Craig Hutchings

Senior Science Advisor

Bio
Relevant Experience
Education & Credentials
Insights & News

Bio

Craig Hutchings is a chemist with more than 30 years of experience in environmental analytical chemistry, litigation support, project management, environmental investigations, and QA/QC data review and validation. He has led projects using standard and non-standard methodologies for the analysis of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in soils, waters, and firefighting foams. Mr. Hutchings has also led PFAS litigation support projects involving management of very large data sets, data interpretation and analysis, and reporting.

Mr. Hutchings has led the preparation of sampling and analysis plans and quality assurance project plans (QAPPs), data interpretation, and development of quality assurance programs for sites within various state and federal regulatory programs. He has performed and supervised gas chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analyses for contaminants in soil, sediment, water, and tissues using EPA and various state methods. He is experienced in the evaluation and review of analytical data including outputs from inductively coupled plasma instruments and chromatograms for Aroclors, pesticides, and other compounds. In addition, Mr. Hutchings has reviewed chemistry data from numerous projects involving a wide variety of analyses in air, water, soils, sediments, and tissues.

Relevant Experience

PFAS

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, Northeastern U.S. — Project chemist overseeing analyses and validation of PFAS in groundwater, drinking water, surface water, soil, sediment, and porewater. Reviewed isomer profiles of PFAS samples and assists in investigations of potential third-party source contributions.

PFAS Litigation Support, Confidential Location — Providing litigation support related to PFAS contamination from multiple sources in drinking water, groundwater, surface water, and soils. Led evaluations of related chemistry data, chemical transport, source identification, and evaluation of treatment costs.

PFAS Litigation Support, Confidential Location — Providing litigation support related to PFAS from multiple aqueous film-forming foam formulations to groundwater. Led evaluations of related chemistry data, chemical transport, and source identification.

PFAS Fate and Transport — Provided technical review of PFAS homolog and isomer profiles of ground water, surface water, porewater, and soil samples to inform plume delineation and source identification. Coordinated analyses using the total oxidizable precursor assay to assess presence of PFAS precursors. Developed site specific desorption coefficients for PFAS compounds.

PFAS and Firefighting Foams — Managed a study investigating and evaluating the types of PFAS and other compounds in modern firefighting foams. Coordinated and reviewed data from standard and suspect screening analyses for PFAS and other surfactants. Led evaluation and summarization of analytical data and the effects on human and ecological health of the PFAS and non-PFAS compounds identified in the foam products.

Project Management

Berry’s Creek Superfund Site, Meadowlands, New Jersey — Project manager for team leading strategy development and implementation for monitoring remedy performance for PCBs, mercury, and methylmercury. The project team leads field sampling for biota.

Closed Landfill, Sartell, Minnesota — Project manager for team evaluating metals in groundwater near a closed landfill. Evaluated data quality of historical and current data sets for comparison to regulatory criteria. Project team evaluated site hydrogeology and geochemistry, potential remediation costs, and negotiated with state regulators.

Biomonitoring Study, U.S. — Managed a biomonitoring study conducted in support of litigation related to a persistent organic pollutant. Coordinated study design and implementation, sample collection, laboratory oversight, and data management. Evaluated laboratory methodologies, provided laboratory oversight and coordination, evaluated data usability, and prepared a report summarizing the data and results.

Forensics

Petroleum Hydrocarbon Chromatogram Review, Confidential Location — Reviewed flame ionization detector and mass spectrometry chromatograms to evaluate total petroleum hydrocarbon and PAH patterns in support of a forensic investigation to differentiate between multiple sources.

PAH Forensics, Confidential Location — Evaluated laboratory data quality of analyses of sediments for standard EPA 16 PAHs and alkylated PAHs. Used diagnostic ratios and histograms to identify sources of PAHs.

PCB Forensics, Confidential Location — Used PCB congener data to evaluate PCB homolog composition of samples to differentiate between multiple sources.

