EWI Senior Project Manager Presents at MWCC Environmental Conference 2017

On July 18, 2017, EWI Senior Project Manager Bobbilynne Koepke presented at the Missouri Waste Control Coalition (MWCC) Environmental Conference at Tan-Tar-A Resort at the Lake of the Ozarks. The MWCC Environmental Conference is held annually to help bring together citizens, regulators, business members, and industry professional to discuss current hot topics in the constantly changing field of waste management.

Presenting at the MWCC Environmental Conference 2017

Ms. Koepke gave a presentation entitled “LNAPL Conceptual Site Models: A Case Study.” A copy of the presentation slides is available below. Light Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (LNAPL), also often referred to as “free product,” generally consists of a fuel such as gasoline or diesel that sits on top of the water table (because it is less dense than water) after a petroleum release. LNAPL can pose a variety of environmental risks, such as vapors getting into a nearby building, free products dissolving into drinking water sources, and flammability/explosive concerns.

Until recently, the scientific community did not fully understand how LNAPL behaves in relation to the subsurface, and thus the regulations and technical guidances for how to investigate and remediate LNAPL have changed considerably just within the last decade. This can be a point of frustration for property owners who have sites with ongoing cleanup, resulting in a “moving target” to achieve a No Further Action (NFA) status for their property.

In April of 2016, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MoDNR) released a Draft Technical Guidance for how to prepare a LNAPL Conceptual Site Model, or LCSM, referencing all of the most current scientific resources available. The purpose of the LCSM is to determine whether LNAPL poses any risks to human or ecological pathways, and to show whether LNAPL has been recovered to the extent practical. Ms. Koepke’s presentation discusses how this guidance was utilized to prepare a LCSM for one of the sites she manages in southwest Missouri. The LCSM resulted in MoDNR agreeing that LNAPL had been recovered to the extent practicable, allowing the site to move forward toward getting an NFA.

If you have a site with free product and need assistance navigating the state regulations in order to achieve a No Further Action status for your property, contact Environmental Works, Inc. EWI has cleaned up hundreds of petroleum tank sites throughout the Midwest. EWI has Missouri offices in Kansas City, Springfield, and St. Louis, as well as an Arkansas office in Springdale, with over 40 qualified scientists and geologists. Our staff, which serve on the MoDNR’s Missouri Risk-Based Corrective Action (MRBCA) Stakeholder Group and the Arkansas Oil Marketers Association (AOMA) Environmental Committee, has a combined experience of more than 100 years specifically on tank cleanup sites.

In addition to our consulting services, EWI is unique because of our in-house resources for field services, which include 60 trained field technicians and equipment operators, as well as heavy equipment for spill response, excavations, and tank removals, and a full range of drilling services. EWI’s tank clients include everyone from private individuals with one tank to large regional and national petroleum marketers.

To view the slides of Ms. Koepke’s presentation “LNAPL Conceptual Site Models: A Case Study,” please click here.