Meet Marc Chalfant

Aspect recently welcomed Marc Chalfant to our Seattle office. Here are Five Questions we asked to get to know him better.

Marc Chalfant, PE, Project Engineer

Backpacking the Alpine Lakes Wilderness

Backpacking the Alpine Lakes Wilderness

1. Where are you from? If you’re not from the Pacific Northwest, what brought you here?

I’m originally from Yellowstone National Park and having lived in a handful of states (and a Canadian province!), I finally find myself firmly planted in Seattle, where I’ve lived for the last 6 years. The mountains and culture brought me here, and after learning how to enjoy the long, dark winters, I’ve grown to appreciate the Pacific Northwest more and more every year.

2. What inspired you to pursue remediation engineering? What made you curious about it?

Growing up in a National Park engrained a sense of environmental responsibility and interest. In college, a hydrogeology course sparked an interest in remediation. The combination of geology, water resources, and chemistry in the context of environmental work got me hooked. My curiosity turned into a career when I accepted a position to research remediation approaches in graduate school at Colorado State University.

3. What do you like best about your area of expertise? What excites you and keeps you motivated?

Because remediation engineering is a relatively young field, our collective knowledge and skills are continuously developing. I love being in a field where creativity and nuance provide value on a technical level. It is also a great feeling knowing that at the end of the day we are working to reduce risk to human health and the environment, which is something I am proud of.

4. What do you like to do when you aren’t working?

Whether on skis, in climbing shoes, or packed for a week-long backpacking trip, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a weekend where I’m not in the mountains in some form, joined by my fiancée, Tamera. I also play ice hockey, enjoy cooking, and have taken to designing and constructing outdoor gear including packs, tents and sleeping bags.

5. Where in the world would you like to travel next?

I’d love to check out more of southeast Asia. We visited Indonesia a couple years ago, and it was hands-down the best trip I’ve ever taken. The food, climate, variety of activities, and natural beauty were unmatched!

What if You Can’t Dig Your Way Out of a Brownfield Cleanup?

Brownfield site cleanups are difficult for construction teams, redevelopment plans, and the community. It’s even harder when you can’t dig and haul the contaminated soil and there’s impacts to groundwater. Aspect’s Adam Griffin and Doug Hillman discuss successful strategies for complicated cleanup sites in this Daily Journal of Commerce article.

Inspecting the Vapor Intrusion Mitigation System at Art Brass Plating in Seattle

Inspecting the Vapor Intrusion Mitigation System at Art Brass Plating in Seattle

Aspect Leads Environmental Oversight for Amazon HQ2

On February 2, 2021, Amazon announced the Phase 2 design proposal for its second headquarters, located in Arlington, Virginia, featuring a blend of sustainable architecture and public green spaces.

Aspect Leads Environmental Oversight

In partnership with Amazon and development manager Seneca Group, Aspect (and our subconsultant, Sanborn Head) is leading environmental due diligence, cleanup, environmental construction oversight, and regulatory strategy on Phase 1 (Metropolitan Park property) and Phase 2 (PenPlace property) of this project, as we have for the past several years.

Sustainable Community-Centric Design

Designed by architecture firm NBBJ, PenPlace, is a ground-up development project that will feature 2.8 million square feet of office space across three 22-story LEED platinum-certified buildings, 2.5 acres of green space accessible to the public, and a mix of restaurants, retail, and community gathering areas. Undoubtedly, the most striking HQ2 landmark will be the glass-encased Helix, a counterpart to Seattle HQ1’s Spheres, where employees can work immersed in nature. The 370,000-square-foot building will be open for public tours and will feature landscaped terrain, walking paths, and vegetation native to the region.

Amazon HQ2.jpg

Phase 1 Metropolitan Park Construction Underway

Adjacent to PenPlace, Amazon’s HQ2 Phase 1, designed by architecture firm ZGF is a development at the Metropolitan Park property that also features a 2.8-acre park, lush tree canopies, and public space. Construction at this site is currently underway and features redevelopment of vacant warehouses into two 22-story sustainable office towers and 65,000 square feet of retail and restaurant spaces. Amazon plans to add 25,000 jobs and invest $2.5 billion in Arlington over the next 10 years.

Celebrating Key Watershed Plans in Spokane and Okanogan Basins

January 2021 launched great news for watersheds across Washington state – but first, let’s recap.

The $300 Million Watershed Law

In 2018, following water rights uncertainty that held up a $4 Billion budget in Washington State, the state passed the $300 Million Streamflow Restoration Act. The prime target was unlocking more water in a way that benefits habitat, communities, and agriculture and allows thoughtful development plans to proceed. Fast forward to 2021 and counties and basins across the state are seeing the outcomes of that law – most directly 6 out of 15 basins have updated watershed plans to date.

Status of Streamflow Restoration Grants and Planning Process
Source: Washington State Department of Ecology

Key Takeaways of Streamflow Restoration Act Results (So Far)

  1. Permit-exempt well impacts on instream flows and water right holders will be completely offset for the next 20 years.

  2. Local watershed partners have once again demonstrated they can collaborate on local solutions to water supply challenges.

  3. The plan adoption paves the way for shovel-ready projects to be implemented to benefit streamflow.

In three of those basins – Little Spokane (WRIA 55), Okanogan (WRIA 49), and Chehalis (WRIA 22 and 23) – there has been real progress on planning for the future water needs of the region. Aspect has worked for years on two of these (Little Spokane and Okanogan) and is excited to see the positive outcomes so far.

Little Spokane Watershed (WRIA 55) Plan Update

Headwaters of the Little Spokane River, near Newport, WA

Aspect has worked with Spokane County over the last several years to support watershed planning and management, including the development of watershed restoration projects. On January 28, 2021, Ecology adopted the updated Little Spokane Watershed Management Plan. This will mean:

  • Spokane County is in the process of completely offsetting permit-exempt well impacts and developing streamflow improvement projects totaling 4,085 acre-feet, including:

    • Purchasing water rights as mitigation

    • Building a Managed Aquifer Recharge project

    • Studying approaches for increasing storage in Eloika Lake to improve summer streamflows, combined with wetland and habitat enhancement

Okanogan Watershed (WRIA 49) Plan Update

Okanogan River
Source: US Forest Service

Aspect has worked for years with Okanogan entities like Oroville-Tonasket Irrigation District (OTID) and others to lead up to this watershed planning update. This will mean:

  • The lead Okanogan watershed planning group -- WRIA 49 Planning Unit -- developed a two-tier list of projects to be adaptively managed to provide both consumptive use water offset and achieve Net Ecological Benefit in a manner consistent with the strong agricultural values of the community.

