News
Meet Christina Johnson, Senior Geologist
Where 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, LGDEI at MFA: Progress and Future Plans
In 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…
Jennifer King, PE, SPHRThe Search for a Port Executive
Ephrata 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 RussellMeet Erik Naylor, Project Chemist/Environmental Scientist
Where 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, PhDResults for "Sediment"
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…
Erik NaylorTiger 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, LG, RGMFA’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 a…
James J. Maul, RG, LHGYou 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…
Erik NaylorIn 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…
James J. Maul, RG, LHGHats 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…
James J. Maul, RG, LHGThe 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, PhDThe 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, PEThe 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,…
James J. Maul, RG, LHGAs 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…
James J. Maul, RG, LHGPortland, Oregon. July 8 – With federal and state permits in hand, Zidell is moving their cleanup activities into the Willamette River in the South Waterfront neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. The issuance of the Clean Water Act (CWA)…
Erik Bakkom, PEPortland, OR—As noted in the Oregon Business Journal, the regional administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA-Fisheries) has cleared the way for a significant cleanup and…
Erik Bakkom, PESeveral MFA staff are presenting at conferences in February. Neil Alongi will be presenting at the Advanced Washington Stormwater Conference, February 7th at the Washington Convention Center in Seattle, Washington. His practical years of…
James J. Maul, RG, LHG