SENIOR ASSOCIATE ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMIST
(also affiliated with NewFields)
Roger W. Lee, Ph.D, P.G. was born in Long Beach, CA and raised in Pasadena and Deer Park, Texas. After undergraduate college at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas with a BS in chemistry, he worked at Lubrizol Corp. as a quality control chemist for 5 years. In 1973, he returned to Texas Tech for a MS in Geology. Upon receiving his MS he embarked on a 31-year career with U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Discipline as a hydrologist and geochemist that took him to duty stations in Billings, MT, Atlanta, GA, Nashville, TN, Austin, TX, and Dallas, TX. While in Nashville, he was selected to participate in the USGS Graduate Training Program, and attended University of Texas in 1989 for one year of course work and 6 years of on-the-job research, earning a Ph.D. in Geological Sciences in 1996.
Dr. Lee has 47 years’ work experience, including 31 years with the US Geological Survey, with experience in aqueous geochemistry research, environmental & contaminant geochemistry, hydrogeology, quality assurance duties as colleague and peer reviewer of papers and journal articles, and preparation of quality assurance documents for private and government clients as a consultant. Dr. Lee served eight years as technical support and USGS/EPA liaison for Region 6 Superfund in Dallas, TX on more than 70 Superfund sites. Responsibilities included data collection and oversight, report review and quality assurance editing, and meeting with other Department of Interior trustees to assist with Natural Resources Damages Assessments in conjunction with Superfund sites. Dr. Lee prepared quality management plans and quality assurance project plans for EPA on behalf of USGS and helped offices of USGS prepare quality assurance project plans, field sampling plans, and health and safety plans prior to retiring from government service in 2006. Dr. Lee rose from an entry-level position of GS-5 technician to GS-14 research scientist over the course of his career. Following retirement, Dr. Lee entered the consulting world, serving in a similar capacity with ERM, Inc., and is presently an I2M Associate for I2M Consulting, LLC, and a Senior Environmental Geochemist for Pioneer Technology. For additional information, see his CV and selected publications.
Areas of Demonstrated Competence
- Aqueous geochemistry & groundwater hydrology
- Contaminant/organic geochemistry
- Metals & mining geochemistry
- Regulatory liaison to EPA
- Fate & transport modeling
- Training—HAZWOPER
- Project Management
- Quality Assurance/Quality Control
Environmental
07/09-present — Dr. Lee has performed over 200 ESA reviews for sites located on privately owned and government properties in NV, UT, HI, AZ, ID, CA, IN, PA, FL, OR, FL, TN, NY, IL, TX, WA and other states. Duties included executing field activities within the project areas, production of the final reports, and final report review and editing for quality assurance. He has been engaged in several tasks on behalf of BP Corp. at the Butte, MT Superfund Site that include field research in metals-contaminated groundwater geochemistry, groundwater-surface water interactions, and neutralization modeling for a contaminated water treatment plant. He also managed a project with USGS that developed a 40-hour credit online training class in Water Quality Principles for USGS, which included technical information and QA/QC instruction for professional development.
Expert Witness Experience
11-06-present — In 2011, Dr. Lee established work with two law firms and clients having pending legal actions for oil-field brine contamination of groundwater in West Texas and Louisiana. The field work for West Texas that was designed by Dr. Lee confirmed the release of brine to groundwater and the court action and subsequent depositions and testimony are pending. From Nov. 2006 to March 2010, as a Senior Consultant with ERM, Inc. in Austin, TX, he provided technical support for expert testimony for confidential clients. Dr. Lee was deposed on 4 occasions and testified in court as an expert witness in hydrology which resulted in a win in court for the client.
Project Manager/Sr. Consultant, ERM
11/06-03/10 — Dr. Lee conducted projects in assessment, aqueous geochemistry, and fate and transport of hydrocarbons and trace elements on more than 10 projects for clients of ERM, Inc. He participated in several site assessments, including a large environmental assessment of mining assets in Montana and Idaho for the ASARCO bankruptcy proceeding. He provided litigation support, on 4 legal actions for clients of ERM. Dr. Lee served as peer reviewer for quality assurance on internal and external reports for clients of ERM.
USGS/USEPA Liaison
7/98-11/06 — Dr. Lee provided technical support to USEPA, Region 6, Superfund, Dallas, Texas in areas pertaining to water quality, geochemistry, and hydrology. He conducted numerous field investigations for soil vapor, groundwater sample collections, base flow analyses in streams, and data analyses and interpretation. He participated in several research, investigation, and quality management activities for Superfund involving ground water contamination at City, State, and Federal government managed sites or for other Federal government entities in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Dr. Lee provided technical advice to USEPA attorneys for actions on environmental damage and remediation.
Research Scientist, USGS-WRD
07/75-11/06 — Dr. Lee was a research scientist, principally in groundwater research. He worked on numerous projects in Montana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, Michigan, and consulted for the United Nations in The Peoples’ Republic of China and taught geochemistry to hydrologists in the UAE.
Technical Writer & Editorial Reviewer
07/75-present — During his professional career, Dr. Lee authored or co-authored more than 70 government and journal publications, and presented more than 25 oral and poster sessions at national and international technical conferences. As an environmental consultant he authored or co-authored more than 20 reports to clients. He served as colleague reviewer while with USGS on more than 40 reports, and, as a technical peer reviewer for various journals on more than 30 journal articles.
Quality Control Chemist
07/69-08/73 — Armed with a BS in chemistry, he served as a bench chemist for Lubrizol Corp. He was responsible for monitoring chemical processes applying more than 200 analytical chemical procedures for batch organic chemicals’ synthetic processes.
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. For additional information, see Dr. Lee’s CV and selected publications.
Recent Publications:
Campbell, M. D., R. I. Rackley, R. W. Lee, M. David Campbell, H. M. Wise, J. D. King, and S. E Campbell, 2018, “Characterization of the Occurrence of Uranium, Thorium, Rare Earths and Other Metals in Basement Rocks as a Source for New Uranium Roll-Front District in the Tertiary Sediments in the McCarthy Marsh and Death Valley and Associated Metallogenic Areas in the Eastern Seward Peninsula, Alaska,” Journal Geology and Geosciences, Vol. 2(1), 2018, pp. 1-65 p. (here).
Campbell, M. D., M. David Campbell, R. W. Lee, and G. Collier, 2017, “Anatomy of a Case of Elevated Chloride in the Shallow Black Hand Sandstone Providing Rural Drinking Water Supplies in North-Central Ohio, USA: Hydrogeological and Hydrochemical Characterization by Major and Minor Elements, and δ2H, δ18O, δ13C and Tritium Isotopes,”Journal of Geology and Geoscience, Vol. 1, No. 1, 68 p. (here).
Campbell, M. D., R. W. Lee, and M. David Campbell, 2017, “Gold and Other Metals in the Cao Ram Area, Doi Bu District, Hoa Binh Region, Southwest of Hanoi, Vietnam,” Journal of Geology and Geosciences, Vol. 1, No. 1, 38 p. (here).
