July 2007 TechLaw has been awarded the REPA 4 Zone 2 contract. This is a five-year, $15M contract under which TechLaw personnel will continue to provide RCRA enforcement, permitting, training and special projects support to EPA Regions 4, 5, and 6. This is TechLaw’s fourth successive REPA Zone 2 contract, resulting in 18 years of continuous REPA services to these three EPA regions.

July 2007 TechLaw has entered into a contract with the Georgia Tech Research Institute—a new client—to provide strategic planning support for emergency planning activities in the State of Georgia. TechLaw will support the Office of Homeland Security – Georgia Emergency Management Agency (OHS-GEMA) with planning and the development effort currently underway to advance and finalize Regional Strategic Plans (RSPs) for each of the 8 geographic areas of the state.

July 2007 TechLaw has been awarded its third successive Region 9 Regional Oversight Contract (ROC). This 8-year, $24M contract enables TechLaw to continue providing remediation support and oversight services to EPA Region 9 at federal facilities located in California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and the Pacific Islands. The ROC Region 9 program is a critical component of TechLaw's remediation support and oversight work.

June 2007 TechLaw is an official Brownfields 2008 Endorser. The next National Brownfields Conference takes place May 5–7, 2008, at Detroit's Cobo Center.

Brownfields are rural or urban industrial commercial sites that are abandoned or underused because of real or perceived contamination. Communities across the country face the challenge of putting these idle sites back to work, from old industrial cities with thousands of acres of abandoned factories to rural villages built around derelict mines or timber mills. 

Brownfields are a valuable community resource that through redevelopment and reuse could easily bring important benefits to many economically depressed communities or serve as the centerpiece in comprehensive redevelopment strategies.

April 2007 – TechLaw participated in the annual Earth Day Build-A-Thon event sponsored by Habitat for Humanity. Rich Howard from the Sacramento office and Indira Balkissoon, Johnny White, Mary Snow, and Suzette Tay Lee from the San Francisco office spent the day on-site to help frame affordable Green homes at the Habitat development in East Oakland, California on Saturday, April 21, 2007. As part of the 4-day event, they were among 420 volunteers who helped frame eight 2-story homes, complete with roof trusses, at the affordable income housing site. 

Calling themselves the TechLaw-SF/SAC Builders, the team also raised $1,375, exceeding their $1K goal, which paid for their project home's insulation according to Habitat officials.

This volunteer effort was especially significant for TechLaw, because Habitat for Humanity is a client. The Edes A site is adjacent to Edes B, where TechLaw is currently engaged in a brownfields cleanup and community outreach project.

Chicago— April 2007 TechLaw was recognized and listed with the Cook County Office of Capital Planning & Policy (OCPP) as a pre-qualified consultant for current and future projects.

OCPP Director, Bruce Washington, reviewed TechLaw and claimed, "it is with pleasure that I inform you that your firm [TechLaw] has been added to a pre-qualified pool of consultants for both current and future projects."

This marks TechLaw’s entry into their fourth consecutive generation REPA program.

Top notch technical services provided on the current REPA contracts over the last five years were surely among the factors that helped TechLaw secure this REPA contract.

This summer, ESAT will be deployed to Libby, MT to prepare asbestos samples in the field for analysis at the Region 8 Lab.

Mary conveyed TechLaw’s non-traditional approach to environmental consulting, noting that our team has a social worker and community activists, in addition to technical experts, and also explained that we “think outside the box.”
                    

January 22, 2007 – An emergency response at an old dump site in Richlands, Virginia, was responded to by TechLaw's Region 3 START members, Brian Burris and Gene Nance. The site was discovered as the result of a brush fire intended to clean up the property. A total of $250K has been allocated for this removal action, to extinguish the fire, and dispose of hazardous waste.

The team rerouted a creek that drains into Clinch River, building a berm around it to prevent runoff from entering the creek. Together, START and Emergency Rescue Response Services (ERRS) personnel have begun unearthing and extinguishing burning battery casings with assistance from the local fire and emergency departments.

Personnel have performed air monitoring during excavation and firefighting activities. In addition, sampling will be conducted to determine the extent of contamination of soils and water in the creek and on-site well.

The on-scene coordinator (OSC) has directed removal and disposal of contaminated sediments and soils. There are plans for the site to be restored.

As the OSC tasked START with a deed and title search on January 25, the team has since obtained all deeds and titles. Assistance has been requested from the Office of Enforcement, Cost Recovery Branch to issue a General Notice Letter to all potentially responsible parties (PRPs).

Dump site, Richlands, Virginia