I2M offers an experienced group of professional associates, many of whom have worked together in prior assignments over the past 20 years to consult on or manage and execute environmental programs in the United States and around the world (see I2M Consulting projects and Environmental Geology, Brownfields, and other services offered by I2M Consulting, LLC).
The development of broad-scale environmental programs aimed at industry started in earnest in the early 1970s with new regulations promulgated by federal agencies and later echoed by state programs. With time, increasing pressure was brought to bear on industry to change their paradigms in how they handle their operations and their wastes.
In the 1960s and 1970s, many geologists were trained to serve the specialized needs of the mining industry, the oil & gas industry, and the water-supply industry. In addition, many became adept at serving technical regulatory and research functions in state and federal agencies. Many I2M personnel were among the relatively few who were also trained as hydrogeologists not only to serve these industries and agencies but also to serve the growing environmental field. They were trained to adapt to dealing with different geological and hydrogeological functions in the new field of environmental consulting.
Beginning in the 1970s, groundwater was, and remains today, the central focus of state and federal regulations. Appropriately trained hydrogeologists served in a range of industrial and state and federal environmental regulatory functions. In the future, the multi-use fields of hydrogeology, environmental geology, and economic geology will play even more important roles in water supply, mining, and oil and gas. The seasoned professionals at I2M Associates offers clients a sound interdisciplinary perspective to support projects, ranging from industry-based environmental projects to those environmental issues involving the development of natural resources and the associated regulatory framework surrounding all such projects today. The I2M Associates support group is heavily loaded with senior personnel, which provides the client with only experienced individuals to work on their projects at competitive rates.
Below are a few case histories of the major projects undertaken over the years by I2M personnel:
Explosives Manufacturing Facility Real Estate Redevelopment, Washington
Once part of an explosives manufacturing facility dating back to the early 1900s, the land had gone unused since the plant closed. Many decades later, Weyerhaeuser purchased the site as part of a 3,300-acre tract intended for a mixed-use real estate project. Before work on the real estate development could begin, the site required remediation to remove heavy metal and residual explosives that remained in the areas where numerous plant facilities had been located.
Spurred by an impending change in the Environmental Protection Agency’s land disposal restriction (LOR) for handling hazardous wastes, Weyerhaeuser and the Pacific Environmental Remediation Corporation (PERC), and Jeff King, owner of PERC and Founder, Past President, and Current Senior Consultant to I2M Consulting, LLC, promptly developed a remediation plan that focused first efforts on areas of significant heavy-metal contamination. Site work was scheduled so that hazardous waste would be treated or disposed of within 60 days, the time remaining before the new LOR restrictions were to take effect. Had the project not been completed before the new LOR restrictions went into effect, 4,000 tons of contaminated material would have required stabilization prior to disposal at an estimated cost of $1.2 million. In addition to processing this volume of waste, remediation crews deliberately initiated more than 50 detonations to clear out residual explosives remaining in the old nitroglycerin manufacturing and transferring areas over much of the property designed to optimize safety controls of the day. These blasts averaged 30 to 40 pounds of dynamite each, with some detonations requiring up to 200 pounds. Sympathetic detonations of residual materials left craters in the area the size of large trucks.
The next phase of the project required the excavation of more than 80,000 cubic yards of material, which had to be screened, stockpiled, and covered or disposed offsite. More than 1,500 55-gallon drums without lids, and partly filled with a mixture of rain water and chemicals, were disposed offsite.
Remediation of the former DuPont plant site was completed and the large property incorporated into the Northwest landing project developed by Weyerhaeuser, which included a world class golf course, the construction of which was managed by Jeff King (PERC).
Washington State Superfund Site Characterization and Remediation
Jeff King, P.G., CEO of Pacific Environmental Remediation Corporation (PERC) and Founder, Past President of I2M Associates, LL, and Current Senior Consultant to I2M Consultants, LLC, provided project management via RI-FS preparation and approval by State for removal of soils below existing office buildings and associated shallow materials at a 5-acre State Superfund Site. The project consisted of removal of previous plant debris, soil washing (and soil replacement) of arsenic- and lead-contaminated soils, underlying sediments, and shallow groundwater, with the installation and quarterly sampling of numerous monitoring wells and 24/7 monitoring of the pressure distribution system within the shallow and intermediate aquifers to determine flow direction and rate of the migration of the contaminant plume, which are both subject to significant subsurface diurnal influences created by the Puget Sound tidal fluctuations nearby.
Soil characterization and groundwater investigations were conducted by and under the supervision of I2M’s Chief Hydrogeologist, Michael D. Campbell, P.G., P.H., former Regional Technical Manager (Central U.S.) of DuPont’s Environmental Remediation Services (DERS), based in Houston, Texas during the 1990s. See example of yearly continuous groundwater monitoring program of Shallow and Intermediate Aquifers (here), and one example of many flow-net analyses conducted at various snap-shots in time below.
