Nicole Ott

Sediment Remedial Design at Active Steel Mill, Portland, Oregon — Serving as principal-in-charge for sediment predesign investigations and the remedial design of a 2-mile stretch of a 10‑mile, multiparty Superfund sediment megasite. Overseeing multiple stages of project area investigations to determine the nature and extent of chemicals of concern (COCs)—including PCBs and dioxins—in sediment, porewater, and other media. Planning remedial design, construction performance, and long-term monitoring elements in consideration of conservative regulatory guidance and in evolution with trustee and performing-party feedback. Evaluating and determining appropriate remedial actions for the site using sediment transport modeling, data collection sequencing, evaluations of bathymetric changes, upland data characterization, considerations of background conditions and potential upstream contaminating activities, and use of other data-driven evaluations to identify appropriate project area COCs and develop an adaptable cleanup action. Led the development of a supplemental predesign investigation work plan to generate data for multiple media, including subsurface sediment, riverbank soil, beach groundwater, sediment porewater chemistry, and seepage rates. Work closely with a team to ensure sample placement is representative and will allow for the replacement of historical nonrepresentative data affecting footprint delineation. Collaborate with data managers to generate export files that support design and decision-making, with careful consideration of the extensive historical data collected for the remedial design data set.

Support the client in a collaborative, remedial-design party group addressing evolving regulatory remedial design guidance. Also support the client in technical and legal negotiations with federal parties contemplating the next phases of work. The work area adjoins five properties and necessitates negotiated access agreements, coordination for sample collection and split samples, and overall data sharing that affects the design.

Former Fertilizer Manufacturing Facility, Residential Yards Removal Action, Guánica, Puerto Rico — With the client and outside counsel, negotiated an administrative settlement agreement and order on consent with EPA Region 2 for a removal action addressing PCB-impacted soil in offsite properties. Served as project manager responsible for staffing, team coordination, client communications, and EPA correspondence. With the engineer of record, delineated excavation extents, developed key work plan elements, wrote a completion report, and managed removal action to completion. Project planning involved the consideration of several unique constraints, including inclement weather; community outreach needs; neighborhood impacts from previous natural disasters; a paucity of municipal data, including land ownership and utility infrastructure maps; the potential presence of endangered flora and fauna; the sourcing of materials and labor on the island; and the identification of suitable landfill space. The successfully completed removal work included soil sampling, soil excavation and backfilling (of soil meeting chemical and physical suitability requirements), property restoration, dust monitoring for community protection, and material transport/disposal. Managed a team that collected soil samples, managed data, and conducted construction quality assurance during excavation, which required the segregation of soil exceeding 50 mg/kg of PCBs for off-island transport and disposal. Restoration required acquiring chemically suitable material from multiple on-island quarries and negotiating with EPA to address regional background levels of nickel concentrations exceeding acceptable standards. The project also included a stormwater source control assessment and ongoing scoping of future work elements.

Terminal 117 Sediment and Upland Area Non-Time-Critical Removal Action, Seattle, Washington — Wrote construction quality assurance and water quality monitoring plans during remedial design of a soil and sediment removal to address PCBs at a CERCLA early action area. Also negotiated with the regulatory agency to achieve a reduced confirmation data set by demonstrating background conditions for arsenic and co-location of dioxin/furan exceedances with PCB exceedances.

Sediment Cleanup Allocation Support, Port Angeles, Washington — Project manager and key client contact for allocation of sediment impacts in a MTCA site. Authored expert reports, led expert teams, and provided project management and client communication for allocation of sediment cleanup and natural resource damages. Represented client as technical expert in online (COVID-era) mediation meetings with averse parties. Supported clients by compiling a multi-disciplinary expert team, converging expertise in air modeling, fingerprinting, sediment transport, and analysis of sewer discharges. Also led the development of allocation strategies, prepared attorney-directed documents, communicated key findings to clients, and oversaw keyword tagging of more than 30,000 documents within a document repository. Topics included historical pulp and timber mills, sewer conveyances, vessel operations, and chemical forensics of PAHs, PCBs, and dioxins. Supported clients in NRD settlement by deciphering trustees’ model and presenting key facts about municipal discharges to certain footprints, leading to an agreement well below the original proposal. Reviewed RI/FS and Cleanup Action Plan documents prepared by common consultants for technical accuracy and sensitivity to allocation. Provide on-call technical support to end client for harbor-related and other environmental matters.

