MSECA’s 2026 Fall Seminar

Presented by Tyler Emerson, VIYA Environmental

Brownfield redevelopment often stalls not because a site is untreatable, but because risk, cost, and timeline uncertainty make in-situ solutions look like a gamble. This session presents a portfolio of closed and closing brownfield-type sites — a former airport fire-training burn pit with legacy PFAS, a former co-op facility with benzene-impacted groundwater, and a former manufacturing site with chlorinated-solvent-impacted soil — to show how biological and chemical in-situ treatment can convert open liabilities into closed, reusable properties. Attendees will see how a PFAS-degrading bacterial amendment (BAM Ultra) combined with electrooxidation drove a former burn pit to near-100% PFAS reduction; how bioaugmentation took benzene in groundwater from 7,544 µg/L to non-detect to support site closure; and how bioaugmentation paired with Fenton’s Reagent reduced TCLP TCE by 99.99%, enabling non-hazardous disposal of contaminated soil. The session will translate these results into a practical risk-management framework consultants can use with brownfield clients: how to screen a site for in-situ biological/chemical treatment fit, how to sequence characterization and pilot testing to de-risk a redevelopment timeline, and how to communicate liability reduction and closure pathways to property owners, lenders, and regulators.

Tyler Emerson, VIYA Environmental
Tyler Emerson is a Senior Project Manager at VIYA Environmental, where he leads biological and in-situ remediation programs for clients addressing complex and emerging contaminants, including PFAS, petroleum hydrocarbons, and chlorinated solvents. Tyler has managed remediation projects from initial site characterization through pilot testing, full-scale implementation, and closure, working directly with environmental consultants, industrial clients, and regulators to translate technical results into practical risk-management and redevelopment decisions. He recently presented on PFAS bioremediation field applications and treatment strategies at the AIPG Michigan Section meeting, sharing insights on the role of biological processes in addressing complex, emerging contaminants. Tyler’s project experience spans bioaugmentation and in-situ chemical oxidation programs that have achieved site closure outcomes for former airport, agricultural, and industrial manufacturing properties, giving him direct, field-tested insight into what it takes to move a brownfield site from liability to reuse.

Presented by David Gillay, Barnes & Thornburg LLP

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has clarified what is required to qualify for important landowner and tenant liability defenses under applicable federal and state environmental statutes. This presentation will discuss the legal requirements and its impact and implications to avoiding liability and successfully redeveloping contaminated properties.

David Gillay, Barnes & Thornburg LLP
David works closely with environmental consultants and governmental regulators on complex technical matters related to characterizing, cleaning up, closing, and redeveloping contaminated properties. David’s practice also includes multi-media environmental compliance, environmental permitting, confidential audits, and remediation projects dealing with soil, surface water and groundwater contamination, and ecological risk assessment.

David is a frequent author and presenter, having participated in a variety of private associations, client, and continuing legal and business education seminars with a special focus on landowner and tenant liability defenses, vapor intrusion, TCE, and developing cost-effective solutions to manage residual contamination as part of redevelopment projects and the sale of contaminated property.

David serves as General Counsel to the Indoor Environments Association (IEA) and continues to serve as counsel of record for the Midwestern States Environmental Consultants Association (MESCA). Prior to joining Barnes & Thornburg, he obtained an advanced environmental engineering degree and practiced as an environmental consultant on various projects across the country

Presented by Kaylin McDermett, PhD, EIT, Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc.

Understanding the potential risks associated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has rapidly become one of the most critical issues facing the environmental industry. In 2026, there is growing uncertainty centered on the potential influences of PFAS on site assessments, redevelopment projects, permitting, waste management, compliance evaluations, and property transactions. As federal requirements remain in flux and state-specific regulations continue to evolve, consultants and their clients are increasingly being asked to identify, evaluate, and communicate PFAS-related risks that can ultimately affect project costs, schedules, liabilities, and long-term asset values.

