L.R. Kimball

L.R. Kimball VP Chairing Solid Waste Advisory Committee

L.R. Kimball, Vice President, Business Development, Tanya McCoy-Caretti, was recently elected to chair the Pennsylvania Solid Waste Advisory Committee.

The SWAC provides administration and regulatory guidance to the governor on all hazardous, residual and municipal waste issues in the state. Tanya has been a member of the committee since the Tom Ridge administration and was recently reappointed by Governor Tom Corbett. Under her leadership, the SWAC will focus on Pennsylvania’s Hazardous Waste Management report; amendments to the state’s regulated medical waste; adopting a spending plan to support state recycling programs and county waste planning efforts; and regulatory, permit and guidance documents that govern drilling activities within the Marcellus play.

Tanya has worked for L.R. Kimball for more than six years, using her vast experience in solid waste management to assist local, county and state government entities.

Pittsburgh Fisher House {L.R. Kimball Project News}

Across the country, Fisher Houses provide a “home away from home” for the families of United States veterans who are receiving medical care at a major military and VA medical centers.  There are currenlty 54 Fisher Houses located on 21 military installations and 17 VA medical centers. Eight more houses are under construction or in design, including one in Pittsburgh, PA. 

L.R. Kimball was part of the engineering and design team for the Pittsburgh Fisher House.  The firm was responsible for coordination the site preparation including geotechnical service, coordination of foundations with retaining walls, bearing capacity questions and site utility relocations and service connections.  Since that phase of the project has been completed, L.R. Kimball has been retained to consult on geotechnical work for the duration of construction.

Project manager, Ben Gordon says “we are proud and honored to be working on this project that will make such a difference in the lives of veterans in our region.” 

Marcellus Shale Economic Impact is Hot Topic for PA Legislators

L.R. Kimball Staff Members Speak to Pennsylvania Legislature About Marcellus Shale Economic Impact

In early June, L.R. Kimball Vice Presidents for Business Development, Dave French and Tanya McCoy-Caretti testified at a public hearing on the impact of Marcellus Shale drilling in Pennsylvania.  The hearing was held in South Park, PA, and was sponsored by the Joint Legislative Air and Water Pollution Control and Conservation Committee.  Opening remarks were made by State Representative Scott Hutchinson of Jefferson County, the Committee Chairman. 

According to Rep. Hutchinson the hearing was held as part of an effort by state lawmakers to gather up-to-date information about the variety of effects the growing Marcellus Shale drilling industry has on communities in Pennsylvania. 

French and McCoy-Caretti spoke about how Marcellus Shale exploration and drilling could affect businesses that are not directly tied to the oil and gas industry, such as municipalities and local governments, airports, developers and transportation agencies.  Presentations were also given by the Penn State University Cooperative Extension Office, Pennsylvania County Commissioners Association, Allegheny County Health Department and H20 Resources, Inc.

The Albatross of Marcellus Shale Drilling

by... Scott Roberts

When I was in seventh grade, I read Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’.   More precisely, my seventh grade English teacher made me read it.    Poems from the late 1700’s are rarely the reading of choice for 12 year old boys.    But, since I still remember it 45 years later, I’ll give that teacher kudos for making me read it.  If you haven’t read it, you still may know of it.  Two of Taylor’s creations are familiar to this day --and both come to mind as I read news stories about Pennsylvania and the development of the Marcellus Shale.  They are the verse ‘Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink’ (I learned the hard way that the correct word is ‘nor’ vs. ‘not’) and the cliché of having an albatross hung around ones neck.

Coleridge’s Mariner kills an albatross and his shipmates -- believing he killed their good luck charm-- hang the bird’s corpse around the mariner’s neck.  Rhetorically, the opponents of Marcellus development hang the orange water of Pennsylvania’s historic mine drainage problem around the neck of the modern gas industry.  Recently the media has been reporting concerns from stakeholders such as this one: "Everybody testifies there's never been an incident [of drinking water contaminated by fracking] but we haven't done it in this geology, and it's not 25 years from now. Nobody had ever found acid mine drainage in the first 25 years of coal-mining, either. Some of this stuff takes time."  This argument is, like the albatross -- just superstition. 

Mine drainage is the result of a naturally occurring chemical weathering process, the oxidation of pyrite.  Early settlers in Western Pennsylvania named plenty of places ‘Yellow Creek’, ‘Redstone’ and ‘Sulfur Run’.  When rock is broken, as it by mining but also by any kind of earth moving including road construction (remember I-99) or landslides, exponentially more surface area is exposed to weathering.  When the rock contains pyrite, then it is the pyrite that is attacked; and to compound matters, a bug called Thiobaccillius Ferroxidans, will make the rubble its home and catalyze the reaction.  The oxidation of pyrite releases energy versus consuming it (known as an exothermic reaction), so once it starts, it keeps going on all by itself. 