DOE Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) Investigations
In 1988, groundwater contaminated with trichloroethene (TCE) and technetium-99 (Tc-99) were identified in samples collected from residential water wells withdrawing groundwater from the Regional Gravel Aquifer (RGA) north of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) facility. In 2012, DOE requested that Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), managing contractor of Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), provide an independent assessment of the quality and quantity of the existing groundwater monitoring data and determine if there is sufficient information to support a modification to the boundary of the current Water Policy.
Michael D. Campbell, P.G., P.H., now Chief Hydrogeologist for I2M Consulting, LLC, was engaged to provide technical support to ORAU. As a result of the assessment, ORAU concluded that sufficient groundwater monitoring data exists to determine that a shrinkage and/or shift of the plume(s) responsible for the initial development of this policy has occurred. Specifically, there is compelling evidence that the TCE plume is undergoing shrinkage due to natural attenuation and associated degradation. The plume shrinkage (and migration) has also been augmented in local areas where large volumes of groundwater were recovered by pump-and-treat remedial systems along the eastern and western boundaries of the Northwest Plume, and in other areas where pump-and-treat systems have been deployed by DOE to remove source contaminants. The available evidence supports adjusting the western and northwestern Water Policy boundary. Report released to the general public in 2016 (more).
Houston, Texas MUD Discovered Explosive Potential in Storage Tanks
I2M personnel were engaged to assess the possible causes of the decline in production of a high-capacity water well of a municipal utility district in the northern suburbs of Houston, Texas. Via an in-well video survey, an advanced stage of iron bacteria had grown up and down the slotted intakes of the well casing as incrustations along irregular sections of the casing. Also, the video showed a gaseous influx into the well originated at or near the top of the well screen from 704 to 715 feet below grade.
The produced water also contained iron-bacteria slough masses and a faint odor of hydrogen sulfide. Groundwater and air samples were taken and analyzed for hydrocarbons. Both air samples and groundwater samples contained significant volumes and concentrations of C1 through C6 (methane through the hexanes). Air samples near the upper vents of Storage Tanks exceeded the Lower Explosive Limit which represented serious explosive concerns and only required a source of spark from the electrical system within the roofs of the Tanks to ignite.
I2M personnel called for a hazard alert and the MUD personnel shutdown production of the water well system and vented all tanks, and an inter-connect was arranged with nearby MUDs to supply water to residents within the MUD. A few weeks later, the well system was returned to service after the safety hazard associated with the storage tanks had been eliminated by the installation of the appropriate power vents and other explosion-proof electrical system precautions.
I2M personnel made recommendations to the MUD for improved operation and maintenance procedures and for regular sampling of groundwater and air samples to monitor ongoing conditions. I2M personnel also recommended the MUD consider hydrocarbon removal after the well. A nearby MUD was located that had installed such systems, which provided impetus and justification for the MUD to install such a natural gas removal system.
For additional information on I2M projects over the years, see Case Histories and Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) (here).
We have Spanish-speaking Associates, Arabic-speaking Associates, French-speaking Associates, Chinese-speaking Associates, Russian-speaking Associates, and even Turkish and Vietnamese-speaking Associates, all available for supporting our projects in countries throughout the world.
For information regarding the I2M Biased Media Against Uranium Mining and Nuclear Power program, see (more).
For additional information on Brownfields, Redevelopment, and Mining Projects see the I2M SOQ that was prepared a few years ago for an overseas project (more). I2M Associates, LLC subsequently separated in two group: I2M Associates, LLC based in Texas (Richard C. Bost, P.E., and I2M Consulting, LLC based in Katy, Texas and in Seattle, Washington (Michael D. Campbell, P.G., P.H.) (more).
The personnel who may be assigned to your projects are listed below:
Direct: 713.248.1708
Fax: 713.807.0985
M. David Campbell, P.G. |
Jeffery D. King, P.G. |
I2M Associates |
Roger W. Lee, Ph.D., P.G. |
Ray Schaefer, P.G. |
James L. Conca, Ph.D. |
David Rowlands, Ph.D., P.G. |
James A. Saunders, Ph.D., P.G. |
Susan Evans, P.G. |
Scott Cameron, B.Sc., and B. Env.Sc.(Honors) |
Thomas C. Sutton, Ph.D., P.G. |
Mustafa Saribudak, Ph.D., P.G. |
Translators |
Samuel Chong, B.A., M.A. |
Other I2M Associates are available according to project requirements.
Feel free to contact us to discuss your project needs or to arrange a speaking engagement by one of our Associates for a professional training session, a technical conference, society meeting, or for a graduation ceremony or other function where the knowledge and experience of our Associates may be of interest to your group.
