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Veteran Environmental Consultant Merges With Regional Geotech Company
By Deborah Petticord
At that time Chattanooga, where Lutin began his consulting career, was just beginning to pass ordinances designed to clean up its industrial waste and stormwater runoff. Now, over thirty years later Lutin says, “There has been great reduction in the output of industrial waste treatment because it’s no longer inexpensive to pollute.” Lutin has seen vast changes in the way the cleaning of industrial sites is handled. Burning and/or burying no longer are seen as the best ways to handle wastes. Some soils that were once excavated are now treated “in situ” (clean-up work that is done on the material while it is in its natural state) by a process know as Soil Vapor Extraction. Another example of this now often used in-situ approach, is when hydrogen and/or oxygen reduction compounds are injected to treat ground water. Where storm water runoff is concerned, Chattanooga is now a model for the nation, having had a number of challenges that were met early on. “The older parts of the city have sewers that carry a combination of domestic and industrial waste as well as stormwater runoff,” says Lutin. “The load levels from industrial waste today are much lower than in the 70s and the City has made provisions for handling that first flush of stormwater.” Lutin merged his practice with Tri-State Testing & Drilling, LLC, an established Chattanooga geotechnical company begun by Q.T. Morphis who remains active in the business. They now have offices in Nashville, Tennessee and Decatur, Alabama. In addition to geotechnical and environmental drilling, the company performs construction materials testing both on-site and in the lab. Tri-State’s president Robert Bittel says the firm conducts sub-surface investigations to give architects and engineers the soil and rock parameters they need to design foundations. Tri-State’s construction services division headed by Buddy Matherly conducts ongoing quality control during site preparation and building construction and does follow-up testing to ensure that the concrete poured at building sites measures up to the design specifications. One of the most important aspects of Tri-State’s field services focuses on stormwater runoff and prevention of sediment transport during the site grading and preparation process. The Tri-State team of experts helps commercial builders reduce sediment in streams. “One division of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation under the direction of Dick Urban takes a common sense approach to the approval of parcels for development for commercial builders or residential use,” says Lutin. For example, a particular type of shale is common to this area and can create low pH in runoff from construction sites. Dr. Urban’s division has a great deal of experience in dealing with the problem and will offer guidance to developers to prevent stream degradation. “Our work ranges from large developments to the local McDonalds,” says Bittell. The firm recently finished work at a Wal-Mart Super Center adjacent to a protected conservation area along Chattanooga’s South Chickamauga Creek and is proud to have had a hand in working with the local contractors to protect both the conservation area and a nearby wetland. Tri-State also did the geo-tech work and steel inspection for a new roller coaster at the Dollywood theme park outside Sevierville, Tennessee. In fact, it has projects across the nation. Lutin says there has been great progress in current brownfield programs, which are designed to allow beneficial use of properties that contain benign contaminants. “As we learn more about our environment, we learn more about how to deal with contaminants that pose a threat and ways to re-use those that do not,” he adds. Often the presence of materials like asphalt and concrete at a site can be re-used as primary materials or clean compactable fill. Bittell says he expects to see Tri-State’s largest growth areas in its marine drilling and grouting divisions. The company is currently working on a bridge removal in Scottsboro, Alabama. Tri-State has worked on Nashville’s Titan Stadium and the Gaylord Entertainment Center, as well as the geo-technical study and construction materials testing for Chattanooga’s Hunter Museum west expansion, which is about to be re-opened to the public on the bluff above the Tennessee River. The company was the smallest firm ever approved by the EPA for Superfund oversight and remediation when it took on the Amnicola dump Superfund site in 1993.
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