Environmental Sampling Program Design

Drawing on our years of experience and expertise, Lord Associates can develop sampling programs tailored to meet your project's strategic objectives. Beginning with the formulation of a conceptual site model and ending with a specific sampling program, our staff is prepared to work with you to define the critical objectives of your program and the required quality assurance parameters to support rigorous regulatory and/or legal challenges to the data set.

We have prepared EPA approved Quality Assurance Project Plans and Sampling and Analytical Plans. Depending on the complexity of your site and the required level of quality assurance/ quality control (QA/QC), our design may incorporate a random or biased statistical approach. Our staff has many years of training and experience in environmental chemistry, risk assessment, hydrogeology, and remediation so you can be assured of meeting the correct data quality objectives.

We have also used the latest tools in forensic geochemistry or advanced chemical fingerprinting where the identification or aging of petroleum or solvent products is needed to resolve liability.

Advanced analytical techniques and analysis capabilities have proved their worth for our customers many times over. Below are just a few examples:

• At a former metal scrap yard, samples were collected at a 95% confidence limit to characterize exposure point concentrations to an apparently random distribution of PCBs in soil. This program allowed for more cost-effective collection of data with a greater degree of certainty.
  
  
• At a chlorinated solvent site, our staff completed a targeted sampling program to search for potential sources, and researched the historical use of solvents at a property to help find a legal settlement with the client and DEP. The process resulted in a negotiated settlement and a less costly solution than the legal discovery and litigation option.
  
  
• Our staff designed a specialized sampling program using advanced chemical fingerprinting to clear a client from liability associated with a suspected release of fuel oil from an outfall discharge pipe to a surface water body.