News
Meet Alan Hughes, RG, LG, PG, Principal Geologist
Where are you from and where do you live now? I grew up in Vancouver and Ridgefield, Washington. After college I moved back to Ridgefield, and I have lived there since. I love the community and all the activities offered in the downtown…
Kathy J. Lombardi, PEPalouse Producers Brownfield Site Wins Phoenix Award
Congratulations to the City of Palouse on receiving the 2023 Small Community & Impact Phoenix Award! The Phoenix Awards are prestigious national accolades that are given to both individuals and projects that highlight the best practices…
Matt HoffmanFacility Odor Issues, Complaints, and Tools to Predict Them
Facility odor issues are very subjective and strangely regulated. For facility property developers looking to build a project, anticipated odors can be a stumbling block to regulatory approval. Additionally, odors can lead to a contentious…
Chad DarbyMeet Elliot Frank, GIS Analyst
Where are you from and where do you live now? I grew up about an hour east of Portland, near Mt. Hood, in Welches, Oregon. Now I live in Edmonds, Washington. What do you do at MFA? I assist local governments, mostly as part of my work…
Sabrina TurnerResults for ""
Congratulations to the City of Palouse on receiving the 2023 Small Community & Impact Phoenix Award! The Phoenix Awards are prestigious national accolades that are given to both individuals and projects that highlight the best practices…
Matt HoffmanWhere are you from and where do you live now? I am originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, spent my high school years living on an island on the Gulf coast of Florida, went back to Indiana to attend Indiana University, and have been a…
Alistaire Clary, PEWhere are you from and where do you live now? I was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, but I moved around quite a bit early on in my life. I ended up going to high school on Martha’s Vineyard, then college in Boston. I’ve been here in the…
Carly SchaeferFor Black History Month, MFA is celebrating Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson and her contributions to education for Black and minority students. MFA believes that encouraging students’ interests in our services, breaking barriers, and opening…
Patricia CollinsMFA Receives Highwire’s 2022 Gold Safety Award Highwire, a cloud-based mobile platform that empowers clients to make smarter risk management decisions, has announced the recipients of its prestigious safety awards. Maul Foster & Alongi has…
Caitlin BryanThis blog was co-authored by former MFA Senior Planner Sarah Sieloff. What Is Environmental Justice in Planning? National Community Planning Month is an opportune time to consider how pollution doesn’t impact all people equally. The…
Haley McDanielU.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on August 26, 2022, that it is proposing to designate two of the most common and most studied PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) compounds as hazardous substances under the…
Courtney Savoie, RG, LHG, PGThis post was originally written by Sarah Sieloff, former MFA Senior Planner. Why first-movers may see advantages this year It’s the most wonderful time of the year, sort of. EPA recently released updates related to this year’s…
Seth Otto, AICP, LEED APWhere are you from and where do you live now? I grew up in Wenatchee, Washington. In 2014, I moved to Bellingham, Washington, to attend Western Washington University and have lived here ever since. What do you do at MFA? As an…
Audrey HackettMFA interns provide new ideas, creative solutions, and fresh perspectives to our work. While supporting our teams, MFA interns are encouraged to explore opportunities that interest them and build the foundational skills every developing…
Carly SchaeferOur team welcomed six new employees at MFA that strongly demonstrate our values of innovation, collaboration, agility, respect, and excellence. Welcome to the team! Naomi Friberg Naomi joins MFA as an accounting assistant working out of the…
Pam GraterWhere are you from and where do you live now? I was born in Seattle, Washington, and grew up in suburbs north of the city. I currently live about 10 miles south of Seattle in Renton, Washington. What do you do at MFA? I am an…
Audrey HackettIn honor of Pride Month, MFA is recognizing influential LGBTQ+ leaders in the sciences. Explore the biographies and resources we’ve gathered to learn more about the life and work of these four incredible people. Rachel…
Jessica LetteneyJoin us in welcoming four new employees at MFA and our wholly owned subsidiary, FLO Analytics! Sean Henderson Sean joins the MFA team as a graphic designer working out of the Portland office. He brings more than eight years of design…
Carly SchaeferMFA is proud to announce the promotion of Michael Murray, RG, LHG, PE, to principal. Michael is a principal hydrogeologist passionate about helping clients navigate complex regulatory and legal landscapes. His work providing contaminant…
Michael J. Pickering, RG, LGThe need for talented staff continues as demand for our services increases. Join us in welcoming eight new employees to MFA and our geographic information systems (GIS) brand, FLO Analytics! Daniel Eisenbeis Dan joins MFA as a senior planner…
Carly SchaeferWhere are you from and where do you live now? I grew up in north Spokane, Washington, and I currently live in nearby Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. What do you do at MFA? I am a geologist working out of our Idaho office, primarily involved in…
Christina M. Johnson, RG, LG, PGWhere are you from and where do you live now? I am originally from the coast of Maine, and I currently live in Portland, Oregon. I like to say I moved from one Portland to another, and I love them both. What do you do at MFA? I’m an…
Michael J. Pickering, RG, LGNational Engineers Week 2022 is in full swing! Today we are taking you through a day in the life of Kristi Boon, senior engineer, who has been at MFA for over five years. A senior engineer’s day might look a little different than Staff…
Kristi Boon, PEEngineers Week 2022 has officially begun! MFA is excited to recognize and celebrate the hardworking engineers who have dedicated their careers to making a difference in our natural and built worlds. Our daily lives are impacted by the…
Garrick Kalmeta, PEWhere are you from and where do you live now? I was born just outside Tokyo, Japan, and lived in four states before I was eight. My family moved to Seattle when I was in third grade, and I’ve lived in, or near, Seattle ever since. What…