This presentation aims to provide environmental professionals with a practical and proactive framework for navigating PFAS due diligence before regulatory obligations and potential liabilities are fully realized. Attendees will gain insight into where PFAS risks are commonly overlooked, how historical operations and material use can create future liabilities, and how robust documentation and preliminary investigative strategies can strengthen defensibility during transactions, permitting, and compliance activities. The content of this presentation demonstrates how early PFAS planning can help stakeholders avoid unnecessary investigation, costly remediation, regulatory scrutiny, and reputational impacts.

Overall, this session highlights why proactive PFAS due diligence is no longer optional, but an essential component of protecting client assets, managing liability, and maintaining compliance in an increasingly complex regulatory landscape.

Kaylin McDermett, PhD, EIT, Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc.
Dr. Kaylin McDermett is an Environmental Engineer in Training (EIT) with specialized expertise in PFAS fate and transport, forensic investigation, and site characterization. Once she obtained her doctoral degree in Civil Engineering from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX in 2022, she was hired by an engineering consulting firm and re-located to the Pittsburgh, PA area. In November 2025, she joined CEC’s environmental practice in Monroeville, PA, where she is now the PFAS & Emerging Contaminants Technical Advisory Group (TAG) lead. For over four years, she has contributed to a variety of projects involving source identification, conceptual site model development, and remediation of sites impacted with PFAS and other organic pollutants managed under CERCLA, RCRA, and other programs. She has also led regulatory compliance projects focused on PFAS product stewardship, TSCA reporting, and due diligence initiatives at the federal, state, and international level. Her academic research and PFAS expertise have been showcased in scientific publications and presentations for a wide variety of professional industry organizations including the Brownfields Coalition of the Northeast (BCONE), The Society of Environmental Toxicologists and Chemists (SETAC), the Air & Waste Management Association (A&MWA), and at the Battelle Chlorinated Conference. For her clients, Dr. McDermett couples her extensive PFAS analytical and research background with her real-world experiences in the environmental industry to provide over eight years of unique and practical strategies that offer actionable plans to approach PFAS site investigation, remediation, and regulatory compliance concerns.

Presented by Shaun Scholer, State of Indiana, GIS Office, Jinha Jung, Purdue University, Vickey Robinson, Indiana Brownfields Program

Indiana has modernized its statewide geospatial data management by migrating to cloud infrastructure (AWS Open Data) and adopting cloud optimized data formats. In addition to accessing this data via download and streaming assets via a REST image service, we are adopting STAC (SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog), an open standard for managing large spatiotemporal datasets such as imagery and Lidar. Establishing a centralized STAC repository within IGIO’s AWS environment will provide a unified, interoperable approach to improve data discovery, providing direct access while supporting diverse analysis platforms for the public.

Presented by Craig Cox, Cox-Colvin and Associates, Inc.

Background/Objectives. In 1998, the detection of chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) in a public well field led Ohio EPA to begin a search for potential sources. By 2002, as many as four different consultants, representing local industries, had identified a comingled plume extending a distance of four miles. The highly permeable, well oxygenated, federally-designated sole source aquifer has a hydraulic conductivity on the order of 1200 feet/day and a horizontal flow velocity estimated at 10 feet/day. By chance, most of the industries lay along a common groundwater flow path and had tended to use similar CVOCs. This situation complicated the issue of source identification and potential responsibility. The objective soon became source area identification and dissection of the commingled plume to assign ownership. Following plume delineation, the sources of CVOCs were addressed through a variety of source area remedial actions (some of which are still proceeding). A GAC Treatment system was added to the public water system and affected domestic well owners were provided permanent connections to public water. The current objective is to monitor the return of groundwater quality to drinking water standards throughout the length of the plume.