Superfund Cleanup and NRDA Allocation, Portland, Oregon — Serving as principal in charge and leading expert team to develop technical reports for allocation within a sediment site involving in excess of 100 participating and nonparticipating parties.  As lead expert on more than 10 reports, working closely with counsel, developed historically relevant opinions for 1940s to 1970s era steel mill, examining several other, often overlooked source areas, including streets, sewers, upstream parties, and lesser-known industries.  Managing a team of 20+ experts and several support staff to produce expert reports and reply documents over an overlapping deliverable schedule within three phases each for six river segments.  Contributed to several expert reports in addition to those prepared as lead author.

Tasks to generate client deliverables include writing and reviewing expert team’s reports and developing mass loading estimates and release score methodology in collaboration with technical staff and counsel.  Reviewed and responded to opinions advanced by averse party experts, under a tight time frame, involving rapid synthesis of petitions submitted by other parties.  Deliverable preparation also included collaboration with industry expert, extensive photographic research, forensic evaluations for PCBs and dioxins/furans, and topographic and chemical examination of fill materials.

Early supporting tasks during sitewide RI/FS and predesign investigation stages included development of sampling strategy and technical review with an eye toward the client’s perspective of work products produced by common consultants. These products include data compilation, chemistry interpolation, sediment deposition evaluations, cost estimates, and historical summaries. Compiled and synthesized relevant information to respond to disclosure questionnaires and supplemental information requests and to generate comments on allocation team-generated deliverables. Evaluated trustees’ NRD proposal relative to sediment chemistry, sources, and operational history to prepare response documents, cross-checking trustee calculations and responding to incorrect assumptions, with more than 50 percent reduction in damages allocated to client. Communicated findings to end client and attorneys and participated in multiple collaborative teams with counsel.

Superfund RI/FS, Record of Decision, Predesign Support, Portland, Oregon — Reviewed, on behalf of an industrial client, RI/FS and predesign evaluation documents prepared for two PRP groups (of which the client was a member) and EPA. Provided detailed review and comments on EPA’s proposed plan and record of decision, for the client individually and as part of a PRP group. Supported the development of predesign sampling scope and data evaluations to document current site conditions and inform the conceptual site model, upstream/background inputs, and remedial approach. Provided input on the associated sampling approach, footprint delineation, data evaluation, EPA communication materials, and data evaluation reports written by common consultants.

Lower Duwamish Waterway Predesign Studies, Seattle, Washington — Interviewed waterway users to identify highly trafficked areas of the site and berthing areas. Compiled lines of evidence for natural recovery designations in surface sediments. Evaluated changes in sediment chemistry to support natural recovery evaluations in order to revise prior feasibility study designations with new data. Updates to recovery category designations were considered with respect to new information gathered after the feasibility study. Also evaluated changes in sediment chemistry to support natural recovery evaluations. Communicated findings to client and directly to EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Various CERCLA Site Support — Worked on various Integral teams writing nature and extent text, developing cost estimates, managing field sampling preparation, and overseeing map and data table production. Work has involved communication among members of multiple teams and contractors as well as completion of quality assurance steps for deliverables. Sites include Berry’s Creek (New Jersey), San Jacinto River Waste Pits (Texas), Passaic River (New Jersey), and Frenchtown Mills (Montana).

Former Fertilizer Manufacturing Facility, Residential Yards Removal Action, Guánica, Puerto Rico — With the client and outside counsel, negotiated an administrative settlement agreement and order on consent with EPA Region 2 for a removal action addressing PCB-impacted soil in offsite properties. Served as project manager responsible for staffing, team coordination, client communications, and EPA correspondence. With the engineer of record, delineated excavation extents, developed key work plan elements, wrote a completion report, and managed removal action to completion. Project planning involved the consideration of several unique constraints, including inclement weather; community outreach needs; neighborhood impacts from previous natural disasters; a paucity of municipal data, including land ownership and utility infrastructure maps; the potential presence of endangered flora and fauna; the sourcing of materials and labor on the island; and the identification of suitable landfill space. The successfully completed removal work included soil sampling, soil excavation and backfilling (of soil meeting chemical and physical suitability requirements), property restoration, dust monitoring for community protection, and material transport/disposal. Managed a team that collected soil samples, managed data, and conducted construction quality assurance during excavation, which required the segregation of soil exceeding 50 mg/kg of PCBs for off-island transport and disposal. Restoration required acquiring chemically suitable material from multiple on-island quarries and negotiating with EPA to address regional background levels of nickel concentrations exceeding acceptable standards. The project also included a stormwater source control assessment and ongoing scoping of future work elements.

