News

Filter By
Archive: 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020

Results for "2019"

Now Working at MFA: Four New Professionals Join the Team!

Get to know the four new professionals who have joined MFA! We are always interested in potential candidates who want to join the talented individuals that make up our team. For current job openings, please visit our online application…

Carly Schaefer MFA Staff and Culture
Ecology Changes Vapor Intrusion Guidance: How Will This Affect You?

This post was originally written by Heather Good, former MFA Senior Hydrogeologist. Updates to Vapor Intrusion Investigations and Short-Term TCE Toxicity On October 1, 2019, the Washington State Department of Ecology released…

Amanda Bixby, LG, RG Environmental
Preparing for the Future of Bellingham Schools

This post was originally written by Heather Good, former MFA Senior Hydrogeologist. Thanks to years of hard work and diligence, Bellingham Public Schools (BPS) has had a lot to celebrate recently. In August 2017 BPS celebrated the grand…

Carolyn R. Wise, LHG, RG Environmental, Local and State Agencies
New Compliance Considerations for Ammonia Refrigeration Facilities

Occasionally, I look around and realize that things have changed. It’s usually a small thing here and little thing there, and then I realize that the world has evolved into a different place. Recently, I realized that the world of ammonia…

Bill Beadie, CIH Food Processing, Health & Safety
Meet Merideth D’Andrea, Senior Geologist

Where are you from and where do you live now? I was born and raised in Northeast Portland and am a proud Grant High School graduate (go Generals!). And while I have moved around quite a bit, I currently reside in NE, where my roots…

Alistaire Clary, PE MFA Staff and Culture
Writing Your Future: Nonprofit Strategic Planning

This blog was originally written by former MFA Principal Communications Specialist, Charla Skaggs. Hugo House is a Seattle-based nonprofit, with the mission of being “a place to read words, hear words, and make your own words better.”…

Carly Schaefer Communications and Outreach, Planning & Community Development
Meet Kara Beaudoin, Senior Engineer

Where are you from and where do you live now? I consider myself to be from both Chicago and California, and now happily call North Idaho (and the Kellogg, Idaho office!) my home. What do you do at MFA? I support the Coeur d’Alene…

Alan R. Hughes, RG, LG, PG MFA Staff and Culture
Now Working at MFA! 12 New Professionals Join the Team

Get to know the 12 new professionals who have joined MFA! We are always interested in potential candidates to join the talented individuals who make up our team. For current job openings, please visit our online application…

Pam Grater MFA Staff and Culture
Fieldwork Season in Full Swing at the Bunker Hill Superfund Site

For many of MFA’s geologists, environmental scientists, and chemists, summer means long days of fieldwork at the Bunker Hill Superfund Site (BHSS), conducting several different concurrent environmental investigations. The BHSS includes areas…

Alan R. Hughes, RG, LG, PG Environmental, GIS & Data Management, Health & Safety, Sediment
Meet Michael Murray, Senior Hydrogeologist

Where are you from and where do you live now? I grew up in West Linn, Oregon, and I now live in Lake Oswego, Oregon. What do you do at MFA? My technical background focuses on contaminant fate and transport in groundwater and sediment…

Alistaire Clary, PE MFA Staff and Culture
Modernize Your Communication Strategy | Our Takeaways from the IBTTA Summit

International Bridges, Tunnels and Turnpikes Association Summit Recently, Charla Skaggs and I attended the IBTTA Communication and Change Management Summit in Seattle. This conference is especially relevant to the work of MFA’s…

Carly Schaefer Communications and Outreach, Planning & Community Development
Ada Banasik and Erik Bakkom Promoted to Principal Engineer

Congratulations to Ada Banasik, PE and Erik Bakkom, PE, who have been named principal in recognition of their outstanding commitment to delivering excellence for MFA’s clients. Ada Banasik, PE, has a wealth of expertise in stormwater and…

Alistaire Clary, PE Engineering, MFA Staff and Culture
Environmental Remediation Nearing Completion for New Portage Bay Park

The MFA team is wrapping up environmental remediation oversight for what will soon be Fritz Hedges Waterway Park, a new green space along Portage Bay on Lake Union in Seattle’s University District. The park is expected to be open to the…

Joshua Elliott, PE Engineering, Environmental
Meet Abbi Russell, Senior Communications Specialist

Where are you from and where do you live now? I was born in Vancouver and raised in central Clark County. I spent most of my childhood fishing, camping, boating, riding horses, and skinning my knees. After six years living in the Carolinas…

Alistaire Clary, PE MFA Staff and Culture
MFA Geologist Meaghan Pollock Volunteers at Outdoor School

Each spring, the fifth graders at Kalama Elementary head to Cispus Learning Center in Randle, Washington, for a day of learning in the great outdoors. I spent a beautiful May day at the learning center with these students, teaching them about…

Meaghan Pollock, LG, RG MFA Staff and Culture
Turning a Blighted Property into a Community Asset

Tiger Oil was a Texas-based company with locations across the United States, including several in Yakima, Washington. This string of gas stations and accompanying mini marts ceased operations in the town in the early 2000s. One of the former…

Carolyn R. Wise, LHG, RG Brownfield Redevelopment, Environmental, Real Estate, Sediment
Top Industrial Compliance Tips for Summer

Compliance at industrial facilities is important 365 days a year, and each season comes with its own compliance challenges. As we head into the summer season, here are our top tips to ensure your facility remains compliant. Stormwater…