  • Two projects – Antoine Valley Ranch and Methow Beaver Project’s Restoring Streamflow after Wildfire in Okanogan and Methow River Subbasins – have been funded by Ecology and will be the first projects implemented following the adoption of the plan.

Meet Rachel Cornwell, Sam Adlington, and Jay Pietraszek

Aspect recently welcomed Rachel Cornwell, Sam Addlington, and Jay Pietraszek to our Seattle office. Here are Five Questions we asked to get to know them better…

Rachel Cornwell, Staff Scientist

Rachel on a January walk at Gross Reservoir in Boulder, CO

Rachel on a January walk at Gross Reservoir in Boulder, CO

1. Where are you from? If you’re not from the Pacific Northwest, what brought you here?

I was born and raised in Bellingham, WA. I went to school in Colorado but making the decision to return to the Pacific Northwest was an easy one (despite the rain). There is something about the nature and the people here that makes it feel like home. Although I grew up just a couple of hours north of Seattle, living in the city now feels like an entirely new place that I am excited to explore!

2. What inspired you to pursue environmental engineering? What made you curious about it?

In high school, I got the opportunity to travel to Honduras with Living Waters for the World. I worked on the engineering team to install a water purification system in a rural town called Las Bodegas. Working with mentors and community members showed me that engineering was not only about efficient, cost-effective design, but also about how that design impacts a community’s health, business opportunities, and ability to live a better life. This experience opened my eyes to the kind of impact I could make and inspired me to pursue an environmental engineering degree.

Through my time in the environmental engineering program at Colorado University, my focus shifted from water treatment to remediation of contaminated sites, and I realized that my connection with environmental remediation work began as a kid; I grew up spending most summers at Holden Village, a small retreat center in the mountains near Lake Chelan. The village was historically a mining town for the Holden Mine, which became a Superfund site in the 1980s. I remember seeing the tailing piles and remnants of the mine on hikes around the area. The orange coating of streambeds and the eerie, abandoned structures surrounding the village always left me curious. As I learn more about remediation processes, I constantly connect it back to these images that stuck in my mind as a kid.

3. What do you like best about your area of expertise? What excites you and keeps you motivated?

I love that remediation work allows you to both zoom into the tiny details and zoom out to a bigger picture. I think shifting between those perspectives keeps things interesting and creates complex problems that require innovative solutions. Hitting specific cleanup levels requires precise design and detailed understanding of remediation mechanisms, but also requires an overarching understanding of stakeholders and their priorities, as well as why the remediation is important. Right now, I am excited to learn more about remediation mechanisms and to see first-hand how a remediation system impacts sites in different ways given unique sets of soil and groundwater conditions.

4. What do you like to do when you aren’t working?

I love to get out and hike on the weekends! I find hiking to be the best way to get to know a new area – it’s how I came to feel at home in Colorado, and how I am rediscovering the PNW now. I also love to write songs. I’ve been re-learning how to play guitar recently and enjoy writing songs with piano and voice.

5. Where in the world would you like to travel next?

Last summer, I spent a few weeks traveling down the eastern coast of South Africa after a two-month bridge construction project in eSwatini. I would go back there in a heartbeat! That area was so diverse in culture, natural features, and things to see and do! In the time I was there I learned a lot from locals about the different ethnic groups and how their languages and experiences differ. I would love to return to that area and continue exploring other parts of southern Africa, like Zimbabwe and Mozambique, as well as more of South Africa.

Sam Adlington, Project Engineer

This is from my last trip to Bali Indonesia in 2018. With the heat and not being acclimated to the climate I was taking every opportunity to get some shade and coconut water.

This is from my last trip to Bali Indonesia in 2018. With the heat and not being acclimated to the climate I was taking every opportunity to get some shade and coconut water.

1. Where are you from? If you’re not from the Pacific Northwest, what brought you here?

I am a greater Seattle area native. I grew up on the north end of Ballard before my family moved to Shoreline when I was 10. Since I finished college I’ve lived in Bellevue, Redmond, and Lynnwood. Frankly I never really wanted to live anywhere else.

2. What inspired you to pursue remediation engineering? What made you curious about it?

Technically most of the engineering work I’m involved in is for the solid waste industry or general environmental engineering/consulting. Within solid waste engineering there are a lot of the concepts of remediation engineering that are similar, just applied differently or with alterations to timelines, capacities, and project scale.

I seemingly fell into this line of work, but it works with the way that my brain is wired and I haven’t wanted to stop since I got started. It all started in college — like most students I could not make up my mind on a major. I started out really looking at either mechanical or chemical engineering. Through engineering clubs that I participated in, I had a few friends that were getting environmental engineering degrees through the civil engineering department. I started taking classes out of curiosity since it sounded like an interesting combination of the elements that got me started with engineering. I found it really worked well with what I liked to do and where I wanted to move my career.

Fresh out of college I wound up getting a job as a groundwater sampler/field tech for a firm that specialized in civil and environmental engineering for the solid waste industry. Since then I’ve sought out projects that have elements that I’m interested in, leveraging experience and trust built to get where I’m at now.

3. What do you like best about your area of expertise? What excites you and keeps you motivated?

I should preface this by saying that I really like problem-solving. I’m not the type that will sit and do Sudoku or crossword puzzles because I get a lot of satisfaction out of what I get to do daily. A big driver is that no two projects are ever identical. While there are similarities, there always seems to be some complication, technicality, or nuance that needs to be managed and accounted for which keeps the work fresh and interesting.

