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Commodore Advanced Sciences, Inc. |
| CASI
Management
CAPABILITIES Decontamination & Decommissioning
Groundwater
Monitoring Regulatory
Training
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Commodore Advanced Sciences, Inc. (CASI), a wholly owned
subsidiary of Commodore Applied Technologies, Inc., is a nationwide firm
specializing in environmental engineering and technical support and waste
management. Formerly known as Advanced Sciences, Inc., the firm was founded in
1977 and is headquartered in Richland, Washington. We operate out of five
offices across the country, and qualify as a small business under SIC Codes
8744 and 8731.
Our office in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, employs over 35 professionals who
are expert in providing environmental sample collection, transportation, and
analyses, meeting rigorous quality assurance requirements for data validation,
while performing in accord with equally rigorous personnel health and safety
requirements.
CASI currently has several commercial analytical laboratories under contract to provide environmental sample analyses in support of regulatory compliance and industrial hygiene. The CASI record of program management and technical excellence includes:
The two most significant clients CASI has had over the past 28 years have been the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Energy (DOE), while also providing services to private industry. Currently, our largest office provides environmental characterization and management, building decontamination and decommissioning (D&D), environmental protection, remediation, restoration, safety & health, and environmental regulatory compliance for the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Complex. CASI offers the following capabilities to our clients:
Current Capabilities The Commodore Advanced Sciences Team (CAST) is currently performing and managing the Environmental Data Acquisition and Management (EDAM) scope of work for Bechtel Jacobs Company, LLC (BJC) in Oak Ridge, TN. This is a 4-year, $21 million contract that includes sampling, sample management, and data management of environmental surveillance and regulatory compliance data as described in the following section. The EDAM contract is a high-profile program that supports nearly all of DOE-OR environmental monitoring and accelerated site closure activities. Consequently, it is continuously monitored and audited for safety, quality, productivity, efficiency, and value to BJC and DOE-OR. During 2006, the CAST has managed more than 40,000 samples that have been collected, analyzed, verified, and archived into various databases. There are currently 35 fulltime staff working on this contract, which performed approximately $10 million of direct and sub-contractor work in 2006.
As part of the routine performance of this contract, the CAST coordinates work with multiple organizations, including other BJC Subcontractors such as:
Sampling activities under the EDAM contract include collection of multiple sample types from hundreds of monitoring locations and packaging and shipping of samples to appropriate analytical laboratories for analysis. Locations and environments include abandoned burial grounds and hazardous waste sites, fields and forests, streams, lakes, and ponds. Sampling tasks support a variety of ongoing monitoring programs, including the Water Resource Restoration Program (WRRP) to determine the effectiveness of remedial actions conducted under CERCLA and the ETTP Environmental Monitoring Program. Regulatory compliance data acquisition and management projects include Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit compliance, the Biological Monitoring and Abatement Program, and Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program (SWPPP) activities. All of these compliance sampling programs are closely monitored by regulators, stakeholders, BJC, and DOE-OR.
Environmental sampling involves calibration, operation, and maintenance of all instrumentation and equipment necessary to perform the work. Sampling tasks include sample logbook and equipment calibration/maintenance documentation, chain of custody, sample container-labeling, measurement and recording of field parameters, sample packaging, and shipping samples in accordance with DOT regulations to appropriate analytical laboratories, and staging/containment of waste materials for disposal. The diversity of sampling tasks under EDAM includes groundwater and surface water grab samples, and coordination of biological samples/surveys from streams and lakes for bioaccumulation and species diversity/density, flow-composite samples, stream gauging and stream flow measurements including flume calibration. CASI maintains a daily log of all sampling and inspection activities, and formal records of all monitoring and inspection activities. We have a developed and maintain a filing system for records disposition as directed by BJC and DOE-OR. Sample Management includes obtaining analytical laboratory services, performing laboratory audits, preparation of laboratory scopes of work, performing validation and verification of laboratory results, evaluating laboratory performance, documenting sample waste disposal, and management activities required to accomplish these tasks. CASI has subcontracted laboratories participating in the DOE Consolidated Audit Program (DOECAP) to provide acceptable data from both chemical and radiological analyses within the client’s requested timeframe. Subcontracts have also been established with laboratories capable of performing biological species identification and enumeration. CASI has current subcontracts with ten commercial laboratories including General Engineering Laboratories, (GEL), Paragon, Severin-Trent Laboratories (STL), Lionville Laboratory, BWXT Lynchburg, United States Enrichment Corp (USEC), and others. Laboratories include full-service commercial analytical capabilities, as well as laboratories that provide specialty analyses such as mercury speciation and aquatic toxicity. The CAST maintain a Monthly Progress Report for every laboratory under subcontract to CASI.
