Branch Activities

San Francisco Branch
The San Francisco Bay branch had an extra meeting in February (normally we have a meeting every other month, beginning with January). This was also a joint meeting with the AIPG -- Northern California Section. Our February speaker was William Knight, Executive Director of the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG). Mr. Knight discussed domestic and international job opportunities for geoscientists, national trends in registration, and university programs. Of particular interest was his observation that geologists may need to become more generalists. Geologists have a reputation for saying “That’s not my job,” Mr. Knight claimed, when asked to perform a task seemingly peripheral to the field of geology. Engineers, on the other hand, have a reputation for doing anything. This has, according to Mr. Knight, made engineers more desirable employees.

For our March meeting, Dr. Martin Reinhard from the Department of Civil Engineering at Stanford University spoke on in-situ anaerobic biotransformation of BTEX. His recent research investigated the in-situ anaerobic biotransformation of BTEX under intrinsic and enhanced nitrate-reducing, sulfate-reducing and methanogenic conditions at a gasoline contaminated site in Southern California.

In May, Dr. Douglas Mackay of the University of Waterloo spoke on “Zen and the Art of Groundwater Remediation.” After more than two decades of concerted efforts to remediate contaminated aquifers, consensus is building that the approaches commonly applied to date cannot be expected to achieve the intended objectives. The two basic problems are 1) pumping-based approaches attempt to move contaminants to points of treatment or remediation, both of which are confounded by heterogeneity of the subsurface and rate limitations of transport processes, and 2) the typical objectives have been impossible to meet within a manageable time frame. Dr. Mackay’s talk described the range of passive approaches currently under investigation at the University of Waterloo, including funnel-and-gate systems and the use of rows of unpumped well screens. His talk also reviewed results from field trials of semi-passive remediation using 1) zero-valent iron, and 2) a solid oxygen-releasing compound. The talk finished by highlighting how the nature of semi-passive remediation requires some refinement in our thinking about cleanup objectives.

For our July meeting, we were honored to host Dr. Jacob Bear for a joint meeting with the Northern California Section of the AIPG. Dr. Bear is a professor at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel, and visiting scientist to Weiss Associates in Emeryville. Dr. Bear discussed the role of groundwater flow and transport models in the decision-making process and the types of information to consider when developing a model for site characterization.

The next San Francisco Bay branch meeting will be held on Thursday, September 12 and will feature Dr. Jon Marshak of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. Dr. Marshak will speak on the selection of water quality standards and beneficial uses, the limitations of conventional risk assessment, and current developments in site assessment and cleanup from a water quality perspective.

Future Meetings:
October 16, 1996

Dr. James Bruya “Petroleum Hydrocarbon Fingerprinting Techniques” (workshop and dinner meeting, 3:00 - 8:30 pm). The meeting and workshop will be hosted by the San Mateo County Health, County Office Building, Room 101, 590 Hamilton St., Redwood City.

November 18, 1996

Dr. John Cherry, University of Waterloo Meeting location: Hs Lordship, Berkeley Marina.

January 8, 1997

Regulatory update by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board. Meeting location: Hs Lordship, Berkeley Marina.

For reservations and to confirm dates and locations, contact David Abbott at (510) 595-2120.

Central Coast Branch
The Central Coast Branch held its May meeting jointly with the Coast Geological Society and the Association for Women Geoscientists in Ventura. Dr. Tanya Atwater of the UCSB Marine Sciences Institute spoke on “A Billion Years of Plate Tectonics in the Western United States.” It was a fantastic lecture and the house was packed! Her lecture and slide show described the three general plate tectonic eras of the West: rifted/passive continental margin, convergent margin, and transform margin. Dr. Atwater’s mother had passed away that morning and she personalized her lecture with anecdotes about her mother and her mother’s influence in her career. The Central Coast Branch, the Coast Geological Society, and the Association of Women Geoscientists gave Dr. Atwater a new variety of bougainvilleas in memory of her mother, who was a botanist.

Scott Slater, an attorney with Hatch and Parent, spoke at our July meeting. His talk was titled “Water Law and Land Use - Recent Developments.” This meeting, held in Santa Barbara, was a success and informative. Our thanks to Pace Analytical Laboratories for sponsoring this meeting.

Southern California Branch
On January 17, 1996, the Southern California Branch was pleased to have Dr. Essi Esmaili give a presentation on the ASTM Rick-Based Corrective Action (RBCA). Dr. Esmaili is the Manager of Southern California Operations for Foster Wheeler Environmental Corporation. Essi’s presentation was very timely given the Lawrence Livermore’s report recommending the use of RBCA to evaluate the need for remediation. The talk was a general overview of the use of RBCA and its potential applicability for sites impacted with petroleum and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Essi also discussed issues associated with implementing a RBCA program within the existing regulatory framework.

