EBC Site Remediation and Redevelopment Committee
And
EBC Solid Waste Committee
Management of Urban Soil in Massachusetts
Management of urban soils presents one of the most challenging issues for site
development in Massachusetts today. Urban development requires excavation, and
excavated materials must be transported for disposal or reuse. Even when a development
site is not associated with an MCP disposal site, urban soil often contains some amount of
oil or hazardous material. Regulatory requirements for characterization, transportation,
disposal and reuse of urban soil have been less than clear.
While not a solid waste, contaminated urban soil may be used as daily cover or grading
material or for other uses at landfills. With the number of active landfills diminishing and no
new landfill permitting on the horizon, the availability and capacity of Massachusetts
landfills to take urban soil is limited. There is a need for other disposal or reuse locations.
MassDEP’s “similar soil” guidance clarifies one aspect of soil re-use arising under the
MCP, but it addresses only a limited band of soil and soil reuse options. In addition, there
are transportation impacts (noise, traffic, dust, greenhouse gas) and costs, stockpiling and
scheduling issues associated with the construction projects, and liability concerns arising
out of the characterization, excavation, transportation, and disposal or reuse of urban soils.
MassDEP recognizes the need for clear regulatory options and is in the process of
evaluating different approaches it may take to manage soils that fall between “similar soils”
and “remediation waste.”
At this EBC program we will have experts from MassDEP and industry familiar with urban
soil practices to discuss soil management in Massachusetts.
Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.
One Financial Center
Boston, Massachusetts
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Draft AGENDA
7:30 a.m.
Registration and Networking Continental Breakfast
8:00 a.m.
Welcome
Russell Schuck, Chair
EBC Site Remediation and Redevelopment Committee
Vice President, Haley & Aldrich, Inc.
Introduction Michelle N. O’Brien, Program Co-Chair and Moderator
Managing Shareholder, Mackie Shea O’Brien, PC
8:10 a.m.
Legal and Regulatory Framework for Soil Management in
Massachusetts
 Robert D. Cox, Jr., Partner, Bowditch & Dewey, LLP
8:30 a.m.
Market Demand for Landfill Space and Potential Impacts
 Kelly McQueeney, P.E., L.S.P., LEED AP, Harvard University
8:50 a.m.
Soil Management at Construction Sites in Massachusetts: Current
Practice in Locating Disposal Options
 Bryan P. Sweeney, Ph.D., P.E., Haley & Aldrich, Inc.
9:10 a.m.
Soil Management and Practice: The Perspective of an Environmental
Contractor
 Jon Simpson, Sr. Project Manager, Charter Environmental
9:30 a.m.
MassDEP’s Soil Management Approaches
 Sarah Weinstein, Deputy Assistant Commissioner
Bureau of Waste Prevention, MassDEP
 Paul Locke, Director of Response & Remediation
Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup, MassDEP
10:10 a.m.
Panel Discussion Q&A
Moderator: Michelle N. O’Brien, Shareholder, Mackie Shea O’Brien
Panel Members:
o Sarah Weinstein, Mass DEP
o Kelly McQueeney, Harvard University
o Paul Locke, Mass DEP
o Jon Simpson, Charter Environmental
o Bryan Sweeney, Haley & Aldrich
10:30 a.m.
Adjourn
PROGRAM CO-CHAIRS
Robert D. Cox, Jr., Partner
Bowditch & Dewey LLP
311 Main Street, P.O. Box 15156, Worcester, MA 01615-0156
(508) 926-3409 // rcox@bowditch.com
Robert D. Cox, Jr., Esq., is a Partner at Bowditch & Dewey, LLP. Bob Cox counsels
clients on environmental compliance and enforcement actions. He regularly advises
clients on brownfields development activities and on strategies to limit or shift
environmental liability risks in connection with real estate or business transfers. He also
represents clients in cost recovery claims and private party litigation under Chapter 21E
and CERCLA in state and federal courts.
Mr. Cox is recognized as one of the top environmental lawyers in Massachusetts by
Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. He has been selected by his
peers as one of the Best Lawyers in America in the practice area of Environmental Law,
and since 2004, he has been selected for inclusion in Massachusetts Super Lawyers. He
is a frequent speaker on topics relating to environmental law and is a board member of the
Environmental Business Council of New England, Inc.
Michelle N. O’Brien, Shareholder
Mackie Shea O’Brien, P.C.
420 Boylston Street, Suite 504, Boston, MA 02116
(617) 266-5700 // mno@lawmso.com
Michelle N. O’Brien, Esq., is a shareholder at Mackie Shea O’Brien, PC, an environmental
boutique law firm in Boston.
She is a former assistant attorney general in both the
environmental protection and trial divisions of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s
Office.
Ms. O'Brien handles environmental and land use permitting and related litigation for
various types of development. She defends companies in environmental enforcement
matters at the federal, state, and local levels. Ms. O’Brien also represents private parties in
cost recovery and property damage claims involving releases of oil and hazardous
materials and assists clients with real estate transactions involving contaminated
properties.