PCB Forensics, Confidential Location — Using PCB congener data to identify sources of inadvertently produced PCBs. Researching consumer products for likely sources of the identified congeners.

Volatile Petroleum Hydrocarbon Forensics, Confidential Location — Worked with paraffin, isoparaffin, aromatic, naphthene, and olefin (PIANO) data to differentiate between recent and weathered gasoline sources from a underground storage tank.

Chemistry

San Jacinto River Waste Pits RI/FS, Houston, Texas — Project chemist for a remedial investigation of dioxin-contaminated sediments. Assisted in the development of QAPPs for sediment, soil, and tissue investigations. Performed laboratory coordination for all aspects of the investigation—soil, sediment, groundwater, and tissue.

Upper Columbia River RI/FS, Washington and British Columbia — Project chemist for a remedial investigation of the upper Columbia River. Carried primary responsibility for the development of QAPP sections related to laboratory activities, the preparation of a comprehensive laboratory request for proposal, and the selection of laboratories for approximately $3 million of analyses, including metals, PCBs, and pesticides. Performed laboratory coordination for beach sediment sampling events.

Portland Harbor RI/FS, Portland, Oregon — Provided assistance to lead project chemists and task managers for this ongoing remedial investigation of a 9-mile stretch of industrialized, urban river. Reviewed analytical data and chromatograms to resolve technical issues, including reviews of chromatograms to confirm Aroclor identifications and the effects of Aroclors on pesticide identifications. Reviewed historical chemistry data for stormwater and managed data to be added to the project database. Completed data validation for a wide variety of analyses, including dioxins and furans, PCB congeners, and EPA methods in sediment, tissue, surface water, and transition zone water samples.

Site Investigation

Data Quality Assurance

Data Quality Assessment, Litigation Support, Confidential Location — Evaluated data quality of sediment data for metals and alkylated PAHs collected in support of litigation addressing the issue of whether data was appropriately excluded from the fate and transport analysis.

Data Quality Assessment, Allocation Support, Confidential Location — Coordinated laboratory analyses for PAHs and alkylated PAHs collected in support of allocation at a sediment site. Validated and assessed quality of resulting analytical data.

Remediated Wood Treatment Facility, Cass Lake, Minnesota — Evaluated data quality of samples collected in support of a human health and ecological risk assessment at a former wood treatment facility.

Third-Party Data Integrity Evaluation, Confidential Location — Worked with project team to perform a detailed third-party review of 4 years of chemistry data to investigate allegations of improper practices and data falsification at a small-scale wastewater treatment plant laboratory. Examined hard copy and electronic data and ancillary documents to evaluate the validity of analytical results and conformity with analytical methods, laboratory standard operating procedures, and best laboratory practices. Assisted in preparation of a technical report summarizing the evaluation techniques and conclusions to support reporting by legal counsel to the state regulatory agency.

Third-Party Analytical Data Quality Review, Confidential Location — Worked with project team to provided extensive third-party review of 8 years of analytical chemistry data records from three laboratory instruments to identify and evaluate the impacts of improper laboratory practices. Examined raw instrument files, laboratory data packages, hard copy documentation, and the laboratory’s information management system database to assess conformity with analytical methods, laboratory standard operating procedures, and best laboratory practices.

Deepwater Horizon, Gulf of Mexico — Worked in conjunction with the consulting team in responding to the Deepwater Horizon accident and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on behalf of BP Exploration & Production Inc. Provided quality assurance and offshore sample coordination roles to support sample collection, data management, and reporting activities for multiple technical work groups. Participated in the chemistry technical working group in review of the quality assurance plan, laboratory coordination, and other quality assurance review activities and data completeness tasks.

Regional-Scale Risk Assessment, Former Mill and Mine Sites, Illinois — Led the review and data validation of analyses of soil, sediment, and surface water for lead, cadmium, chromium, zinc, mercury, and cyanide.