4. What do you like to do when you aren’t working?

I always seem to have a few half-completed projects that I’m tinkering with in my spare time. Recently I’ve gotten into brewing and I’ve got a few tech/electronics projects on my workbench. The shortlist of longer-term interests includes:

  • Snowboarding (when the weather is cold)

  • Bicycling (when the weather is nicer)

  • Playing soccer (goalkeeper), generally I lean to indoor but the occasional full field game when the weather cooperates

In addition, I bought a house right at the start of the pandemic. So all the new chores and other tasks that come with that have been keeping me busy during the pandemic.

5. Where in the world would you like to travel next?

Europe is on my shortlist when we can safely travel again. Still haven’t made up my mind on whether or not to go with the UK or EU, but we’ve got time to think about it. Places like Finland, Norway, or Sweden really seem interesting to me, but my partner is originally from a tropical country and she will likely not want to go anywhere cold for vacation.

Jay Pietraszek, Senior Hydrogeologist

Beautiful 12 pound Silver Salmon caught on the Akwe River, southeast Alaska, September 2020

Beautiful 12 pound Silver Salmon caught on the Akwe River, southeast Alaska, September 2020

1. Where are you from? If you’re not from the Pacific Northwest, what brought you here?

I spent the majority of my childhood in the Chicago area. I came to Seattle initially after graduating from the University of Montana. But I’ve been in the Pacific Northwest for over 15 years, so it’s home now.

2. What inspired you to pursue hydrogeology? What made you curious about it?

I always loved being on or near the water, both as a kid on the Great Lakes and then during college on the rivers of Montana and Wyoming. My interest in the field grew from those experiences and memories. I became curious about the profession and industry as a student and the curiosity continues!

3. What do you like best about your area of expertise? What excites you and keeps you motivated?

I enjoy the creativity and problem solving that is required, and the complexity and diverse nature of the questions that we try to answer for our clients. I believe in the growth potential of the industry, particularly over the long term, and I am excited to keep pushing forward and helping those coming up in the profession.

4. What do you like to do when you aren’t working?

I enjoy spending time with my family, first and foremost. A Saturday evening with a couple of The Mandalorian episodes on the docket is about as good as it gets for me these days. I like tinkering around the house and learning something new. And of course, I still love being outside on the water or somewhere up in mountains, off the beaten track.

5. Where in the world would you like to travel next?

Tasmania, with a fly rod in hand!

A Year in Photos

Aspect is lucky to have amazingly talented photographers – who also just happen to be amazingly talented scientists and engineers as well. Our marketing team received over 1,100 photos this year (continuing a photo culture that has seen over 2,000+ photos submitted in the last 2+ years alone). Though there were many exceptional ones, we have gathered 10 that best represent our 2020.

Know Your Water Rights Math: Annual Consumptive Quantity 101

Kittitas North Branch Canal.JPG

The Washington State water code is daunting. The network of rules and regulations is complex: Washington Administrative Codes. Revised Code of Washington. Hundreds of court cases. Ecology administrative policies. It can be difficult to navigate. 

In this mix is a key concept: ‘Annual Consumptive Quantity’ or ‘ACQ.’ Originating in 1997, ACQ is a specialized analysis that is triggered whenever a water right is changed to expand its authorized irrigated acreage or add a purpose of use (while retaining its current purpose of use).  

The ACQ process can have big implications on the outcome of a water right change – especially if the water right falls into one of the special exceptions that disqualify it from ACQ.  

Taylor Dayton, Aspect engineer and member of the Chelan County Conservancy Board, recently gave a presentation on what Annual Consumptive Quantity is, how to apply it, and possible alternative approaches to changing the attributes of a water right in water rights permitting projects. 

See a video of her presentation below:

Contact Taylor to learn more.

Meet Katie Sultani-Wright and Scott Mortensen

Aspect recently welcomed Katie Sultani-Wright and Scott Mortensen to our Seattle office. Here are Five Questions we asked to get to know them better…

Katie Sultani-Wright, Practice Coordinator

First camping trip with the five of us at Birch Bay, near Bellingham

  1. Where are you from? If you’re not from the Pacific Northwest, what brought you here?

    I was born in Washington, DC, and have been making my way west ever since.  I’ve lived in DC, Maryland, Colorado, Michigan, Alaska, and Washington State.  I came to Seattle for a job after college.  Graduating as a naval architect/ocean engineer, being near water was, well, a requirement.  I currently live in West Seattle.   

  2. What inspired you to pursue project management? What made you curious about it?

    I don’t know that I pursued project management, I think it’s more like project management pursued me!  Being a consulting engineer, effective project management is a critical skill and a huge part of good client service.  For me, Operations is a natural extension of project management — there are even more moving pieces and the work is never done.  I like that I get to work hard and there is always something to learn. 

  3. What do you like best about your area of expertise? What excites you and keeps you motivated?

    I like the fact that I get to support others!  I love being a part of systems and processes that enable my colleagues to do their best work.  I am motivated by continuous improvement.  How can we challenge ourselves to do better?  Let’s do it!

  4.  What do you like to do when you aren’t working?

    I like to spend time with my spouse (Jon) and our three children.  I like to read books — business, sci-fi, fantasy, survival/disaster.  I like puzzles, especially crosswords and jigsaw.  I like to be outside.  My kids and I have fun playing Nintendo games together.  Music is what brought Jon and I together, so we enjoy going to shows on the off chance that we find someone willing to take care of our kids for an evening.

  5.  What five people would be your dream dinner party guests?

     ABBA!  And I suppose I’d invite Jon, too.  

Scott Mortensen, Staff GIS Analyst

Hiking in California

Hiking in California

  1. Where are you from? If you’re not from the Pacific Northwest, what brought you here?

    I am from the PNW but a little more NW than Seattle; I’m from Anchorage, AK. After more than a decade of moving around as a young adult, I suppose I felt drawn to reconnect with my PNW roots and be closer to family.

  2. What inspired you to pursue GIS? What made you curious about it?

    GIS was something I was first exposed to while surveying gravity-fed aqueduct systems as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Panama. I was drawn to the technical skill and the practical application of data management, manipulation, and visualization as a tool for decision-making and communication.

  3.  What do you like best about your area of expertise? What excites you and keeps you motivated?

    I like the combination of fieldwork + office work and the balance of the analytical left brain + creative right brain. GIS seems to always be evolving so there’s never a dearth of things to learn.