Abbi RussellMFA is proud to announce the promotion of Phil Wiescher, PhD, to principal. Phil holds a PhD in biology and has over 15 years of experience in environmental consulting and scientific research. His expertise includes in-water and upland…
Merideth D'Andrea, RG, LG, PGOur team has grown! We have hired nine employees since November 2021, and more are on their way as the need for consultants and business support staff at MFA grows. Join us in welcoming these folks to the MFA! Jessica Letteney Jessica joins…
Carly SchaeferMFA is proud to announce the promotion of Seth Otto, AICP, LEED AP, to principal. Seth is a principal planner with a passion for community development, urban revitalization, and environmental conservation. His work focuses on land use…
Kathy J. Lombardi, PEWhere are you from and where do you live now? I was born, raised, and currently live in North Idaho. What do you do at MFA? I am a senior engineer, so managing design projects is an integral part of what I do here at MFA. I also am…
Kara Beaudoin, PEThis post was originally written by Sarah Sieloff, former MFA Senior Planner. Redeveloping Expo Idaho Fairs offer excitement and fun for kids from 1 to 92. Fairgrounds, however, require large amounts of land, and it can be challenging to…
Seth Otto, AICP, LEED APWhere are you from and where do you live now? I was born in Southern California but have lived in the Portland metro area since I was 5 years old. What do you do at MFA? My title as staff engineer means that I collaborate with colleagues…
Kara Beaudoin, PEGrowth at MFA continues in support of our diverse services. Our team has welcomed eight new professionals that strongly demonstrate MFA’s values of innovation, collaboration, agility, respect, and excellence. Welcome to the team! Ryan…
Pam GraterWhere are you from and where do you live now? I’m originally from Bellingham, Washington, and now live in Broadview, a neighborhood in northwest Seattle. What do you do at MFA? My job title is Project Communications and Outreach…
Carly SchaeferThe Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) recently published a new model remedy that provides guidance for cleanup of historical orchards in central and eastern Washington. While the new requirements may seem daunting, once you are…
Carly SchaeferEarlier this year, Tom Foster, one of MFA’s co-founders, passed away. In reflecting on our 25 years of business, I’ve been thinking a lot about Tom and his legacy on our employees and the work we do. We shared this message with our…
Steven P. Taylor, PEWhere are you from and where do you live now? I am from Encinitas, CA, in north San Diego County. Now I live in Portland, OR. What do you do at MFA? I currently work on a wide variety of projects including greenhouse gas accounting,…
Joshua Elliott, PEMaul Foster & Alongi has been awarded a Top Workplaces 2021 honor by Oregonian Top Workplaces. MFA strives to build an inclusive and fostering work environment where employees feel empowered to spend most of their day supporting our…
Alistaire Clary, PEA recurring theme in GIS is utilizing technology to prevent crucial data from being lost to time. Recording data, managing it, and exchanging it from hand to hand over time leads to vulnerabilities. Cemetery data is one such example. Imagine…
Gavin JaravataThere’s a new modeling requirement in Oregon not found in the Oregon Administrative Rules or permitting guidance? Yes! On September 1, 2021, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued an internal management directive…
Chad DarbyWhere are you from and where do you live now? I am from central Idaho, and now I own a small farm in Northern Idaho. What do you do at MFA? I am a chemist and manage projects out of the MFA Kellogg office. Most of the projects…
Carly SchaeferThis post was originally written by Tessa Shabram, former MFA Staff Engineer. At MFA, our core purpose is strengthening communities. For many of our projects, strengthening communities involves cleaning up contaminated sites and developing…
Carly SchaeferIn Washington State, a recently passed bill provides local governments with a new tool to help spur revitalization in areas where private investment is lacking. Engrossed Substitute House Bill (ESHB) 1189 (also called the TIF for Jobs bill)…
Matt HoffmanWhere are you from and where do you live now? I was born and raised in Northfield, Minnesota—the town that defeated the Jesse James Gang! I moved to Bellingham, Washington, to attend Western Washington University and have lived here now…
Phil Wiescher, PhDIf you’ve driven across SR 520 (the world’s longest floating bridge) or through the SR 99 tunnel or on one of the other tolled highways in Washington State, you likely paid your toll bill online or by calling a customer service…
Kathryn MurdockWhere are you from and where do you live now? I have been in the Pacific Northwest since 2012, and I live in Washington. I previously hailed from the Rockies (New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming) and spent much of my childhood in…
Alan R. Hughes, RG, LG, PGMFA is proud to announce the promotion of Grant Herbert, GISP, to principal. Grant serves as the Director of Technology at FLO Analytics (MFA’s sub-brand focused on GIS and data analytics) where he is responsible for research and…
Kathy J. Lombardi, PEThe renewed 1200-Z Industrial Stormwater Discharge Permit (Permit) has been issued, and there are quite a few changes that Oregon industries must wrap their heads around before the Permit becomes effective on July 1, 2021. We’ve summed up…
Ada H. Banasik, PEEvery year on June 23, we celebrate outstanding women for their accomplishments in the engineering industry. In 2014, the Women’s Engineering Society established an international awareness campaign to encourage career opportunities and…
Alistaire Clary, PEMFA is proud to announce the promotion of Merideth D’Andrea to principal geologist, recognizing her outstanding commitment to delivering excellence to MFA’s clients and colleagues. For 20 years, Ms. D’Andrea has provided geologic…
Kathy J. Lombardi, PEHappiness is an easy commute, but finding affordable housing near employment centers or near high-capacity transit is becoming more difficult every year. Many factors contribute to the record pace of increasing housing prices, especially…
Matt HoffmanWhat do you do at MFA? I’m a communications specialist at MFA. In short, that means I specialize in effectively sharing information, whether that’s providing community members with information on a project that may affect them or…
Carly SchaeferIn recognition of National Maritime Day, Maul Foster & Alongi salutes our ports and maritime sector! MFA is fortunate to work with public ports and other maritime sector clients across the Pacific Northwest to help them achieve their…
