Blog

Remediation Techniques: Then and Now

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Looking back over the last three decades of remediation projects, I’ve noticed a very interesting trend. Despite advances in technology and equipment, a good majority of the techniques we were using in the early 1980s are still in use today, only with less disruption to the property.

What VOCs Are and How They Affect You

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The next time you’re out shopping, you may notice that some products have the words “low VOCs” on their label. An increasing amount of manufacturers are using this label because of the growing awareness of the harm that VOCs (i.e. volatile organic compounds) pose to human health.

Inheriting Contaminated Property Not Always a Curse

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As a Hydrogeologist with an interest in remediation of petrochemical impacted properties, I decided to do a Google search on the subject to see what I would find.  Surprisingly enough the first few pages were nothing but ads from lawyers telling you how to refuse your inheritance or risk being completely ruined financially.  Unfortunately these are the same folks who will turn around

Laws Being Ignored by Obama… and Everybody Else

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These days when people talk about the laws on the books being ignored by our President and Congress, the first thing that comes to mind is Immigration.  I would say let’s start with the US Constitution, but that is a very long discussion for another day. Although US immigration laws are being ignored, the laws I’m talking about which are being broken are as follows:

Deal of the Day

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With Christmas upon us, I decided to write about the deals we are bombarded with every day in emails, paper supplements and store billboards.  But is the “Deal of the Day” really a deal?  Having an interest in electronics, I decided to dig into the specifications of some deals on TV’s and laptop computers.  First of all, I am not saying there are no deals to be had, but what I fo

Vapor Intrusion and Sub-Slab Depressurization Systems

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Vapor intrusion (VI) of radon gas has been recognized as a potential cancer risk for more than 30 years. Radium, a breakdown product of uranium, produces the short-lived daughter product Radon, which presents itself as a gas that can migrate into living space of overlying buildings.

Planting the Seeds of Environmental Stewardship

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Back in the late 1970’s, when I was still a student at Indiana University in Bloomington, I was notified that my Great Aunt Lillian Graves had passed away. This was a sad time for me as I was very fond of her. She had lived in New York City during the summer and in Greenwood SC during the winter. She had a very young soul for an elderly person, and was great fun to be around and talk to.