Services Banner
To ServicesTo TechLaw NewsAbout TechLawNationwide Office LocationsContract VehiclesPositions at TechLawContact InformationTechLaw Home Page

You are here
To Assessment and Analytical Services
To Environmental Compliance Services
To Evidence Acquisition and Analysis Services
To Property Redevelopment Services
Go to Munitions and Explosives Support Services
Go to CERCLA/RCRA Support Services
Go to Emergency Response Activities Services
Go to Negotiation Support Services
You are here.

Toxicology and Risk Assessment

TechLaw provides the following response services
     TechLaw's Toxicology and Risk Assessment practice has specialized expertise in the determination and calculation of risk-based remediation goals. The generation of site-specific, risk-based preliminary remediation goals aids in streamlining the risk assessment process by eliminating from further consideration those constituents that will not have a direct and significant bearing on final risk management decisions.
     The EPA and most state regulatory agencies encourage interested parties to use risk-based cleanup assessments to achieve cost-effective regulatory closure. When necessary, risk-based cleanups can rely on institutional controls (ICs) or administrative authority, such as a covenant in the deed of an existing property, rather than depend on historically conservative cleanup criteria to restrict current and future use. However, the pursuit of ICs is not straightforward, and risk assessment, and fate and transport experts can help support the basis for limited or precluded cleanup of environmental contamination.
     TechLaw is uniquely qualified to perform human health and ecological risk assessment support in conducting remedial investigations at hazardous waste sites throughout the United States due to our experience with sites in all EPA regions. Our services include the following:

  • Conducting Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessments, which can eliminate the need for expensive dig-and-haul type remediation and maximize options for beneficial site reuse
  • Developing rationale for site closure or remedial response
  • Creating cost-effective engineering solutions to specifically address identified risks
  • Conducting Exposure Assessments for on-site workers and area residents
  • Evaluating exposure pathways and associated concentrations in contact media
  • Providing clear, concise, and easily understood explanations of the science involved in conducting risk assessments
  • Validating analytical data to support risk assessments
  • Providing toxicological litigation support, including expert witness support, negotiation/dispute resolution, and evidence analysis and compilation

 
Projects

 
Field Oversight
TechLaw has provided support to EPA for the detection and removal of UXO at an Army site in California since the summer of 1999. Staff coordinated field audits to assess UXO field geophysical survey protocols, the performance of UXO survey methods, and geophysical mapping procedures. Also, TechLaw coordinated a geophysical survey to locate UXO at the Army’s airfield. TechLaw has provided input into more than 30 remedial action documents, including the Ordnance Detection and Discrimination Study, OE Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) Work Plan, Prescribed Burn Air Sampling and Analysis Plan, and Reconnaissance Plan for OE RI/FS.
Research

TechLaw, under its General Services Administration Schedule, has been tasked by the USACE Sacramento District to inventory Closed, Transferred and Transferring Army ranges in seven states, including federally owned and operated Army National Guard installations and ranges in realignment areas of the BRAC program. Work has included historical research to identify ranges, locations, periods of use, and types of ordnance expended.
Training

TechLaw has developed a variety of risk assessment and communication training, and served as peer reviewers for EPA guidance documents. In support of EPA Regions 3, 4, 6, and 8, and the State of Louisiana, TechLaw has developed more than 40 risk-related training courses, including: Risk Communication and Decision-Making, Risk-Based Corrective Action training, Environmental Statistics, Risk Assessment for Hazardous Waste Combustors, Risk Assessment for Toxic Air Pollutants, Air Dispersion Modeling and Permitting, and Compliance Training for RCRA Miscellaneous Treatment Units.

Guidance Development

TechLaw has developed risk assessment guidance in support of a number of contracts. These include the following:

  • TechLaw supported EPA Region 1 in preparing the New England State Standards Review Initiative, Review of Methodologies, which involved a comparative analysis of all Region 1 state regulatory and health-based screening or remediation standards to assist with outlining an applicable and pragmatic approach to risk management consistency.
  • Under a Region 3 work assignment, we prepared detailed sensitivity and limitations for application analysis of the Johnson and Ettinger vapor intrusion model on behalf of EPA.
  • TechLaw worked with EPA Region 6 to develop the Corrective Action Strategy (CAS) and Risk Management Strategy guidance to prioritize sites within EPA programs on the basis of health risk and streamlined corrective action at facilities with releases to the environment. This manual presents a risk management strategy that can be implemented during any phase of corrective action. Intended as a tool for stakeholders, it streamlines the administrative process and introduces the use of a risk-based priority screen to focus resources on the most significant sources of risk and hazard.
  • TechLaw developed the Soil Screening Levels Guidance for the State of New Mexico on a site-specific basis, incorporating multiple risk assessment tools, which allowed the user to develop soil screening levels for direct human exposure, models to evaluate leaching of contaminants into groundwater, and a qualitative screen for ecological risk assessment.
  • We are currently authoring the Risk-Based Corrective Action Guidance for the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board.
 
Reconnaissance/Stabilization and Sampling at Pyrotechnics Facility

During a more than two-week period, TechLaw staff conducted multiple Level A entries into the electroplating building at RTF Pyrotechnics, a former manufacturer of explosive and pyrotechnic materials, to conduct reconnaissance, stabilization, and sampling activities. Entries into the pyrotechnics facility were conducted using static-free PPE, to reduce fire/explosion hazards. Site conditions were so extremely uncontrolled and hazardous that the OSC requested a site-specific activation of the Regional Response Team (RRT). Attendees of the RRT teleconference included: EPA, USCG, FBI, DOD, ATF, TCEQ, AUSA, FEMA, and OSHA. TechLaw designed and implemented a comprehensive air monitoring and sampling program to provide early warning/identification of airborne releases, as residents were located less than 100 yards from the RTF facilities. TechLaw sampled, defined hazard categories (hazcat) and identified thousands of highly reactive materials stored in drums, tanks, containers, bins, and bags located on-site. Drum Trac software was used to log the hazcat results with the sampled container information. Many of the shock-sensitive and reactive materials were detonated on-site. As the presence of military ordnance and weapons at the site was suspected, TechLaw coordinated initial site security responsibilities with ATF and the FBI-ERT. TechLaw conducted GPR and EM surveys to locate buried drums/explosives and anomalies on-site. TechLaw staff then dug 32 exploratory trenches using remotely controlled excavators—15 of these trenches located UXO disposal/burial areas, and two identified electroplating sludge disposal pits. TechLaw also assisted the FBI-ERT in exploratory trenching for suspected human remains at the site.

©2007 TechLaw, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Home Page