Licensed Site Professional (LSP) Services

On October 1, 1993, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) privatized the cleanup of contaminated sites in Massachusetts to provide new opportunities and incentives for private parties to respond to contamination and to allow the State to focus its limited resources on the tasks that require government attention. New rules were implemented for reporting, assessing, and cleaning up releases of oil and hazardous material known as the Massachusetts Contingency Plan (the ‘MCP’ or 310 CMR 40.0000) which lays out a detailed process on when and how contaminated sites must be assessed and cleaned up. The regulations are designed to protect the environment as well as the health and safety of the people of Massachusetts. The MCP requires those responsible for cleanups hire a Licensed Site Professional, also referred to as an “LSP”, to manage and/or oversee the required assessment and cleanup work. An LSP is an environmental scientist or engineer experienced in the cleanup of oil and hazardous material contamination. The LSP’s job is to guide and collaborate with the responsible party(s) to develop and execute a scope of work that will satisfy the state requirements to address contaminated property set forth in Massachusetts General Law c. 21E and the MCP. IES’ in-house LSP, Kevin L. McAndrews, is highly qualified to oversee MCP activities and provide waste site cleanup opinions. Mr. Mitchell has been licensed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts since the implementation of the program in 1993 and was an active participant in the recent MCP revisions. He has a long history of providing MCP services spanning from Limited Removal Actions (LRA) to Permanent Solution Statements and successfully bringing contaminated sites into regulatory compliance.

IES has been successful in guiding our clients through the explicit criteria involved during the MCP process from notification, through response and risk reduction measures, to tier classifying/permitting, site characterization, risk assessment, and finally closure. IES achieves regulatory compliance for its clients by taking the lead role in developing remedial goals and implementing closure strategies as the Project Manager and Licensed Site Professional (LSP), while cooperating with environmental contractors to perform the specialized field tasks often required in environmental assessment and remedial response actions. The result is a team of specialized professionals working together to provide our clients with options and cost-effective solutions to reduce environmental liabilities and achieve regulatory and business objectives in a timely and concise fashion. Our highly qualified, personable, and motivated staff work with our clients to navigate the maze of State and Federal regulations in order to find innovative and cost-effective strategies oriented towards a permanent solution. We provide services to meet all aspects of the MCP, RCRA, CERCLA, EPA, USDOT, CAA, CWA, OSHA, as well as local regulations.

IES is highly reputable when it comes to proper judgment and implementation of the MCP Regulatory Process and Standards during the direction and management of response actions for spill response and remediation of contamination. IES directs and conducts a series of response actions including:

Preliminary Response Actions and Risk Reduction Measures

• Immediate Reposes Actions
• Release Abatement Measures
• Utility Related Abatement Measures
• Phase I – Initial Site Investigation Report
• Tier Classification and Response Action Deadlines

Comprehensive Response Actions

• Phase II – Comprehensive Site Assessment
• Phase III – Identification and Selection of Comprehensive Remedial Action Alternatives
• Phase IV – Implementation of the Selected Remedial Action Alternative
• Phase V – Operation, Maintenance and/or Monitoring

Risk Characterization

• Receptor and Exposure Information
• Identification of Site Groundwater and Soil Categories
• Imminent Hazard Evaluations
• Substantial Hazard Evaluations
• Method 1, 2, and 3 Risk Characterizations

Permanent and Temporary Solutions

• Permanent Solution with or without Conditions
• Temporary Solutions
• Active Exposure Pathway Mitigation Measures
• Background Levels of Oil and Hazardous Material
• Implementation of Activity and Use Limitations

Cost Recovery

• Recovery of Response Action Costs Incurred in Response Actions
• Procedures for Liens
• Petitions for Reimbursement of Incurred Costs

An environmental risk assessment is a tool that supplies information about risks to human or ecological receptors due to exposure to identified hazards that relies on environmental media data, site use, fate and transport, and toxicological information. The goal of a risk assessment is to establish whether a condition of “No Significant Risk” (NSR) exists or has been achieved. The three Methods for Risk Characterization described in 310 CMR 40.0941(3) have been developed to provide a range of approaches which vary in detail and circumstances of use, each of which provides equivalent levels of protection to health, public welfare, and the environment. The specific Risk Characterization approach used shall depend upon the nature of the risk being assessed, the response action being performed and the nature of the disposal site.

• A Method 1 Risk Characterization, pursuant to 310 CMR 40.0970, uses a set of soil and groundwater standards that are compared directly to Site exposure point concentrations (EPCs). The Method 1 Standards were developed by MassDEP according to a defined set of exposure scenarios that represent a conservative estimate of potential exposures that could occur at most sites.
• A Method 2 Risk Characterization, pursuant to 310 CMR 40.0980, entails the derivation of additional standards for those compounds for which MassDEP has not developed a Method 1 Standard. In addition, site-specific fate and transport factors and considerations may be used in Method 2 to modify certain Method 1 Standards.
• The Method 3 Risk Characterization, pursuant to 310 CMR 40.0990, recognizes site-specific exposure routes, contaminant concentrations and distribution, and other site-specific information in evaluating the risk posed by a site. Regardless of approach, the goal of the Risk Characterization is to demonstrate that a level of no significant risk (NSR) of harm to health, public welfare and the environment exists or has been achieved.

IES’s consultants conduct risk assessments as a major component of reaching closure for disposal sites where all risk to human health, public welfare, and the environment are evaluated under the MCP. IES uses risk assessments to support regulatory negotiations as well as offer property owners and developer’s assistance with business decisions.

