EDUCATION

• B.S., Environmental Science, 1995; Richard Stockton College, Pomona, New Jersey

PROFESSIONAL LICENSES AND AFFILIATIONS

• Licensed Site Remediation Professional, State of New Jersey, License No. 575025
• New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Underground Storage Tank (UST) Certification – Subsurface Evaluator

SUMMARY OF EXPERIENCE

Mr. Mertz has more than 27 years of experience as a scientist and consultant with a wide range of environmental and remediation projects experience, including Phase I/Preliminary Assessment (PA), Site Investigation (SI), Remedial Investigation (RI), Remedial Action (RA) design, and construction supervision and management of large-scale, complex soil and groundwater remedial action projects.  He is also skilled in project and forensic cost research for litigation support, analytical data validation and reduction, report and proposal preparation, preparation of Remedial Action Work Plans (RAWPs) and bid specifications, subcontractor solicitation and bid evaluation, and cost estimation for investigation and remediation projects.  Field experience includes supervision of soil excavation and offloading, installation of onsite groundwater treatment and reinjection systems, performance of site inspections and investigations, collection of soil and groundwater samples, supervision of tank closures, test pit excavation, soil borings, well installation, and waste characterization.

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

1995 to Present
Excel Environmental Resources, Inc., North Brunswick, New Jersey
Vice President/Remediation Services

Mr. Mertz is responsible for a variety of field and technical activities, including project and construction management, RA design and implementation, groundwater treatment system design and installation, subcontractor oversight, and health and safety supervision.

Key experience includes:

Support and consultation to the Borough of Ringwood regarding ongoing Settlement Agreement negotiations with respect to proposed remedial action activities at the Ringwood Mines Superfund site. Mr. Mertz has prepared detailed closure estimates for several separate Areas of Concern to support and aide the Borough during Settlement negotiations. Construction and Project Manager for implementation of a 13 million dollar soil and groundwater remediation project in North Bergen, New Jersey.

This multi-year Brownfield Redevelopment project includes:

• Effective initial remediation cost estimation as a cornerstone of the State-approved Brownfields Redevelopment Agreement;
• Excavation and disposal of over 20,000 tons of Hazardous soil and restoration of all excavated areas;
• Excavation and onsite Beneficial Reuse of over 9,000 tons of mildly-impacted soil; and
• Recovery and treatment of over 3 million gallons of impacted groundwater;
• Oversight of the construction of Engineering Controls in the form of asphalt and soil caps across entire 30-acre site.
• Mr. Mertz managed the daily operations of all onsite remediation personnel, including Excel’s onsite professionals, and multiple contractors. He was also responsible for coordination with the client and site contractors in order to make way for a 78 million dollar commercial retail redevelopment, management of the bidding process for selection of remediation contractors, RA reporting, and management of the work scope, schedule, and budget.

Construction and Project Manager for implementation of a 6 million dollar soil and groundwater remediation project in Garfield, New Jersey.

This Brownfield Redevelopment project includes:

• Effective initial remediation cost estimation as a cornerstone of the State-approved Brownfields Redevelopment Agreement;
• Excavation and disposal of over 3,500 tons of soil impacted with Trichloroethylene (TCE) from several Areas of Concern and restoration of all excavated areas;
• Recovery, treatment and re-injection to the ground of over 33,000 gallons of TCE-impacted groundwater;
• Injection of an engineered bioremediation product to complete the remediation of dissolved-phase TCE remaining in the shallow groundwater;
• Oversight of the construction of Engineering Controls in the form of asphalt and soil caps across most of the site.
• Mr. Mertz managed the daily operations of all onsite remediation personnel, including Excel’s onsite professionals, and multiple contractors. He was also responsible for coordination with the client and site contractors in order to make way for a large commercial retail redevelopment, management of the bidding process for selection of remediation contractors, RA reporting, and management of the work scope, schedule, and budget.

Construction and Project Manager for implementation of the 11 million dollar Military Ocean Terminal Bayonne (MOTBY) site in Bayonne, New Jersey.

This four-year remediation project includes:

• Excavation of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) impacted soil “hot spots” and restoration of all excavated areas;
• Construction of Engineering Controls in the form of asphalt and soil caps at multiple locations across the 652-acre peninsula; and
• Closure of a 26-acre Solid Waste landfill in accordance with a Landfill Closure Plan also prepared by Excel. The landfill closure included construction of a permeable soil cap.
• Mr. Mertz managed the daily operations of all onsite personnel, including Excel’s onsite professionals, and multiple contractors. He is also responsible for coordination with the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority (BLRA), management of the competitive public bidding process for selection of remediation contractors, RA reporting, and management of the work scope, schedule, and budget.

Construction and Project Manager for implementation of a 14 million dollar site in Bayonne, New Jersey.