Abbi RussellThis blog was originally written by former MFA Principal Communications Specialist, Charla Skaggs. Recognizing the Service of Our Public Partners Since 1985, Public Service Recognition Week has been observed during the first week of…
Abbi RussellOn Friday, April 16, 2021, I had the opportunity to work as an administrative teammate. I was told to be on-site in our Portland office at 8:00 a.m., bring a mask, and remember social distancing requirements. I decided to get to the office a…
Steven P. Taylor, PEWhere are you from and where do you live now? I would call myself a California transplant, with deep roots in Vancouver, Washington. I call Idaho home now. What do you do at MFA? I mostly contribute to the Coeur d’Alene Trust…
David G. Weatherby, RG, LGIn 2019, MFA launched a diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative. Three core values guide DEI at MFA: Everyone deserves a safe, equitable, and inclusive workplace. We can better serve the communities where we work by increasing…
Pam GraterEphrata is an eastern Washington town of fewer than 9,000 people. Born at the turn of the twentieth century, Ephrata, like many nearby communities, was first a hub for workers who were supporting the federal government’s rural…
Abbi RussellWhere are you from and where do you live now? I was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. I made a five-year stop in Moscow, Idaho, for university and then migrated west and have called Portland home for the past 13 years. What do…
Phil Wiescher, PhDWhere are you from and where do you live now? Tricky question. Born in Wisconsin, but my dad was in the army, so we moved. I lived in 15 places in my first 18 years. I have lived in in Oregon since attending Oregon State…
Alistaire Clary, PERemember when we used to sit at the same table? In 2019, the MFA Communications and Planning teams gathered stakeholders around a table in the Interbay neighborhood of Seattle as part of a thorough public input process. Our MFA planners and…
Taylor HodgesWhere are you from and where do you live now? I spent my youth in southern California, but I have lived in the beautiful Pacific Northwest for 20 years now, and I call Portland my home. What do you do at MFA? From conceptual site…
Kristi Boon, PEIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Oregon OSHA (OR-OSHA) is preparing rules to protect workers from infectious diseases. The rulemaking process has been dynamic, to say the least, which should not be surprising given the nature of the…
Bill Beadie, CIHWhat’s a HAP? In 2019, the Washington State Legislature passed legislation encouraging all cities planning under the Growth Management Act to adopt actions to increase residential capacity, especially in areas with supportive transportation…
Matt HoffmanOctober is National Community Planning Month and this year’s theme, Planning is Essential to Recovery, highlights how planning and planners can lead communities to equitable, resilient, and long-lasting recovery from the effects of the…
Seth Otto, AICP, LEED APIn September 2020, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) released two new Internal Management Directives (IMDs) that will strongly influence risk assessment and site characterization activities at cleanup sites under DEQ…
Phil Wiescher, PhDIt’s nearing the end of September, 2020. I have been working from home for more than six months—still feeling unsettled in the new normal of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rolling out of bed and immediately beginning my workday had its perks at…
Carly SchaeferWhere are you from and where do you live now? I’m originally from New England. After graduating high school, I traded fluffernutters and maple syrup for chicken fried steak and moved to Austin, Texas, for college—hook ‘em horns! From…
Merideth D'Andrea, RG, LG, PGThis post was originally written by Michael Tarbert, former MFA Staff Engineer. Maul Foster & Alongi uses data and science to serve communities throughout the Pacific Northwest. We solve challenging and complex problems in service to…
Carly SchaeferThe impact of COVID-19 is so widespread that planning to operate or re-open a business today can be overwhelming. The complex scientific, economic, political, legal, and cultural issues present a daunting challenge to anyone tasked with…
Bill Beadie, CIHCongratulations to Jennifer King, PE who has been named principal engineer in recognition of her outstanding commitment to delivering excellence for MFA’s clients and colleagues. For over 15 years, Ms. King has provided a wealth of…
Alistaire Clary, PEAs I drive through the Silver Valley in Shoshone County, Idaho, I see a tight-knit community rebuilding. Store fronts once empty and abandoned have come to life, filled with shops and restaurants. I see new infrastructure where festival…
Carly SchaeferWe must work to resist and reverse systemic racism in the communities where we live, work, and serve. We acknowledge that our society is built on systems and institutions that oppress Black people and Black communities. We have had the…
Alistaire Clary, PEWhere are you from and where do you live now? I was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and raised in Ames, Iowa. When I was growing up, my family would spend a few weeks every summer driving big loops around the U.S. to camp in and explore our…
Alistaire Clary, PEWhere are you from and where do you live now? I’m from St. Helens, OR, and after living in a few other places in the PNW, I have found my way back to St. Helens. I love the quietness of a “small” town while still having great…
Bill Beadie, CIHThis blog was originally written by former MFA Principal Communications Specialist, Charla Skaggs. This week is Public Service Recognition Week, a celebration of all the ways that federal, state, local, and tribal government employees…
Carly SchaeferGet to know the eight 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 SchaeferOver the last few weeks, Oregon and Washington industries have had to implement significant changes to their operations to protect their employees and the public, and comply with shelter-in-place orders and social distancing guidelines related…
Ada H. Banasik, PEWith Governor Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order enacted this week and other states doing the same, working from home for the majority of us is no longer a choice—it’s the law. Like many of you, MFA staff have been working from…
Carly SchaeferWhere are you from and where do you live now? I’m a full-time Oregonian. I was born in Klamath Falls, raised in Forest Grove, and currently live in Oregon City. What do you do at MFA? I am an environmental scientist by…
