implementation of a quality assurance program for …...incident command system (ics) set up within...

Dredging 2012San Diego, CaliforniaOctober 23, 2012

Ruth L. Forman, CEAC – Environmental Standards, Inc.Rock J. Vitale, CEAC – Environmental Standards, Inc.William J. Rogers, Ph.D. – Tennessee Valley Authority

Implementation of a Quality Assurance Program for the Emory River Dredging Project Resulting from the TVA Kingston Ash Spill

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Client Background/Tennessee ValleyAuthority (TVA) Project Background/Event FactsInitial ChallengesProject AccomplishmentsActivities, Challenges, andNotes of InterestConclusions

Agenda

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Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Kingston Fossil Plant

1.7-GW coal-burning power plantBordered by three rivers – Emory, Clinch, Tennessee

Harriman, TNContainment ponds

TVA Kingston Fossil Plant

June 2007

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Project Background/Event Facts

December 22, 2008, shortly before 1 AMAsh dike of 84-acre containment pond ruptured

5.4 million cubic yards of fly ash into the Emory River1.1 Billion GallonsImpacted over 300 acres December 23, 2008

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Challenges?

Many challenges in the initial response but chief is

Chaos

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Incident Command

TVA sample collection and environmental management in action within hoursSample collection begins with minimal documentationRegulatory agencies arriveIncident Command System (ICS) set up within days

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Decision-Making

Rapid decision-making but still, chaos ensues“Who is in charge” in spite of ICS and team efforts

Command hierarchy is not obvious at the bottomTVA Personnel

Weekly rotationsSubstantial responsibilities elsewhere; need to return to pre-December 22 rolesSustainability?

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Field Sample Collection

Few trained TVA field sample collectors

Previous downsizing by TVA and elimination of Field ManualNo Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) applicable to specific project collection activities

Samplers still did a fair job on field custody records and some field logbooks

No consistent nomenclature

Analytical

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Plans - Lack of overall QA planExisting laboratory contracts

CapacityAnalytical CapabilityTATData reporting capability

Data Management

TVA IT staff rotated members on-site to manage Scribe Access™ and implement data reasonableness rules

DM tools and process Manual Lack of reporting toolsAccessibility

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Immediate Concerns

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Concern about integrity and quality of dataNeed bulletproof, legally defensible data

Sampling issuesLaboratory issuesData issues

Environmental Standards’ Involvement

It became obvious that assistance was needed (NOW!) and there were needs for longer term

QA documents and procedures

Enterprise data management system

Laboratory contracts

Niche consulting expertise and staffing

Contracted January 21, 2009 - One month after event

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Specific Recommendations

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Initial stepsDevelop overall QA Plan documentTransition from existing business process –Day 1 forward

Insert quality system, oversight for lab servicesReal time data assessment of current data

Assume sampling oversight and training Implement data management process

Immediate Actions: Data Management

Implement a full cycle Data Management ProcessImplement an Enterprise Level Data Management System

Automating to maximum extentSample planningCorrectness / completeness checkingAutomated data review - verificationData validation supportWeb Reporting (Self Service)

Assessment and loading of past dataDevelop Data Management Plan

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Immediate Actions: Laboratories

Implement laboratory contractsPerform laboratory site visitsInclude EDD specifications in contractInclude Data deliverables (Level I, Level IV)Assist engineers in understanding that the typical laboratory cannot provide 24-hour turn-around-time for extended periods

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Immediate Actions: Field Oversight

Review Field Sampling PlansPerform sample crew training– an iterative process made more complex by rapid addition and removal of field crewImplement good field practices and adhere to draft SOPs as they were being developed based on previous practice and training.Subcontractor brought in excellent work ethic and quality process – no “recalibration”

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Policy on Plans: Utility before Approval

Developments were so rapidForced to implement plans and procedures in draft form and then wait for:

Later approvalOr re-write of documents months later to determine final official copyInformation to support Analytical Requests could have been better

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Accomplishments

Develop and support a business process that minimizes time from sample collection to release from “Never” to 6 business days (5 days at laboratory, 1 day at Environmental Standards), while ensuring that data were releasable. These checks include:

Rapid reasonability checkCompletenessCorrectnessAutomated analytical chemistry data verification

Develop and support graphing approach for public information websiteDevelop and support graphing approach for agency information website

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TVA collected data for many reasons

Community OutreachWorker SafetySpill InvestigationCharacterization and DelineationRegulatory ComplianceWaste Characterizationand many special studies

Over 600K analytical records,> 1.2M related parameters, and > 2M monitoring readings for air and river water

Activities

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

334

2886

174

4486

853106

4820

Samples Collected

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Laboratories don’t always follow the published method or their own SOP…let me count the waysLead contamination – weights used for surface water sampling points were sources of contaminationDefensible (truly) reporting down to a project method detection limitWell homogenized, wet fly ash can go into a rail car like pudding and after being rattled, lots of pooled water is on top and packed concrete-like solid resides underneath

Interesting things along the way…

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Catching snapping turtles is tricky business

Interesting things along the way…

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Three Golden Rules of Gathering Meaningful Information

1. Within most commercial laboratory settings, there is no difference between one sample and the next in terms of the levels of importance and care applied

2. Gathering truly important information requires attention to planning and almost a Murphy’s Law attitude – expect and plan for “stuff happening” that will have negative effects on the information

3. If the information is truly important, there is a high likelihood that someone, somewhere at some point may challenge the underlying data, especially if there are financial implications

Meaningful Information from Data

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Conclusions

Every Emergency Response starts off on the wrong foot…and behind in data reportingEmergency Response requires a different type of project planning and implementation – optimize for speed while appropriately adding controlLaboratories and consultants nearest and dearest to the organization are not necessarily the best fit for the emergency Bean Counting is critical but relies on proper planning and control –data controls are keyPlans, Processes, and Partners

Making it up on the fly during the emergency response is too hard

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Conclusions (Cont.)

Why harp on Quality Assurance and Data Management?

In the end, all you have are data….. and a nicely restored site

December 31, 2011 –Three years after the spill

Contact

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Environmental Standards, Inc.“Setting the Standards for Innovative Environmental Solutions”

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