Understanding End-Users’ Approaches to Ensuring the Quality of Environmental Data
By Christina Hiegel, P.E.Civil/Environmental Engineer
IntroductionChristina has over 11 years’ experience in the environmental industry. She is a registered civil/environmental engineer and manages the chemistry group at Trihydro. Her primary responsibilities include providing technical support for projects in data defensibility, data quality, and leading data quality efforts.
Christina Hiegel
Importance of Data Quality
Laboratory
• Certification• Methodology• Standard
Operating Procedures
• Legal Defensibility
Consultant/Responsible Party
Regulatory Agency
Importance of Data Quality
Laboratory
• Certification• Methodology• Standard
Operating Procedures
• Legal Defensibility
Consultant/Responsible Party
• Regulatory Requirements
• Legal Defensibility
• Project Objectives
Regulatory Agency
Importance of Data Quality
Laboratory
• Certification• Methodology• Standard
Operating Procedures
• Legal Defensibility
Consultant/Responsible Party
• Regulatory Requirements
• Legal Defensibility
• Project Objectives
Regulatory Agency
• Public Scrutiny• Public Protection• Legal
Defensibility
Differing Quality Standards
Reporting Limits
Holding Times
Preservations
Choosing Analytical Methods
Data Validation Standards
Data Validation Standards
USEPA. 2010. USEPA Contract Laboratory Program National Functional Guidelines for Inorganic Superfund Data Review (USEPA 540‐R‐10‐011). Available from: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/clp/download/ism/ism1nfg.pdf.
Data Validation Standards
Data Validation Standards
USEPA. 2008. USEPA Contract Laboratory Program National Functional Guidelines for Superfund Organic Methods Data Review (USEPA‐540‐R‐08‐01). Available from: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/clp/download/somnfg.pdf.
Calibration Standards
Calibration Standards
USEPA. 2008. USEPA Contract Laboratory Program National Functional Guidelines for Superfund Organic Methods Data Review (USEPA‐540‐R‐08‐01). Available from: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/clp/download/somnfg.pdf
Precision
Data Reporting
TIER I
TIER II
TIER III
TIER IV
Final Data Management
Laboratory Report
Electronic Data
Deliverable
Data Validation
Final ReportsFiguresTables
Meeting Quality ObjectivesCommunicate:• General project information • Regulatory requirements• Reporting limits and analyses requirements• Analyses, constituents of concern, target analytes• Subcontracting requirements• How to communicate with each other• Validation objectives• Audit changes to the data• Other information (e.g., sampling requirements, blanks, turn, and
special reporting packages)