Merideth D'Andrea, RG, LG, PGCoronavirus (COVID-19) is no joke. The swift spread of this virus and the surrounding news updates have many—if not all—of our Pacific Northwest-based staff thinking about how to stay safe while best practices for addressing the virus are…
Bill Beadie, CIHWelcome to Engineers Week! The purpose of EWeek, as the abbreviation has been coined, is to ensure a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing understanding of and interest in engineering and technology…
Carly SchaeferWhere are you from and where do you live now? I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and spent most of my grade school years in the Midwest, primarily in northwest Illinois, about 120 miles west of Chicago. In January 1983, halfway…
Kathy J. Lombardi, PEWe don’t have to tell our industrial clients twice—regulatory compliance is an important topic. An efficient compliance program helps businesses reduce risk, meet regulatory requirements, and ultimately, run a successful business. In…
Carly SchaeferIf you haven’t heard the buzz and you’re thinking to yourself, “Wait, what’s PFAS?” here’s a recent MFA blog that will introduce you to the topic and get you up to speed. Now that you’ve read the basics, we’re jumping into a…
Courtney Savoie, RG, LHG, PGIt’s hard to believe we’ve entered the year 2020. Although we still can’t teleport or fly our cars to work, there’s no doubt that advancement is all around us (hello, face-scanning phones!). It’s Maul Foster & Alongi’s practice to stay…
Alistaire Clary, PEAre you an industrial stormwater permit holder? Your permit renews on January 1, and Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) updates reflecting the new permit are due January 30. We know these changes can be confusing, so we have…
Ada H. Banasik, PEGet 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 SchaeferThis 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, LGThis 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, RGOccasionally, 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, CIHWhere 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, PEThis 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 SchaeferWhere 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, PGGet 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 GraterFor 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, PGWhere 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, PEInternational 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 SchaeferCongratulations 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, PEThe 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, PEWhere 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, PEEach 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, RGTiger 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, RGCompliance 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 SchaeferMFA’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 BraschWhere 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 VickWhere 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, PEMFA’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, PEGet 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 GraterYou 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, PGWhere 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, PEWhere 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 SchaeferIt’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, PEIt’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, PEIt’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, PEIt’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 GraterDid 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 SchaeferI 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 APThis 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, PEToday’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 MurdockAs 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, PEMeet the newest additions to the MFA team! Amy DeVita-McBride, a staff engineer based in our Portland office, focuses on air quality work. Amy is a recent graduate with a master’s in environmental engineering from PSU and a bachelor’s…
Pam GraterFrom September 2017 to June 2018, I participated in Leadership Clark County, a program that aims to develop effective civic leaders who will serve the Clark County community. During the program, I was part of a diverse group of 35 Clark County…
Emily Hess, LHG, RGWhere are you from and where do you live now? I’m originally from New Zealand, and now I live in Seattle, Washington. What do you do at MFA? I manage a number of Local Government and Utilities Sector projects. I also provide…
Carly SchaeferIn August, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) entered into a Settlement Agreement with environmental advocacy groups (Columbia Riverkeeper and Northwest Environmental Defense Center) and a group of industrial stormwater…
Ada H. Banasik, PETwice a year, MFA celebrates employees demonstrating our company values through the actions they take on the job and in the community—be it going the extra mile to assist a colleague and deliver results for our clients, simply emptying the…
Steven P. Taylor, PEPSM/RMP for the Uninitiated: The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) both enforce similar requirements for facilities that have more than the threshold quantity of listed…
Bill Beadie, CIHThe SWIFT (Sedro-Woolley Innovation for Tomorrow) Center in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, is a portal from the past into the future, and a model for how underutilized spaces can be reborn as thriving community assets. The SWIFT Center, in…
Carly SchaeferJoin Grant Herbert, Senior Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Analyst/Developer, and Erik Strandhagen, Senior GIS Analyst and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Certified Remote Pilot, for presentations on the benefits, challenges, and…
Grant Herbert, GISPMFA is honored to have been part of a team that was recently awarded the 2018 Governor’s Smart Communities Award in the Smart Projects category for the Skagit County Community Justice Center Brownfield Redevelopment project. To assist the…
Carly SchaeferMFA is excited to welcome our newest colleagues to our growing team! Learn about the new additions and connect with them using the links, below. Nick Petersen, CPA, Senior Accountant, Vancouver Office Nick has a bachelor’s degree in…
Pam GraterCongratulations to Alan Hughes, Charla Skaggs, and Stacy Frost on their well-deserved promotions to Principal at MFA! Alan, Charla, and Stacy each embody MFA’s core values of innovation, collaboration, agility, respect, and excellence….
