EMA West has additional capabilities that enhance
the technical specialties required for hazardous waste management
projects. These capabilities include project management expertise,
quality assurance/quality control, health and safety training,
and computer services.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT EXPERTISE
EMA West is experienced in mobilizing teams of selected professionals
to conduct multiple investigations simultaneously, and has
successfully managed hazardous waste projects ranging from
small spills to large, multi disciplinary studies requiring
multiple subcontractors.
The goal of EMA West project management system is to provide
quality services that is responsive to the client's needs,
on time, and within budget. To that end, every projects is
assigned to a senior level project manager under the guidance
of a principal of the firm. All projects utilize EMA West computerized
project management system and follow internal policies regarding
work task definition, budget management, and scheduling.
QUALITY ASSURANCE/QUALITY CONTROL
EMA West performs hazardous waste and environmental engineering-related
investigations under a rigorous Quality Assurance/Quality
Control (QA/QC) program. This program has been established
to provide thorough, consistent, high quality technical work
on confidential, environmentally sensitive projects. The
overall objectives of the QA/QC program are to develop, implement,
and document procedures for obtaining and evaluating project-specific
data in a precise and complete manner so that measurement
data, sampling procedures, and field measurements provide
information that is comparable and representative of actual
field conditions. To that end, project-specific QA procedures
are developed as needed for all field investigations, and
formal technical reports are reviewed by the senior technical
professional in the project, the Project Manager, a technical
peer reviewer, and/or the project QA officer.
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS/WASTE HEALTH AND SAFETY TRAINING
All EMA West employees who conduct field investigations are required
to complete 40-hour hazardous materials/waste health and
safety training course, which meets EPA requirements for
such investigations. Topics covered in the course include
physical, chemical, and toxicological properties of hazardous
materials; hazard evaluation and control; selection and use
of personal protective equipment, including self-contained
breathing apparatus and fully encapsulating suits; sampling
and monitoring techniques and equipment; and site entrance
and decontamination procedures. Managers of hazardous waste
projects are also required to complete an 8-hour site safety
management course, and all previously trained employees complete
an 8-hour annual refresher course.
COMPUTER CAPABILITIES
EMA West' technical services require collecting and interpreting
large amounts of data. The firm uses computers and technical
information systems to validate and analyze these data and
to prepare reports presenting findings and recommendations.
EMA West has acquired many computer programs for such applications
as groundwater flow and parameter estimation; contaminant
transport; water chemistry; groundwater extraction and injection;
hydrologic graident; geological, geotechnical, and geophysical
models; leachate seepage; air dispersion, contour plotting;
and laboratory data interpretation and reduction. |