Chuck Newell, Vice President/Principal Engineer, has been singularly honored with the prestigious 2024 Gordon Maskew Fair Award from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES)

Gordon Maskew Fair Award

Exciting News! The American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES) singularly honors Chuck Newell, Vice President/Principal Engineer with the prestigious 2024...

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Exciting News! The American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES) singularly honors Chuck Newell, Vice President/Principal Engineer with the prestigious 2024 Gordon Maskew Fair Award!

The award recognizes Dr. Newell’s extensive work in environmental science, including numerous publications, patents, and contributions to the field as exemplary of the goal to “protect and enhance environmental quality.” Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition!

The Gordon Maskew Fair Award honors one of the pioneers of environmental engineering, Dean Fair. In addition to his exemplary career, his living legacy includes hundreds of prominent practicing engineers and eminent professors who continue to emulate his values. He taught his students not only the technical aspects of the field but also inspired them to use their skills to protect and enhance environmental quality.

Through the Fair Award, the Academy seeks to identify Board Certified Environmental Engineers, Members, or Scientists who have contributed to the status of the environmental engineering or science professions by:

  • Exemplary professional conduct
  • Recognized achievements in the practice of environmental engineering and science
  • Significant contributions to the control of the quality of the world’s environment

Dr. Charles Newell holds the position of Vice President at GSI Environmental Inc. and is based in Houston, Texas. He is recognized as a Board Certified Environmental Engineer (BCEE) by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists, a Certified Ground Water Professional by the National Ground Water Association (NGWA) and serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice University. His academic and professional contributions are extensive, including co-authorship of four U.S. EPA publications, 12 environmental software systems, over 70 journal articles, five patents, and two books, notably “Natural Attenuation of Fuels and Chlorinated Solvents”.

Dr. Newell’s areas of expertise encompass site characterization, groundwater modeling, risk assessment, natural attenuation, LNAPL/DNAPL, remediation technologies, long-term monitoring strategies, technology transfer, and management of PFAS-impacted sites.  He has served as a Principal or Co-Principal Investigator in numerous environmental R&D projects sponsored by various agencies and organizations, including the U.S. Department of Energy, American Petroleum Institute, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Defense, and diverse industrial clients.

Dr. Newell is the recipient of the Hanson Excellence of Presentation Award from AAPG, the Outstanding Presentation Award from AIChE, and the 2001 Wesley W. Horner Award from ASCE. Additionally, he received the 2008 Outstanding Alumni Award from Rice University, the 2014 Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) Project of the Year Award, the 2016 Interstate Technology & Regulatory Council (ITRC) Environmental Excellence Award, and the 2020 Foundation Achievement Award from the Association for Environmental Health and Science.

Contact Chuck directly at Charles J. Newell, PhD, PE, BCEE

SETAC North America 44th Annual Meeting

It was great to see you at the SETAC North America 44th Annual Meeting! We hope you enjoyed these presentations and posters:...

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It was great to see you at the SETAC North America 44th Annual Meeting!

We hope you enjoyed these presentations and posters:

Sara J. Hutton, PhD, Environmental Scientist
Presentation
Session: Exposure and Effects of Micro- and Nanoplastics in the Environment
Title: Comparison of Species Sensitivity Distribution Methods for Risk Assessment of Microplastics
Scheduled on: Monday, November 13, 2023, at 11 AM in Ballroom A.

Joseph Makaure, PhD, Environmental Scientist
Poster Session
Session: 7.06.P Risk Communication: Strategies and Platforms that Work for New and/or Complex Risk Management Needs
Title: What Contributes to Perceptions of Public Health Advisories Across the United States? A Case Study on Communicating Variability in Fish Consumption Advisories Triggered by Perfluorooctane Sulfonate
Scheduled on: Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Keep this link bookmarked so we can see you next year: https://lnkd.in/ejnfy3hQ

Regulatory Update on PFOA and PFOS

EPA issued a final toxicity assessment for the PFAS GenX chemicals (aka hexafluoropropylene oxide (HFPO) dimer acids or HFPO-DA). Within associated fact...