Steven P. Taylor, PEAnyone that has watched the Game of Thrones opening title sequence has experienced how harnessing the power of map imagery can tell a compelling story. While the GIS and data management professionals at MFA may be unfamiliar with fighting…
Carolyn R. Wise, LHG, RGIn our daily lives we are constantly exposed to ever-changing mixtures of chemicals, and existing tools for figuring out how these chemical mixtures affect our health are not necessarily comprehensive. This is largely because they do not…
Phil Wiescher, PhDLike many small, rural communities, Cathlamet, Washington, is transitioning from dependence upon commercial fishing and timber jobs to new methods of economic development, in part relying on a healthy tourism industry to keep the town’s…
Carly SchaeferFor some, environmental compliance means just checking a box. To Amy Peccia, MFA’s new Senior Environmental Scientist, it’s more than that. “At MFA, it’s not just about meeting regulations. One of the most rewarding things about my job is…
Kathy J. Lombardi, PEThe culture of an organization is many things, one of which is values. “Values, shmalues,” you might say, “that’s just corporate jibber-jabber.” To some degree, yes. What’s really important is the values in action. If you’ve…
Alistaire Clary, PEHave you heard the news? China recently began restricting the recycled materials it accepts for processing. Up until now, China has been one of the largest buyers of recycled materials from the United States, especially from West Coast…
Erik Bakkom, PEAre you wondering about your site’s Level 1 risk assessment under the proposed Cleaner Air Oregon air toxics rule? MFA can help. MFA has developed a free tool to assist clients with their Level 1 risk assessment under the proposed rules….
Chad DarbyAsk ten people about process safety management (PSM), and chances are at least seven of them will tell you about mountains of paperwork designed primarily to keep auditors happy. They might say, “I spend so much time doing paperwork that I…
Bill Beadie, CIHThe reauthorization of the Federal Brownfields program is starting to wind through Congress and was recently passed by the US House of Representatives. The current proposal (HR 3017) being reviewed by the Senate, which is always subject…
Carly SchaeferOregon State University-Cascades and Deschutes County have reached an important milestone in their negotiations for the sale of an inactive construction and demolition debris landfill to OSU. On October 30, 2017, Deschutes County…
Ted Wall, PEWhen you think of job creation and economics, look no further than the Lower Grand Employment Area (LGEA). The City of Vancouver, Washington recognized the potential for the LGEA to help preserve jobs in the city’s core and drive regional…
Stacy J. Frost, PEThis article originally appeared the September/October edition of CityVision Magazine. Take a minute to think about the staff at your city with the most experience and expertise. Do you rely on them to provide context for projects and…
Tyler VickMFA is pleased to announce that Senior GIS Analyst, Erik Strandhagen, was awarded the honor of best presentation at the National Council for Air and Steam Improvement, Inc. (NCASI) West Coast Regional Meeting after serving as a speaker at the…
Steven P. Taylor, PESince MFA’s founding as a small group of mostly engineers and scientists conducting environmental investigations and design work, we have grown not only in number of people but also in scope of services. We have also grown in our…
Kathryn MurdockLooking for the most recent information about the Oregon 1200-Z Stormwater Discharge Permit? Read our blog post about modifications to the permit in October, 2018. After issuing two draft permits and reviewing two rounds of public…
Ada H. Banasik, PEWenatchee visitors will have a new and stylish place to stay, and the City will have a new revenue source via sales and lodging taxes, as a former brownfield transforms into a new hotel. The August 4th groundbreaking for construction of a new…
Carly SchaeferOur best work happens when we help clients implement solutions that benefit not only the bottom line, but also community, jobs, economic and environmental health. To that end, we have added four new staff members who form MFA’s economics…
Steven P. Taylor, PEMaul Foster & Alongi, Inc. (MFA) wishes to congratulate Skagit County on the recent completion of its new community justice center, which was developed on a former truck stop fueling station brownfield. The need for a new jail facility to…
Carly SchaeferComposed by Woody Guthrie and adopted in 1987 as Washington’s official state folk song, “Roll On, Columbia, Roll On” paints a poetic picture of the river cutting through green douglas firs and of the “mighty men” who worked on the river,…
Carly SchaeferOn March 21, 2017, the Oregon DEQ released a draft framework outlining the air toxics program in Oregon. http://cleanerair.oregon.gov/state-releases-draft-framework-for-new-health-based-air-toxics-standards/ At a high level, the draft…
Chad DarbyThanks to the American Planning Association (APA) and author Katharine Logan, LEED AP, we are proud that our work in Spokane’s 500-acre Hillyard industrial district is one of three examples featured in the February 2017 Planning magazine…
