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Review of MassDEP's NOAFs Related to Historic Fill and to Downgradient Property Status

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
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May
06
Larry McTiernan, PG, LSP, Roux Associates, and a member of the LSPA’s Loss Prevention Committee has been keeping busy reviewing MassDEP’s Notices of Audit Findings (NOAFs) from FY ’19 related to Historic Fill and Downgradient Property Status.
 
In FY ’19, MassDEP issued two NOAFs related to Historic Fill. Both NOAFs were also Notices of Noncompliance and cited one or more violations of the Massachusetts Contingency Plan (MCP). Read a summary of the two NOAFs and key takeaways for each in Larry’s brief article entitled Findings From FY ’19 Historic Fill NOAFs.

In the same fiscal year, there were four MassDEP NOAFs related to Downgradient Property Status (DPS) filings. All four NOAFs cited one or more violations of the MCP requirements for asserting DPS (and thus were also Notices of Noncompliance), and in three of the four cases MassDEP required either the termination or revision of the DPS submittal. As in FY18, the most common violation cited in the FY ’19 DPS NOAFs was the failure to adequately demonstrate that the criterion for asserting DPS set forth at 310 CMR 40.0183(2)(b) had not been met—particularly by failing to rule out an on-site source for the groundwater contamination found at the site. Read Larry's full article here.


Coming Soon - LSPA Ballot for 2021 Board Election

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
Tags
May
05
Voting will open on Friday, May 14, 2021 for the 2021-2022 LSPA Board of Directors election. Board positions will take effect July 1, 2021. 
 
Ballots will be sent by email to all LSPA members, both Full and Associate. We encourage all members to vote.
 
The LSPA's 9-member Board of Directors is composed of LSPA members who combine experience in environmental work with a passion for supporting and promoting the LSP practice. Current LSPA Board members are shown here.
 
There are three open seats on the Board for this election; the three year term is from FY '22 through FY '24. Provided below are the candidates on this year's ballot. Please click on each candidate's name to read more about them.
To view all the candidates' statements of interest, please click here. 
  
New Board members will be announced at the LSPA monthly membership meeting on Thursday, June 17, 2021, which will be held from 3:45 PM to 5:30 PM as a live webinar.
 
Please note that voting will close on Monday, June 14, 2021, at 5 PM.
 
If you have questions or comments, please contact Wendy Rundle, LSPA Executive Director at [email protected].



LSPA Board Election - Candidates for the Ballot

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
Tags
Apr
28
Each year, the Nominating Committee of the LSPA compiles a list of candidates who have expressed an interest in serving on the LSPA Board of Directors. These candidates present themselves to the Nominating Committee, are recommended by an LSPA member, or are approached due to their leadership positions within the LSPA. Annually in the spring, the LSPA Nominating Committee presents its recommendations for candidates to the LSPA Board. 
 
The LSPA's 9-member Board of Directors is composed of LSPA members who combine experience in environmental work with a passion for supporting and promoting the LSP practice. We have three, 3-year positions opening on the Board for the upcoming fiscal year.
 
The Board has accepted the following candidates for inclusion on the ballot for 3-year terms (2021 - 2024) on the Board of Directors:
  • Crista Trapp, Senior Scientist and Human Health Risk Assessor, The Vertex Companies Inc., Boston and Weymouth, MA. Crista is a member of the LSPA's Loss Prevention Committee and has served as the Committee Chair since 2017.
  • David Leone, LSP, Associate Principal, GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc., Norwood, MA. Dave is completing his first 3-year term on the LSPA Board and is currently the LSPA President Elect. He is a former Co-Chair of the LSPA's Regulations Committee. Dave has been an LSP since 2011.
  • Charles Young, LSP, Associate/Senior Environmental Project Manager, Stantec, Quincy, MA. Charles is currently serving as an LSPA Director at Large and is completing his first 3-year term on the LSPA Board. Charles has been an LSP since 2015.
The Board of Directors believes that these three candidates have demonstrated their commitment to the Association and are well-positioned to ensure its continuing success.
 
