Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are widely used chemicals that persist in the environment and break down slowly over time. PFAS and emerging contaminants can create a range of unsettling situations for daily operations. By understanding environmental cleanup and your industry, we help you achieve regulatory compliance and minimize risk with proven and innovative strategies.
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In the 1980s and 1990s, a band named Dumpster Juice was playing hardcore punk and grunge music for fans in the Upper Midwest. This band’s name, as well as the bars it frequented, evokes a vivid image and odor of the stagnant, foul liquid accumulating at the base of the dumpster metal container behind a college apartment. During the same time period, landfills that collected trash from dumpsters were required to have lining systems in place, facilitating the collection of leachate — or dumpster juice on a grander scale.
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The regulatory landscape for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), man-made, forever chemicals found in the environment, currently consists of a patchwork of standards and regulations promulgated by individual states and proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That will change in 2024, when the first federal regulation to list PFAS chemicals as a hazardous substance becomes law.
case study
Permanently closing a facility can be a complex process, especially when hazardous materials are present, such as jet fuel. After Burns & McDonnell successfully constructed a new $50 million jet fuel storage facility at St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL), the focus turned to the former fuel storage area built in the 1950s that needed to be safely and efficiently remediated.
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Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, continue to be a frequent topic of conversation when it comes to their potential impact on the environment and communities. These man-made chemicals, which can be found in food takeout boxes, cleaning products, cookware or even personal hygiene products, have emerged at the forefront of conversation in the water industry.
Case Study
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PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are the subject of intense discussion in the water and wastewater industries. With the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) poised to issue new rules governing the management of these “forever chemicals” in coming years, many utilities are debating how to manage the risks they pose in the meantime. Long-term public health protection and fiscal prudence call for a holistic approach, beginning with a process evaluation to measure contaminants accurately and determine next steps.
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As concerns about the environmental and public health risks of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) grow, the rules governing their use in aircraft rescue and firefighting foam are changing. While federal and state agencies work toward new PFAS regulations, requiring airports take steps to manage the associated long-term liability.
webinar
Complex site remediation can be costly and difficult if the existing conceptual site model (CSM) fails to account for the processes determining the persistence and behavior of groundwater contaminants. This presentation explores the benefits of using a web application-based CSM to achieve project goals and optimize remediation design.
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Fire safety and suppression have long been integral to the makeup of commercial airport operations. For decades, aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) has been a primary material that satisfies federal and state regulations and fire code requirements. This approved and resilient suppression agent has a proven track record of suppressing and stopping the propagation of fire, thus minimizing the impact of fire events on critical airport operations.
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Issues related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been top-of-mind for the environmental industry since the early 2000s, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) raised concerns about PFAS-related health effects. Over the past two decades, such substances have drawn increased attention, prompting state and federal regulators to grapple with the challenges of how to regulate this ubiquitous class of compounds.
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A deep understanding of the nuances of air quality regulations and permitting issues is critical to keeping facilities safe, operational and in compliance. This can be a daunting task when a project faces a range of regulations and permitting requirements — as well as the goal to keep a project moving forward seamlessly.
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Per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) continue to dominate the conversation as an emerging contaminant of concern due to their potential for adverse human health effects and continued regulation. This group of chemicals can be found in a wide variety of consumer products and drinking water. With the recent news of more stringent EPA regulations and funding opportunities, water municipalities are diligently looking into technologies currently available to treat PFAS and begin incorporating these solutions into existing processes.
webinar
Remediating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in groundwater presents numerous challenges, necessitating a site characterization workflow that differs from the industry standard. In this presentation, learn about a more strategic, effective approach to remediating complex sites, one that incorporates the use of 3D subsurface mapping — by way of Environmental Sequence Stratigraphy (ESS) — to target the PFAS groundwater sampling program and address critical data gaps. Implementing this approach reduces the cost and duration of PFAS investigations and provides a process-based conceptual site model that can be used to assess risk and design efficient remedial solutions for PFAS.
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At this time, Burns & McDonnell is not offering pure architectural services in the states of Illinois, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire or New Jersey. We may, however, provide design-build services for architectural projects.