Carly SchaeferKudos to Oregon State University’s Cascade Campus for thinking creatively to reclaim underutilized property in the newly-released plan to expand OSU’s Bend campus to meet future enrollment projections. We have been fortunate to work…
Stacy J. Frost, PEWe extend a warm welcome to six new staff members, all of whom specialize in air quality services. Adding expertise in these services further integrates MFA’s engineering and consulting services for facilities that have air emissions and…
Steven P. Taylor, PEAs part of its quarterly “regional snapshot” series, Metro has published a reader-friendly look at brownfields and their impact on economic growth and development in the Portland metropolitan region. While the region continues to see…
Seth Otto, AICP, LEED APThe Whatcom County Council unanimously adopted an update to its Comprehensive Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Plan (the Plan) during a meeting held on January 24, 2017. The adoption is the culmination of a two-year effort led by Whatcom…
Erik Bakkom, PEMFA is honored to receive the Vancouver Business Journal’s award for Best in Business 2016 in the Urban Planner category. “The list of winners was determined by Vancouver Business Journal readers who cast their votes for the companies that…
Alistaire Clary, PEClearly EPA is reading my blog, because only nine days after I posted a summary of lingering questions about proposed PSM/RMP changes (link), EPA has responded with a final version of the updated rule (link) and a summary of frequently asked…
Bill Beadie, CIHPSM/RMP for the uninitiated: The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) both enforce similar requirements for facilities that have more than the threshold quantity of…
Bill Beadie, CIHMFA was a 2016 Nominee for the Secretary of Defense, Employer Support Freedom Award. This award was given “in recognition of exemplary support of National Guard and Reserve member employees.” This Veterans Day, we want to recognize…
Alistaire Clary, PEDuring the Joint Oregon and Washington Planning Conference on Thursday, October 27, the Planning Association of Washington and the Washington Chapter of the American Planning Association honored the Port of Skagit, the City of Sedro-Woolley,…
Carly SchaeferLeading brownfield experts Michael Stringer and Jim Darling were recently featured as guest writers in the Seattle DJC. Communities across Washington State are increasingly looking at vacant and shuttered former industrial sites as…
Steven P. Taylor, PEMFA staff led sessions on brownfield development at the most recent Certified Commercial Investment Managers (CCIM) Conference, held on September 29 and 30, 2016, in Bend, OR. Jim Maul, Ted Wall, and Seth Otto prepared a dynamic, informative,…
Seth Otto, AICP, LEED APMaul Foster & Alongi has been awarded a 2016 Top Workplaces honor by The Oregonian. The Top Workplaces are based solely on the results of an employee feedback survey administered by WorkplaceDynamics, LLC, a research firm that specializes…
Carly SchaeferHats off to Zidell Marine Corporation for over 50 years of success in the barge-building industry and everything they have given to the Portland community and economy. They announced this week that they will be exiting the barge-building…
Carly SchaeferTomorrow the Port of Camas-Washougal will celebrate the Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting of the Washougal Waterfront Park and Trail. MFA is excited to see this project completed, which began with an Integrated Planning Grant that MFA assisted…
Alan R. Hughes, RG, LG, PGThe work MFA does helps our community every day, from cleaning up brownfield sites to planning and designing new neighborhoods. MFA goes beyond that, enabling and supporting their employees to volunteer in our community supporting causes we…
Emily Hess, LHG, RGThe Vancouver Business Journal published an article on brownfields in Clark County. MFA is proud to be the leading brownfield consulting business in the Pacific Northwest. In the article we expand on the concept of the 4th Generation of…
Alistaire Clary, PEEcology has made some big changes in their Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP). In an effort to balance staff shortages with increasing workloads, Ecology has raised the bar for entry into the VCP and is implementing new policies to streamline…
Alan R. Hughes, RG, LG, PGIn honor of Maul Foster & Alongi’s 20 year anniversary the Vancouver Business Journal published the article below celebrating MFA’s innovation and growth through the years. ‘Before it was just cleanup for the sake of cleanup’, said…
Carly SchaeferWe here at MFA are familiar with the race against time. Every week, we come together as a team to produce quality designs, reports, and action plans on time and on budget. However, this weekend some MFA’ers worked overtime to race to the…
Emily Hess, LHG, RGEverything is crisp and fresh. I take a cold breath in and can only respect the awe and unforgiving beauty of the woods I call home. I can’t say I know what it is, but there is something about the woods that will always captivate me. It’s…
Haley McDanielJames Peale, RG, LHG, Principal Hydrogeologist at MFA, authored the recent article, Lead in Drinking Water: Steps to take as a Business Owner, published in the Vancouver Business Journal July 8, 2016. Click the link below to read his full…
