EDUCATION

 

BS, Geological Engineering, University of Idaho, 1983

 

 PROFESSIONAL LICENSES

Professional Engineer (PE)—Washington No. 27055 (1990), California No. C47764 (1991), South Carolina No. 22133 (2002), Alabama No. 25197 (2002), Oklahoma No. 21111 (2003)

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

 

American Society of Civil Engineers

National Society of Professional Engineers

 PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

John Richards joined SCS in 2007 and is SCS’ lead engineering services professional in the Northwest United States. He has 24 years of experience in project management, civil design, construction supervision, and construction quality control. His background includes the siting and design of landfill facilities, landfill closure design, leachate containment system design, and engineering design of passive and active LFG control systems. He is also proficient with subsurface investigations for hazardous, industrial, and municipal solid waste containment, and remedial actions for contaminated soil and drummed waste. He has performed RCRA facility investigations, and prepared RCRA facility closure plans and remedial action work plans. John has also prepared reports pursuant to EPA, Washington, California, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma regulations.

SISW, Milner Butte Regional Landfill, Burley, ID. Project director for the closure of Cells 1, 2 and 3, at the Milner Butte Regional Landfill in Twin Falls, Idaho. SCS recently prepared an alternative cover analysis for regulatory acceptance of an innovative soil cover system design. SCS has recently prepared construction drawings and specifications for the approved alternate cover system for Cells 1, 2 and 3. SCS also prepared drawings and specifications for the construction of Cell 4 liner system and will be managing construction quality assurance (CQA) for the construction of the Cell 4 liner this fall.

Greater Vancouver Regional District, Coquitlam Landfill Engineering Services, Coquitlam, BC. Landfill engineer responsible for the completion of a multiple stage scope of work including groundwater and surface water monitoring, design and installation of landfill gas collection wells, LFG system maintenance, LFG evaluation and generation study, and subsequent closure and long term monitoring plans.

Pacific Northwest Generating Corporation Coffin Butte Landfill, Corvallis, OR. Landfill gas engineer for the 3.2 MW expansion of the existing 2.4MW landfill gas-to-energy facility. The project includes building retrofit design, power generation and gas handling equipment specifications, and utility upgrades. The power generation equipment will include 2 Caterpillar Model 3520 engine/generator sets.

Prior Experience

2006 – 2007: Project Engineer, Shaw Environmental, Inc., Greenville, SC. Responsible for project management and civil engineering aspects for remediation projects, landfill evaluation - including design, construction, operation, and closure and postclosure of landfills, and underground storage tank studies. Experience includes the following:

• Design engineer for an industrial waste landfill at coal-fired power plant in Louisiana near the Mississippi River. The landfill was designed to contain fluorogypsum using a geosynthetic clay liner and a 2-foot clay liner. Internal drainage structures were design to meet a State mandated precipitation of 12 inches per 24 hours rather than the 9.3 inches resulting from a 24-hr, 25-year precipitation event. The perimeter dikes were designed to withstand a 100-year flood from the Mississippi River, including overtopping.

• Project engineer for the preliminary remediation design of a brownfield site near Pisgah Forest, North Carolina. Remediation items included demolition of a paper mill; clean up of mercury spills, solidification of sludges from an aerated sludge basin (ASB), placement of the solidified sludges into an on-site landfill, partial closure of the ASB, and closure of the on-site landfill.

2001-2006: Project Engineer, Fletcher Group, Inc., Greenville, SC. Responsible for the development, evaluation, design, construction QA, planning, and operational planning of industrial waste landfills. Experience includes the following:

• Primary author of the Construction Certification Report for the construction of an industrial waste landfill for Alabama River Companies, Perdue Hill, Alabama. This landfill was constructed with a bottom clay liner overlain by an HDPE geomembrane, leachate collection and removal system, and an operations layer. The landfill will be used to contain industrial wastes from a pulp paper mill.

• Landfill slope stability analysis of an industrial waste landfill containing paper mill waste for continued operations and closure. Worked with landfill operator to develop drainage improvements to stabilize failing slopes. Prepared site improvement plan, including expenditure schedules and budgets. Landfill volume measurements for waste disposal rate determination and site life projection. Resulted in stabilized slopes and modifications to site operations.

• Certifying Engineer and Project Engineer for the design and construction QA of a leachate collection header expansion in an industrial waste landfill at the MeadWestvaco Mahrt Mill near Phenix City, Alabama. Due to failing pumps in individual leachate collection sumps, a leachate header was designed to collect leachate from two active cells of an eight-cell landfill, provide for expansion into the remaining four cells, and convey the leachate to an existing leachate pump vault.

