MassDEP Publishes Guidance on Best Management Practices ("BMPs") for Non-Commercial Gardening at Disposal Sites, WSC # 14-910.

December 2014

LSPA Submits Comments on MassDEP's Draft Guidance for LNAPL Site Assessment and Closure

The LSPA sent a cover letter and a compilation of comments to MassDEP on its July 1, 2014 
Public Review Draft, LNAPL and the MCP: Guidance for Site Assessment and Closure - Policy #WSC-14-450. BWSC is planning a meeting on this topic on December 16, 2014 from 1:00 - 3:30 pm in Boston.

MassDEP's Vapor Intrusion Draft Guidance

The public review draft of the Vapor Intrusion Guidance is now posted here.  MassDEP will be holding a pre-comment stakeholder discussion of this draft on December 11, 2014, MassDEP, One Winter Street, Boston, 2nd floor, from 9:30 am to noon.  Written comments on this public review draft should be submitted to [email protected] by February 2, 2015.

LSPA Submits Comments on MassDEP's Draft Activity and Use Limitations (AUL) Guidance

On September 22, 2014, the LSPA sent a letter and submitted comments to MassDEP on its June 2014 Public Review Draft, "Guidance on Implementing Activity and Use Limitations – Policy #WSC14-300". MassDEP is revising its guidance on AULs to accompany the newly amended MCP.

By:  Larry Feldman, LSP, Senior Principal, GZA GeoEnvironmental, and LSPA Past President

On May 29, 2014 the LSPA Scholarship Fund held its first annual fund-raising golf tournament. Originally conceived of at the annual Past Presidents meeting last summer as a means to raise a targeted amount of $3,500 for the LSPA Scholarship Fund, the tournament actually netted over three times that amount - $11,000 - for the Fund, which celebrates its 10^th anniversary this year.  Over 100 golfers enjoyed a beautiful day, a well-maintained course (Highfields in Grafton), and a hearty post-golf repast.  Prizes were awarded for best-ball team scores and individual skill accomplishments, and a raffle stocked with both golf-related and non-golf related items allowed all the chance to win while supporting the LSPA Scholarship Fund. Photographs of the event, taken by LSPA member and professional photographer Tom Barrasso, are available here.   

By:  James J. Decoulos, P.E., LSP; James Curtis, P.E., LSP; Richard Eurich, Esq.; and Arthur Kreiger, Esq.

At the May 8, 2014 LSPA Membership Meeting, the Loss Prevention Committee presented a special program on the complexities of insurance coverage issues at contaminated sites - especially homeowner sites.  This article is intended to provide a brief summary of the issues discussed at the meeting.  Note, it is impossible in this brief article to provide a full discussion of all the relevant issues that come into play in evaluating insurance.  Further, the exact coverage that is provided by a particular policy depends on the language of the policy, and the generalizations discussed at the meeting may not apply.   

Updated TCE Documents

MassDEP has recently made minor revisions to two TCE-related documents (last updated in March, 2014):

1. TCE Toxicity Information:  Implications for Chronic and Shorter-Term Exposure – Fact Sheet (August 15, 2014)

• tcestat.doc (360 KB, MS Word)
• tcestat.pdf (764 KB, PDF)

1. EPA Trichloroethylene Toxicity Values and ORS Recommendations Regarding Remediation Targets & Timeframes to Address Potential Developmental Risks (August 15, 2014)

• tcevalsm.doc (245 KB, MS Word)
• tcevalsm.pdf (186 KB, PDF)

Provisions of the Amended MCP are Fully in Effect

The 2014 MCP is fully in effect.  While most provisions took effect on June 20, 2014, there were certain regulations that became effective on April 25, 2014.  The "unofficial" version of the MCP is available on the DEP website, along with new MCP Questions and Answers.

Request for Information on EPH Results

by: The LSPA Technical Practices Committee

LSPA Awards WES Professional Practice Grant to Haley & Aldrich Team

The LSPA is pleased to announce that a WES Professional Practice Grant has been awarded to the Haley & Aldrich team of Richard Rago, Kristina McCarthy, and Jane Parkin Kullman for their  proposal entitled “Background Indoor Air Levels of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and Air-Phase Petroleum Hydrocarbons (APH) in Office Buildings, Commercial Buildings, and Schools."  This is the first WES Grant awarded since its inception.

By:  Denise Kmetzo, DABT, Collaborative Risk Solutions, and Technical Practices Committee

Tetrachloroethylene, or PCE, is recognized as a toxic chemical and is considered likely to be carcinogenic in humans by all routes of exposure. The degree of its toxicity has been debated for years, especially for the inhalation route of exposure. Two years ago, the EPA finalized PCE toxicity factors, including an inhalation Unit Risk (UR) factor, which is used to assess carcinogenic risk via inhalation. The LSPA encouraged MassDEP to adopt the EPA toxicity values, including the UR. Instead, during its recent reevaluation of PCE toxicity, MassDEP’s Office of Research and Standards (ORS) relied upon a UR for PCE that it had previously derived.  In January 2014, MassDEP released an updated PCE UR which is lower (i.e., less conservative) than MassDEP’s previously derived value, but remains greater than ten times higher (i.e., more conservative) than the EPA value.  

Redevelop Brownfields Safely

Read the Boston Globe editorial "Redevelop brownfields safely - new state rules will help" (April 14, 2014). An LSPA letter provided background info.

LSPA Request for an LSP Licensing Exam in May or June 2014

Read the LSPA’s April 4, 2014 letter to the LSP Board of Registration urging them to offer the LSP licensing exam in May or June 2014.  At its April 17, 2014 meeting, the LSP Board voted to offer the exam.

LSPA Comments to MassDEP on Proposed Underground Storage Tank Regulations

On March 31, 2014, the LSPA submitted comments to MassDEP on the Proposed Underground Storage Tank Regulations, including 310 CMR 80.00.

LSPA Letter to the Editor on Revised Soil Standards

The LSPA’s Letter to the Editor was published in Boston Globe letters section. The letter was in response to a front-page February 23, 2014 Boston Globe article that drew the ire of many LSPA members.  

LSPA’s 17-minute video “Suspending Disbelief”

Watch the LSPA’s 17-minute video “Suspending Disbelief,” developed to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the creation of Massachusetts’ privatized hazardous waste site cleanup program, the Licensed Site Professional (LSP), and the formation of the LSP Association.