In contrast is Pennsylvania’s historic oil and gas industry.  Go ahead and Google old photos from Titusville and Oil City.  And look closely at them.  You’ll see oil and brines flowing away from the wells into the region’s rivers.  Then, Google photographs of Drake Well State Park or other places in the region today.  They’re green, lush, and full of wildlife and home to many Pennsylvanians.  The old time pollution was not cleaned by industry, nor by the local citizens, nor by some government agency.  Instead, it was, (completely the opposite to the formation of mine drainage) naturally remediated by chemical weathering processes.  Since the exploration and production of oil and gas doesn’t unleash a self-perpetuating chemical reaction, any pollution created is finite. 

While I remember ‘Rime’ it is far from my favorite poem—which is Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If’.  The albatross reminds me of the verse in ‘If’ about truth being ‘…twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools…’   It’s time we lift the rhetoric off from the neck of this debate, and start talking facts.  

Nine Steps Towards Creating a Stormwater Utility or Agency

Across the nation, local government agencies are finding their stormwater systems in disrepair and are fearing that they will soon begin to fail, causing back up problems at homes and businesses.

Managing these stormwater lines and paying for the necessary repairs is a challenge for many agencies that typically do not have a dedicated funding source for stormwater management. 

To offset these challenges, local governments are beginning to form stormwater utilities or agencies that are responsible for enforcing stormwater rate structures and managing stormwater systems. These boards must meet stormwater management requirements mandated by state and federal agencies and provide the stormwater services needed for the municipalities, cities and counties they serve.

These utilities or agencies offer a new solution for local governments who are typically not prepared to address the critical needs of stormwater runoff. Stormwater utilities create a dedicated funding source by generating their revenue through user rates. “Use” of the system is the demand a property places on the stormwater system based n the stormwater runoff from the property. 

Creating a stormwater utility board or agency may be the best approach for many communities; however it requires much collaboration and planning. L.R. Kimball recommends the following steps in creating a stormwater utility or agency:

1. Create an advisory committee
2. Gather information
3. Develop the concept
4. Assess wet weather needs
5. Analyze stormwater funding options and implementation approach
6. Develop billing, collection and enforcement options and procedures
7. Review and assess rate method options
8. Prepare a rate study and cash flow analysis
9. Review stormwater utility implementation steps and schedule

Natural Gas: To Avoid Stray Gas Migration, the Best Offense Is a Good Defense

As the level of Shale drilling activity increases, public and regulatory concerns about the impact that drilling may have on potable ground water sources, areas aesthetics and other natural resources also grows. One of these concerns is that drilling is a major contributor to stray gas migration.

The best way for owners and operators to manage stray case migration is to avoid incidents from the start. But even large scope of operations and the nature of drilling can put the most well-designed, engineered and implemented drilling programs and well installation activities at risk for stray gas migration.

To reduce the likelihood of this event, operators should conduct an appropriate and timely investigation of a reported incident. This will ensure that additional time and resources are not required to correct any possible investigation errors and will reduce the likelihood of costly, protracted litigation. Sufficient attention needs to be paid to background conditions and potential migration pathways to properly identify the true source of gas migration or other contaminant releases.

Proactive Surveying

What is the best strategy to protect the environment and nearby communities, as well as the time and resources of owners and operators?

Like other situations, the best offense is a good defense. Operators and owners wishing to generate objective data to support a claim that their wells are not a source of stray gas migration should consider conducting pre-drilling or pre-alteration surveys.

Employment and the Marcellus Shale Factor

by Scott Roberts on May 17

My blogging raised some eyebrows last weekend.

We were in Shippensburg for my youngest daughter’s graduation. After the speeches and while we waited for her name to be called so we could, hopefully, make enough of a ruckus to embarrass her (that of course being the general purpose for the whole ceremony) I mentioned that I had written my first blog.

The reaction was open-mouthed slack-jawed amazement. Knowing the grammar challenges that I picked up as a kid at Johnstown High School and my use of the Hawaiian typing method (Whack-a-key), I understood. I thought about this blog because I was thinking about opportunities for the Class of 2011 and that those opportunities are the real reason we need to get it right on natural gas exploration in Pennsylvania.  

Each month the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry publishes a report on employment. You can find here.

April’s report notes that there are 30,700 jobs in the ‘Mining and Logging’ category. This is the category where the jobs of people actually working on the exploration and production of natural gas are found.  Probably less than 10,000 of that total are actually miners and loggers. The real eye-popping number is the 26.3% increase in these jobs in the period from March 2010 to March 2011. Only the development of the Marcellus can account for this change. 

