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

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has updated its Method for the Determination of Volatile Petroleum Hydrocarbons by Gas Chromatography/Photoionization Detector/Flame Ionization Detector (VPH by GC/PID/FID) and the corresponding CAM protocol, WSC-CAM-IVA, Quality Control Requirements and Performance Standards for the Analysis of Volatile Petroleum Hydrocarbons (VPH) by Gas Chromatography/Photoionization Detector/Flame Ionization Detector in Support of Response Actions under the Massachusetts Contingency Plan. The updates include revised calibration requirements, changes to retention time windows for aliphatic hydrocarbons, required traps for the purge-and-trap process, new requirements for data deliverables, and a series of other minor revisions and clarifications. The revised method may be found here VPH Method by GC/PIC/FID. A complete list of the updates is provided in the preface of the revised method. 

Laboratories that are currently performing VPH by GC/PID/FID must make the necessary adjustments to implement the changes to the method on or before June 1, 2018 to comply with the method requirements and certify that the method is being performed in conformance with the CAM protocol, found here WSC-CAM-IVA. If you have questions about the revised method or CAM protocol, you may contact MassDEP at [email protected].

LSPA’s Western Massachusetts Committee had a record-breaking number of attendees at its membership meeting on Monday, January 29. 

We would like to thank our speakers of the evening: Mr. Jason Barroso, Waste Management, Inc.; Mr. Hugo DelRosso, US Ecology and Ms. Eva Tor, Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup, MassDEP’s Western Regional Office. The speakers addressed the topic of Waste Management Considerations for MCP Projects to an audience of 60+.

The LSPA presented the following compliance tip at the January Membership Meeting at Doubletree Hotel in Westborough, MA on January 11, 2018. 

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

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), the state agency responsible for protecting the environment in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, recently honored long-time LSP Association member, James Soukup, with a Greener Cleanups Award at the LSPA’s September Membership Meeting in Newton, MA.

Soukup, a Licensed Site Professional (LSP) and Principal Hydrogeologist at Weston Solutions Inc., and his client, Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, Massachusetts, received the Greener Cleanup Leadership Recognition Award for demonstrating professional stewardship in promoting Greener Cleanup principles and practices to reduce the overall net environmental footprint of hazardous waste site cleanup response actions implemented under the Massachusetts Contingency Plan (MCP).

The LSPA presented the following compliance tip at the September Membership Meeting at Marriott Newton Hotel in Newton, MA on September 26, 2017. 

When a property with a Notice of Activity and Use Limitation (AUL) has been sold, the Responsible Party must submit to MassDEP a Form BWSC 113 with a copy of the recorded deed conveying the record title.  Remember it is essential that subsequent property owners be given notice of the AUL.

• One data portal will enable online submission of public comments on applicable permit applications
• The second data portal will allow for searching of MassDEP permit, inspection, facility and enforcement data. 

Additional data will be exposed in the data portal in 2018. 

March 16, 2017
The LSPA presented the following monthly compliance tip on March 16, 2017. 

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

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Remediation General Permit
Signed by EPA and MassDEP

By: Isaac Anderson, Project Manager, Cooperstown Environmental and LSPA Technical Practices Committee Member

Thank you to Paul Locke and the MassDEP for posting this video on LinkedIn today. The LSPA looks forward to providing updates as the legislation progresses through the committee process.

There will be a BWSC Greener Cleanups Workgroup Meeting on Tuesday, December 13, 2016 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm at MassDEP, One Winter Street, Boston, Conference room A-2212 (click here for directions). The preliminary agenda will include a presentation/discussion of the following:  

1.       Clean Energy Legislative & Regulatory Updates 

MassDEP Honors Four LSP Association Members With Greener Cleanups Awards

Belmont, MA (November 2016) – The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), the state agency responsible for the cleanup of oil and hazardous waste sites and spills, recently honored four members of the LSP Association (LSPA) with Greener Cleanups Awards at the LSPA’s September Membership Meeting in Newton, MA.

The Greener Cleanups Awards were presented to the following Licensed Site Professionals (LSPs) and their clients for demonstrating professional stewardship in promoting Greener Cleanup principles and practices to reduce the overall net environmental footprint of hazardous waste site cleanup response actions implemented under the Massachusetts Contingency Plan:

As mentioned at the MassDEP Waste Site Cleanup Advisory Committee meeting last month, there will be a meeting on Wednesday, November 16, 2016 to discuss possible revisions to the Massachusetts Contingency Plan provisions concerning Imminent Hazards.

The meeting will be begin at 9:30 am and will be located in Conference Room C on the 2^nd floor of MassDEP’s 1 Winter Street, Boston office.  (The duration of the meeting will depend upon the depth and breadth of the discussion. The room is reserved until 12:00 pm.) Please click here for directions.  

Top Takeaways from October 27, 2016 MassDEP WSCAC Meeting & Planned Nov. 16^th Meeting on Imminent Hazard Approach

LSPA Regulations Committee members were in attendance at the recent Waste Site Cleanup Advisory Committee (WSCAC) meeting held on October 27, 2016. The meeting was moderated by Paul Locke, and included presentations by Gerard Martin and Liz Callahan. A video of the meeting is available here and slides are available here. 

MassDEP Finalizes Vapor Intrusion Guidance

As of Monday, October 17, 2016, MassDEP's Vapor Intrusion guidance document is final.  

For a Limited Time…
Complimentary Viewing of ASTM’s Standard Guide for Greener Cleanups