Congratulations to longtime LSPA member, Dorothy (Dot) McGlincy, LSP, on her first anniversary as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC)!  Dot has been an active LSPA member for decades, serving as President in 2002, and more recently co-chairing the Regulations Committee and the Legislative Committee.  There is practically nothing that Dot has not  done at the LSPA.  The LSPA has benefited from her intelligence, creativity, and enthusiasm for years – a perfect example is her critically acclaimed spoof of SNL’s “Weekend Update” performed at the LSPA’s 2016 May Membership Meeting.  Rumor has it that a video of this meeting exists somewhere…

The LSPA hopes to partner with the MACC on an event in 2019.  A joint event would benefit both MACC and LSPA members, as well as the environment! We look forward to collaborating with MACC in the year ahead.

• David Leone, LSP, Associate Principal with GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. of Norwood, MA,  Director at Large.
• Charles Young, LSP, Senior Environmental Project Manager at Stantec, of Quincy, MA, Director at Large.

Officers for this fiscal year are: 

Mark your calendars! The LSPA Membership Meeting dates and locations for 2018-2019 have been announced. The LSP Association's membership meetings take place monthly from September through June in the Greater Boston area. Click here to view the schedule for the upcoming year.

Member meetings are also held in Springfield, MA about four times a year; the schedule is announced as meeting topics become available. The first meeting is September 13, 2018 "A Fresh Look at Brownfields Challenges and Opportunities"

Last month, the LSPA offered an 8-hr field course in the greater Falmouth, Massachusetts, area entitled, “Sediment, Surface Water, and Biota Sampling Methods to Support MCP Assessments.” This is a repeat course and each time it has been offered, we have received excellent rave reviews. Here are a few comments that we received after the June 2018 course:

 For the past 15 years, the LSPA Scholarship Fund has been presenting educational scholarships to individuals pursuing a degree in the field of science, environmental engineering, or other major that is consistent with becoming an LSP or environmental professional.  At LSPA’s June 13^th Membership Meeting in Taunton, MA, the LSPA Scholarship Fund awarded two individual scholarships. 

The LSP Association (LSPA) is pleased to announce that two new At-Large members were elected to the Board of Directors: David Leone, LSP, Associate Principal, GZA GeoEnvironmental, Norwood and Charles Young, LSP, Associate and Senior Environmental Project Manager, Stantec, Quincy were elected by LSPA members in early June. Their three year terms begin on July 1, 2018.   

          
(Shown on Left: David Leone, Shown on Right: Charles Young)

• EPA will initiate steps to evaluate the need for a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for PFOA and PFOS. We will convene our federal partners and examine everything we know about PFOA and PFOS in drinking water.
• EPA is beginning the necessary steps to propose designating PFOA and PFOS as "hazardous substances" through one of the available statutory mechanisms, including potentially CERCLA Section 102.
• EPA is currently developing groundwater cleanup recommendations for PFOA and PFOS at contaminated sites and will complete this task by fall of this year.
• EPA is taking action in close collaboration with our federal and state partners to develop toxicity values for GenX and PFBS by this summer. 

The LSPA presented the following compliance tip at the June Membership Meeting at the Holiday Inn in Taunton, MA on June 13, 2018.  

The LSPA presented the following compliance tip at the May Membership Meeting at the DoubleTree Hotel in Westborough, MA on May 17, 2018.  

LSPA's Emerging Professionals Committee hosted a Soils Classification event last week at GZA GeoEnvironmental. Zachary Baum, P.E., a Geotechnical Engineer at Tighe & Bond, gave a brief overview of the Modified Burmister System, focusing on different soil types and the corresponding grain sizes. Fun Fact:  The numbers given to various sieve sizes are equal to the number of holes in the sieve per inch.  Zach passed around small bags containing various soils, so everyone could get a “real-world” sense of the look and feel of each soil type. Participants then had the opportunity to get their hands dirty and team-up to classify four soil samples that had been lab analyzed for the “right” answer.  We had great turnout of 35 people, and participants were engaged both with the subject matter and one another. Here are some photographs of the event. Thanks to GZA for hosting and to Zach for his enlightening presentation.

• David Leone, LSP, Associate Principal, GZA GeoEnvironmental, Norwood, MA.  David Leone is a longtime member of the LSPA Regulations Committee, including having served as the Co-Chair from 2014 to 2017.
• Charles Young, LSP, Associate and Senior Environmental Project Manager, Stantec, Quincy, MA.  Charles has been Co-Chair of the Member Services & Program Committee for the past eight years, and also active in planning LSPA's annual dinner and other events. 

The LSPA presented the following compliance tip at the April Membership Meeting held at the Holiday Inn in Taunton, MA on April 24, 2018. 

MassDEP’s internship application period is open now through April 30. MassDEP is seeking a student (or team of 2 or more students) that would be interested in developing articles or mini-video documentaries about the history, decline and rebirth of some of the region’s brownfields (‘Brownfield Success Stories”). This internship will expose students to researching the history of disposal sites, learning about site cleanup assessment and technologies, and understanding Massachusetts cleanup process and regulations. (This position requires the type of due diligence research and report writing that would be required of a young environmental consultant). 

This internship may be a good fit for liberal arts students with a background in history or communication/journalism, as well as students in environmental science or the earth sciences. The internship is unpaid, but the hours can be part-time and flexible. 

Over the past several months the LSP Association (LSPA) has been active at the Massachusetts State House in support of S.534 - An Act relative to the remediation of home heating oil releases. Currently, only 5% of homes in Massachusetts using oil heat have insurance coverage! This bill, sponsored by Senator Anne Gobi and proposed by the LSPA, would make insurance coverage for home heating oil releases mandatory, giving homeowners much needed relief if they should face the often intimidating financial challenges of remediating a spill.    

In February 2018, the Joint Committee on Financial Services voted to report our bill favorably, with no changes. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Ways and Means where it is currently under review. Senator Karen E. Spilka (D-Middlesex/Norfolk) is the Chair of the Senate committee, and a list of committee members is here.