• Certifying Engineer and Project Engineer for the closure of existing industrial waste landfill at the MeadWestvaco Mahrt Mill with fiber sludge cap. By using the fiber sludge as capping material instead of compacted clay cover, the mill was able to reduce its closure accrual cost. Conducted quarterly quality assurance inspections of the closure activities. Assisted mill staff with task planning and scheduling. Provided regulatory reporting and closure certification.

• Project Engineer for the closure plan of an industrial landfill at the Holcim (US) Holly Hill facility. The landfill contains cement kiln dust (CKD) a waste byproduct of cement production. The CKD spoils area was designated as a RCRA Solid Waste Management Unit (SWMU) based on the reported presence of chromium brick in the pile. The closure plan developed that provides for usage of CKD spoils as daily cover. The CKD pile will be used until capacity is reached with closure phases being constructed as Interim Stabilization Measures. The final cover is designed to meet the RCRA requirements for CDK landfills.

• Project Engineer for wetlands delineations and determining the affect of a new railroad spur on Four Hole Swamp in Central South Carolina. Wetland areas were delineated along the corridors being considered for the rail siding construction. The HEC-RAS model was used to determine flows representing normal conditions and the 100-year flood the through the spur at three trestle locations. The drainage area of Four Hole Swamp above the railroad spur consists of approximately 375 square miles.

• Project Engineer for a stability analysis at the Georgia-Pacific Muskogee Mill landfill. The analysis was a requirement of the operating permit issued by the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) prior to implementing a conceptual vertical expansion and it evaluated several vertical expansion options other than the conceptual design presented in the permit. Conducted on-site geotechnical investigation of sludge fill, perimeter dikes, and ash that held potential as a construction material. Performed stability analysis on proposed 3:1 vertical expansion, and developed conceptual layouts for larger expansions at 4:1 and 5:1 slopes. Summarized stability analysis results, operating considerations, site life projections into a design report. Prepared focused report for submittal to ODEQ

• Project Manager for annual operations plans for several industrial waste landfills at paper mills in Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma. These plans include volume determinations and annual landfill maintenance requirements for regulatory compliance. Landfill airspace and life projections are determined based on waste receipts, waste consolidation, and the design final configuration. Using the results of the volume determinations and site inspections, a plan for site operations including, waste placement, construction of final cover, surface water management, and contact water management is produced for use by the site owners and landfill operators.

1990-2001: Project Manager / Senior Project Engineer, IT Corporation, San Diego, CA. Responsible for project management and civil engineering aspects for remediation projects, landfill evaluation - including design, construction, operation, and closure and postclosure of landfills, and underground storage tank studies. Experience includes the following:

• Project Manager for debris removal at the U.S. Navy Salton Sea Test Base (SSTB), Imperial County, California. The site restoration work at this BRAC facility included removal and disposal of approximately 370 tons of mixed waste consisting of telegraph poles; telegraph wire, scrap steel, tires, concrete, asphalt, and asbestos containing material. The debris was located near former building sites, along major roads, and in undeveloped areas of the former SSTB. The work was conducted in two phases, because the Southwest Cahuilla Recessional Shoreline Archaeological District is located in the northern half of the base and concurrence from State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) was required to conduct work in that area. Phase I work was conducted outside the District between April and August 1997. After approval from SHPO, Phase II work began both within and outside the District from September to December 1998.

• Project Manager for a remedial action at the U.S. Naval Air Station North Island, Coronado, California. The work includes the removal and treatment of soil containing PCBs from three separate sites. The treatment process (soil washing/solvent extraction) involved an innovative technology using a proprietary solvent to remove the PCBs from the soil matrix to allowable levels for on-site disposal. Work included the development of the Work Plan, Site Quality Control Plan, the Site Health and Safety Plan, excavation of the PCB-contaminated soil, transporting soil to the treatment/disposal area, soil washing/solvent extraction the PCBs from the soil, installation and sampling of monitoring wells, soil sampling for analytical testing by both immunoassay field test kits (EPA Method 4020) and fixed laboratories (EPA Method 8080), and site restoration including revegetation and irrigation systems. Upon completion, the disposal area became part of the base golf course driving range.

• Project Manager and Field Quality Control Officer for a removal action to excavate drums, debris, and impacted soils for the U.S. Naval Submarine Base at Bangor, Washington. Work included the excavation of drums containing various materials and placing them into salvage drums, hazard categorization of 34 salvage drums, separating impacted soil from visually clean soil, removal of all foreign material from the analytically clean soil prior to using as backfill, and backfilling and revegetating the site. Additionally, samples were obtained for analytical analysis from the completed excavation, excavated soil stockpiles, decontamination water, storm water runoff, and import backfill soils.