Petitioning to be Placed on the Ballot
Are you or someone you know interested in being a candidate for the LSP Association Board?
 
If so, you have until April 26, 2021 to be included on the ballot.
 
The LSPA bylaws allow for a candidate who obtains a written petition, signed by at least 10 Full and/or Associate LSPA members in good standing, and submitted 30 days in advance of the election, to be placed on the ballot for election. 
 
Please submit your petition on or before Monday, April 26, 2021 to Kristi Lefebvre, LSPA Communications Manager at [email protected].
 
Information about the LSPA Board of Director's slate of Candidates and any other candidates nominated by petition will be posted at www.lspa.org in early May, as well as emailed to all LSPA members.   
 
Ballots with the final slate of candidates will be provided in mid-May to all Full and Associate LSPA members. 
 
If you have questions or comments, please contact Wendy Rundle, LSPA Executive Director at [email protected] or 617-417-4351.
 
Thank you for your participation,
Michele Paul, LSP
LSPA President

LSPA Announces April 2021 Compliance Tip

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
Tags
Apr
14

The following LSPA compliance tip was presented at the April 2021 Membership Meeting, which was held virtually through the Zoom webinar platform, on April 15, 2021.  

Compliance Tip of the Month

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Ten Takeaways from MassDEP’s March 19, 2021 Waste Site Cleanup Advisory Committee (WSCAC) Meeting

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
Tags
Mar
31

Members of the LSPA Regulations Committee sat in on this meeting (see the recording here) and present the following takeaways, in no particular order.

  • 2019 MCP Revisions. The MCP amendments continue to be edited and revised in response to comments. Once finalized, which is expected to be “later this spring,” they will go into effect (with a grace period), and MassDEP will provide training and updated risk guidance.
  • Private Well Sampling and IH Level of 90 ppt.  MassDEP is communicating with local Boards of Health and private well owners in ~80 towns that rely primarily on private water sources. MassDEP is aiming to collect data from both private wells near potential (known) PFAS sources and wells randomly located, as an approach to gaining a better understanding of background levels of PFAS in groundwater. If PFAS is detected in a residential well, a homeowner will not be required to notify MassDEP; in the absence of an identified on-site source, MassDEP will assume that homeowners have Downgradient Property Status, and MassDEP will hold in abeyance the issuance a Notice of Responsibility (NOR). MassDEP will work with homeowners to reduce risk; a drinking water Imminent Hazard PFAS6 concentration of 90 ppt has been established by MassDEP.
  • Multi-Lab Audit Findings.  Ken Marra and Liz Callahan summarized the results of the audit, which was initiated in 2016 and evaluated data packages for VPH/EPH/APH/TO-15. The Multi-Lab Data Audit Report (March 2021) has been posted here. Generally, laboratories did well with the TO-15 and APH analyses. There were potential low bias issues with VPH & EPH analyses in approximately one-half of the data packages, resulting in MassDEP issuing revisions to the VPH methods (February 2018) and EPH methods (December 2019) to clarify the issues. MassDEP does not anticipate doing a systematic review of past submittals relative to the low bias issues identified, but is considering measures for more routine checking of laboratory quality.