Former Wood Treating Site, Remedial Action Optimization, Springfield, Missouri — Managed technical team developing work plans to collect data related to pump-and-treat remedy optimization and offsite migration from a former creosote wood treating facility. Three work plans were under development simultaneously to respond to stakeholder and neighboring property concerns and to address source control. Managed data collection and resident communications related to vapor intrusion, lawn soils, and stormwater basin water levels. Under a related scope, provided contract project management services to the client for contractor work products, required reporting to the state agency, internal team meeting planning and reporting, and agency/stakeholder meeting planning.

Lower Duwamish Waterway Feasibility Study, Seattle, Washington — Managed database and GIS staff to produce maps and data products for the feasibility study. Modeled surface sediment chemistry over time and under various remedial alternatives for four risk driver chemicals and under various modeling scenarios. Evaluated and wrote chapters documenting natural recovery and recontamination potential. Served as primary author on two chapters and three appendices of the EPA approved feasibility study. In addition, conducted historical research related to shoreline change, land use, dredging, and overwater uses. Played an instrumental role in establishing the baseline data set against which remedial action levels were evaluated. Presented findings to a multiparty group and to regulators.

Former Fertilizer Manufacturing Facility, Residential Yards Removal Action, Guánica, Puerto Rico — With the client and outside counsel, negotiated an administrative settlement agreement and order on consent with EPA Region 2 for a removal action addressing PCB-impacted soil in offsite properties. Served as project manager responsible for staffing, team coordination, client communications, and EPA correspondence. With the engineer of record, delineated excavation extents, developed key work plan elements, wrote a completion report, and managed removal action to completion. Project planning involved the consideration of several unique constraints, including inclement weather; community outreach needs; neighborhood impacts from previous natural disasters; a paucity of municipal data, including land ownership and utility infrastructure maps; the potential presence of endangered flora and fauna; the sourcing of materials and labor on the island; and the identification of suitable landfill space. The successfully completed removal work included soil sampling, soil excavation and backfilling (of soil meeting chemical and physical suitability requirements), property restoration, dust monitoring for community protection, and material transport/disposal. Managed a team that collected soil samples, managed data, and conducted construction quality assurance during excavation, which required the segregation of soil exceeding 50 mg/kg of PCBs for off-island transport and disposal. Restoration required acquiring chemically suitable material from multiple on-island quarries and negotiating with EPA to address regional background levels of nickel concentrations exceeding acceptable standards. The project also included a stormwater source control assessment and ongoing scoping of future work elements.

Source Control, Portland, Oregon — Provided project management and technical support related to source control activities and allocation of natural resource damage costs. Assessed source control of a potentially erodible riverbank through historical map review, sampling, chemical nature and extent analysis, and forensics. Evaluated key shoreline features and developed maps relevant to understanding fill events, shoreline accretion over time, and submersible land property ownership.

MTCA Evaluations at Neighboring, Downgradient Properties, Woodinville and Port Angeles, Washington — For two separate clients, evaluated impacts to downgradient properties defined as a part of an MTCA site. For one property, served as Principal in Charge overseeing collection of soil and groundwater samples to define the downgradient extent of a petroleum plume. Developed sampling plans and data reports for attorney and client team.  On the second property, communicated with MTCA customer’s consultant to convey progress to client and advised client on next steps.

Building Demolition, Tacoma, Washington — Wrote a TSCA self-implementing notification describing delineation of an excavation of soil impacted by PCBs from an adjacent building’s paint and caulk. Responsibilities also included drafting plans and specifications for public bid of the demolition work and cost estimations of the work. Prepared waste disposal authorization applications for the various waste streams that were approved by the county health department.