• Project Manager for remedial action at the U.S. Naval Shipyard at Long Beach, California. The work included the removal and on-site relocation of sand blast grit, regrading the area to provide drainage, engineering design and installation of a shotcrete cover over the sand blast grit, engineering design for the regrading two slopes having a net area of 1.7 acres, installation and monitoring of lysimeters to determine if contaminants are migrating downward through the soil, installation of an irrigation system on the slopes, and revegetating the slopes.

• Project Manager for the design of a 60-acre landfill expansion at the Frank R. Bowerman Landfill in Orange County California. The design was staged for construction over two construction seasons and incorporated steep side slopes (1.5 H: 1 V) between benches, use of a GCL and HDPE geomembrane as the primary liner in the bottom area, and dendritic slope drains, synthetic blanket drains, toe drains and a subgrade drain to capture springs in the native soils. The leachate collection system was designed by evaluating the results from the H.E.L.P. model and actual leachate generation data from the operating portions of the landfill. Measures were taken to maintain a separate LCRS for the expansion area for potential future monitoring but still tie it into the existing system for collection.

• Sr. Project Engineer for the environmental remediation of four sites contaminated with metals at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Contaminated soils were excavated to depths that would meet either human health or ecological risk values determined acceptable by the Federal Facility Agreement (FFA). (Members of the FFA included U.S. EPA, California EPA - Department of Toxic Substances Control, San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, and the U.S. Navy - Naval Facility Engineering Command.) The contaminated soils were consolidated into a Corrective Action Management Unit (CAMU) located on Camp Pendleton. The 6-foot thick final cap for the CAMU was designed to have an evapotranspiration cover that would limit the infiltration of precipitation by allowing native vegetation to use the moisture.

• Project Manager/Principal Engineer for the design and construction oversight of a leachate and groundwater tank farm at the Frank R. Bowerman Landfill in Orange County California. The design was replaced four elevated 10,000-gallon horizontal steel tanks with six 12,750-gallon sloped-bottom, crossed-linked polyethylene (XLPE) tanks. Included in the design were two secondary containment pads for the three groundwater and three leachate storage tanks. Each set of tanks is interconnected with overflow piping and gate valves. Each tank has a 4-inch diameter integrally molded flanged outlet (IMFO) to allow for complete drainage and an 8-inch side discharge outlet.

• Project Engineer for design of a Corrective Action Management Unit (CAMU) at Sandia National Laboratory, a Department of Energy Facility, for the containment of chemical waste from an unlined landfill. The design incorporates the use of geosynthetic clay liners, flexible membrane liners, and geonets for a 1,000,000 cubic foot disposal cell. The unit is designed to withstand seasonal winds up to 60 miles per hour as well as the run off commonly resulting in flash floods in the area. The bottom liner system will be constructed such that no liner penetrations are made. Leachate generation was modeled using the Hydrologic Evaluation for Landfill Performance (H.E.L.P.) ver. 3.0. The vadose zone will be monitored through access tubes under the cell using a neutron probe.

• Project Engineer for the Landfill Operable Unit portion of the Focused Feasibility Study for Mather Air Force Base, Sacramento, California. The work included a record search of the waste types disposed at the eight landfill sites and determining the possible methods of closure to present to the Air Force and the State Water Quality Control Board. The H.E.L.P. Model (Hydrologic Evaluation of Landfill Performance) was used to approximate the volume of leachate exiting the landfills before and after closure to determine the effectiveness of the closure cap. The results from the H.E.L.P. Model were also used in other groundwater modeling programs to determine potential reductions in constituent movement.

• Project Engineer and Primary author of the Benson Ridge Class I disposal facility (Kelseyville, California) Closure and Postclosure Plans for IT Corporation. Plans included solidification/stabilization of surface impoundment sludges for disposal into a retrofitted landfill, design of the landfill closure with a composite cover (clay and synthetic cover), the development of a dewatering system, and the design of double-celled, synthetically-lined groundwater evaporation basin. The closure cover was modeled using the Hydrologic Evaluation of Landfill Performance (H.E.L.P.) Model to verify the volume of precipitation entering the cover drainage system.

• Project Engineer, Co-author, and coordinator of the Closure and Postclosure Plans for the IT Corporation Vine Hill Complex (Vine Hill facility and Baker facility) Class I disposal facilities near Martinez, California. Closure of both facilities included sludge solidification and disposal into on-site waste consolidation areas (landfills), the design of groundwater protection and containment systems, an evaporation basin for recovered groundwater, and final closure cover systems. Also included in the plans were the development of closure construction specifications and quality assurance plans, postclosure inspection and maintenance, groundwater monitoring, soil sampling and analysis plans, and closure and postclosure cost estimates. Computer models, including the H.E.L.P. Model for the design of the closure cover and MODFLOW for the groundwater recovery system were used.

