Articles by author: LEA Environmental, Inc.

A recent study in western Pennsylvania found a high incidence of methane in private drinking water wells at homes near natural gas drilling operations. Homes closest to natural gas wells had (on average) methane concentrations six times higher than homes farther away.

The US Environmental Protection Agency has issued two draft guidance documents concerning vapor intrusion. Vapor intrusion is the migration of volatile chemicals from contaminated soil or groundwater into overlying buildings. One important concept that is emphasized by EPA is spatial and temporal variability of indoor air concentrations. LEA has been a vocal advocate for appreciating and accounting for this variability when addressing vapor intrusion problems.

Dr. Lorne Everett, PhD, DSc, is CEO of L. Everett & Associates (LEA). LEA is an environmental litigation support and consulting firm. In this video Dr. Everett introduces the firm and speaks about emergent concerns related to vapor intrusion (VI). VI generally occurs when there is a migration of volatile chemicals from contaminated groundwater or soil into an overlying building. LEA is intimately involved in the development of national standards by ASTM International, and Dr. Everett chairs the committee that is currently developing the standards.

One of the great accomplishments of the environmental movement in the US has been to secure clean drinking water for the vast majority of Americans and to protect the waterways and aquifers that serve as sources of clean drinking water. In fact, The Clean Water Act of 1972 and The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) of 1974 are considered two of a handful of federal laws that ushered in the modern era of environmental protection. Considering all the progress that has been made, it is easy to forget that the work of the SDWA is not done. It is not just third-world problem: many folks right here in the U.S. still lack access to safe drinking water.

Lorne Everett will give a presentation on vapor intrusion and subsurface contamination from dry cleaners at the Spring conference of the County Counsel�s Association of California in San Diego on May 17, 2013.

For the past 25 years, Dr. Lorne Everett has been invited by the President of the World Federation of Scientists at CERN Switzerland (home of the Large Hadron Collider) to participate in Planetary Emergency meetings held in Erice, Italy. Dr. Everett chairs the World Federation of Scientists Panel on Pollution.

Jim Wells, Phd, PG of L. Everett & Associates has been invited to serve on the faculty of the 38th Annual American Law Institute Environmental Litigation Seminar in Washington D.C. on June 12-14, 2013 and to speak on the topic of environmental forensics. This advanced CLE seminar is designed to assist attorneys in mastering litigation skills needed to handle CERCLA, NEPA, citizen suits, and other types of environmental litigation.

L. Everett & Associates recognizes the importance of understanding and assessing uncertainty associated with the various sources of information and data that has to be considered in each case or project.

L. Everett & Associates is very active addressing the environmental aspects of hydraulic fracturing or "fracking".

One of the dilemmas of environmental regulation is that EPA stipulates permissible levels for inadvertent exposure to certain toxic chemicals (such as from vapor intrusion from subsurface contamination) but OSHA allows much higher levels of exposure of the same chemicals for purposeful exposure in an occupational setting.