    If you are interested in participating in subgroup meetings regarding laboratory data quality, please send an email to [email protected].
  • MassDEP Focus on Environmental Justice.  Deneen Simpson, MassDEP’s Director of Environmental Justice, summarized MassDEP’s work since June 2020 to evaluate the agency’s internal and external culture, practices, and policies related to environmental justice and equity. This work involves regional offices as well as a focus by the Commissioner. MassDEP is working to diversify advisory and stakeholder groups, and has developed and is implementing Environmental Justice Public Involvement Plan Guidance (currently an internal document only) on approaches to  engage diverse communities. MassDEP’s EJ Team meets quarterly. Rishi Reddi is the Director of Environmental Justice at the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEOA), and the EJ Team also includes Liz Callahan and Peggy Shaw of BWSC. 
  • Refreshing the Waste Site Cleanup Advisory Committee (WSCAC).  MassDEP is evaluating the composition of its stakeholder groups. The WSCAC is not created by statute and therefore MassDEP has flexibility regarding its composition, meeting format, etc. MassDEP would like to expand representation to ensure the full range of program stakeholders and would like to seek additional representation from EJ communities, PIP group members, student representatives, environmental advocacy groups, and/or subject matter experts. The Department is considering establishing term limits, establishing a set meeting schedule (likely quarterly), and varying meeting times and locations. The WSCAC members discussed their thoughts on the various proposals. If you have ideas of how MassDEP might conduct outreach to expand the representation of the advisory committee, please email [email protected].
  • Office Hours and WSCAC Meetings.  MassDEP expects to continue holding virtual meetings, but anticipates switching from the Zoom platform to another platform for its Thursday morning “office hours” and WSCAC meetings.  The frequency of weekly office hours will probably be reduced, and WSCAC meetings will likely be held quarterly.
  • Brownfields Tax Credits. The Massachusetts Department of Revenue is considering comments on its proposed new brownfields tax credit regulations.  An interagency workgroup has recently conducted listening sessions about the brownfields tax credit program.  They expect to have workgroup findings within a couple of months.
  • Searching for COCs on Waste Site/Spills Look Up.  Paul Locke confirmed that it is not possible for the public or MassDEP to search the site lookup database by COCs.
  • BWSC Grant Programs update.  Liz Callahan provided an update on various grant programs, including:
    • Natural Resource Damages – grant opportunity related to Former National Fireworks Site in Hanover
    • Technical Assistance
    • Marine Oil Spill Prevention & Response

LSPA Members Identify Their Priority Issues

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
Tags
Mar
19
On February 1, 2021, the LSPA sent an email blast to all members asking them to rank nine practice issues, involving various regulations, policies, and programs, in order of importance to them.  Our intent was to help focus our resource and advocacy efforts on the issues most important to our members.  

We received responses from about 20% of our members (lower than usual for LSPA surveys) and you told us that your top three issues were:
  1. Finalize outstanding guidance/policies: AULs, Engineered Barriers, Historic Fill, etc. (MassDEP)
  2. Soil Management: Assist with needed capacity, beneficial uses, PFAS disposal (MassDEP and others)
  3. PFAS: Address background conditions and MCP release exemptions (MassDEP)
Each of these three issues were in the top three choices for over 50% of the respondents. 

Here are the percentages of respondents who listed the other issues as a top three choice:
  1. Asbestos in Soil: Streamline and clarify regulations (MassDEP) – 29%
  2. PFAS Private Well Sampling Program: Address MCP responsibility and liability issues (MassDEP) – 26%
  3. LSP Board of Registration: Update regulations, improve operations (EOEEA) – 23%
  4. 21J Fund: Reconcile LSP decision making and allowed reimbursements (MA Department of Revenue) – 18%
  5. Brownfields Tax Credits: Reconcile LSP decision making and allowed reimbursements (MA Department of Revenue) – 17%
  6. Public Involvement: Update guidance documents (MassDEP) – 8%%
Many thanks to the 60+ members who volunteered to be involved in LSPA efforts to advance these issues; in fact, many respondents volunteered to work on several issues. At this time, LSPA leadership is discussing how best to proceed and we expect that in the coming weeks, an LSPA Board member or Committee Chair will reach out to volunteers to invite them to participate in a committee or focus group, or even help form a new subcommittee. So stay tuned!

We look forward to working together to make some progress on these issues. Please don’t hesitate to contact [email protected] with suggestions and questions.
Michele Paul, LSP
LSPA President

 

News From Recent BWSC Office Hours Meetings

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
Tags
Mar
18
MassDEP’s Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup (BWSC) will hold an Advisory Committee meeting this Friday, March 19, from 9 am to 11 am.  Zoom sign in protocol will be the same as it is for the weekly BWSC Office Hours. Read more here.

The LSPA very much appreciates the Office Hours that occur weekly (except this week) on Thursdays at 9 am. Click here for more information and here to see the library of meeting video recordings.