IES has been at the forefront of soil reclamation projects by working with developers and contractors to assist with managing earthworks by fully characterizing soils, preparing soil management plans, and submitting LSP Opinions regarding appropriate placement of soils. See the MassDEP list of Facilities Accepting Reclamation Soil. IES promotes and applies green approaches during the assessment and remediation of oil and hazardous material disposal sites. IES considers all environmental effects of remedy implementation and incorporating options to eliminate or reduce the environmental footprint of cleanup activities to the maximum extent possible. During site cleanups, IES takes consideration of eliminating or reducing, to the extent practicable and consistent with response action requirements and objectives, total energy use, air pollutant emissions, greenhouse gases, water use, materials consumption, and ecosystem and water resources impacts, resulting from the performance of response actions through energy efficiency, renewable energy use, materials management, waste reduction, land management, and ecosystem protection. Another way IES focuses on reducing waste is by recycling contaminated soil generated during cleanups. Typical oil spills will generate tons of petroleum contaminated soil, instead of sending this material to a landfill, IES prepares a MassDEP Bill of Lading (BOL) package including full laboratory analytical data and site characterization information for acceptance at a soil recycling facility such as Aggregate Industries, Ted Ondrick Company, Environmental Soil Management Companies (ESMI) and Clean Earth. These soil recycling facilities utilize various technologies to reduce contaminant impacts and create reusable soil:

• Asphalt Batch/Cold Mix – a process in which petroleum contaminated soils are recycled into viable, safe construction materials. Two methods, encapsulation and bio-remediation, are used to convert these soils into environmentally safe products for use as construction base or as soil cover for landfills. The encapsulation process utilizes commercial emulsions to bind the petroleum materials thereby preventing further migration while bio-remediation uses natural occurring microbes to break down the petroleum into inert soil substances.
• Low Temperature Thermal Desorption (LTTD) or Hot Mix – a technology that utilizes heat to physically separate contaminants from soil and media. LTTD units are designed to heat contaminated soils in the rotary kiln (primary treatment unit) to temperatures sufficient to volatilize the contaminants and desorb (physically separate) from the soil or media. The vaporized hydrocarbons are treated in a secondary treatment unit – afterburner/thermal oxidizer – where the hydrocarbons are destroyed prior to discharge to the atmosphere. Treated soils are rehydrated to control fugitive emissions, stockpiled for analysis, and recycled as alternate daily cover (landfill) or cap/cover material on a Beneficial Use (BU) site.

If you had a spill of oil at your home or business, or are aware of contamination related to your oil storage tank or delivery line, your first point of contact should be the local fire department. Certain matters are under their direct jurisdiction (e.g., tank removal, public safety issues), and they will in many cases provide advice on how to best proceed. Under state law, you must also contact the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) if certain reporting thresholds are reached or exceeded. In all, there are twenty-two specific threshold conditions that would require notification to MassDEP – in as little as 2 hours after becoming aware of the problem. The most common reporting conditions at homes and small businesses are listed below:

• A spill of more than ten gallons of gasoline or oil within a 24-hour period;
• A spill of any quantity of gasoline or oil that creates a sheen on a surface water body;
• A discovery of oil floating on the surface of the groundwater table;
• the presence of explosive concentrations of petroleum vapors in a building or confined space.

If you have experienced a sudden spill, IES’s LSP can assist with notification requirements and recommend response actions in order to quickly reduce health risks and limit the environmental impact of the spill. IES has worked with many homeowners in the past and is well versed in the Site Cleanup for Homeowners. It is also highly recommended that homeowners carefully review this website, which contains complete step-by-step instructions on how to act and proceed, and the pitfalls that should be avoided.

IES can help provide our clients with a realistic evaluation and assessment of the liability and costs associated with the redevelopment of environmentally impaired properties. The successful redevelopment of these properties requires foresight and experience, as well as environmental expertise and business insight. Our staff of environmental professionals have completed numerous environmental due diligence reviews, environmental investigations, and brownfields cleanups to justify appropriate and cost-effective risk management approaches to interested parties. We focus on the development outcome to provide you with the right level of risk assessment, as well as pre-characterization and management of impacted soil.

IES’s Brownfields Services Include:

• Identifying brownfield development prospects
• Environmental liability characterization, investigation & risk assessments
• Building conditions surveys & hazardous materials characterization
• Drafting soils and dewatering management plans
• Remedial planning & corrective action
• Providing construction and remedial oversight

IES provides litigation, expert testimony, insurance claim management, third party review, and mediation support services throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. IES provides trial preparation and mediation preparation assistance, expert witness services, assistance for deposition preparation, depositions, mediation testimony, and courtroom testimony. IES’s staff including our Licensed Site Professional (LSP) and Project Manager (PM) use their collective experience to assist clients in negotiations, investigations, and cost recovery to support plaintiffs or defendants in environmental lawsuits.

IES has over 30 years of experience in the planning, scheduling, application, preparation, and client support for federal, state, and local environmental permits, licenses, certificates, and other approvals and supporting studies, surveys, and data collection efforts. Common permits include street opening permits (SOP) for access to conduct drilling and subsurface investigations in public throughways; National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits for Groundwater Pumping, Treatment and Discharge; and Bill of Lading (BOL) and similar documentation packages for the management, transportation and disposal of contaminated media. Our creative approach to project evaluation combined with regulatory expertise ensures that the permitting process is completed successfully, within our client’s cost and schedule objectives.