  4. What do you like to do when you aren’t working?

    Relationships are the most important thing to me and I highly value having an active lifestyle, so I spend a good deal of my free time combining those things: spending time with friends and family backpacking, cycling, working on house projects, and cooking. I like to read and am learning to play the harmonica.

  5.  If you were given $50,000 to donate to any cause what cause would you choose?

    Increasing access to high-quality education is the cause that I would most like to dedicate resources towards.

The Path to Professional License: Kirsi Longley, PMP

In the science and engineering industry, seeing a “PE”, “LG”, “PMP”, or other initials behind someone’s name shows that person went through years of work experience that culminated in a substantial test to confirm the right to practice their area of technical expertise. A professional license is a proof statement that communicates that the people charged with designing roads and buildings; solving water supply challenges; cleaning up contaminated soil and water; and successfully managing project quality are qualified and ethically accountable professionals. Many go through this licensing journey but few outside that group know what the process is really like.

We’re telling those stories here. Aspect’s professionals are writing a series of articles that capture the trials and successes of studying for and receiving these career-defining milestones.

Kirsi Longley, Project Management Professional (PMP)

PMP awarded February 2018

Kirsi in Sunshine_stamp.jpg

What the heck do the initials PMP stand for?

Pretty Marginal Pianist? Nope! PMP stands for Project Management Professional. It’s a certification administered by the Project Management Institute (PMI), the internationally recognized association “for those who consider project, program or portfolio management their profession.” Pretty fancy, huh!

Having PMP certification can give you a great advantage in a variety of careers, including environmental consulting. When clients see PMP on your resume, it shows you’re a professional and among the cream of the crop of project managers. In Aspect’s realm of work, some public agencies, like King County, strongly encourage or even require PMPs to be included on project teams to be considered for contracts. You also receive recognition from fellow PMPs who know and appreciate the hard work and diligence that goes into the certification.

Kirsi - Girl Boss Mug.jpg

How does one become a PMP?

The process of becoming a PMP is not as long as what’s required for a PE or LG in terms of meeting the qualifications, testing and studying, but it is still pretty rigorous. For me, it was a very intense six weeks.

In-Person Course Work

The first step is to complete 35 hours of in-person project management education. Several organizations offer classes with curriculum approved by PMI. I went through the Project Management Academy, which I highly recommend. I took a week off from Aspect (thanks Aspect!) and met with the class in a hotel conference room over four long days. On the last day of the in-person class, we took a practice test to gauge how well we’d absorbed the material. Let’s just say that I did not ace the practice test, meaning I had a lot of studying ahead of me.

Application

It was recommended to me that I take the in-person course first, and then fill out the PMP application. This might seem counterintuitive, but once you’ve gone through the course, you have a solid grasp on the terms PMI uses and can then incorporate that language in your application to talk about your experience. It also makes it easier for you to go through your work history and identify pieces they are looking for.

The application takes hours to complete. In order to be considered a candidate for PMP certification, you must document at least three years managing projects during the five stages of the project lifecycle: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, and closing. You have to document this experience in great detail and provide references for those who oversaw your work over the years. This takes a lot of time and research to track all of it down and complete the application.

After you’ve completed the course work and application, it’s time to start studying for the 4-hour exam.

How did you study to prepare for the exam?

I’ve heard the passing rate for first try is 50-60 percent, so the pressure was “on” to really absorb the material. I studied for about 5 weeks before taking the exam. The Project Management Academy and PMI have a lot of Study Guides and other materials to review, including all of the slides from the course, and some mock exams. There are Laminated Study Guides – double-sided sheets that cover the key concepts, work flow charts, vocabulary, and equations – that you can write on and mark up as needed. Those came in quite handy. There are also PMP apps that have flash cards and quizzes to help. I made myself some flash cards too, mostly to help memorize vocabulary with definitions specific to PMI.

Over those 5 long weeks, I ran flash cards or studied on the app on the bus to and from work, then would come home and study for a few hours each night. I studied in 4- to 8-hour blocks on the weekends, including taking practice tests – which meant sitting for 4 hours at a time on a Saturday.

To help me focus on the weekends and remove household distractions, I would set up camp in the local library with snacks, white-noise sounds playing through my headphones, and my study materials. 

What is the best piece of advice you got during your study process?

Kirsi side bar.jpg

The best piece of advice I got from those who’d gone through this was to take the practice exams repeatedly until you get at least 80 percent correct. The practice exams are the best gauge of how well you understand the material. The exam results break down how you did on each section – showing what you got wrong and what the correct answer was, and summarizing all incorrect questions so you can review and know what material you need to focus on in your next study section.

I took five practice tests in all. On the last one, I got 81 percent. I knew then I was likely as ready as I could be to take the real thing.

Walk us through the Big Test Day…

I was assigned to take the exam at a testing center north of Seattle, so I stayed at my parents’ house the night before to save some commuting time and get a better night’s sleep (unfortunately, my dog Cooper had other ideas about getting sleep that night).

On Test Morning, I went to a coffee shop a few hours beforehand to wake up with some caffeine and a bakery treat while getting in some last-minute studying. At this point, I was very ready to have it all be done. Then I drove to the center and sat for the 4-hour exam.

Kirsi and her dachshund, Cooper

Kirsi and her dachshund, Cooper

The test itself was at times excruciating. It’s multiple choice, but there are nuances in answers that require you to really sit with them and think about the right choice. There are also math equations.

How did you feel when you finally got the results?

One great thing about the PMP certification exam is that it’s scored in real time and the results are immediate – no waiting in agony for weeks to find out how you did. After I submitted the answer for my last question, a pop-up appeared letting me know I’d passed. I felt a rush of mixed emotions as weeks of anxiety lifted off my shoulders. I closed my eyes and raised my arms in victory. This drew the attention of a test proctor, who came over to ask if I was ok. I just gestured at the screen, and they nodded approvingly. I left the testing center and cried in my car with relief that this was no longer hanging over me. The journey was over, and I’d earned that certification.

Any parting advice?

I would pass on the advice I got to keep taking the practice tests until you’re getting at least 80 percent correct. You don’t want to take the test, fail, and have to go through prep all over again.