Carly Schaefer Air Quality, Health & Safety, Stormwater
MFA Cyclists Put the Pedal to the Metal for Bike More Challenge

MFA’s participation in this year’s Bike More Challenge was a great success! The Bike More Challenge—a program started by the nonprofit organization The Street Trust to encourage people to ride bikes—inspires fun and friendly…

Alex Brasch MFA Staff and Culture
Meet Jerry Oelerich, Senior Analyst

Where are you from and where do you live now? I grew up in Iowa along the Mississippi River. I remember that there were a lot of cornfields, but I don’t like corn! So perhaps that wasn’t the ideal setting for me. My family moved to the…

Tyler Vick MFA Staff and Culture
Meet Haley McDaniel, Staff Environmental Scientist

Where are you from and where do you live now? I’m from Osburn, ID, which is part of a larger community known as the Silver Valley, and I’m thankful to still live there today. My husband and I now own a home in the same neighborhood…

Kathy J. Lombardi, PE MFA Staff and Culture
Environmental Cleanup on Portland’s South Waterfront Gets Leading Role in New Short Film

MFA’s award-winning remediation work for the Zidell Yards property on the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon is featured in a new film by local filmmaker, David Bee. Beginning its operation in the early 1900s, the Zidell Yards property is…

Erik Bakkom, PE Brownfield Redevelopment, Engineering, Environmental, Real Estate, Sediment
Now Working at MFA! 9 New Professionals Join Our Team

Get to know the nine new professionals who have joined the MFA team! Are you interested in working with us? For current job openings, please see our online application…

Pam Grater MFA Staff and Culture
Separating the Science from the Rumors about PFAS

You may have heard of “PFAS” in a documentary or in the news recently. You also may have heard that, in the U.S., PFAS chemicals are in drinking water and in people’s blood. And you would be right to say—what!? How can this be? This…

Courtney Savoie, RG, LHG, PG Attorneys, Environmental, Health & Safety, Local and State Agencies, Planning & Community Development, Ports, Sediment, Stormwater
Meet Phil Wiescher, Senior Environmental Scientist

Where are you from and where do you live now? I grew up in Indiana. It was very flat and I like the mountains so I decided to head west for college in Eugene and then Utah. I worked in the Portland MFA office for eight years and moved to…

Alistaire Clary, PE Environmental, MFA Staff and Culture
Meet Matt Hoffman, Senior Planner

Where are you from and where do you live now? I hail from Detroit—Birmingham to be exact. If you ever want to engage in a long conversation about Detroit history, I’m your man. I now live in West Seattle with my wife, Sarah, and two…

Carly Schaefer MFA Staff and Culture, Planning & Community Development
Meet an Engineer: Cem Gokcora, PE

It’s National Engineers Week! We are recognizing the great work MFA engineers do and celebrating the engineering profession with a profile of an outstanding MFA engineer every day this week. To learn more about MFA’s engineering work,…

Stacy J. Frost, PE Engineering, MFA Staff and Culture
Meet an Engineer: Kristi Boon, PE

It’s National Engineers Week! We are recognizing the great work MFA engineers do and celebrating the engineering profession with a profile of an outstanding MFA engineer every day this week. To learn more about MFA’s engineering work,…

Kara Beaudoin, PE Engineering, MFA Staff and Culture
Meet an Engineer: Kyle Cotten, PE

It’s National Engineers Week! We are recognizing the great work MFA engineers do and celebrating the engineering profession with a profile of an outstanding MFA engineer every day this week. To learn more about MFA’s engineering work,…

Alistaire Clary, PE Engineering, MFA Staff and Culture
Meet an Engineer: Andrew Kaparos, PE

It’s National Engineers Week! We are recognizing the great work MFA engineers do and celebrating the engineering profession with a profile of an outstanding MFA engineer every day this week. To learn more about MFA’s engineering work,…

Pam Grater Engineering, MFA Staff and Culture
MFA Celebrates National Engineers Week

Did you feel that magic in the air this morning? That special feeling that comes only one week a year in late February? The magic of National Engineers Week aka EWeek? It couldn’t have only been me that felt it…right? Either way, read on…

Carly Schaefer Engineering, MFA Staff and Culture
Brownfield Remediation Tax Credit Gets First Public Hearing

I provided testimony last week to the Oregon House Revenue Committee on the proposed Brownfield Remediation Tax Credit. This was the first public hearing on the bill in front of the Legislature. The bill has been carefully crafted over several…

Seth Otto, AICP, LEED AP Brownfield Redevelopment
MFA Gets a New Headquarters in Vancouver

This past fall, MFA said goodbye to our offices in the Al Angelo Building on East Mill Plain Boulevard and moved into our new headquarters, a building we purchased that is just one block north of where the first MFA office was established in…

Alistaire Clary, PE MFA Staff and Culture
Seattle Viaduct Closes, MFA Communications Team Keeps Truckin’ (or in this case, bicyclin’)

Today’s the day, Seattle-area residents. This evening, the Alaskan Way Viaduct will permanently close, resulting in a temporary shutdown of SR 99 through downtown Seattle. The aging and seismically vulnerable viaduct will be replaced with…

Kathryn Murdock Communications and Outreach
MFA’s Environmental and Engineering Industry Predictions for 2019

As the new year begins, we asked four of our colleagues at MFA to share their thoughts on the future of the environmental and engineering industry and the important issues our clients are facing. Here are their predictions for 2019—we hope…

Alistaire Clary, PE Engineering, Environmental