Approach/Activities. Working in cooperation, the consultants shared regional-scale analytical results from hundreds of monitor wells, domestic wells, production wells, temporary wells, and surface water samples to form a groundwater and surface water quality database. This database, established in the late 1990s, is still in use and updated frequently. Based on GIS analysis of contaminant ratios of tetrachloroethene, trichloroethene, cis-1,2-dichloroethene, and 1,1,1-trichloroethane coupled with groundwater flow data the commingled plume was found to be sourced from at least six separate areas. Each responsible party chose remedial options based on their particular goals. The options included: excavation, in-situ chemox (potassium permanganate) injection, in-situ emulsified zero-valent iron injections, in-situ thermal desorption, and air sparge/soil vapor extraction. The treatment option for the public well field was granular activated carbon. Monitoring of the plumes, which have responded positively to the source removal, continues.

Results/Lessons Learned. To date, four sources have been remediated and groundwater quality has improved dramatically. Periodic regional plume updates are performed to monitor progress. The use of contaminant ratios proved to be a very powerful tool in plume delineation. Other characterization techniques including compound specific isotope analysis are being used to learn more about the plumes before they are gone. The presence of cis-1,2-dichlorethene was key to locating source areas where anerobic conditions existed locally. Due to the very high hydraulic conductivity and associated groundwater flow velocities, in-plume groundwater treatment options including permeable reactive barriers, containment (pump and treat), recirculating wells, and the like proved infeasible.

Craig Cox, Cox-Colvin and Associates, Inc.
Craig A. Cox, CPG, is a principal and co-founder of Cox-Colvin & Associates, Inc., with more than 40 years of experience in environmental investigation, hydrogeology, and remediation. His work includes projects conducted under CERCLA, RCRA, and state voluntary programs, with extensive experience addressing vapor intrusion and contaminated sites involving VOCs, SVOCs, DNAPLs, LNAPLs, metals, and petroleum products. Mr. Cox is the inventor of the Vapor Pin®, a sub-slab soil gas sampling device used in vapor intrusion investigations, and a founding member of the Association of Vapor Intrusion Professionals (AVIP). He is also a frequent presenter on vapor intrusion, groundwater contamination, and environmental investigation and remediation.

Presented by Lauren Soós, TRS Group, A Parsons Company

A former chemical manufacturing facility in California contains more than three acres impacted by dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL), including a mobile DNAPL source area targeted for remediation. To address volatile organic compound (VOC) contamination in the treatment area (approximately 29,000 square feet) and render the remaining DNAPL immobile, the project team implemented an electrical resistance heating (ERH) remedy integrated with soil vapor extraction (SVE). The project represents one of the largest mass-removal ERH projects in the industry. Pilot testing of both SVE and ERH was completed prior to implementation, providing critical insights regarding site conditions, contaminant distribution, and system performance, that ultimately resulted in refinements to the conceptual site model and remedial design.

Treatability and pilot testing proved critical to successful ERH implementation by refining the conceptual site model, verifying effectiveness, confirming the need for phased treatment, identifying requirements for redundant recovery capacity, and informing operational flexibility necessary to manage high VOC mass recovery rates. The presentation will highlight design considerations, operational lessons learned, and performance outcomes associated with a large-scale thermal remediation project which achieved removal of more than 600,000 pounds of VOCs. The findings provide valuable guidance for practitioners designing and operating ERH systems at complex DNAPL sites where high VOC mass recovery and treatment demands are anticipated.

Lauren Soós, TRS Group, A Parsons Company
Lauren Soós is the Director of Market Solutions where she collaborates with clients and team members on thermal remediation solutions. Since 2003, she has worked in the environmental consulting and remediation industry, managing complex remediation projects across the country. In 2009, Lauren implemented her first thermal project and has enjoyed working exclusively with these technologies since. She is a self-diagnosed “geeky” environmental engineer and lives in New Hampshire.