Aspect Welcomes Hydrogeologist Jay Pietraszek to Water Resources Team

Senior Hydrogeologist Jay Pietraszek joins Aspect’s Pacific Northwest-leading water resources team. Jay is a hydrogeologist with over 15 years of experience focusing on process-based assessments of water quality and water quantity for water supply, resource evaluations, and water management planning for commercial and industrial projects. He is based in Seattle, supporting Aspect’s Puget Sound clients as well as expanding Aspect’s water supply services throughout the Pacific Northwest.  

Jay Pietraszek, LHG

Jay Pietraszek, LHG

“As a firm founded by hydrogeologists, Jay’s background and expertise are an ideal match with Aspect’s water resources client base,” said Dan Haller, Principal Engineer for Aspect’s Water Resources Practice. “We’re excited to continue to build Aspect’s water resources team to be one of the strongest in the entire Pacific Northwest.”

Jay has performed extensive hydrogeologic analyses including site characterizations, water quality source assessments, evaluation of surface-groundwater interactions, pumping test analyses, well installations in complex hydrogeologic systems, production well design, and dewatering assessments for public agency, tribal, and mining clients. Pairing with his deep scientific know-how is Jay’s ability to translate complex ideas into clear communication and engage with regulatory and permitting bodies to move projects towards milestone goals.

“I’m excited to join the Aspect team and have the opportunity to work and collaborate with such a talented group of consultants,” said Jay.  “Aspect is one of the premier hydrogeologic consultancies in the region, with an excellent reputation for developing innovative and practical approaches to solve complex water resource challenges. I’m confident that Aspect’s core values and brand will provide a foundation for future success and opportunities, particularly as the demand for water resource-related services continues to grow.”

Join us on November 3rd and 4th for the 13th Annual Washington Water Code Seminar

On November 3rd and 4th, join (virtually) Aspect’s Principal Water Resource Engineer Dan Haller and Senior Associate Hydrogeologist Tyson Carlson at The Seminar Group’s 13th Annual Washington Water Code Seminar.

As Co-chair, Dan will guide a distinguished group of professionals presenting on the past, present, and future of key issues in water law, including relinquishment, adjudications, conservancy boards, water banking, and instream flows.

In addition to Co-chairing the conference, Dan is leading the “Water Right 101 Power Hour: An interactive presentation on how the prior appropriation system works, impairment in water rights, and how engineering, hydrogeology, policy, and legal disciplines all have important roles in administering the water code.”

Tyson is co-presenting at the “COVID-19 Impacts on Water Resources in Washington” Session. This session aims to inform attendees on the “economic impacts, regulatory response, and use of technology in adapting to COVID-19 issues in water resources; New Health and Safety Standards for Projects; Use of Technology (drones) for site visits; how technology is changing the water resources practice.”

The Conference will also highlight Ecology’s recent legislative report on the future of adjudications in Washington. Given that the Acquavella Adjudication in the Yakima basin lasted 42 years, Ecology’s recommendation to adjudicate basins in Whatcom County and near Lake Roosevelt will help shape the future of water right law and policy for years to come.

Learn More about the upcoming conference here: https://www.theseminargroup.net/seminardetl.aspx?id=6064

PFAS: An Emerging Contaminant for Brownfield Sites

Source: https://www.defence.gov.au/Environment/pfas/PFAS.asp

PFAS may seem like an obscure scientific acronym, but we encounter these chemical compounds—dubbed “forever chemicals”—in our food, water, air, and soil.

PFAS are perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a family of over 4,000 man-made surfactant compounds manufactured to repel water and oil/grease. Since the 1940s, PFAS have been widely used in commercial and industrial applications, including many consumer products that can be found in every household: Teflon non-stick pans, food packaging, stain-resistant upholstery, and more.

Recent studies point to PFAS as a growing concern for communities and clients, including at water systems and brownfield sites. Aspect has recently worked on sites with PFAs concerns, and we summarize the history, background, and current regulations (both the state and federal scale) around this emerging environmental concern.

A Brief History of PFAS: Why Should We Care?

In 1956, researchers discovered that PFAS compounds bind to human proteins, and by the 1970s PFAS were found to accumulate in human blood. In 2000, the American Chemical Society published a study showing the distribution of people with detectable concentrations of PFAS in their blood was at a global scale. Research groups worldwide, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are increasingly evaluating the toxicity and potential human health risks of PFAS exposure.

Though limited human epidemiological studies have been conducted to date, laboratory animal studies suggest that adverse health effects due to PFAS may include irregular fetal development, cancer, and liver and thyroid damage, among others.

PFAS in the Environment

Source: https://pfasproject.com/2018/10/02/analysis-of-state-by-state-differences-in-pfas-regulation/

PFAS are released into the environment primarily from locations with long-term use of aqueous fire-fighting foams (military sites, airports, and fire-training facilities), industrial facilities that produce metal plating or directly produce PFAS, and landfills that receive municipal or industrial wastes. One of the main exposure pathways for the general public is via PFAS-impacted drinking water.

Of about 6,000 public water systems monitored by the EPA for PFOA and PFOS between 2013 and 2015, approximately 80 public water systems were found to contain the compounds at concentrations above the EPA’s Lifetime Health Advisory level of 70 parts per trillion (ppt). In Washington State, Aspect is incorporating testing for select PFAS compounds into drinking water aquifer monitoring programs at the request of municipalities.

Current State vs. Federal PFAS Regulatory Context

Despite the public and regulator awareness and general acceptance of the risks associated with PFAS exposure, PFAS compounds are not currently identified as hazardous substances in federal regulations to enforce investigation and cleanup standards. In 2019, the EPA released a PFAS Action Plan outlining an approach for their response, which is in progress. The plan suggests that in the relatively near future, we can expect to see at least the two most well-researched compounds, PFOA and PFOS, listed as hazardous substances at the federal level, by Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), or other pathways.

In the meantime, 28 states are forging ahead with state-level regulations in lieu of EPA enforceable action and CERCLA status. In Washington, the state legislature recently passed two bills limiting uses of PFAS in food packaging and Aqueous Film-Forming Foams (AFFFs) in 2018 (Engrossed State House Bills 2658 and 6413). Additionally, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) is developing an amendment for Chapter 246-290 of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) to address PFAS in drinking water in Washington. This amendment includes state action levels for the EPA’s two target compounds, PFOA and PFOS, as well as three additional compounds (PFHxS, PFNA, and PFBS).

