Environmental Services

Although SHN has over 30 years experience of environmental services projects, we continue to find new, faster, and less expensive ways to investigate, assess, remediate, limit, or even prevent environmental effects.  For example, new technology allows us to quantify lead in the field, which saves time and laboratory analytical costs.  Under the right conditions, we have remediated contaminated sites using simple, creative, cost-effective technologies such as passive remediation and monitored natural attenuation.  We have closed investigations on more than 1,000 sites, including state and federal Superfund and Brownfield sites.  We enjoy a respectful relationship with regulatory agencies; our fastest project from investigation to closure required just 4 months.  Our services include Phase 1 site assessments, hazardous materials business plans, spill prevention plans, and compliance monitoring at landfills, wastewater treatment plants, and other industrial sites.

Successful compliance with environmental regulations requires a high level of technical expertise and communication skill that we have demonstrated to our peers in resource agencies, and to the general lay public.  The respect and integrity that we have established is one of our greatest assets; in environmental work, uncertainty due to data gaps or unclear science makes decision-making difficult.  When making decisions, agency staff and our clients depend on SHN’s reputation for valuing the triple bottom line of environment, community, and economics.

Mapping Landfill Topography for Permit Compliance

Project Details

Location:  Nine landfills in Siskiyou County, CA

Owner/Client:  Siskiyou County Department of Solid Waste

Partners:  None

Project Timeline:  2016 to 2017

Project Details

Location:  Nine landfills in Siskiyou County, CA

Owner/Client:  Siskiyou County Department of Solid Waste

Partners:  None

Project Timeline:  2016 to 2017

Project Details

Location:  Nine landfills in Siskiyou County, CA

Owner/Client:  Siskiyou County Department of Solid Waste

Partners:  None

Project Timeline:  2016 to 2017

Project Details

Location:  Nine landfills in Siskiyou County, CA

Owner/Client:  Siskiyou County Department of Solid Waste

Partners:  None

Project Timeline:  2016 to 2017

Project Details

Location:  Nine landfills in Siskiyou County, CA

Owner/Client:  Siskiyou County Department of Solid Waste

Partners:  None

Project Timeline:  2016 to 2017

Project Details

Location:  Nine landfills in Siskiyou County, CA

Owner/Client:  Siskiyou County Department of Solid Waste

Partners:  None

Project Timeline:  2016 to 2017

Project Details

Location:  Nine landfills in Siskiyou County, CA

Owner/Client:  Siskiyou County Department of Solid Waste

Partners:  None

Project Timeline:  2016 to 2017

SHN performed settlement surveys on nine closed landfills in Siskiyou County.  Landfill closure monitoring requires the County to conduct iso-settlement surveys that meet exacting permitting requirements (CCR Title 27, Section 21090(e)(2)). Monitoring closed landfill settlement precisely and accurately is important because any ponded water on the landfill cap has the potential to infiltrate to the waste below, creating landfill leachate that can affect soil underneath the landfill, or shallow groundwater if it is present.  

Using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and traditional surveying techniques, SHN surveyors, UAV pilots, and geographic information system (GIS) specialists created maps and images that were used by the County to assess settlement and erosion at the nine landfills.  The maps met the requirements for permit compliance.  Should the County wish to observe landfill cap conditions in greater detail, high resolution photographs are also available, which would not have been the case had we created the maps using only standard surveying techniques.  SHN was able to underlay the photographs as backgrounds to the topographic maps, providing additional information for the County as it assesses the current status of their closed landfills.

 

Hazardous materials investigations, remediation, and environmental services at 46 fire stations and conservation camps