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EPA issued a final toxicity assessment for the PFAS GenX chemicals (aka hexafluoropropylene oxide (HFPO) dimer acids or HFPO-DA).

Within associated fact sheets, EPA affirmed that they will be revising their toxicity assessments for PFOA and PFOS (no date provided), and that by Spring of 2022, they will be issuing drinking water health advisories for PFBS and GenX chemicals.

https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-10/genx-final-tox-assess-tech-factsheet-2021.pdf

GenX falls within the small subgroup of PFAS called per- and polyfluoroalkyl ether carboxylic acids (PFECAs).  GenX is often dubbed “short chain” and “replacement chemistry” because it was made to replace PFOA in the manufacturing process for polymers.  According to EPA’s new toxicity assessment, the chemical has similar toxicity concerns as PFOA and PFOS.   GenX (HFPO-DA) is included in EPA’s drinking water methods and standard analyte lists from commercial labs.  It is not expected to be present at sites associated with aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), however, because it is not used as an ingredient in foam.

Expert Analysis Paper on California PFAS Consumer Product Regulations

Learn about recent #Prop65 and consumer product #PFAS developments in California! Dr. Brett Winters, PhD, CIH and Dr. Graham Ansell coauthored an article with Will Wagner of Arnold & Porter Kaye...

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Learn about recent #Prop65 and consumer product #PFAS developments in California! Dr. Brett Winters, PhD, CIH and Dr. Graham Ansell coauthored an article with Will Wagner of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP on the legal and technical aspects of current California #PFAS consumer product regulations.

👉 Access the full article at https://lnkd.in/epXssrP3

Comment on “Fracking with Forever Chemicals” by Physicians for Social Responsibility, issued July 2021

The recent publication “Fracking with Forever Chemicals” by the Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) has received national press coverage of its claims...

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The recent publication “Fracking with Forever Chemicals” by the Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) has received national press coverage of its claims that the USEPA authorized the unsafe use of a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) for hydraulic fracturing, that these chemicals are widely used by oil and gas operators in a dangerous manner, and that hydraulic fracturing should therefore be suspended.  Based on our detailed analysis of the FracFocus data used by PSR, GSI has developed a fact-based response to the PSR paper, which can be accessed at here.

We find that the PSR report presents an inaccurate and exaggerated picture of the use of PFAS in hydraulic fracturing and the risks posed to public health and the environment.   Our key findings include:

  1. PFAS fluids have been used in less than 1% of hydraulic fracturing projects nationwide, meaning that over 99% of hydraulic fracturing projects used no such chemicals.
  2. Over 99% of the projects on record that used PFAS were located in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico, where hydraulic fracturing occurs at great depth, nearly all produced water is captured for reinjection into deep brine strata, and impacts by hydraulic fractures on drinking water aquifers have not been observed and are very unlikely to occur.
  3. The FracFocus records show that the limited use of PFAS occurred principally prior to 2017 and current use is nearly non-existent.
  4. None of the PFAS health effects described by PSR have been associated with PFAS use for hydraulic fracturing, nor have any of the PFAS impacts on drinking water systems in the US been tied to hydraulic fracturing operations.
  5. USEPA did not approve the unsafe use of PFAS in hydraulic fracturing fluids. To the contrary, the products in question were never proposed for use in hydraulic fracturing, were never used for hydraulic fracturing, and, consistent with applicable regulations, were subject to USEPA restrictions on their manufacture, import, and use.
  6. Oil and gas drilling and well completion operations incorporate numerous measures to protect groundwater, subject to strict regulations, which PSR has ignored.
  7. Hydraulic fracturing has not caused widespread groundwater impacts, as has been confirmed by numerous studies.
  8. PSR’s recommendations regarding hydraulic fracturing are duplicative of existing regulatory programs and are not based on objective science. 

We hope that this information is helpful to you.  Please contact us with any questions or comments that you may have on this paper or related issues regarding effective environmental management for oil and gas operations.

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