The DOH is proposing a more protective approach than the EPA by setting the draft state action levels for PFOA and PFOS for Group A public water systems at 10 ppt and 15 ppt, respectively—lower values than the EPA’s Lifetime Health Advisory value of 70 ppt. DOH is projecting to finalize the amendment in 2021.

Learn More About PFAS

PFAS Draft Chemical Action Plan (CAP) – October 2020
Long-awaited Washington state plan (a joint publication by the DOH and Ecology) that offers recommendations to reduce PFAS exposure to humans and the environment. The public comment period is currently open until December 7, 2020.

Click here to access the public comment form.

Washington State Department of Health
Resource to learn more about PFAS, and a guide to statewide and nationwide initiatives to address public health concerns related to PFAS.

EPA PFAS Action Plan
National PFAS Action Plan detailing how the EPA is addressing PFAS identification, mitigating exposure, and engaging with affected communities. Refer to the EPA’s homepage for more information.

Safer States
A nationwide coalition of advocates, policymakers, and scientists who collect data on current PFAS policies and guidelines by state, which is then used to make PFAS policy and mitigation recommendations to the federal government.

PFAS-Free Products
A comprehensive list of products and brands from apparel to cookware to furniture that do not contain PFAS.


PFAS Next Steps in the Pacific Northwest

In October 2020, Washington State Departments of Health and Ecology published their PFAS Draft Chemical Action Plan (CAP). The draft CAP has been in development since 2016 and includes recommended actions to reduce human and environmental exposure based on a comprehensive assessment of known and potential sources and occurrences of PFAS in Washington State. The public comment period started on October 7, 2020, and closes on Monday, December 7, 2020. DOH and Ecology are projecting to finalize the CAP in 2021.

Applying State-of-the-Science Insight to PFAS Cleanup and Monitoring

The lack of federal PFAS guidance creates significant challenges for industry and public officials as they assess environmental liability and community impacts. Aspect is working on several projects to help clients problem-solve PFAS challenges, including applying state-of-the-science PFAS data to help municipalities evaluate and monitor wellhead protection programs.

On December 9, 2020, Aspect Senior Geologist Ali Cochrane and Associate Environmental Scientist Kirsi Longley will be presenting on PFAS at the CLE Bootcamp, an annual event for the continuing education of legal professionals, hosted by The Seminar Group. If you are interested in arranging a PFAS presentation for your team/organization or want to learn more about how Aspect can provide PFAS support, please reach out to Ali Cochrane and Kirsi Longley.

Spokane Health Building Taps into Groundwater for Carbon-Neutral Goals

It’s not every day you can celebrate the first step in an innovative, carbon-neutral $60 Million health campus. In Spokane, Washington, a group of regional partners – including Gonzaga University, University of Washington, and McKinstry – are collaborating to build a four-story, 80,000-square foot health sciences building in the heart of Spokane’s riverfront. This Regional Health Partnership is the first of its kind in several ways. The public-private collaboration is unique as all partners look to build a world-class health headquarters in the Inland Empire. It’s also special because it has its sights on achieving recent carbon-neutral targets set out by the state of Washington.

The campus is just breaking ground now, with target construction completion finishing in summer 2022. One of the keys to the carbon-neutral puzzle – essentially, no emissions from the campus – is an innovative heating and cooling system for the campus building. This system, which is being co-designed between Aspect and McKinstry, pumps groundwater from an aquifer beneath the property, runs the water through a mechanical device where heat energy in the water is used to heat or cool the building. This “Open-Loop Ground Source Heat Pump” system has been implemented elsewhere but is not done very often because the subsurface conditions have to be just right to both provide the energy and cost savings to make it viable.

Take a look at the celebratory video marking this milestone (see Aspect’s ‘congratulations’ at 19:25 of the video):

A Nod to the Mighty Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer

Aspect is the hydrogeologic lead on the ground-source heat pump piece of the project and, as a company founded by hydrogeologists, we’re excited to contribute to eliminating carbon-based fuels historically used to heat and cool buildings.

The Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie (SVRP) aquifer in the project region is known as a highly productive one, pumping out the right temperature and volume to make the overall heating/cooling vision for the campus come to life. The final piece of the puzzle came together through a detailed characterization of the site to support water rights permitting.

There’s plenty of more work to do on this exciting project in the months to come and we look forward to helping other clients meet innovative and forward-looking energy goals with hydrogeologic science..

How Turning Off The Flare Helps Us Sleep at Night: Landfill Milestones

In the world of landfills, the transition from active to closed status is much like the transition from feast to bed. When a community is done “feeding” the landfill, i.e., finished actively adding waste to it, owners pull a cover from the toe to the crown of these giants and allow the necessary digestive processes to take place. The digestive process in this analogy equates to solid waste degrading over time until the landfill can move into a “post-closure” care step and, eventually, into productively reusing the land.

Often, the landfill flare – which is a controlled flame that burns off excess landfill gas – is the most conspicuous sign of the digestive process. Flares, in tandem with a landfill’s post-closure slumber, may go for several decades during which time owners diligently keep watch. Some landfills sleep soundly, while others may suffer indigestion – often in the manner of excess landfill methane and other contaminants impacting landfill area groundwater, soil, and gas -- and require special attention.

When the flare or “Night Light” goes out, landfill owners and operators can move on from active to passive landfill gas treatment, which means one step closer to post-closure finalization and closing the landfill.

After Nearly 30 Years, Jefferson County Celebrates a Rare Landfill Milestone

The flare at the Jefferson County landfill has run since 1993, until this year when owners, regulators, and Aspect partnered to turn it off – a rare milestone in the lifecycle of closed landfill operations.

Those responsible for watching and caring for these sleeping giants rarely see true milestone moments as the years roll on. Aspect has supported the team at Jefferson County for over 10 years with monitoring and reporting post-closure care at their landfill just outside Pt. Townsend. Over the last year, Aspect has guided the Jefferson County team toward ending post-closure care. As one of the final milestones, they finally turned off the flare installed in 1993, nearly 30 years ago, effectively turning out the “night light.”

