Tineer Ahmed

Intern Mentor G/T

05/03/17

Dr. Amar Wadhawan, Geosyntec Consultants, Environmental Engineer, 01/12/17

*Before being interviewed, Dr. Wadhawan agreed to being recorded.

Transcription
T: I did some research about Geosyntec, and I am interested in the application of environmental
systems at the contaminated sites that you help. And I read that you play a role in the vapor
intrusion, so can you please explain why your clients are interested in that.

Dr. W: Vapor intrusion is a hot topic in terms of exposure- direct exposure for humans- through
contamination of the subsurface. Its a more direct pathway especially for the residential areas.
And vapor intrusion is used for all of our clients that have sites where theres subsurface
contamination for organic substances not metals. For chlorinated solvents and other petroleum
hydrocarbons, they can migrate from groundwater into other zones... leading to indoor air. Then
that provides a very confined environment for humans... and vapor intrusion is a significant path
for direct assistance to human receptors. Our clients are usually interested in solutions that can
mitigate the concerns of the exposure. Geosyntec comes in and assess if the vapor intrusion is the
solution to the concern, so we do a lot of indoor air sampling if the exposure is above the
values and if there is a concern, we put in a vapor mitigation or technically to prevent direct
exposure. Does this answer your question?

T: Yes. Thank you for your expertise on that. I also wanted to know this because in my
research, I read about chlorobenzene and its bioremediation plans, but I am not exposed to why
businesses choose certain models of the systems. Are there other bioremediation plans that
Geosyntec specializes in?

Dr. W: Yes, vapor intrusion has brought up our practice areas. We do a lot of environmental
remediation, but vapor intrusion is different because it deals with indoor air. We do a lot of
bioremediation work, and I am sure you have heard through your discussion with [mentor]
Steven and your readings that bioremediation is sort of a geno technology in which Geosyntec
has tremendous expertise in implementing this technology to various media; the media being
groundwater and sediments. So what we do is, we help our clients assess the potential of
bioremediation at their site, and we help our clients implement it successfully. Bioremediation
make up a part of our practice. In terms of other remediation systems, we do in situ chemical
oxidation and reduction , which is a chemical transformation of contaminants from a harmful
state to a neutral one. We implement in situ and ex situ as well. And then, we provide expertise
on chemicals like metals and petroleum hydrocarbon in solvent, and we explore different
technologies that are well established in scientific and technical implementation. After we are
done managing their site and resolving their contamination issue. We do not only limit ourselves
to bioremediation and vapor intrusion we also have our own technologies, one of them being
STAR. STAR is an in situ remediation system that is self sufficient and self sustaining active
thermal treatment. Basically what we do is, there will be high levels of contamination other
chemicals in treatments will take longer to treat it we implement in situ wells, where we
smolder contaminants, like smoldering charcoal during a barbeque. So we smolder the
contaminants and capture the vapors to achieve high levels of mass destruction within a short
period of time. Again, for these technologies, before we implement them we do a lot of
pre-testing We have a lab to conduct those studies in, similar to the studies at Hopkins. Then
we will do a small field study to make sure that the technology actually works in the field. This
scales up from a beaker to an acre sized lot. And finally when all the stages are cleared, then we
implement them at the site.

T: Wow, that is very intricate.

Dr. W: Yes- you know how a pharmaceutical company does drug trials? You have your basic
research first, and then you will have implementation of trials before you know the drug is
suitable for a certain population.

T: Yes, I understand. And in your environmentalist view, which remediation approach for
groundwater cleanup is preferred?

Dr. W: I would think a treatment that is more... green and sustainable would be acceptable.
Usually, we are assessing before we implement a technology, if we are making the situation
worse or not. Most people say that bio is the more green technology. But in comparison to
chemical or thermal or others, there is usually an injection of a chemical onto the surface, or it
requires more photodynamics for energy. If you are running in situ wells, it can be very energy
demand. Those are typically not as green. There is a caveat because bio can take longer than
some of the more aggressive technology It depends on your goals. On one hand, you can be
more aggressive and implement the remedy that achieve the contaminant removal at a very short
scale. It may not be the most green alternative, if your goal is to limit the amount of exposure to
aquatic or environmental receptors, including humans, sometimes bio is not the most efficient. If
you have the luxury of time, then bio would be feasible. Bio by itself it would need nutrients
to be added, and we call it biostimulation or bioaugmentation. These are different technologies of
bioremediation. When we look at it, it is a very site specific situation that we deal with. We asses
the remedies and consider all of the factors We also perform a remedy evaluation like the
our objective and have the least negative impact. That is how we select the remedy. This process
incorporates the concerns of the environmentalists of the different aspects of the remedy
application.

T: Yes. I did read that it is site-specific when determining the plan one would use. Like in the
perspective of a business or a type of firm, which plan do they usually go by?

W: I do not think there is generic one that businesses prefer. Usually, cost is a dominant
factor sometimes if something needs to be done in a certain manner, cost is secondary. That is
also critical in decision making. Also it is determined by contaminants you are addressing. If the
contaminant is degraded by organisms, then bio is a definite contender. But if you are looking at
chlorinated carbons that are hard to remediate because we do not have the organisms that can
degrade it regularly, so in those cases, you have to go with aggressive and more chemical. There
is not a single approach for all sites- it goes by a site by site basis... Site-specific conditions play
a huge role in remedy selection. Clients prefer greener and cost-effective and achieve clean-up at
a reasonable time. Those are the three criteria.

T: Thank you for that. And as my last question, I described to you my research project is
focused on chlorobenzene, so has Geosyntec consultants worked with this organic compound?

Dr. W: Yes. Geosyntec has more than two decades with remedies for chlorinated solvents, one
of them being chlorobenzene. We do a lot of work with methane, benzene, and other organics.

T: And usually where are these sites? Are they at industries or commercial areas?

Dr. W: In your project, it was in an old industry that was basically manufacturing
chlorobenzene especially for chlorobenzene, you can expect them at medical, army, and navy
facilities. For chlorinated solvents, they can be found in commercial areas like gas stations
These solvents were used long ago and these facilities like gas stations and dry cleaners would
leak and contaminate the groundwater with contaminants. That is why bioremediation started.

T: Okay and thank you so much for your informative input and your time.

Reflection
From this interview, I learned the practicality of remediation plans. Dr. Wadhawan provided
great insight on the work of Geosyntec Consultants and offered the process that clients go
through to choose a specific plan. It was interesting hearing that the company has handled the
contaminant that I am researching, but I wished that I asked questions on common pollutants in
groundwater. I felt at ease with this interview, but I found it difficult to formulate follow-up
questions. This experience contributed to the understanding of my research outside of the lab.