Project Details

Location:  throughout Northern California

Owner/Client:  CAL FIRE, CDF, the DGS-RESD, and the State Architect

Partners:  Foresight Surveying

Project Timeline:  1995 and on-going

Project Details

Location:  throughout Northern California

Owner/Client:  CAL FIRE, CDF, the DGS-RESD, and the State Architect

Partners:  Foresight Surveying

Project Timeline:  1995 and on-going

Project Details

Location:  throughout Northern California

Owner/Client:  CAL FIRE, CDF, the DGS-RESD, and the State Architect

Partners:  Foresight Surveying

Project Timeline:  1995 and on-going

Project Details

Location: throughout Northern California

Owner/Client: CAL FIRE, CDF, the DGS-RESD, and the State Architect

Partners: Foresight Surveying

Project Timeline: 1995 and on-going

Project Details

Location: throughout Northern California

Owner/Client: CAL FIRE, CDF, the DGS-RESD, and the State Architect

Partners: Foresight Surveying

Project Timeline: 1995 and on-going

Since 1995, SHN has conducted environmental site investigation, design, and remediation; hydrology studies, water supply and treatment projects, surveys, permitting, and/or infrastructure evaluations and repair designs at 46 sites for CAL FIRE, the California Department of Forestry (CDF), the Department of General Services Real Estate Services Division (DGS-RESD), and the Division of the State Architect. Our approach is to identify the direct path to site closure, by evaluating the site and applying the remediation and/or mitigation solutions specific to that particular site.  

We have employed several innovative methods to obtain real-time sampling data. The use of real-time data reduced cost, accelerated regulatory decisions, and significantly shortened the duration of the project.  Where possible, we support natural attenuation or institutional controls to protect human health and the environment.

Investigation and Remediation at Indian Island

Project Details

Location:  Humboldt Bay, Wiyot Tribe ancestral territory

Owner/Client:  Wiyot Tribe, Environmental Quality Management, Inc.

Partners:  US EPA

Project Timeline:  2004 and on-going

Project Details

Location:  Humboldt Bay, Wiyot Tribe ancestral territory

Owner/Client:  Wiyot Tribe, Environmental Quality Management, Inc.

Partners:  US EPA

Project Timeline:  2004 and on-going

Project Details

Location:  Humboldt Bay, Wiyot Tribe ancestral territory

Owner/Client:  Wiyot Tribe, Environmental Quality Management, Inc.

Partners:  US EPA

Project Timeline:  2004 and on-going

Project Details

Location:  Humboldt Bay, Wiyot Tribe ancestral territory

Owner/Client:  Wiyot Tribe, Environmental Quality Management, Inc.

Partners:  US EPA

Project Timeline:  2004 and on-going

Project Details

Location: Humboldt Bay, Wiyot Tribe ancestral territory

Owner/Client: Wiyot Tribe, Environmental Quality Management, Inc.

Partners: US EPA

Project Timeline: 2004 and on-going

Project Details

Location: Humboldt Bay, Wiyot Tribe ancestral territory

Owner/Client: Wiyot Tribe, Environmental Quality Management, Inc.

Partners: US EPA

Project Timeline: 2004 and on-going

Project Details

Location: Humboldt Bay, Wiyot Tribe ancestral territory

Owner/Client: Wiyot Tribe, Environmental Quality Management, Inc.

Partners: US EPA

Project Timeline: 2004 and on-going

The Tuluwat Village is on an island in Humboldt Bay, is the center of the Wiyot Tribe’s ancestral territory, and is the site of their annual World Renewal Ceremony. Between 1870 and 1990, the site was contaminated with hazardous materials consisting of paints, solvents, metals, petroleum products, and various other chemicals. In 2000, a contractor removed approximately 1,300 pounds of identifiable hazardous wastes from the site, but remaining soil and treated timbers at this culturally sensitive area remained contaminated with PCP (pentachlorophenol) and dioxin/furan compounds. After the timbers were removed, SHN negotiated with the Regional Water Quality Control Board to protect and preserve the cultural aspects of the site while removing a minimal volume of the contaminated soil.

SHN helped the Tribe obtain additional funding for study of in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO), which reduces dioxin/furan compounds and PCP in soils, but does not adversely impact the village’s shell mound and other culturally sensitive materials. SHN also designed and directed repair of the existing bulkhead and installation of a shoreline revetment wall. After the shoreline was fortified, SHN conducted additional ISCO remediation of the residual contamination, and monitored groundwater to evaluate soil remediation success.

SHN won the American Council of Engineering Companies’ 2013 Engineering Excellence Award.  This work was further recognized by the US EPA's Region 9 Excellence in Site Reuse Award in 2018; EPA's brochure on the project can be downloaded here.

 

 

Certifications and Associations

Contact

Corporate Office:

812 W. Wabash Ave.
Eureka, CA 95501-2138
Tel: 707-441-8855
Fax: 707-441-8877
info@shn-engr.com

Office Locations:

  • Arcata, CA
  • Eureka, CA
  • Fort Bragg, CA
  • Redding, CA
  • Willits, CA
  • Coos Bay, OR
  • Klamath Falls, OR
 
 
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