This four-year remediation project includes:

• Excavation of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) impacted soil “hot spots” and restoration of all excavated areas;
• Construction of Engineering Controls in the form of asphalt and soil caps at multiple locations across the 652-acre peninsula; and
• Closure of a 26-acre Solid Waste landfill in accordance with a Landfill Closure Plan also prepared by Excel. The landfill closure included construction of a permeable soil cap.
• Mr. Mertz managed the daily operations of all onsite personnel, including Excel’s onsite professionals, and multiple contractors. He is also responsible for coordination with the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority (BLRA), management of the competitive public bidding process for selection of remediation contractors, RA reporting, and management of the work scope, schedule, and budget.

Construction Manager for an approximately two million dollar site-wide RA conducted by Excel at the Former Standard Tank Cleaning site on behalf of the City of Bayonne. Excel obtained funding for performance of the remediation from the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority’s (NJRA’s) Brownfields Redevelopment Initiative.

The RA included:

• Decontamination and demolition of several large-capacity above ground storage units (ASTs), settling tanks, boilers, separation tanks, and a vacuum filtration unit, ranging in capacity from 75,000 to 6.5 million gallons;
• Decontamination and removal of all associated piping and concrete pads and footings;
• Removal of three 10,000-gallon USTs as well as all associated piping;
• Excavation of approximately 10,000 cubic yards of highly contaminated soil;
• Open-excavation recovery of free phase product and contaminated groundwater; and
• Onsite treatment and reinjection of treated groundwater.
• Mr. Mertz managed the daily operations of all onsite personnel, including Excel’s onsite professionals, and multiple contractors. He was also responsible for coordination with the City of Bayonne, management of the competitive public bidding process for selection of remediation contractors, RA reporting, and management of the work scope, schedule, and budget.

Construction Manager for a 1.5 million dollar soil and groundwater investigation/remediation resulting from a surface and subsurface release of hydraulic fluid in a tidally-influenced area.

The work scope included:

• Excavation of more than 8,500 cubic yards of highly impacted soil;
• Open-excavation recovery of free phase hydraulic oil and contaminated groundwater;
• Installation and maintenance of a product recovery system; and
• Installation and maintenance of an onsite 100-gallon per minute groundwater recovery, treatment, and reinjection system.
• Mr. Mertz also prepared the New Jersey Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NJPDES) Discharge to Surface Water, NJPDES Discharge to Groundwater, and Waterfront Development Permit applications for installation and operation of the remediation systems. He managed the daily operations of all onsite personnel, including Excel’s onsite professionals, and multiple contractors. Mr. Mertz was also responsible for coordination with the client to minimize interference with the client’s ongoing site operations, RA reporting, and management of the work scope, schedule, and budget.

Design, installation, operation, and performance monitoring of several groundwater recovery and treatment systems installed in response to subsurface releases of No. 2 fuel oil from USTs. Responsibilities included engineering, design, and installation of groundwater injection trench, groundwater recovery and treatment system, monthly performance monitoring, quarterly groundwater sampling, subcontractor coordination and oversight, groundwater data interpretation and reduction, and preparation of quarterly reports.

Performed an in-depth statistical evaluation of existing analytical and geochemical data, including the Mann-Whitney U-Test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation, as part of a focused investigation of the relationship between metals in soil and groundwater at a highly contaminated former pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Northern New Jersey. The work scope included design and implementation of a field testing program for evaluation of metals speciation followed by reduction and interpretation of the laboratory analytical results.

Detailed investigation into historic oil consumption reports and emergency environmental response records in support of expert testimony provided for litigation related to the circumstances leading to several potential UST overflow events and their potential impact to the subsurface. Design and implementation of a subsurface investigation including age dating of soil samples to correlate to potential historic overflow events. Operation, maintenance, and performance monitoring of a free product and groundwater recovery and treatment system in response to a surface and subsurface release of No’s. 4 and 6 fuel oil from an UST. Groundwater and effluent sampling, sampling of product and waste for classification and disposal, contractor oversight during all field activities, and implementation of soil erosion control measures.

Conducted in-depth investigation into potential sources of groundwater contamination.  The work scope included cross-referencing NJDEP records with aerial photographs, local Health Department and Fire Marshal records, and historic fire insurance maps to reach the objective of project closure while avoiding a groundwater quality investigation.

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 40-Hour Hazardous Waste Site Worker Training Course (updated yearly with an 8-hour refresher)
• OSHA 8-Hour Hazardous Waste Site Supervisor Training
• Industrial Wastewater Treatment Operator Course for N-2 Operator License
• Development Permits Review, Cook College/Rutgers University

PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

Dodge, L.J., Mertz, E., Harwood, R.A., May 2010, “In-Situ Aerobic Co-Metabolism Followed by Reductive Dechlorination of Trichloroethene to Enable Brownfield Redevelopment”, Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Remediation of Chlorinated & Recalcitrant Compounds, Monterey, California.