Alistaire Clary, PEHere are updates from my recent meetings with Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) staff to discuss the status of Ecology’s Voluntary Cleanup Program. New Checklists and Templates for Voluntary Cleanup Program…
Alan R. Hughes, RG, LG, PGSeveral MFA projects, including Columbia Memorial Hospital/Astoria Landfill Sports Complex, Lake River Dioxin Cleanup, and Zidell Remediation are highlighted in an article by Katharine Logan published in the May/June 2016 issue of USGBC+,…
Carly SchaeferMFA is excited to announce the Astoria Athletic Complex project is the recipient of the 2016 Oregon Brownfields Outstanding Project Award! The award will be presented at the 11th Annual Oregon Brownfields Conference May 16th, 2016. This award…
Carly SchaeferMFA’s planning efforts on the St. Helens Waterfront Redevelopment project are making the news. Working with our partners from Walker Macy, MFA led a group of St. Helens residents, Waterfront Advisory Committee members, and city council…
Seth Otto, AICP, LEED APThe Governor’s proposed Supplemental Capital Budget includes $25 million for cleanup funds to partially cover the recent shortfall in Remedial Action Grants. The source of the funds will be State issued bonds. The $25 million represents 29…
Carly SchaeferEPA recently launched the new Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP) to regulate industrial stormwater, but the already more-stringent state permits in California, Washington, and Oregon leave the MSGP a moot-point. Industrial stormwater permit…
Ada H. Banasik, PEPlan Adopted for Redevelopment of Historic Northern State Hospital The Sedro-Woolley City Council has unanimously adopted the Subarea Plan for the Center for Innovation. This is the capstone of two years of planning for redevelopment of the…
Carly SchaeferThe Wahkiakum County Eagle newspaper recently published an article highlighting MFA’s work. After testing sediment the question has arisen, what to do with the material, read about the possible creative solutions MFA has collaborated with…
Steven P. Taylor, PECharacterizing and cleaning up contamination in the aquatic environment can present significant logistical challenges. A sampling of MFA’s recent high adventure aquatic experiences includes: …
Erik Bakkom, PE“Forensics” is a term that may evoke images of an awkward detective linking the dots between crime scene evidence and laboratory DNA results to solve a crime. Environmental forensics applies the same general principle of criminal forensics…
Phil Wiescher, PhDIncremental Sampling Methodology is becoming a go-to approach – for responsible parties and regulators alike – for efficient and robust contaminant characterization. While the method is fairly established for soil characterization, the use of…
Phil Wiescher, PhDMaul Foster & Alongi, Inc. (MFA) has been awarded a 2015 Top Workplaces honor by the Oregonian Media Group. The Top Workplaces lists are based solely on the results of an employee feedback survey administered by WorkplaceDynamics, LLC, a…
Carly SchaeferThis blog was originally written by former MFA Senior Chemist/Environmental Scientist Erik Naylor. A 198 miles course with heavy rain and thrashing winds may not sound like fun to most, but MFA’s 2015 Hood to Coast team would argue…
Alistaire Clary, PEThomas Mullen, PG, senior hydrogeologist at Maul Foster & Alongi, Inc. (MFA), has officially been appointed by the governor’s office to the Idaho Board of Registration for Professional Geologists. The board’s mission statement is “to…
Alistaire Clary, PEAt the 2015 National Brownfield conference that was held in Chicago in September, the Astoria Municipal Landfill closure and sports complex redevelopment project was awarded the Phoenix Award for USEPA Region 10. MFA is honored to have led the…
Stacy J. Frost, PEThe Oregon Brownfield Coalition is the 2015 recipient of the Brownfield Leadership Award for Innovation & Resiliency, in the category of Statewide Brownfield Innovation. The award is presented by NALGEP (National Association of Local…
Seth Otto, AICP, LEED APMFA has been ranked in the top 20 of midsize companies, as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2015 by Seattle Business. The winners, hailing from cities all across the state of Washington, were chosen based on extensive confidential…
Pam GraterMFA Senior Planner Seth Otto was recently featured in the Oregon Daily Journal of Commerce for the work he has done in support of new brownfield legislation in Oregon. Seth was a member of the coalition backing House Bill 2734, which allows…
Ted Wall, PEPortland, OR (June 16, 2015)—Maul Foster & Alongi, Inc. has hired Michael Pickering, RG, LG, a senior geologist with 16 years of experience in environmental consulting and project management throughout the Northwest. Mr. Pickering has…
Ted Wall, PEThis blog was originally written by former MFA Senior Chemist/Environmental Scientist Erik Naylor. Being based in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, Maul Foster & Alongi embraces the outdoors and encourages our employees’ pursuit of a…
Alistaire Clary, PEUpon returning from Beijing, where I attended the 2015 International Symposium on Urban Stormwater Management and Landscape Hydrology and met with numerous experts in the stormwater, landscape architecture, and brownfields arenas, I have come…
Ted Wall, PEOver the last several days I have had the privilege of attending the 2015 International Symposium on Urban Stormwater Management and Landscape Hydrology in Beijing. There have been professionals and scholars from across the globe discussing…
