News
Planning for Environmental Justice
This blog was co-authored by Project Environmental Scientist Haley McDaniel. What Is Environmental Justice in Planning? National Community Planning Month is an opportune time to consider how pollution doesn’t impact all people…
Sarah SieloffEPA Proposes Designating PFAS as Hazardous Substances under CERCLA
U.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…
Erik NaylorShould You Be Pursuing an EPA Brownfields Grant? Now is the Time to Decide
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 competition for grants in its Brownfields Program. The 2022 call for grant applications…
Sarah SieloffMeet Amanda Bixby, GIT, Staff Geologist
Where 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 HackettResults for ""
This blog was co-authored by Project Environmental Scientist Haley McDaniel. What Is Environmental Justice in Planning? National Community Planning Month is an opportune time to consider how pollution doesn’t impact all people…
Sarah SieloffU.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…
Erik NaylorWhy 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 competition for grants in its Brownfields Program. The 2022 call for grant applications…
Sarah SieloffWhere 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…
Jennifer King, PE, SPHRWhere 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 HackettJoin 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…
Jennifer King, PE, SPHRMFA 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…
Jennifer King, PE, SPHRWhere 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, EITWhere 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…
Charla SkaggsMFA 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…
Jennifer King, PE, SPHRMFA 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, PERedeveloping 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 keep that land and those assets active and contributing to the public benefit…
Sarah SieloffWhere 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…
Jennifer King, PE, SPHRWhere 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…
Charla SkaggsThe 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…
Ben JohnsonEarlier 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,…
Josh 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…
Erik NaylorThis 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…
Sidney CountsIn 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)…
Sidney CountsWhere 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…
Kate ElliottWhere 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, PGThe 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…
Kate ElliottWhere 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, LGWhere 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, PEWhere 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, 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…
Charla SkaggsWhere 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…
Sidney CountsThis 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, 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, CIHCongratulations 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…
Sidney CountsHave 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…
Sidney CountsOregon 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, PEMFA 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…
Charla SkaggsLooking 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…
Sidney Counts