The CAST is responsible for providing a record filing system for all characterization data and records. Records include signed documentation on SAPs, sampling event, final analytical characterization summary reports, change notices (deviations from SAPs), and hardcopy of laboratory analytical data. The CAST is also responsible for maintaining retrievable electronic data deliverables (EDDs) from laboratories. The CAST has developed an Analytical Master Specification (AMS) for the following analyses: Pesticide, PCB and Herbicide, Volatile and Semivolatile, Dioxin and Furan, Wet Chemistry, Metals and Cyanide, Radiochemistry, and Geotechnical. These specifications are used to provide general analytical direction to the analytical laboratories subcontracted to CASI. All of the work described above is currently being performed by Commodore Advanced Sciences for Bechtel Jacobs Company in Oak Ridge TN under subcontract #23900-BA-ES762. Current Resources CASI currently owns 10 fully equipped field sampling vehicles. Many of our field vehicles are 4-wheel drive, and all have secure instrument/equipment storage. All vehicles are equipped with;
Every vehicle carries our Environmental Safety and Health Plan, Quality Assurance Plan, emergency contact information, and a full set of sampling procedures for reference. CASI currently has 34 technical staff, all extensively trained in proper procedures for handling multifarious waste materials and environmental media. Our technical staff have more than 500 years of combined experience performing environmental and waste sampling tasks. Ten of our personnel hold DOE security clearances. All CASI sampling personnel maintain currency in the following minimum training requirements:
Previous Environmental Sampling Experience From 1996-2002, CASI performed waste characterization sampling and decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) support sampling in compliance with RCRA and CERCLA requirements. The CASI Sample Team operated in the most hazardous locations at Rocky Flats¾highly contaminated radioactive and hazardous areas, including glove boxes, confined-space conditions, and poisonous atmospheres¾with zero lost-time accidents or injuries. They were trained to implement rigorous sampling procedures to collect samples of diverse media, including air, soil, groundwater, surface water, sediment, sludge, concrete, paint, reactive chemicals, and hazardous, radioactive, and mixed wastes. They are experts in collecting samples from difficult locations, including wells, sumps, drains, process lines, tanks (surface and underground), and drums, and during excavation and drilling operations, while maintaining the quality and integrity of the samples. The team was very familiar with compliance with all Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA), U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and DOE requirements, including conduct of operations, nuclear/criticality safety, waste generator/certification, and material handling/safety requirements. The CASI Sample Team used industry-standard sampling methods per EPA Standard Methods SW-846 Chapter 9 requirements to collect samples for laboratory analyses. Preparation for sampling events included pre-evolution meetings, sampling location site walkdowns, documentation review, and generation of chain-of-custody (COC) forms and sample labels. The CASI team members who were trained as Material Handlers and Material Transporters also package and transport radioactive samples collected by others to the appropriate laboratories. The CASI team supported other activities such as eliminating excess chemicals and decontamination operations. Members of these teams maintained intensive training in: OSHA Hazardous Waste Operations; confined space entry; glove box/glove bag operations; nuclear criticality safety; nuclear materials handling and transportation; nuclear materials safeguards; DOE Radiological Worker 2; RCRA compliance; waste generator/certification; self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA); beryllium, lead, and asbestos awareness; and tamper-indication device application. From 1996-2002, CASI performed the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS) sitewide surface water sampling program, which included collection of year-round daily samples from streams, ponds, and the site Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in compliance with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit, using grab method and ISCO automatic samplers. CASI personnel also collected drinking water, sediment, and soil samples for Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 (SDWA) and Rocky Flats Cleanup Agreement (RFCA) compliance. The CASI surface water sampling team also supported operations of the site’s wastewater and process water ponds and supported site closure projects that potentially impact surface water quality. The RFETS Buffer Zone is also monitored under this project. This contract was managed on a fixed-unit rate (FUR) basis from 1998-2002.
CASI managed and operated the RFETS SMO and sample-shipping depot at RFETS, where 95% of all samples collected at RFETS, including 100% of bioassay samples, were documented, labeled, packaged, and shipped (or delivered) to off-site analytical laboratories. Bioassay samples included human urine, fecal, nasal, and tissue material. Bioassay samples, shipping blanks, shipping controls, and performance evaluation samples, including artificial urine, were prepared and shipped or delivered to commercial laboratories to be analyzed for plutonium, americium, and uranium by alpha spectroscopy, and for tritium and gross alpha by liquid scintillation. CASI had a perfect record of zero U.S. DOT or International Air Transport Association (IATA) violations while shipping more than 260,000 samples from RFETS to laboratories nationwide over six years. CASI personnel performed all aspects of the identification, handling, packaging, labeling, shipping, and local transporting of hazardous and radioactive materials samples at RFETS, including DOT Hazard Class 7, 8, and 9 materials in accordance with 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 49 §171 through §178. Sample shipments by air carrier were prepared in accordance with the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations. CASI personnel were authorized by KH ASD to package and ship radioactive materials classified as “Limited Quantity” by requirements in 49 CFR §173.421 via commercial Since 1986 and continuing at present, CASI water resources personnel have managed and performed the Chatfield Basin Water Quality Monitoring Program involving all major and minor tributaries of the South Platte River in the Chatfield Basin Watershed, as well as water quality monitoring of Chatfield Reservoir, located southwest of Denver, Colorado. Analytes include the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus (and partitioned species), total suspended solids (TSS), total organic carbon (TOC), total and dissolved metals, E. Coli, and the trophic indicators chlorophyll-a, phytoplankton, and zooplankton. Field parameters (pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, Secchi depth, and instantaneous streamflow) are also measured. Data management includes maintenance of a comprehensive Microsoft AccessÔ database and annual downloads to the EPA web-based database STORETÔ. Data are reported monthly to the Chatfield Watershed Authority and annually to the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the state of Colorado Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC). CASI has procured and managed all analytical services for this project, involving five different laboratories per year, for the past 17 years. CASI personnel have performed laboratory audits, resolution of data quality objective (DQO) and QA issues, data management and reporting, and accruals and invoicing involving the labs since the inception of the project in 1986. CASI's clients - federal, state, and local governments and commercial businesses - rely upon its services and expertise to provide:
Commodore Advanced Sciences, Inc.
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