CDIM End of Summer Update, August 2020

Dear Friends, Family, Colleagues and Clients:

I write now to provide an end of summer update on the goings on at CDIM. In summary, we are muddling through the pandemic like most others, but we are happy to be healthy and productive and we are thankful for the opportunity to provide continued support our trusted clients.

Since we started CDIM, my partner Mary and I have been grateful for the three years of economic tailwinds that have helped our firm slowly grow. But 2007 had taught us that economic calamity was always on the horizon.  And about that we were not wrong! 

CDIM has made use of cloud and remote work technology since our inception and as a result were able to quickly disband from the office to our homes in response to COVID19. We revamped our safety program, bought new technology and home workstations, learned a new vocabulary (fomites, distancing, KF94, PCR and seroprevalence), and focused on how to best support our clients in a very different environment.

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We’ve worked hard and a lot of good things have happened...

The following are the high points since the San Francisco Shelter-in-Place went into effect on March 17:

• One of our staff members bought their first home and became engaged to be married!

• CDIM acquired and outfitted a 17-foot Boston Whaler watercraft to enable us to provide nearshore water quality monitoring and sampling in the San Francisco Bay. Through this process, our staff learned a ton about maritime insurance, vessel safety, and compliance requirements from Coast Guard and OSHA for work in/over water.

• We were awarded a $1-million, 3-year contract to provide environmental characterization regulatory compliance, water and air quality, and environmental engineering services to the San Francisco Public Works Department.

• We continued to support our development clients by designing two drainage systems, one storm water treatment system, and two stormwater control plans. One of the systems required us to acquire necessary measurement and excavation equipment to install test pits and determine a site-specific design infiltration rate for a storm water BMP.

• We performed two soil and groundwater investigations, evaluated vapor intrusion at an industrial property, designed the excavation of PCB-contaminated pipe, performed three environmental compliance audits at industrial facilities, designed and implemented an air monitoring program, evaluated the integrity of hazardous waste tanks, designed 15 curb ramps, prepared a grading and drainage plan for an industrial development, performed 4 asbestos/ PCB building material assessments, and represented projects/clients to numerous local building and health departments, USEPA, airport commission, air districts, RWQCBs and the DTSC. 

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What has kept us focused over the past five months is clear-eyed hard work and a continued drive to provide high quality service to our essential clients.

The end of the pandemic is not yet in sight. But even if it continues into 2021, CDIM is obligated to maintain our own productivity in order to maintain the strength of the commercial network to which we belong (clients, subcontractors, suppliers and all the people/families that rely on them). I am optimistic that we will emerge with a new appreciation for community and increased fortitude against whatever is the next challenge we face.

We encourage those in our network to mask up, distance, take care of others, carry-on with productive and essential activities, and help others to do the same.

Thank you,

Scott Bourne, PE

Principal

CDIM COVID-19 Update

CDC COVID-19 Information

Along with the rest of our community, CDIM is adapting to the COVID-19 situation.  Paramount is protection of the heath and well-being of our employees.  We are operating at 100% using digital tools and continue to faithfully support all clients on all office work. In compliance with County, State and Federal mandates, as well as OSHA guidance, CDIM continues to provide field support services necessary to maintain critical infrastructure and essential business. In this dynamic time, CDIM is obligated to maintain our own productivity in order to maintain the strength of the commercial network to which we belong (clients, subcontractors, suppliers and all the people/families that rely on them). We encourage those in our network to distance, take care of others, carry-on with productive and essential activities, and request that others do the same.

Out of 2019 and Into a New Decade

Photo from February 5,1976, when two inches of snow fell around San Francisco

Dear Friends, Family, Colleagues and Clients,

Happy Holidays! CDIM is grateful to our clients, partners and contractors for another year of continued collaboration. I write now to 1) wish you all the best fortune as we roll into a new decade and 2) give a short update on CDIM’s activities over the past year.