The March 20, 1996, dinner meeting included a presentation by Donald Marcus, MS, RG, Emcon & Associates. Mr. Marcus discussed the emerging development and use of reactive permeable barriers for in-situ remediation. The remediation technology is being promoted by U.S. EPA sponsored Remedial Technologies Development Forum-Permial Barriers Work Group, of which Don is a member. The presentation discussed various new technologies for the mitigation of impacted groundwater. Some of the technologies discussed included: redox manipulation using sodium dithionate; colloidal iron injection; adsorption of COCs by surfactant-coated zeolotites; reactive iron foam; aboveground treatment of groundwater in an iron filled reaction trench; and reactive sand-fracking. Don also presented a case study of the application of this technology at the Sunnyvale Reactive Permeable Barrier funnel and gate site.

The Southern California Branch was honored to have Mr. Ken Williams of the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Board give a presentation for our May 22, 1996, meeting. Mr. Williams is the Chief of Pollutant Investigation for the Santa Ana Region, and his presentation was titled “General Overview and Preliminary Evaluation of MTBE Data.” Mr. Williams presented background information on the use of MTBE in reformulated gasoline (RFG) and its chemical, uses, fate, transport and remediation. Additionally, Ken presented the first quarter of groundwater data with MTBE concentrations. A copy of Mr. William’s presentation is available through Jim Carter of the Southern California Branch. We would like to thank Water Development Corporation, Centrum Analytical and Norcal for sponsoring our 600-piece mailers for our past meetings this year.

Future Meeting:
On September 25, 1996, the Southern California Branch of GRA will co-host a meeting to be held with the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LARWQCB). The meeting will be hosted by GRA, PEMA, and the Hazwaste Association. The LARWQCB will present an update to their Site Assessment and Cleanup Guidebook. This meeting will be held from 8:00 AM to Noon, with workshops presented on the Lawrence Livermore report. The workshops will be given by Dr. Lorne Everett, one of the co-authors of the paper. A copy of the Guidebook will be provided for all attendees, so mark your calendar for this exciting meeting!

Sacramento Branch
The Sacramento Branch has continued to provide monthly functions for its members. In June, GRA and The Association of Women Geoscientists cohosted a presentation on “How to Give a Successful Presentation,” by Wayne Pearce, President of Phase Three Environmental Management. The presentation began with a humorous display of how not to give presentations, followed by a detailed analysis of how we can deliver our message most effectively. Wayne has summarized his observations on the art of giving presentations that succeed in the universal goal of impressing our audiences in a brief paper, which may be obtained by calling him at (916) 933-5912.

The July Meeting, sponsored by LAW Engineering and Environmental Services, featured a summary of the ASTM Risk Based Corrective Action (RBCA), presented by Dr. Ijaz Jamall, President of Risk-Based Decisions, Inc., and Dr. Ravi Arulanantham, Staff Toxicologist with the RWQCB-SF Bay Region. Jamall and Arulanantham are both certified ASTM instructors for RBCA, who rounded out the presentation with several interesting examples of sites to which RBCA has been successfully applied. Thanks to Tim Parker for organizing the event.

The Professional Environmental Marketing Association and GRA-Sacramento Branch cohosted a luncheon held August 13 at Sacramento’s Beverly Garland Hotel, featuring a presentation by Christine Bailey of the State Water Resources Control Board on Containment Zones. Ms. Bailey informed the audience that dischargers applying for Containment Zone status (“CZ”) for their sites must reimburse the RWQCB for all staff time used evaluating CZ applications. The RWQCB would issue a cleanup and abatement order identifying the site as having the CZ designation. Included in the order would be a public notification and comment period and a requirement that the written application and supporting documentation be available to the public for review. The Technical Impracticability Waivers issued by the U.S. EPA or Cal-EPA DTSC may be deemed equivalent to a CZ designation if certain substantive requirements of the CZ policy are met. The proposed amendment to SWRCB Policy 92-49 allowing for the CZ designation was to be heard by the SWRCB on August 15, however action was postponed on the Containment Zone Policy due to comments submitted outside of the record. Log on to http://www.swrcb.ca.gov for information on the next hearing date.

The August 22 meeting featured a presentation on the re-release of Department of Water Resources Bulletin 118, “California’s Ground Water.” Carl Hauge, Chief Hydrogeologist with the DWR, gave the presentation. A summary of the talk will be in the next HYDROVISIONS. Member input to branch activities is welcome. Officers meet on the last Wednesday of each month at the Tower Cafe on Broadway, Sacramento. Call first to confirm meeting locations.

The next Sacramento Branch meeting will be 6:00 to 9:00 PM September 19th at the Royal Hong King Lum Restaurant, 419 J Street, Sacramento. Gerald Church of Transglobal Environmental Geochemistry (TEG) will provide a brief overview of the biogeochemical processes involved with natural biodegradation of fuel hydrocarbons in groundwater, indicator parameters for biodegradation of fuel hydrocarbons, and TEG's technical protocol for monitoring intrinsic remediation of fuel hydrocarbon plumes. For further information regarding the evening program and reservations, please contact Carolyn Hitchcock at Law Engineering & Environmental Services at (916) 649-2424.