Ted Wall, PEThe success of a bank stabilization project hinges on the ability to explore a variety of potential solutions and identify the most effective option for any given site. MFA has seen success with many different types of projects, all with their…
Kathy J. Lombardi, PEMaul Foster & Alongi staff will be hosting two presentations at this year’s NEBC Managing Stormwater in Oregon Conference on May 21. Stormwater expert, Ada Banasik, will share her experiences in implementing effective and economical…
Ada H. Banasik, PEStatistics abound as to the current and projected pace of urbanization in the world’s most populous country, the People’s Republic of China. With a total population of over 1.35 billion people, a projection issued in March 2014 by the…
Ted Wall, PEEarth Day presented a cool spring morning with conditions that couldn’t have been better for some light manual labor for a good cause. On April 22, 2015, a group of MFA employees joined a volunteer team with ESCO Corporation and Keen to do…
Ted Wall, PEA recent bill allowing the Washington Department of Enterprise Services to transfer the Northern State Hospital property to the Port of Skagit County was signed last week. This decision will allow Janicki Bioenergy to move forward with their…
Carly SchaeferIt was a hot August day when I first saw the building—fenced off and surrounded by brown, crunchy grass, it was a five-story building with boarded-up windows and broken glass. When I finally got to enter the building, I suited up in Tyvek™…
Carly SchaeferIn the world of economic development, nothing can add value to a large-scale project like a strong, mutually beneficial partnership between public and private interests. At the P3C Public-Private Partnership Conference & Expo 2015 in…
Carly SchaeferOn March 9, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) announced the recipients of its 2015 Area-Wide Planning (AWP) Grant. The AWP grant program assists communities that are responding to local brownfield challenges, including multiple…
Seth Otto, AICP, LEED APFollow the link below to read an article by Erik Bakkom that was published in Land & Water Magazine explaining aspects of the Willamette Riverbank Restoration: Riverbank Restoration Success – From Brown to…
Carly SchaeferThe Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) recently implemented a program to assign construction stormwater general permit (CSWGP) coverage to sites that have known contamination and that may discharge potentially contaminated…
Joshua Elliott, PEUnder the partnership of the City of Yakima and the Washington State Department of Ecology, Maul Foster & Alongi, Inc. is cleaning up a long-term community eyesore. The former Tiger Oil retail gasoline station located at the corner of Nob…
Carly SchaeferThe benefits of precision dredging are numerous; I’ve seen them firsthand: streamlined regulatory approval, greater risk reduction, and increased water quality. MFA wrapped up a large-scale dredging project in February 2015 in Lake River,…
Carly SchaeferOver 100 years ago, the State of Washington took a bold step in opening the Northern State Hospital, a state-of-the-art residential mental health facility in Sedro-Woolley. The campus, designed by the world-renowned Olmsted Brothers landscape…
Carly SchaeferIt isn’t often that one has the opportunity to work on a project with unprecedented local community benefits as well as a game-changing global reach. The adaptive re-use of the historic Northern State Hospital campus in Sedro Woolley,…
Carly SchaeferThrough its environmental brownfield redevelopment expertise, MFA continues to play a key role in supporting economic development in rural communities throughout the Pacific Northwest. A recent example is MFA’s support of the Port of Moses…
Carly SchaeferCoeur d’Alene, ID (February 10, 2015)—Environmental consulting and engineering company Maul Foster & Alongi, Inc. (MFA) has opened an office in the Parkside Tower office building at 601 East Front Avenue, Suite 202, in downtown…
Alistaire Clary, PEAs mixed-used redevelopment forges ahead on the Zidell Yards property, NorthWest Ecosystem Services Ecologist Paul Fishman took a moment to reflect on the project’s myriad undertakings in the nine years since cleanup efforts got underway in…
Carly SchaeferDuring the last quarter of 2014, MFA assisted 16 industrial facilities in Northwest Oregon with the selection and conceptual design of stormwater-treatment measures required for compliance with the Tier II corrective action requirements…
Ada H. Banasik, PEAre we in the right jungle? -Stephen R. Covey | As civil and environmental engineers, we must accept that recognition for a job well done will often take the form of indifference. We do our best work when no one does a double take. When…
Carly SchaeferA Patriot Award in recognition of MFA’s support of Maj. Andrew Vidourek was recently presented to Southwest Washington Operations Director Alistaire Clary. Vidourek, a staff geologist at MFA, serves as a National Guardsman. The award…
Alistaire Clary, PEEvidence of the city and Port of Kalama’s successful collaboration on an underway project was publicly presented in the form of a 2014 Smart Communities Award. The Spencer Creek Business Park and a new, nearby multi-use recreational facility…
Carly Schaefer