Below are a few recent tidbits for your information.

PFAS Source Signatures in Coastal Watersheds on Cape Cod
There has been much discussion in the past weeks regarding a paper titled, “Isolating the AFFF Signature in Coastal Watersheds Using Oxidizable PFAS Precursors and Unexplained Organofluorine,” authored by Harvard and USGS scientists Bridger J. Ruyle, Heidi M. Pickard, Denis R. LeBlanc, et al. in Environmental Science & Technology, published by the American Chemical Society, March 1, 2021. More information is here.

The Boston Globe published an article on the study and related issues on March 8, 2021.  

MassDEP Interactive Story Maps on PFAS in Public Water Systems
MassDEP’s website page on PFAS is full of useful information.

The third item on this page, titled PFAS detected in drinking water supplies in Massachusetts, shows a story map with seven tabs that present interactive maps, dashboards and photographs describing the efforts by MassDEP and Public Water Suppliers to address PFAS contamination. Tabs 3 and 4 show which municipalities in the Commonwealth have had their PWSs tested and the status of PFAS detections and responses by public water systems.

Check back regularly for updates.

Technical Assistance Grants
At the March 4 BWSC Office Hours meeting, Liz Callahan, BWSC Acting Division Director, Policy & Program Development, announced that the Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) program provided for in the MCP (310 CMR 40.1450 through 40.1499) is being revitalized after having lapsed since 2011. Liz Callahan reported that DEP is hoping the program will begin in early July 2021. To be added to MassDEP’s Pre-Notice mailing list, please email [email protected].
 
Community groups, municipalities, and others (but not PRPs) are eligible for TAG grants, each of which is expected to be in the ballpark of $15,000. The program is still under development. 
 

 

LSPA Announces March 2021 Compliance Tip

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
Tags
Mar
17

The following LSPA compliance tip was presented at the March 2021 Membership Meeting, which was held virtually through the Zoom webinar platform, on March 16, 2021.  

Compliance Tip of the Month

The four criteria for a Tier I site are related to IRA conditions, and a Tier I site cannot be initially classified or reclassified as Tier II until the IRA condition has been resolved and an IRA Completion Statement has been filed.  If a site meets at least one of these criteria it must be classified as Tier I:  evidence of groundwater contamination with OHM at concentrations equal to or exceeding the applicable RCGW-1 Reportable Concentration at a location within an Interim Wellhead Protection Area or Zone II, or within 500 feet of a Private Water Supply Well; 2) an Imminent Hazard is present; 3) one or more remedial actions are required as part of an IRA pursuant to 310 CMR 40.0414(2); or 4) an IRA is necessary to eliminate or mitigate a Critical Exposure Pathway pursuant to 310 CMR 40.0414(3).  

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LSPA Presents February 2021 Compliance Tip

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
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Feb
10

The following LSPA compliance tip was presented at the February 2021 Membership Meeting, which was held virtually through the Zoom webinar platform, on February 9, 2021.  

Not all LSP Board-approved “Regulatory” continuing education credits are also “DEP Course” credits. To qualify as a “DEP Course,” an otherwise qualifying course must also be “taught in whole or in substantial part by Department of Environmental Protection personnel.” Only those credits specifically listed as “DEP Regulatory” can be applied toward both the 12-credit DEP Course requirement and the eight-credit Regulatory requirement.  

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LSPA Soliciting Comments on Revised Asbestos Regulations

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
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Jan
26
The Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards (DLS) has issued a revised final version of 454 CMR 28.00: The Removal, Containment, Maintenance, or Encapsulation of Asbestos, and will hold a second live video/telephone access public hearing on February 4, 2021 at 1:00 PM. 

This notice of public hearing provides more detailed information including the Webex link for connecting to the hearing and details about how to submit written comments.  All written testimony must be received by Monday, February 8, 2021 at 5:00 PM. 

A redline version of the revised final regulations can be downloaded here.

The LSPA's Regulations Committee is reviewing these regulations on a quick turnaround, and comparing them to the comments previously submitted by the LSPA in October 2020.  
 