Marcellus Shale - An Unexpected Windfall for Williamsport Regional Airport

Marcellus Shale is helping to fuel the future of development at the Williamsport Regional Airport located in north central Pennsylvania by accommodating companies that supply drilling support companies.

How? One company was looking for 25 acres on which to build a pipe yard to serve the industry and it needed a site near an airport, a railroad line and a highway. Williamsport Regional Airport was a perfect fit because it was bound on the north by a rail line, was located a half-mile from I-180 and offered a nearly 7,000 foot runway that would support the industry’s jets. Nice setup!

L.R. Kimball helped the airport realize this opportunity by working closely with them to provide the air spacing of five different scenarios for the development, including the development itself, two buildings on the property, the pipeyard and the crane that would be used to construct the building.

We also helped to make the appropriate pen-and-ink changes in the airport layout plan and handled the environmental impact categorical-exclusion filing.

We send our congratulations to Williamsport for capitalizing on this opportunity. In the past two years, they’ve experienced 50-percent growth in general aviation traffic, almost all of it attributable to Shale drilling and the new development there is expected to pay big dividends in job growth. Almost 75 new well paying jobs for managers and yard workers will need to be filled locally.

Welcome to the Corner of the Blog Spec Den by Denny Buirge

Blog post by Denny Buirge, RA, CSI, CCS, CCCA, Specification Writer

We employ a number of individuals involved in writing and using project manuals on a daily basis. Anyone involved with such activities should be aware of proper writing methodologies and interpretation protocol. 

After preparing almost 40 internal blogs for the company on specification related issues, this is my first venture into the external blogosphere. This initial entry is my introduction to the Blog Spec Den and summarizes goals and intents to be discussed in future editions regarding specification and drawing related issues.

Denny Buirge’s (DB’s) Corner of the Blog Spec Den will be the tag for my entries. 

The length of each blog will depend on the topic. One hope is for others to occupy additional ‘Corners’ in the ‘Den’ with a unified goal of increasing our knowledge base regarding construction related documentation. With that goal, L.R. Kimball will continue to improve the quality of final products to the owner and the construction community at large.

INTENT:  Offer Information.  Attempt to offer information, principles, and protocols primarily recommended by The Construction Specification Institute (CSI) related to the creation and usage of the various document types occurring within the construction industry.

INTENT: Review Concepts.  Attempt to select one concept or topic, define it, and show proper and improper examples of its use.  Current methodologies used by some companies and individuals do not follow recommended procedures.

INTENT: Define Terms.  Attempt to define A/E related vocabulary. Proper communication, both by the design team and by those performing Construction Administration (CA), is paramount to a successful project. Do you know what it means to ‘provide’ a material and do you correctly use that term in your documents?

INTENT: Introduce Developments.  Attempt to introduce new specification developments as they are introduced to the architectural community. With new project delivery methods and implementation of BIM philosophies in document production, specification preparation may require change; it is already happening in some architectural offices, via E-Specs and in-house creation. Are you familiar with Preliminary Project Description (PPD) concepts?

INTENT: Input Regularity.  Attempt to submit a blog entry on a regular basis, in a time frame yet to be determined.

INTENT: Offer a Dialog Forum.  Attempt to be a location where others can create a ‘Corner” and submit their own comments relating to specifications and drawings; there are no limitations as to the number of corners in the LRK Blog Spec Den floor plan.  

Besides architectural input, it would be encouraging to have representation by mechanical, electrical, civil, landscape, geotechnical, environmental, and others in the construction industry who are interested in sharing. My goal is to be moderator, not professor.

Project of the Week: Plaquemines Parish Correctional Facility

When Hurricane Katrina pushed across the Gulf in 2005, it struck particularly hard at Plaquemines Parish, caused major damage and destroyed the jail.  Congress quickly appropriated supplemental help for the region, allocating funds through the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the design and construction of a new jail.

L.R. Kimball helped the Plaquemines Parish Sherriff’s Office, who is managing to reconstruction, complete the required paperwork to quickly move the project through the FEMA funding application, review and approval process and kept it moving forward. 

The building design and engineering demanded solid and creative thinking – an innovative permanent structure built on a platform well-situated above the flood plain to mitigate any future impacts resulting from high water events. 

As a result of their efforts, L.R. Kimball played a vital role in helping to secure a FEMA allocation of more than $111 million for the project according to the most recent Project Worksheet.

Other achievements included designing and engineering a facility to meet the Sheriff’s needs and offer protection against future weather-related events, incorporating money-saving design and construction techniques, assisting the project team and FEMA fund a single, permanent jail and reducing future maintenance and repairs costs for the jail.

Let us know what you think of the before and after images!