News

Blackstone continues to be a leader in the industry. The knowledge, experience, and capabilities of Blackstone personnel can be demonstrated by participating in and speaking at events such as conferences, workshops, City council meetings, public outreach meetings, and career fairs. Senior Project Manager, Krista Brodersen, had an eventful fall season, that included speaking engagements, to promote Blackstone Environmental’s services, inform and educate the public on city redevelopments, and educate professionals about Brownfields redevelopment. At a City of Clinton, Iowa, Council Meeting, Ms. Brodersen gave an informal presentation on Blackstone Environmental as a company and the services that are currently offered to the City following approval to write grant applications. At a City of Clinton public community outreach meeting, Ms. Brodersen and Blackstone client East Central Intergovernmental Association (ECIA) presented a discussion of the Brownfields Cleanup Grant Application for the City Hall. Eleven city residents attended in-person and 24 residents attended virtually. The meeting included a presentation of the general information on the definition and description of…

The last quarter of the year has presented Blackstone with many opportunities to gather as a company and celebrate its successes with our clients and employees.  Blackstone Birthday Bash After a year of waiting due to COVID, we finally hosted our 10-year (really our 10th plus one-year anniversary), Blackstone Birthday Bash, in October. The event was held at The Venue in Leawood and provided the perfect atmosphere for food, drinks, music, and great conversation for our employees, clients, and vendors. Everyone who attended was met with delicious appetizers, desserts, and a cup full of Blackstone swag as a thank you. We were thankful that all our employees attended this great event and could get an updated staff photo! The Bash allowed many of our newer employees a chance to meet with clients as well as the employees from our out-of-state offices.  Annual Chili Cook-Off To continue building time for our employees to gather socially and enjoy some fun we hosted our annual chili cook-off. Ed…

On June 2nd, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its Notice of Intent to Reconsider and Revise the Section 401 Certification Rule under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The Section 401 Certification Rule was designed to give states and authorized tribes the authority to grant, deny, or waive certification of proposed federal licenses or permits that may discharge into waters of the United States if they determined that a project would have an adverse impact on their waters. In 2020, the EPA issued a revision to the Certification Rule which EPA described as establishing procedures that promote: Consistent implementation of Section 401 of the Clean Water Act; andRegulatory certainty in the federal licensing and permitting process. However, many states and tribes feel that the rule changes issued by the EPA in 2020 limit states’ authority to protect their waters because the 2020 Rule changes made it impossible for a state to block a water permit for a project for any reason other than direct…

(Written by Senior Project Manager, Anne Melia, CHMM, for Waste Advantage Magazine, June 2021) The need to evaluate potential leachate impacts to groundwater is an ever-present challenge for consultants working in landfill groundwater compliance. Developing a tool kit of methodologies to provide support in evaluating changes to groundwater chemistry is critical to provide high-quality consulting services to solid waste clients and for protection of the environment. (more…)

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed a new rule to update its Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) to align it with the most recent version of the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). (more…)

Blackstone has assisted multiple clients with successful CELR applications. Properties have included commercial sites, former gas stations, and former manufacturing facilities. For one client, a Phase I ESA identified the possible presence of a historical gas station on the property in the early 1960s, and a subsequent Phase II ESA confirmed the presence of hydrocarbon impacts in soil and groundwater above residential risk-based concentrations.  The liability release provided by the CELR obtained for this site allowed the property transaction to take place. (more…)

Many environmental and civil engineering projects require accurate spatial locating for data collection and surveying in the field, and Blackstone is pleased to announce two exciting new advancements to our UAV and Geospatial Service Line. The first advancement is related to increasing our GPS collection spatial accuracy and secondly to streamline data collection. (more…)

The U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued Advisory Bulletin 2019-0087 in April of 2019.  The advisory bulletin was issued to remind owners and operators of gas and hazardous liquid pipelines that earth movement, particularly in variable, steep, and rugged terrain and with varied geological subsurface conditions, can pose a threat to the integrity of a pipeline if those threats are not mitigated. (more…)

Cardboard recycling has become more important than ever during this time of COVID‑19. Facilities such as hotels, factories, and schools, which have traditionally generated and recycled significant quantities of cardboard, are experiencing reduced operations or are shut down. (more…)

Land O’Lakes is using an innovative closed-loop-recylcling solution to reuse feed containers. The company is collecting and recycling its Purina cattle feed tubs, which are made with high-density polyethylene (HDPE). It has been challenging and complex task that required developing partnerships with dealers, a lumber manufacturer, and a Massachusetts-based recycler. (more…)