If you have comments to contribute, please send them to [email protected] by no later than 5:00 PM Tuesday, February 2, 2021.  We suggest that you also submit your comments to DLS separately since we cannot guarantee that they will be included in the LSPA's submittal.
 
Thank you.
 
Regulations Committee Co-Chairs
Kate Dilawari, LSP, Haley & Aldrich
Denise Kmetzo, DABT, Collaborative Risk Solutions LLC

LSPA Shares January 2021 Resource Tip

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
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Jan
14

The following LSPA resource tip was presented at the January 2021 Membership Meeting, which was held virtually through the Zoom webinar platform, on January 13, 2021.  

ResilientMA.org is the MA Climate Change Clearinghouse, which provides resources and tools for evaluating climate change and community resiliency.  The site also includes multi-model climate forecasts and maps developed by the Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center at UMass Amherst (NECASC); these forecasts are one focus of the LSPA’s Climate Change Subcommittee’s on-going work.  A video tutorial for using these forecasts is here: Tutorial  

Read More

LSPA's Home Heating Oil Insurance Bill Stalled as Massachusetts Legislature Closes Out This Session

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
Tags
Jan
11
After an unprecedented year, the state legislature closed out its 2019/20 session early Wednesday, January 6, 2021 and began the new session (formally "The 192nd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts") later the same day.
Unfortunately the LSPA's home heating oil legislation, S. 594 which would mandate insurance coverage, did not proceed past the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. The LSPA expects that Senator Anne Gobi will again file the legislation in the new session on our behalf; we will begin again to make our case and tap the established strong relationships we have made to date.

Special thanks to Senator Gobi for her efforts as the bill's lead sponsor.
Thank you to former Senator James Welch and Representative James Murphy, Co-Chairs of the Joint Committee on Financial Services, for their support at the committee level.
 
We appreciate the support of our environmental partners: MA Rivers Alliance, MA Association of Conservation Commissioners, Charles River Watershed Association, Mystic River Watershed Association, and OARs: For the Assabet, Sudbury, and Concord Rivers.
 
The LSPA's Legislative Committee extends a sincere thank you to the many individual LSPA members who called, emailed, and wrote their legislators urging them to support this bill. We will call on you again!

We are confident the next legislative session is OUR TIME!


LSPA Urges Covid-19 Vaccine Priority for LSPs

by: LSP Association
Category: News
Tags
Jan
08
Earlier this week the LSPA sent a letter to the two Massachusetts Department of Public Health officials leading the Massachusetts Covid-19 Vaccine Advisory Group, urging them to consider appropriate Covid-19 vaccine priority for LSPs and other workers who address spills of oil and hazardous materials, and conduct waste site assessment and remediation. These professionals should be prioritized in Phase 2 of the Commonwealth's vaccine distribution timeline, as they are no less essential to public health and safety than sanitation, public works and public health workers, or water and wastewater utility staff.
 
Our letter provides more context and detail. 
 
The LSPA has also heard from MassDEP that the prioritization of LSPs has been discussed amongst MassDEP senior staff.  Our understanding is that while this is still in the process of being sorted out, the Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup has asked that LSPs be considered similar to MassDEP's Emergency Response staff in Phase 2 - just like waste water treatment plant operators and others.

We know that many of you are eager for your vaccine and we will keep LSPA membership apprised as we learn more.


Ethan Mascoop Presented with First LSPA Environmental Justice Award

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
Tags
Dec
23
At our December 15, 2020 member meeting, Ethan Mascoop was honored with the LSPA's first Environmental Justice Award. This award is presented to an individual or organization from the public, non-profit, or private sector for recent or continuing outstanding contributions in increasing awareness of environmental justice (EJ) issues and/or supporting EJ communities. Carol Bois, LSPA Past President, presented the award to Mr. Mascoop, MPH, MUA (Master of Urban Affairs). She said that "Ethan has devoted most of his working career to public service; he is a public health trailblazer and activist seeking to bring attention to areas that have historically been overlooked. Ethan was the Director of Public Health in Framingham, MA from 2008 to 2013. In 2011, I began working with Ethan on various environmental issues associated with MCP sites in the Town (now City) of Framingham and have witnessed his dedication to and action on public health issues firsthand, especially his commitment to improving public health for the underserved, such as Environmental Justice communities."
 
