Waste Water Experience

TDC Environmental, LLC provides permitting and compliance support and special studies for federal, state, and local government wastewater treatment plants.  Dr. Moran spent six years as an environmental compliance manager at a wastewater treatment plant.  She has extensive experience managing toxic pollutant compliance problems, looking both at wastewater treatment plant effluent and at industrial, commercial, and residential discharges to the sewer system.  She has participated in all wastewater treatment plant environmental compliance activities, including program design and planning, pretreatment ordinance development, education, enforcement, monitoring and reporting.

Selected Experience:

Manager of Environmental Control Programs, City of Palo Alto Water Quality Program:  For six years, Dr. Moran was a manager in the environmental compliance and pollution prevention program for the 24 million gallon per day Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant.  Selected accomplishments:

• Reduced levels of five key metals in the plant's wastewater by 40 to 90%
• Eliminated compliance problems with arsenic, lead, nickel, selenium, silver, and tributyltin
• Initiated and annually conducted innovative storm water and wastewater pollution prevention program planning and evaluation process, documented in the Clean Bay Plan.
• Completed required incinerator testing, calculations, permit forms, and record keeping under U.S. EPA's self-implementing sludge management requirements (40 CFR Part 503)
• Using incinerator testing data, updated toxic air contaminants (AB 2588) information with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, eliminating the requirement to prepare a risk reduction plan
• Obtained a Permanent Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility (PHHWCF) Permit
• Participated in all elements of compliance activities regarding the plant's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit
• Assisted plant operations staff with hazardous waste management compliance
• Monitored new regulatory requirements
• Interpreted regulations
• Commented on draft regulatory proposals affecting the plant

Pollutant Source Identification Studies And Pollution Prevention Plans: Dr. Moran directed development of wastewater pollutant source identification studies and pollution prevention plans for copper, diazinon, mercury, dioxins, PCBs, organochlorine pesticides and zinc (most of these studies are available in the pollution prevention section of the City of Palo Alto's web page.). She analyzed results of low-detection limit sampling studies and coordinated a local government's strategy to respond to anticipated future discharge requirements for these pollutants. She was a manager, technical reviewer, and conducted data compilation, analysis, and interpretation for sampling programs for storm water runoff, creeks, and wastewater.

Vehicle Maintenance Discharge Reduction Program:  Dr. Moran oversaw an innovative, award-winning program for vehicle service facilities and car washes developed by the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant (with the assistance of a group of consultants) that achieved a 94% compliance rate with possibly the most stringent storm water runoff pollution prevention requirements in the nation.  The program involved education of both facility owners and the general public, recognition of compliant facilities, sampling of wastewater discharges, and enforcement at non-compliant shops.

Residential and Commercial Source Control Assessment: Dr. Moran was a technical advisor for a project identifying sources and evaluating effectiveness of control measures for pollutants of concern in wastewater and urban storm water runoff. The project produced a critical assessment and research needs document, published by the Water Environment Research Foundation.

Tools to Measure Source Control Program Effectiveness: Dr. Moran was a technical advisor and training workshop speaker for project that developed tools for evaluating wastewater and storm water pollution prevention program effectiveness. The Water Environment Research Foundation published draft project report in March 1999.

Surface Water Toxicity Reduction Program: Dr. Moran was a leader of San Francisco Bay regional efforts to eliminate pesticide-related toxicity in wastewater treatment plant discharges and urban storm water runoff. She directed preparation of the 1996 report Diazinon in Urban Areas, the first analysis of sources of toxic diazinon discharges (the full report, prepared by Palo Alto intern Ashli Cooper, is available in the pesticides section of the City of Palo Alto's web page). She chaired the Regulatory Subcommittee of the San Francisco Bay Area/Central Valley Urban Pesticides Committee, a cooperative effort to develop a toxicity control strategy for wastewater and urban runoff.

Trainer: Dr. Moran was an organizer and speaker at numerous training sessions relating to innovative strategies for wastewater treatment plant permit compliance. Sample topics: "Designing a Water Pollution Prevention Program," "Low Cost Program Effectiveness Measurement," "Methods for Identifying Non-Traditional Pollutant Sources." Sponsors included the California Water Environment Association, the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable, the Oregon Association of Clean Water Agencies, the Water Environment Research Foundation, Stanford University, the University of California Santa Cruz, and U.S. EPA.

TDC Environmental LLC Home Page