In 2019, our firm continued to slowly and cautiously expand. In November, we added a senior staff geologist.  Amie Hinds joined our team of four engineers and one GIS/data specialist.  We also added a new Joint Venture partnership and a contract with the Port of San Francisco, which resulted in the expansion of our existing business insurance and accounting practices. We continued to expand our in-house graphics capability by adding new software capacity, training and skills. We expanded our field services by developing new field quality assurance procedures, adding new equipment/measurement devices and adding partnerships with excavation, waste disposal, and material supply firms. We continued to expand our outsource relationships with marketing and accounting firms.  We gained a local international airport as a client and expanded the services we provide to local law firms. CDIM also had the opportunity perform a market analysis of the California’s hazardous waste industry that we published in the ASCE’s Hazardous Waste Infrastructure Report Card.

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While continuing to provide our core assessment/remediation, site civil engineering, water quality and regulatory compliance services, we saw an expansion in sediment, air quality, and asbestos monitoring.

• We supported sediment remediation at a Superfund site, began assessing PAHs in sediment at another site, and have been contracted to provide dredge characterization and permitting.

• We estimated air emissions from two large industrial processes, monitored and assessed air quality using real time measurement devices, and performed air dispersion modeling and health risk assessment for a new process using BAAQMD/CARB models. 

• We assisted in entitlement planning for a new housing development in San Francisco and commissioned a water treatment system that we designed the year before.

• We performed numerous asbestos assessments to support disposal projects and construction air monitoring projects that involve earthwork and naturally occurring asbestos.

In the most explosive moment of the year, we helped a local sheriff’s department bomb squad detonate an old dynamite (weeping nitroglycerin) that had become shock sensitive!

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Through business operations that lead to a modest profit, we were able to provide charitable donations to the following organizations:

• San Francisco Court Appointed Special Advocates for abused and neglected children in foster care. www.casasf.org. CDIM has support SFCASA since our inception. 

• Downtown Streets Team provides a work experience program that empowers individuals and acts as a steppingstone into employment, housing and a better life. The Civic center team can be seen performing trash removal on mornings in SF Civil center where our office is located.   www.streetsteam.org 

• Samaritan House is the largest food distribution agency in San Mateo County. This is the first year for CDIM to support the Samaritan House.  www.samaritanhousesanmateo.org

We are fortunate to have started CDIM during a time of economic growth, and we remain grateful to all of our clients and partners for trusting us this past year.  We wish you all a peaceful close to 2019 and prosperity and joy in the year and decade to come!

Thank you,
Scott Bourne, PE
Principal

New Contract with the Port of San Francisco

New Contract with the Port of San Francisco

CDIM is pleased to announce that we were recently awarded a four-year, environmental consulting services contract with the Port of San Francisco to support the expansion and improvement of their waterfront facilities.

This is a milestone accomplishment for our team as it is our first large-scale, direct contract with a Port Authority and San Francisco municipal entity. The contract was awarded by the Port to a newly formed Joint Venture between CDIM and San Francisco-based Environmental Science Associates (ESA).  

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Becoming one of the Bay Area's Premier Environmental Engineering Companies

The competition included seven teams. CDIM/ESA Joint Venture was the top-ranked team! The JV will provide the Port with the following services:

• Environmental engineering;

• Site investigation and remediation;

• Construction monitoring and inspection for environmental regulatory compliance;

• Environmental planning and permitting;

• Stormwater management;

• Industrial hygiene services;

• Dredging support services;

• Climate change planning; and

• Support for wastewater treatment systems.

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Focused on the future

 Mary Cunningham, CDIM Project Engineer

"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with our teaming partners to help the Port of San Francisco achieve its objectives."

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Scott Bourne, CDIM President and Principal Engineer

"We are very proud of our relationship with the Port of San Francisco, and we look forward to working with our team members to provide innovative and high-quality technical support to the Port during the next four years."

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CDIM Update - California’s Infrastructure Report Card

Dear Friends, Family, Colleagues, and Clients:

I write now to provide an update on CDIM’s technical work over the past year supporting the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in its effort to prepare its recently released California Infrastructure Report Card. I served as the hazardous waste subcommittee chair for the 2019 report card and, along with other CDIM staff, wrote the hazardous waste section of the report.