• Construction Quality Control Inspector for the closure the IT Corporation Montezuma hazardous waste disposal facility near Rio Vista, California. Responsible for observing and documenting the solidification of surface impoundment waste, construction of compacted clay liners for an evaporation basin, installation of the flexible membrane liner (FML) over the solidified waste and compacted clay liner, installation of the leachate collection/groundwater recovery system, and monitoring the construction of the slurry wall surrounding the site.

• Project Engineer and Co-author of a RCRA Facility Investigation (RFI) and Corrective Measures Study (CMS) for the IT Corporation Panoche Class I disposal facility near Martinez, California. The facility consists of waste management units (WMUs) that have been used for the treatment, storage, disposal of liquids, sludges, and solids. The WMUs include a landfill, surface impoundments, treated units for pH adjustment and metals precipitation, storage and drying areas, and ancillary systems for transfer between the various WMUs.

• Project Engineer and Field Supervisor for the removal of 35 underground storage tanks at MCB Camp Pendleton in Southern California. The work included locating the USTs and surrounding utilities (potable water and natural gas pipelines), excavation of contaminated soil around the tanks, removal of sand inside the tanks (sand was placed in the tanks when taken out of service), stockpiling and managing contaminated soil and sand, locating remote fill piping for removal at a later date, and restoration/reclamation of the tank sites.

1989-1990 Project Engineer, Parametrix, Inc., Bellevue, WA. Responsible for the development, evaluation, design, construction, and operation of municipal waste landfills. Experience includes the following:

• Project Engineer for the design and preparation of construction specifications and construction quality assurance/quality control program for the Rabanco Regional Landfill Company's multi-phased 380-acre municipal waste landfill near Roosevelt, Washington. The Design included a composite bottom liner system, a final cover system verified with the use of the H.E.L.P. Model, leachate and landfill gas collection systems, leachate equalization/holding pond, phase sizing and layout, scheduling of phasing for expansion, and layout of administrative facilities. Assistance in the preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement.

• Project Engineer for preliminary design and layout for a dangerous waste (hazardous waste) landfill facility in Central Washington. The landfill cells at this facility were designed to accommodate solidified waste (large "concrete-like" blocks) and ash from a hazardous waste incinerator.

1986 –1989 Project Engineer, IT Corporation, Irvine, CA. Responsible for civil engineering aspects for the evaluation, design, construction, and operation of landfills. Experience includes the following:

• Construction Quality Control Inspector and Primary Author/Coordinator of the as-built report for the construction of a 7.25-acre nonhazardous surface impoundment for Petroleum Waste Inc. near Buttonwillow, California. Responsible for observing and documenting the construction of compacted clay liners, installation of the flexible membrane liners (FML), and the leak detection layer. The liner system consisted of three clay liners, four FML layers, a single leak detection layer (drainage net), and a protective soil cover.

• Project Engineer and Section author and design engineer for the preparation of Part B permit applications (Federal permit) and Reports of Waste Discharge (State Permit) for two, Class I hazardous waste facilities in California formerly owned and operated by IT Corporation. The design for the permits included the siting and design of 15 Class I landfills, 4 Class II landfills (2 geothermal waste and 2 designated waste), and a multi-celled asbestos monofill. The sites are located near Brawley (El Centro), California and Buttonwillow (Bakersfield), California.

• Project Manager for the design of a synthetically lined emergency holding pond and pump station for the containment of high temperature water at the Mobil Belridge Water Treatment Facility for Mobil Oil Corporation. Included in the scope of work were the pond siting and configuration, kit fox (a federally protected animal) barrier design, synthetic material selection to withstand 200°F water with low concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons, construction specifications, and construction quality assurance program.

• Preparation of detailed closure and postclosure cost estimates for hazardous waste landfills and surface impoundments for regulatory agency review and approval.

• Field geologist/engineer for the investigation of a leaking hazardous waste surface impoundment (pond) and the design for remediation. The surface impoundment was located at the IT Corporation Imperial Valley facility near Brawley, California. The remedial design included a gravel-filled collection trench and sump to prevent the migration of liquid beyond the point of compliance of the unit. The surface impoundment was taken out of service and the wastes contained solidified under the site TPCA program.

• Field geologist/engineer for the investigation of a leaking hazardous waste surface impoundment (pond) and the design for remediation. The surface impoundment was located at the IT Corporation Imperial Valley facility near Brawley, California. The remedial design included a gravel-filled collection trench and sump to prevent the migration of liquid beyond the point of compliance of the unit. The surface impoundment was taken out of service and the wastes contained solidified under the site TPCA program.