Ethan currently works as an independent consultant on housing conditions, indoor air quality, Title V compliance, and other occupational and public health issues; he also teaches graduate public health students as an Adjunct Clinical Professor at Boston University's School of Public Health.

While he was the Director of Public Health in Framingham, Ethan drove the City to become more of an advocate and active participant in decisions affecting local hazardous waste site cleanups under the MCP. The City has continued that legacy through the present day.

As one example out of many, he provided a voice to community health and environmental concerns about decades-long contamination created by operations from General Chemical Corporation, one of the largest hazardous waste sites in Framingham.

Ethan's efforts, supported by the Board of Health and the LSPs working with him, resulted in the company, the City, and MassDEP responding to the community's concerns - after years of the contamination languishing with little or no movement toward cleanup.

For his leadership, Ethan is recognized with the LSPA's 2020 Environmental Justice Award. Congratulations Ethan!

LSPA Unveils December 2020 Compliance Tip

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
Tags
Dec
15

The following LSPA compliance tip was presented at the December 2020 Membership Meeting, which was held virtually through the Zoom webinar platform, on December 15, 2020.  

During the COVID-19 State of Emergency declared by the Governor, MassDEP will apply its enforcement discretion with respect to the use of email to send notices to local officials provided that the sender employs some way of confirming that the intended recipient has received the email (e.g., using the read receipt function or requesting an email response confirming receipt).

It is expected that the proposed MCP amendments in the 2019 public hearing draft would allow email notification of local officials.


Click here to view all published compliance tips. This document is also posted in the Members Only section of the website under Technical Resources.

MassDEP Drinking Water Program: Private Wells PFAS Sampling Program

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
Tags
Dec
10
At MassDEP's Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup (BWSC) December 3, 2020 Office Hours meeting, Paul Locke, Assistant Commissioner, announced that MassDEP's Drinking Water Program is kicking off its private well sampling program for PFAS compounds. Linked here are pertinent materials with more details:
 
Letter and FAQ about the MassDEP Private Wells PFAS Sampling Program
 
 
 
Check here to see recordings of Office Hours meetings.

MassDEP AUL Compliance Assistance Letters to be Mailed Soon

by: LSP Association
Category: News
Tags
Dec
10
MassDEP has asked the LSPA to share the following information.
In December 2020, MassDEP is planning to mail an Activity and Use Limitation (AUL) compliance assistance letter to individuals listed in MassDEP records as owning a property at which a Notice of Activity and Use Limitation has been implemented.  This compliance assistance letter has been sent periodically (previously in 2010 and 2015) to provide property owners with a description of the nature and purpose of an AUL and remind them of their obligation to adhere to the terms of the AUL. 
 
The letter is strictly informational and generic (i.e., it does not reference site-specific AUL conditions) and does not require any response from the property owner to MassDEP.  MassDEP email and telephone contact information will be provided in the letter should the recipient have any additional questions or concerns.  A link to the generic letter is available here.   
 
Note, to avoid confusion, this generic compliance assistance letter will not be sent to those property owners with AULs related to Active Exposure Pathway Mitigation Measures (AEPMMS) that support a Permanent Solution pursuant to 310 CMR 40.1025(7).   Property owners in such cases are required to respond to an annual letter sent by MassDEP to certify the ongoing operation and maintenance of AEPMMs.  MassDEP will be sending the AEPMM annual certification letters in a subsequent mailing.

Action Alert: Urge Your State Senator to Support LSPA's Home Heating Oil Insurance Bill

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
Tags
Dec
08
Now that the Legislature has completed work on the state's FY '21 budget, it will make one last push on passing legislation before the session ends on January 5, 2021.
 
