Ryan Kath and the team at NBC10 Boston have put together a news segment that illustrates the serious challenges – financial, emotional, and physical - of home heating oil spills, especially for those whose homeowners insurance policies exclude oil cleanup costs.  As Massachusetts Senator Anne Gobi (D-Spencer) stated, “Everything is wrong with this scenario.”

Many homeowners do not have the financial means to pay for costly cleanups. The backing of homeowners insurance companies is critical to make cleanups financially viable and to assure that home heating oil spills are timely and properly addressed for the protection of the public and the environment.

Thank you to all who attended last night's membership meeting in Westborough. We had a full house of 200 eager LSPs and other environmental professionals, and lots of networking. Liz Callahan and Nancy Bettinger of MassDEP presented an impressive review of the key topics in the 2019 "Proposed MCP Amendments." The presentation slides have been posted in the Member Materials section of the LSPA website and video will be added shortly.

Once the draft regulations are published, the LSPA Regulations Committee will be reaching out to LSPA members to solicit comments.  We expect a very busy few months of assembling and vetting comments.  Stay tuned for more information as it develops.

The LSPA presented the following compliance tip at the March Membership Meeting at the DoubleTree Hotel in Westborough, MA on March 19, 2019.  

LSPA's March 2019 Member Newsletter has been published! Table of Contents is listed below. Please log in to your account and visit Member Materials to view the full newsletter.

In this Issue....

• President's Message
• Blog Highlights
• Practice Tips from DEP Audit Chiefs
• AEPMMs and RMRs:  What? When? Where? Why?
• Vapor Intrusion NOAFs: Lessons Learned
• Specialty Fields on LSPA Member Profiles
• Risk Characterization NOAFs: More Lessons
• Reclamation Soil
• New EPA BaP Tox Values on Remediation of PAH Sites

Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry-North Atlantic Chapter (NAC SETAC) will host its 25th Annual Meeting and Short Course at the University of Massachusetts Boston on April 8th and 9th, 2019. The short course will focus on the use of equilibrium passive sampling for environmental investigations. Registration is now open, here is a link to the preliminary schedule of events.  

Call for Abstracts

The American Council of Engineering Companies of North Carolina (ACEC/NC) and Groundwater Professionals of North Carolina (GWPNC) invites you to attend the inaugural PFAS and Other Emerging Contaminants Conference, from Tuesday, April 23 through Wednesday, April 24th at the Marriott City Center in downtown Raleigh. 
 
This will be a seminar style conference, and is structured to be a "practitioners guide to emerging contaminants".  Our target audience includes geologists, environmental scientists, and engineers in the industry of environmental assessment and remediation; and is appropriate for regulators, consultants and service industry professionals.  

Day One: Per and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, known as PFAS (including Gen-X and other compounds)
Day Two: 1,4-Dioxane and other emerging contaminants/issues pertinent to our industry

Please click here to view the conference agenda.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released the “EPA’s Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Action Plan.”  This 60-page PFAS Action Plan identifies EPA-led short-term actions, longer-term research, and potential regulatory approaches designed to reduce the risks associated with PFAS in the environment.  Read the full action plan and a summary fact sheet here: https://www.epa.gov/pfas/epas-pfas-action-plan 

The Executive Summary lists “Key EPA Actions Addressing PFAS-Related Challenges”:

The LSPA presented the following compliance tip at the February Membership Meeting at the Hilton Hotel in Woburn, MA on February 12, 2019.  

MassDEP Response to CLF and Toxics Action PFAS Petition
In a January 28, 2019 email, Douglas E. Fine., Assistant Commissioner, Bureau of Water Resources, MassDEP wrote:

As you know, MassDEP received a “Petition for Rulemaking to Establish a Treatment Technique Drinking Water Standard for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances” on October 25, 2018 from the Conservation Law Foundation and Toxics Action Center.  In accordance with regulatory requirements under 310 CMR 2.03 and 2.04, MassDEP held a public meeting on January 16, 2019 to consider the petition and to take comments on the petition. This opportunity allowed for representatives of the Conservation Law Foundation and the Toxics Action Center to present their views on the petition to 71 participants attending the meeting in person, and more than 80 watching via on-line stream.  The public meeting also allowed for 21 stakeholders to formally offer their views. In addition, MassDEP received written comments from 45 different individuals and organizations. MassDEP greatly appreciates attention to this important matter from the petitioners, and the agency is very appreciative of the participation of all stakeholders through their written and oral comments, and attendance and viewing of the public meeting.

Be sure to watch this special report tonight on Boston Channel 10 on the impacts of leaks and spills from home heating oil tanks. The financial, emotional, and environmental consequences can be dire. Uninsured homeowners are hit especially hard. Most people are surprised to learn, usually too late, that their insurance policies exclude this coverage. Check out this newscast tonight at 11pm. And on Tuesday, February 5th early evening news. Channel 10 Boston and Ryan Kath. 

The LSPA presented the following compliance tip at the January Membership Meeting at the Holiday Inn in Taunton, MA on January 16, 2019.