Presented by Edward Winner, RPI Group

Background/Objectives: Dehalococcoides (Dhc) are key organisms for chlorinated solvent bioremediation and are commonly introduced through bioaugmentation. This study demonstrates that providing physical microbial support, a carbon source, and microorganisms that supply Dhc metabolic requirements can stimulate persistent indigenous Dhc populations reaching up to 95% of the microbial community without Dhc augmentation. Geochemical evidence, including chlorinated solvent degradation, ethene production, and fatty acid generation, confirmed effective dechlorination.

Approach/Activities: A PCE-contaminated aquifer treated with integrated abiotic and biotic amendments was evaluated using next-generation sequencing (NGS), groundwater and soil geochemistry, and high-resolution microscopy. Results were compared with untreated and contaminated zones and corroborated at additional chlorinated-solvent sites.

Results/Lessons Learned: Indigenous Dhc increased from below detection to as much as 95% of the microbial community and remained abundant until chlorinated electron acceptors were depleted. Dhc exhibited selective colonization of specific subsurface media, while ethene, fatty acids, methane, and other biodegradation indicators confirmed sustained reductive dechlorination. These findings demonstrate that engineering subsurface conditions to support indigenous Dhc and its microbial partners can reliably stimulate robust dechlorination, potentially reducing or eliminating the need for costly Dhc bioaugmentation.

Edward Winner, RPI Group
Edward Winner is vice president of Remediation Products Incorporated. Prior to joining RPI Inc., Ed served as the Assistant Director in the Division of Waste Management for the Commonwealth of Kentucky and in various other positions within the Division, including manager of Kentucky’s Underground Storage Tank Branch. Ed has a B.A. from Tennessee Temple University; a B.S. and a Ph.D. from the University of Louisville; and postdoctoral studies at the Lions Eye Institute.

Presented by Ryan Moore, REGENESIS Remediation Solutions

This presentation will highlight the successful remediation of a complex groundwater plume containing PFAS, chlorinated solvents (CVOCs), and hexavalent chromium at an active chrome plating facility in Michigan. Attendees will learn how a traditional pump-and-treat system was replaced with an integrated in-situ remedy consisting of a permeable reactive barrier combining colloidal activated carbon, sulfidated zero-valent iron, and bioaugmentation. The presentation will discuss the use of passive flux meter data and predictive mass flux modeling to optimize remedy design, estimate treatment longevity, and support stakeholder decision-making. Results showed greater than 95% reductions in PFAS concentrations, with PFOS reduced from 5,270 ppt to below 7 ppt within three months, while CVOCs and hexavalent chromium were reduced to non-detect concentrations. Attendees will gain practical insights into designing and implementing remedies for complex comingled contaminant sites, evaluating long-term performance expectations, and leveraging multiple treatment mechanisms within a single remedial approach. The case study will be especially valuable for consultants, responsible parties, regulators, and site owners navigating PFAS and mixed-contaminant remediation challenges.

Ryan Moore, REGENESIS Remediation Solutions
Ryan Moore is VP of PFAS Programs at REGENESIS, where he supports environmental consultants, industry, and regulatory stakeholders in designing and implementing innovative in situ remediation technologies. With expertise spanning PFAS, chlorinated solvents, metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, and emerging contaminants, Ryan specializes in developing sustainable remedial strategies for complex groundwater and soil contamination challenges.

Throughout his career, Ryan has supported hundreds of remediation projects across North America, helping project teams evaluate site conditions, optimize treatment designs, and achieve regulatory closure objectives. His experience includes applications of activated carbon technologies, advanced bioremediation, reactive media barriers, and integrated treatment approaches for mixed-contaminant sites.
Ryan is a frequent presenter at environmental conferences and technical workshops, where he shares practical lessons learned from field-scale remediation projects and emerging treatment technologies. He works closely with consultants, site owners, and regulators to bridge the gap between scientific innovation and successful field implementation.

At REGENESIS, Ryan focuses on advancing cost-effective and sustainable remediation solutions that address some of the industry’s most challenging environmental liabilities while delivering measurable performance and long-term site management benefits.