Ms. O’Brien is an appointed member of MassDEP’s Waste Site Cleanup Advisory
Committee. She is actively involved in, and is a frequent speaker at, various industry
organizations including the Boston Bar Association, LSP Association, New England
Women in Real Estate, and the Environmental Business Council or New England.
Ms. O'Brien has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® for environmental law and
environmental litigation since 2006. Chambers USA, publishers of America’s Leading
Lawyers for Business, quoted sources describing her as a “fearless litigator” and “an
excellent and patient attorney.” She is listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Women
Lawyers and has been named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer by Boston Magazine each
year since 2006.
SPEAKERS
Paul Locke, Director of Response & Remediation
Bureau of Waste Prevention, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
One Winter Street, Room 7002, Boston, MA 02108
(617) 556-1160 // Paul.Locke@state.ma.us
Paul W. Locke is currently the Director for Response & Remediation in the Bureau of
Waste Site Cleanup, overseeing implementation of the Massachusetts Contingency Plan
(including audits, compliance & enforcement and data management systems) as well as
the Federal Sites section. Mr. Locke has been with the Massachusetts Department of
Environmental Protection since 1987. Since 2002, Paul had been the Director of Policy
and Program Development, during which time MassDEP promulgated significant revisions
to the MCP and first–in-the-nation standards for perchlorate. Before joining Waste Site
Cleanup in 2002, Paul was head of the Risk Analysis Group within the MassDEP Office of
Research and Standards, where he participated in environmental policy development,
review of site specific reports, and provided technical assistance to MassDEP staff and the
regulated community.
Mr. Locke has participated in numerous revisions to the Massachusetts Contingency Plan
(310 CMR 40), including the development of the privatized program. He is the primary
author of the MCP Subpart I regulations on human and environmental risk characterization
and is co-author of the Department’s Guidance for Disposal Site Risk Characterization.
Mr. Locke holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Harvard College and a Master’s
degree in Civil Engineering from the Tufts University program in Public Health.
Kelly McQueeney, P.E., L.S.P., LEED AP
Associate Director - Remediation and Project Support Services
Environmental Health Safety, Harvard University
46 Blackstone Street, Cambridge, MA 02139
(617) 495-9391 // kelly_mcqueeney@harvard.edu
Kelly McQueeney, P.E., LSP, LEED AP, is Associate Director – Remediation and Project
Support Services at Harvard University. Ms. McQueeney provides strategic leadership of
environmental issues for construction and remediation projects at Harvard University. She
partners with planners, project managers, consultants and contractors to provide a
comprehensive understanding of environmental conditions and regulatory requirements to
facilitate cost effective solutions.
She is a registered Professional Engineer in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine,
a Licensed Site Professional, and a LEED Accredited Professional. She holds a BS in
Civil Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an MS in Environmental
Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Jon Simpson, Senior Project Manager
Charter Environmental
560 Harrison Avenue, Boston MA 02118
(857) 246-6800 // jsimpson@charterenvironmental.com
Jon Simpson has been a Senior Project Manager at Charter Environmental, Inc. since
1999. Mr. Simpson estimates and manages projects involving the transportation and
disposal/recycling of contaminated soil. He has assisted hundreds of property owners,
generators, attorneys, consultants and contractors on projects involving both RCRAHazardous and Non-Hazardous Soils, Dredged Sediments, and other environmentally
regulated Waste Materials. Mr. Simpson holds a bachelor’s degree in Regional Planning
and Biology from Westfield State College.
Bryan P. Sweeney, Ph.D., P.E., Senior Vice President
Haley & Aldrich, Inc.
465 Medford Street, Suite 2200, Boston, MA 02129-1400
(617) 886-7364 // BSweeney@HaleyAldrich.com
Bryan P. Sweeney, Ph.D., P.E., is Senior Associate and Vice President at Haley & Aldrich,
Inc. Mr. Sweeney is a strategic advisor to institutional and private developer clients. His
overall role is to identify and mitigate project related risks considering the Owner’s risk
tolerance. Bryan also strategizes together with clients on the overall approach to below
grade construction, including contracting, scheduling and pricing. His focus in recent years
has included mitigating risks associated with foundation construction, deep excavation
support systems, soil management and groundwater treatment, and tolerable contracting
approaches associated with soil disposal. He also chaired the ASCE committee on Earth
Retaining Structures and authored numerous technical papers on excavations, earth
retaining systems and tunneling.
Sarah Weinstein, Deputy Assistant Commissioner
Bureau of Waste Prevention, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
One Winter Street, Boston, MA 02108
(617) 574-6862 // sarah.weinstein@state.ma.us
Sarah Weinstein has been a Deputy Assistant Commissioner in MassDEP's Bureau of
Waste Prevention since 1999. She coordinates policy development on a wide variety of
pollution control and prevention issues, and oversees Bureau strategic planning,
communications, and clean energy work. In previous positions at MassDEP, Ms. Weinstein
directed the Division of Planning and Program Development in the MassDEP Bureau of
Waste Site Cleanup, chaired the Board that licenses "LSPs", private sector experts in site
assessment and cleanup, and was a lead author of the Massachusetts Brownfields Law
(enacted in 1998). Ms. Weinstein holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and
has done graduate work in community planning at the University of Rhode Island.