Volume 20 | Issue 6                                                                                                                January 2015
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Table of Contents
Notice
The LSPA newsletter is written and distributed to LSPA members as a benefit of membership.  LSPA members may share newsletter articles, in whole or in part, with others, provided, however, that the member properly attributes the source of the article or portion of article.  Proper attribution in this context includes the title of the article, the author's name and affiliation, and the identification of the LSPA newsletter as the original source.

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President's Message
By: Paul McKinlay, LSP, President, LSPA

By now the wrapping paper and champagne bottles have been cleared out, and the challenge is catching up on those emails that have been overlooked during the past few celebratory weeks.  Or perhaps you used the holidays to actually catch up on all those emails and clear your desk, and your head.  Either way, Happy New Year! 

 

First, looking back on 2014:   It was a productive year for the LSPA.   See a list of our key accomplishments here.  


LNAPL on the Road
By: The LSPA LNAPL Patrol
It sounds like the opening to a bad joke:  An LSP is driving down the road, and sees a license plate that reads "LNAPL"......

But it's no joke.  (When is LNAPL ever a joke?)

 

Over the past month, there have been several reported sightings (sitings?) of LNAPL on Greater Boston area roadways.  Eye witnesses report that the LNAPL exhibits the following characteristics:

  • Is of macro-scale mobility
  • Typically follows a preferential pathway
  • Appears to be several feet thick
  • Is periodically unstable, especially on fast turns
MassDEP to Release Interim Reclamation Soils Policy
By: Wendy Rundle, LSPA Executive Director  

On December 12, 2014, MassDEP's Bureau of Waste Prevention (BWP) and Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup (BWSC) held its Reclamation Soil Stakeholder Meeting #4.  The agenda for this meeting was to: 

 

1) Unveil the key concepts driving the Bureaus' new "Interim Policy on Implementation of Section 277 of the FY 2015 State Budget" and

 

2) Discuss the Bureaus' draft conceptual framework for development of regulation on the topic of reclamation soil. 


Why I Joined the Loss Prevention Committee
By: Jane Parkin Kullmann, Haley & Aldrich, Inc.

My initial motivation for joining the LSPA's Loss Prevention Committee (LPC) was simply a desire to be more involved with the LSPA in general. I had asked advice from some more senior staff about committees, and one person in particular said (and I paraphrase), "you should join the LPC...that's where the real action is." I was intrigued. What is this committee and what does it do?

 

I emailed the chair of the committee, and he welcomed me to the group and told me about the meetings. It was just as easy as that. Then I went to a meeting. I will not deny that it was slightly intimidating to walk into a roomful of people with a lot more experience than I, wondering what I could add to such an august group. However, I approached the experience with an open mind, a willingness to learn, and a desire to contribute what I could.


LSP Board Profile: Deborah Listernick
By: Katherine Robertson, Robertson Associates, and LSPA communications consultant
This is the fifth in a series of articles profiling current members of the LSP Board of Registration.   

Debra Listernick is very serious about birds. She has volunteered to lead public programs and bird watching trips, banded migratory birds, and participated in bird counts, primarily for Massachusetts Audubon Society's (MAS) Joppa Flats sanctuary in Newburyport. Her birding places range from the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island to the La Milpa Field Station in Belize, where she conducted bird banding training sessions for researchers and naturalists, and to Cuba, where she participated in a Cuban Bird Survey. This January, Listernick will co-lead a MAS trip along the Rio Grande Valley from El Paso to Albuquerque.

Call for Comments on Draft VI Guidance
MassDEP's draft guidance document on vapor intrusion has been published here.

 

The LSPA Regulations Committee, with input from LSPA Members, is assembling comments. If you're interested in providing input, there's still time.

 

Please forward your comments, questions or concerns on this guidance document to vidraftguidance@lspa.org.


New Guidance for AULs at LNAPL and VI Sites
By: Wendy Rundle, LSPA Executive Director 
 

The LSPA's Loss Prevention Committee sponsored the December 9, 2014, member meeting on "LNAPL and VI Sites: Using AULs For Site Closure Under the New MCP." The presentation offered participants a chance to quiz themselves on the new 2014 AUL regulations, experience the LSPA's audience participation "clicker" system, and receive one LSP regulatory credit.

 

This was a timely presentation topic given the 2014 amendments to the MCP and the recent publication of MassDEP's public review drafts of guidance for AULs, LNAPL site assessment and closure, and Vapor Intrusion. The 2014 MCP amendments present new tools for site closure; while their use is still relatively new, it is critical that LSPs become familiar with using these tools appropriately. Moreover, given the results of the LSPA Loss Prevention Committee's annual review of NOAFs, it is clear that there is always room for more clarity regarding the proper use of AULs.


New LNAPL Regs and Overview
By: Wesley E. Stimpson, Technical Practices Committee

The recent revisions to the MCP, most of which became effective June 20, 2014, substantially change how sites with NAPL are characterized and moved through the MCP process. In addition to some new terminology, MassDEP has embraced the fundamental scientific principles describing the behavior of fluid flow in porous media necessary to assess NAPL in subsurface strata.

 

PRPs will now need to provide multiple lines of evidence to support any endpoint conclusions, and MassDEP will be looking for more data than has historically been necessary to support the closure of this type of disposal site. The NAPL Upper Concentration Limit of 0.5 inches no longer needs to be met, and in fact is no longer available to be used as a component for obtaining an endpoint.
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Note: The LSPA newsletter is written and distributed to LSPA members as a benefit of membership. LSPA members may share newsletter articles, in whole or in part, with others, provided, however, that the member properly attributes the source of the article or portion of article. Proper attribution in this context includes the title of the article, the author's name and affiliation, and the identification of the LSPA newsletter as the original source.

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