Part 1
June 18, 2025
8:30am-12pm
(Login begins at 8:15am)
Part 2
June 25, 2025
8:30am-12pm
(Login begins at 8:15am)
This 2-Part webinar will provide a concise overview of ecological risk assessment (ERA) as it applies to site remediation. Students will be walked through the tiered ERA process, including the screening level Ecological Evaluation (EE) and baseline ERA as outlined in the NJDEP and USEPA guidance. The application of principles, such as bioavailability, bioaccumulation, and weight-of-evidence will be illustrated with real-world examples and case studies. Topics shall include problem formulation, developing the ecological conceptual site model, determining data needs, assessing groundwater-to-surface water discharges, the sediment quality triad, evaluating effects on wildlife, and developing risk-based remediation goals.
Case studies shall be used to illustrate how hotspot remediation can be combined with habitat conservation and restoration to minimize environmental impacts. Students will leave the course with an understanding of the difference between an EE and an ERA, an idea of the data required to reach management decisions, and how professional judgment can be applied when evaluating ecological risks.
Topics Include
- Overview of the Tiered ERA Process
- Screening Level ERA (Ecological Evaluation)
- Baseline Ecological Assessment
- Development of Risk-Based Remediation Goals
- Bioavailability
- Food Chain Modeling
- Special Issues, Case Studies, and Discussion
Instructors
Mr. Yates is responsible for ecological evaluations and ecological risk assessments. He is experienced in the development of toxicological evaluations, natural resources surveys, and ecological risk assessments. He uses federal and state-approved methods and tools to assess exposure and risk to various benthic, fish and wildlife species and developed site-specific ecological cleanup standards.
Mr. Yates has conducted extensive research on the life history, exposure and uptake of chemicals of concern by both aquatic and terrestrial receptors in diverse habitats and food webs. He has developed multi-compartmental models for assessing the bioaccumulation and biomagnification of chemicals of concern up the food chain throughout multiple trophic levels and feeding guilds.
Brian is currently the lead technical scientist in charge of developing ecological clean-up levels for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s “Protective Concentration Level (PCL) Database”, which includes over 130 chemicals of concern, 79 species and three toxicological endpoints. He has conducted ecological risk assessments of various chemical mixtures in sediments, soils, and surface waters in diverse habitats and ecosystems across the United States.
Mr. Yates has conducted extensive sampling and analysis of water quality, including investigations on the causes of freshwater harmful algal blooms. He has overseen the collection of macroinvertebrate, earthworm, fish, small mammal, and plant tissue sampling, sediment toxicity testing, benthic macroinvertebrate surveys, pore water analyses, food chain modeling, and combined multiple lines of evidence to reach “weight of evidence” conclusions regarding ecological risks.
Continuing Education Credits:
- NJ LSRP CEC’s: 6 Technical CECs (NJ SRPLB Course # 2015-066)
- NJ Continuing Legal Education: 7.2 CLEs
- NJ Professional Engineers: 6 CPCs
- CT LEP: 6 CECs (CTLEP-569W)
- HEALTH OFFICERS AND REGISTERED ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SPECIALISTS: Participants who complete this education program will be awarded 6 NJ Public Health Continuing Education Contact Hours (CEs)
Call 732-907-7269 or Contact Us With Questions or to Learn More
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