As part of ASCE’s volunteer team, CDIM dedicated time to researching California’s infrastructure, including its condition and the economics of operation, maintenance, and capital improvement.  We then assigned a grade to the infrastructure and made concrete recommendations to improve the grade.  

Below I give a detailed description of our findings for the hazardous waste infrastructure (spoiler: C-) and then summarize the overall findings of the report card. I am available to discuss any aspect of the report, and I would love to talk ad nauseum with you about the hazardous waste section!

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INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT CARD—HAZARDOUS WASTE SECTION

The report categorized hazardous waste (HW) infrastructure into two primary elements: HW disposal and site cleanup. Overall, we graded California’s HW infrastructure as a C-. The main reason for the low grade is that California sends around half the hazardous waste it generates to other states (or Mexico) where the waste is placed at a lower cost into non-hazardous landfills with less protective design standards (see graphic below). Another key factor for the grade is that California is not systematically evaluating the effects of sea level changes on contaminated sites that have been closed.  In many of these sites, the contamination remains in place in coastal areas where both the sea level and groundwater levels are rising.   

The report notes that California has developed exemplary digital tools for tracking state-wide waste disposal and cleanup (see Haz. Waste Tracking System, CalEnviroScreen, Geotrackerand Envirostor). It also notes that “Cradle to Grave” regulations for HW, and strong laws for responsible party liability in site cleanup are effective overarching frameworks that help to maintain the infrastructure and to protect California’s environment and the health of its residents.

To improve the grade, we recommend increasing funding and incentives for contaminated site cleanup (by including incentives for infill development and coastal vulnerability assessment of HW sites in a state-wide infrastructure spending plan);  revamping certain programs (e.g. CLRRA, SCAP and CLEAN programs) that cause delays, confusion and poor allocation of resources; and, re-evaluating California’s HW characteristic standards, minimization programs, and landfill capacity to develop an integrated and rational statewide management strategy that prevents unnecessary disposal of waste in out-of-state/country non-HW landfills.

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INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT CARD—ENTIRE REPORT CARD

It’s rare for the public to notice a well-functioning infrastructure, until something goes wrong like the Aliso Canyon gas leak or the Orville Dam spillway emergency.  Only when a populated area is threatened or evacuated does the public become aware of the infrastructure's importance.

Other challenges, like bringing safe drinking water to California’s rural communities, are rarely discussed except by those who live there. In some communities, arsenic, chromium or nitrates have rendered the water unsafe and requiring treatment.  And retrofitting of coastal structures for sea level rise resilience is another important part of our infrastructure that may not appear urgent in Sacramento’s myopic budget cycle.  Even road improvements, which have readily visible economic benefits such as reducing vehicle wear-and-tear and increasing fuel efficiency are neglected because of inefficient resource allocation. 

To assess the condition of California’s infrastructure, ASCE divided the infrastructure into 17 categories (e.g., dams, drinking water, ports, schools) and assigned a subcommittee to each category.  The subcommittee did the technical research and assigned a grade. The individual category grades were then averaged by ASCE to determine the overall state grade.

The team gave the highest grades to aviation (C+), ports (C+), and wastewater (C+) and the lowest grades to energy (D-), inland waterways (D), levees (D), and roads (D). 

To raise the grades, ASCE recommends that California decision-makers: 1) promote effective and collaborative leadership, 2) develop intelligent plans to better identify funding needs, 3) increase state and local funding, and 4) inform the public and raise overall awareness about infrastructure issues.

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CONCLUSION

ASCE found the condition of California’s infrastructure to be inadequate. Our subcommittee found hazardous waste infrastructure to be functioning but in need of improvement, especially as relates to in-state landfill utilization, planning for more e-waste, and sea-level rise planning for contaminated sites. Because infrastructure is critical to maintaining a vital environment for citizens, business and government to function within, ASCE prepared the Report Card to raise awareness about the issue with California decision-makers and included thoughtful policy suggestions for how to make improvements. We hope that government at local, state and federal levels will take the recommendations and work to improve the grade!

Happy Holidays 2018