Closed landfills don’t get new waste but still have active engineering controls and monitoring to ensure digestive byproducts, like gas and leachate, don’t impact air quality or groundwater quality. At enormous landfills, like the Cedar Hills Regional Landfill Facility in King County, landfill gas is often used as an alternative energy source. At smaller landfills, like the Jefferson County landfill, flares have been used to treat landfill gas to control odor, prevent air pollution, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Over time, the digestive processes slow down and less gas is created. Eventually, there is not enough landfill gas to directly fuel a flare, and supplemental fuel (like propane) may be used to keep the flare going—which erodes the value of using a flare for landfill gas treatment.

Switching Off the Night Light in Favor of 14 Biofilters

It takes a coordinated effort to turn off a flare. After years of operating the flare with supplemental fuel, Aspect coordinated with Jefferson County and regulatory agencies to help move to a better solution. The regional air quality authority, ORCAA, confirmed air quality would be protected without the flare. Jefferson County Public Health approved removing flare treatment from the closed landfill permit. The Jefferson County Public Works team built and installed 14 new biofilters and is now monitoring them to ensure they effectively do their job.

Landfill gas flares – like this one at the Port Angeles landfill, which Aspect also consults on — require both considerable operation and maintenance and constant care as landfill gas – i.e., their fuel – runs out.

Biofilters are increasingly used to treat landfill gas during the final stages of digestion and gas generation because they provide “polishing” treatment with little monitoring or maintenance. Landfill gas is directed from horizontal collectors below the cover system through perforated pipe, which is buried by wood mulch. Naturally occurring microbial communities break down landfill gas as it passes through. Barometric pressure changes will allow the landfill to breathe, inhaling atmospheric air during increasing pressure and exhaling landfill gas during decreasing pressure.

Safely Reducing Monitoring Costs and Seeing the End Goal

Turning off the flare brings the Jefferson County team one step closer to ending post-closure monitoring at the landfill. The next steps include showing:

  • There is little to no landfill gas generation. No subsurface landfill gas migration has been observed recently under intermittent operation of the flare. Compliance gas probes near the property boundary will be monitored during passive landfill gas collection to ensure explosive gases remain in very good control.

  • The cover system has good integrity with little to no settlement and is resilient to erosion. The cover system prevents rainfall from infiltrating through the landfill and creating leachate. Settlement surveys have begun, and the vegetated surface is in very good shape.

  • There is little to no leachate generation. Like most older landfills, the Jefferson County landfill started receiving waste before bottom liners were required. So, any leachate that is generated due to infiltration or during digestion will reach groundwater. A network of groundwater monitoring wells is being sampled for a wide range of potential contaminants and results look favorable.

Also, see Peter Bannister’s article on this topic in Municipal Solid Waste’s (MSW) magazine January/February 2021 issue.

Read more about Aspect’s full suite of services for landfill operators and owners.

Join Aspect Stormwater Experts (Virtually) at NEBC Stormwater Conference Thursday September 10

Touted as “The State’s Largest and Most Comprehensive Stormwater Conference,” the Northwest Environmental Business Council (NEBC) will host the Managing Stormwater in Washington state conference on Thursday, September 10th. For the first time, this conference will be held virtually, and Aspect is proud to be a premier sponsor of the event again.

This focused one-day conference is Washington’s leading stormwater event, convening regulated companies, governments, solution providers, and regulators for learning, networking, and business development. The conference’s educational sessions will cover both fundamental and advanced topics in the areas of industrial, construction, and municipal stormwater management. Aspect’s stormwater professionals Owen Reese, James Packman, John Knutson, and Erik Pruneda and will also be contributing to three of the sessions.

Owen will be part of the panel during the conference’s Featured Plenary Session, The Impact of Third-Party Lawsuits. Clean Water Act lawsuits brought by public interest groups have become an effective enforcement tool for stormwater permit compliance. Functioning as a supplement to agency enforcement efforts and feared by regulated industry, these citizen suits can lead to unwanted scrutiny and often carry stiffer penalties than an agency enforcement action. The panel of experts will shed light on the citizen suit provision of the Clean Water Act, causes and timing, and what you can expect if you find yourself in trouble.

James will moderate the Municipal Fundamentals session, where attendees can gain a thorough understanding of the basic elements of municipal stormwater management including general permit requirements and enforcement; watershed planning; source control; creating Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPPs); proper sampling techniques; and the most common Best Management Practices (BMPs) in municipal settings.

John and Erik will be presenting on the Keys to Successful Infiltration, where they will discuss the recently published Infiltration Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that Aspect developed for the Port of Seattle’s Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The SOPs provide a holistic process for planning infiltration system and dive into the details on field testing and using test information to support design.

Learn more about the conference HERE.

The Path to Professional License: Matthew Lewis

In the science and engineering industry, seeing a “PE”, “LG”, “PMP”, or other initials behind someone’s name shows that person went through years of work experience that culminated in a substantial test to confirm the right to practice their area of technical expertise. A professional license is a proof statement that communicates that the people charged with designing roads and buildings; solving water supply challenges; cleaning up contaminated soil and water; and successfully managing project quality are qualified and ethically accountable professionals. Many go through this licensing journey but few outside that group know what the process is really like.

We’re telling those stories here. Aspect’s professionals are writing a series of articles that capture the trials and successes of studying for and receiving these career-defining milestones.

Matthew Lewis, Hydrogeology License (LHG)

LHG awarded October 2019

Matthew in the field at a gravel mine in Shelton

What was the best piece of advice you received as you started your LHG journey?

The best piece of advice I received was to keep this test in perspective and not let it stress me out. That the worst-case scenario would be to just take it again. Failure is feedback, not the end of the world.

Given this advice, what would you tell those about to begin?

My first piece of advice to anyone starting out is to treat the application as an important task itself, not just a formality. You will need to take time to coordinate with your project managers, who will have to take time to submit their own forms on your behalf. The application also requires a lot of information about projects you’ve worked on to prove evidence of your experience. I found that remembering relevant projects and describing my contributions were more time consuming than I initially thought they would be (what was that 5-year-old-project’s name again?), and I had some unexpected issues arise in gathering information about the projects as well. I was glad I started work early and submitted my application well ahead of time –a small road bump can turn into a critical failure when you’re up against a hard deadline.