The LSPA's bill S. 594, which would require insurance companies to provide first- and third-party coverage for home heating oil releases, is still under consideration in the Massachusetts Senate Committee on Ways and Means. We only have four weeks to get this bill a favorable report out of committee and approved by the full Senate before this session ends.
 
We are asking for one last push by our members who are Massachusetts residents. Please consider writing to your state senator to urge their support of the bill. The more requests from constituents, the more likely our bill will be a priority of the Senate. Check here to find your state senator.
If your state senator is a member the Senate Ways & Means Committee and/or a co-sponsor of the bill,
NOW is the time to get their attention. Attached here is a sample email you can send. All senators' email addresses are on their home page.
 
If your senator is not a committee member or a co-sponsor, you should still write to urge her/him to encourage the Senate Ways & Means Committee to issue a favorable report on the bill. Here is a sample email you can send. All senators' email addresses are on their home page.
 
If you have experience with a home heating oil release, especially one in which the homeowner did not have insurance or had a difficult time obtaining coverage, please consider sharing this experience in your letter. Real life examples are most compelling, especially if your client's property is in the district of one of these senators.
 
For more information about the bill, please read the LSPA's letter and fact sheet, as well as a supporting letter from five state environmental organizations.
 
Please contact our Executive Director Wendy Rundle at [email protected] if you have any questions.
 
Thank you for your support; we will keep LSPA members apprised.
 
 
LSPA Legislative Committee Co-Chairs
Spence Smith, LSP, Jacobs
Tim Clinton, LSP, Fuss & O'Neill
 

EOEEA Environmental Dataset Portal: Drinking Water and PFAS6 in Public Wells

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
Tags
Dec
03
At MassDEP's Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup (BWSC) November 12, 2020 Office Hours meeting, Paul Locke, Assistant Commissioner, shared information on a helpful resource: the Massachusetts EOEEA Data Portal, which is comprised of several Environmental Datasets. Datasets include asbestos projects, enforcement actions, and well drilling; also included is the BWSC's Waste Site & Reportable Releases Lookup page. 
 
The focus for this meeting was on the Drinking Water program dataset where one can search by public water system as well as town, class of well (Non-Transient Non-Community, Non-Community, and Community), contaminant group, and chemical name. Many per-fluoroalkyl substances are included in the searchable list of chemicals including, of particular interest - PFAS6.
 
At this time, private well sampling information is not included in this EOEEA database.
 
A link to this portal is also found on MassDEP's PFAS webpage.
 
The weekly BWSC Office Hour meetings are recorded and posted on this YouTube page. 
 
The discussion of the EOEEA portal begins at 2:15 minutes into the November 12, 2020 meeting and ends at around 15:30 minutes.

Steve Boynton Presented with LSPA Member Award

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
Tags
Dec
02
At our November 18, 2020 member meeting, Stephen Boynton was honored with the LSPA's 2020 Member Award. This award is presented to an LSPA Member in recognition of leadership, commitment, and contributions to the LSPA organization and membership over the previous year.
 
LSPA President Michele Paul presented the award to Steve, President of Subsurface Environmental Solutions, who has been an LSP since 1997. She said that "Over the years, Steve has developed and presented several courses to LSPA membership for LSP continuing education credits. These courses are typically on two of his favorite topics: NAPL and making use of visual technical tools in site assessment and remediation."

In terms of his demonstrated commitment, Steve has been an active participant in the LSPA's Education Committee; most recently he was instrumental in conceiving of, developing and presenting the LNAPL Regulatory Change, Guidance and Progress course. This course brought together Steve, two other practitioners, and Ken Marra of MassDEP for, by all accounts, a terrific 4-hour course.  

Not one to rest, last year, Steve also served as the Committee Chair for the LSPA's first Sole Practitioners' Group. It was this group that hosted the LSPA's first live webinar - on the Zoom platform. Little did we know how commonplace that would become! We have Steve (and COVID-19) to thank for forcing us to become familiar with this new virtual approach to content delivery.

For his leadership, commitment to innovation, and many contributions over the past year, Steve is recognized with the LSPA's 2020 LSPA Member Award.  

Congratulations Steve! 
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