treatment plant using
lime neutralization. Provided technical support for assessment
of potential riparian impacts pursuant to CWA Section 404 permitting.
Used surface water analyses for total and dissolved metals to
develop site-specific translators for modifying NPDES effluent
limits for cobalt, copper, manganese, nickel, and zinc.
Developed environmental monitoring plans for the site with respect
to ongoing assessments of metals in groundwater, surface water,
soil, aquatic life, private wells, and the regional aquifer.
Technical representative for cost recovery and class action litigation.
•
Phelps Dodge Miami Mine, Arizona
Mr.
Norris managed and directed numerous site-specific studies characterizing
the abundance and mobility of metals in natural and man-made materials
at the Miami mine. This information was used for preparation of
the Aquifer Protection Permit and development of action plans
for the control of acidic metal bearing water. Mr. Norris was
responsible for the RI/FS for the mine site required by Consent
Decree. Mr. Norris conducted or managed the following work:
Development of a site-wide monitoring system of wells and piezometers
in tailings and predevelopment bedrock and alluvial aquifers.
Responsible for conducting and interpreting water sampling and
analysis.
Geochemical characterization of metals in tailings, slag, and
materials stockpiles including leach testing (e.g., synthetic
precipitation leach procedure), static acid base accounting, kinetic
leach testing, and trace metal analysis.
Characterization of physical and hydraulic properties of saturated
and unsaturated media for quantitative modeling of flow and contaminant
transport.
Analysis of environmental fate and transport of acidity and metals
in a complex assemblage of natural and man-made materials, including
description of major flow paths and attenuation mechanisms in
saturated and unsaturated materials.
Evaluation of potential mitigation actions leading to selection
and implementation of a cost-effective control strategy. The control
strategy included plans for grading and capping tailings, surface
water diversion, and water management based on a comprehensive
water budget.
Design, construction, and ongoing monitoring of tailings cover
test plots on acidic tailings. The plots are used to test the
impact of acidity and metals on a self-sustaining desert vegetation.
Development of a water supply for refinery operations including
installation of three large-diameter wells up to 1,400 feet deep
in basin fill sediment.
Negotiation
of conditions and effluent limits for the NPDES general stormwater
permit.
•
San Gabriel Valley Superfund Site, California
Project
manager for RI/FS for VOC contamination in groundwater at an electronics
manufacturing facility in the San Gabriel Valley Superfund site.
Trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, and 1,1-dichloroethylene
were the primary contaminants and had migrated off site. RI studies
included installation of monitoring wells, semi-annual water sampling
and reporting, and numerical modeling of VOC transport in the
local and regional alluvial aquifer. The FS recommended groundwater
containment at the property boundary and aggressive pumping in
the source area with air stripping and activated carbon treatment
of groundwater while vadose zone soils were remediated by soil
vapor extraction. The FS included field-scale tests of groundwater
pumping and air sparging. The remedy was approved and subsequently
constructed and operated by Hydro Geo Chem.
•
Jim Bridger Power Plant, Wyoming
Managed
the investigation and cleanup of a diesel fuel spill. Field studies
sampled groundwater and soils for petroleum hydrocarbons and determined
the structural geologic controls on a seep of diesel fuel issuing
into surface water more than 1,000 feet from the nearest potential
source. Designed and installed a product-only recovery system
and groundwater monitoring system acceptable for the remedial
action requirement of WDEQ.
Managed
geochemical investigation that characterized water quality, flow
paths, and chemical loading ponds containing flu gas desulfurization
products. Investigations were required to evaluate water quality
changes in monitoring wells at the around the ponds. Sulfur, oxygen,
and hydrogen isotopes were used along with trace metal and major
ion water chemistry to demonstrate to WDEQ that the ponds were
not the source of the water quality changes. Characterized the
moisture distribution in fly ash and industrial landfills and
developed a groundwater monitoring program using selenium as a
tracer for landfill leachate.
•
Seymour Recycling Center Superfund Site, Indiana
Hydro
Geo Chem designed the vapor extraction system for this EPA Superfund
site. Mr. Norris' responsibilities included installing vapor extraction
wells, VOC sampling of vadose zone soils; characterizing the soil
stratigraphy; and conducting and evaluating air permeability and
vapor-phase tracer tests to determine chemical and pneumatic properties
of the vadose zone as a prerequisite to design the vapor extraction
system.
MISCELLANEOUS
INVESTIGATIONS:
Provided
expert opinion on the NCP compliance of emergency response actions
taken for a nitric acid spill and fire at a railroad yard in Yuma,
Arizona.
Conducted
treatability analysis of selenium as part of a trade off study
for an Arizona power plant.
Project
manager for Total Maximum Daily Load
investigations at Sonoita Creek and the Hassayampa River.
Conducted
fate and transport studies in support of cost recovery litigation
between PRPs in the Puente Valley operable unit of the San Gabriel
Valley Superfund site.
Supported
defense in civil suit regarding a site containing chromium ore
processing residue.
Characterization
of VOC concentrations and groundwater flow directions to develop
a design basis for a contaminated drinking water supply serving
approximately 50 families at a Tucson mobile home park.
Technical
expert for negotiation of NPDES permit conditions and effluent
limits for an individual permit for San Juan mine, Arizona and
a general stormwater permit for the Christmas mine, Arizona.
Field manager for soil investigation of an acetone spill at a
Texas manufacturing plant.
Field
Manager for environmental audit of manufacturing facility with
semi-volatile-organic-compound-impacted soils at a Superfund site
near Livermore, California.
Developed
MODFLOW numerical model to evaluate water resources and the feasibility
of an irrigation project in northeastern Arizona.
Expertise