Matthew and his high-energy family

My second piece of advice is to assess ahead of time how studying will impact your work/life balance. I have three high-energy kids at home, none of whom like to go to bed, and post-bedtime was the only time I could hope to squeeze in some study time. So I knew I had to start studying months in advance and plan for smaller, bite-sized study sessions. This early start helped me manage my time and stress and allow some flexibility in my study routine.

How did you study strategically?

I made sure to lock in the fundamentals like calculating a groundwater gradient by hand from a few wells, determining hydraulic head across an earthen dam from a flow-net diagram, and even just memorizing common unit conversions. Since I’m typically working with spreadsheet models and calculation software, it was easy to let some of those basic skills get rusty.

I knew from my days playing guitar that the best way to make progress is to practice towards your weaknesses. At work, I typically work on pumping tests, construction dewatering, and infiltration analysis, etc., so I focused my study efforts on areas of hydrogeology that I don’t work with every day. Even so, I was caught off-guard by several questions about aquifer tracer tests that I didn’t have that specific background knowledge in. This was a little discouraging, but I did so well in the other areas that it balanced out in the end. So, I recommend that once you have the fundamentals down, find the areas of hydrogeology you have the least exposure to and put your energy there.

Walk us through the Big Test Day…

My main focus on Test Day was to manage my stress levels and keep my mind clear. My LHG test was in the afternoon, so I made sure to get a good night’s sleep (no cramming the night before!) and eat breakfast with my family. I arrived at The Evergreen State College with plenty of time to find my testing location and listen to a bit of my favorite music. When I finally took the exam, I flew through half of it in less than an hour, and then spend the rest of the period taking my time on the more complex problems. I left feeling cautiously optimistic, but I also knew that test results don’t come for three loooooong months, so it’s best not to dwell on it—just let it go. Also, why does a scantron test take so long to process?!

How did you feel when you got the results?

I was thrilled to find out I had passed the exam. I was expecting a letter, but the email was just sitting there in my inbox one morning. I immediately called my wife with the news, and then I called my studio lead.

Obtaining my LHG was an important career milestone that helped pave the way for my Project Manager position. It also feels good now to see my LHG stamp on Aspect reports; it communicates a specialized knowledge background to our clients.

Matthew Lewis, LHG is a Project Hydrogeologist in Aspect’s Seattle office.

Construction Begins on Aspect’s Innovative Affordable Housing Project

Construction is underway in Seattle’s Mt. Baker neighborhood on two buildings that will house over 150 affordable apartments for the Mt. Baker Housing Association (MBHA).

The first building, called Maddux North, is on the site of a former dry cleaners that released significant amounts of contaminants into the neighborhood soils and groundwater. The second, Maddux South, is across South McClellan Street on land with its own history of contamination from use as a gas station and auto repair shop. The costs to clean up these properties and similarly affected ones around the city usually leave the valuable land beyond the reach of nonprofits like MBHA. In the past few years, Aspect has partnered with the Washington State Department of Ecology and legal experts on the Healthy Housing Remediation Program to help organizations navigate regulatory pathways and fund cleanup efforts to get these urban sites ready for redevelopment as housing. You can learn more about this innovative funding model on our Affordable Housing page.

Aspect’s environmental and geotechnical teams will be on site in the coming months at both Maddux North and South to monitor the shoring and pile installations that will make way for the buildings’ foundations and make sure the excavated contaminated soils are being handled properly.



Community Water Supply Solutions: A Success Story

Since construction 30 years prior, yield in two of this rural town’s (in southern Washington state) drinking water wells has been in a steady, long-term decline.

At these problem wells, results of regular water-quality testing were showing increasing amounts of iron and silica, and concentrations of sodium were exceeding advisory levels. More recently, wellfield operators were reporting the sound of water cascading down the casing beneath the pumphouse, and could hear the hiss of air entrained in the discharge line. Utility managers with the town were growing concerned about the longevity of the wells and whether they could continue to meet demand.

The local PUD, who operates the wells for the town, wanted to get things back on track. But where to start? Which of the problems should they address first? And how would they know they were investing in the right fixes, and making the best decisions for their customer owners? The PUD brought in Aspect to problem solve and rehabilitate the wells to recover the lost supply.

Water pumped from one of the town’s water supply wells with high iron oxides and turbidity.

Well Rehabilitation Detective Work

For the PUD, our initial approach examined the usual suspects of declining wellfield performance: well construction records, changes in water quality, regional trends in aquifer levels, and the condition of the pump and motor. As part of our review, we also used a slimline downhole camera to observe the condition of the well screen and casing. Our “nano” camera is designed to be deployed without having to first pull the pump—a significant time and money saver for everyone involved—and provides real-time information to diagnose what’s happening underground.

Our investigation revealed that the water supply wells were suffering from both chemical and physical complications: poor well construction and high iron-sulfide content in the source aquifer was fueling a booming population of slime-forming bacteria. Although each of these problems could be addressed with short-term fixes, they represented long-term maintenance costs and perpetual service interruptions for the PUD. While nearly any drilling outfit is capable of clearing obstructions and replacing damaged casing, our hydrogeologists provided big-picture perspective of the subsurface. Instead of attacking the symptoms of well decline with temporary solutions, we looked to understand the root cause of water problems and make recommendations that will improve pumping capacity for the long-term.

Reducing Long-Term Cost and Gaining Higher-Quality Groundwater

As an alternative, Aspect recommended a phased approach to rehabilitate the water source. First, to address water needs today, we prescribed a series of well rehabilitation treatments to restore the well performance. Second, to address water needs in the years to come, we outlined steps for developing a new source in a higher-quality body of groundwater. In addition to reducing long-term cost, this approach is consistent with the PUD’s mission to serve their customer owners.

Water filtration system necessary to treat water prior to distribution.

Contact Aspect to Learn More About Well Rehabilitation Services

Successful well rehabilitation results from a methodical process.

Successful well rehabilitation results from a methodical process.

If you have questions or want to learn more about our well-rehabilitation services, please contact Jon Turk or Andrew Austreng in our Water Resources Practice.