Curtis M. Herman, PGCurricular Vitae

Curt Herman is the founder and president of Austin James Associates, Inc.

Certifications

• Professional Geologist State of Delaware (License # S4-0001311)
• Professional Geologist State of Pennsylvania (License # PG-003102-G)

Education

• B.S., Geology, University of Delaware (1977)

Professional Affiliations

• Association of Groundwater Engineers and Scientists
• National Groundwater Association

Work History

• Core Laboratories, Inc., Dallas/Houston/Midland Texas; New Orleans, LA; Waveland, MS; Off-shore in Gulf of Mexico; Cuba, New Mexico; 1977-1980 (mud-logger and geologist in oil exploration)
• Herman's Quality Meat Shoppe, Newark Delaware ---1980-1985 (full-time for family business)
• Delaware DNREC (Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control), Dover, Delaware ---September 1985 through September 1988 (hydrogeologist for the Underground Storage Tank (UST) Group; oversight of approximately 300 active leaking underground storage tank sites in Delaware for the UST group; oversight of site characterizations, remediation technologies, remedial action plan approvals, and regulatory oversight ensuring technical compliance relative to state and federal regulations. Acted as technical advisor on RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act), CERCLA (Superfund), and Soil Waste Management Branch, and technical advisor / member of the State Emergency Response Team; participated in the development of DNREC's UST regulations and guidance documents.
• Groundwater Technology, Inc, Chadds Ford, PA, Wilkes-Barre, PA ---September 1988 through August 1992; Hydrogeologist in charge of site characterization and remedial design and implementation of approximately 55 contaminated sites; territory manager directing ten hydro-geologists and engineers for Wilkes-Barre office from 1990 through 1992. Includes implementation of sparge/vent technology for the cleanup of hydrocarbon impacted sites; fate and transport modeling; risk assessment evaluations. Site characterizations and determinations of shallow groundwater system impact from commercial and industrial waste disposal at several landfills.
• Austin James Associates, Inc., Pocono Pines, PA, Founder/Owner of Company 1992 to present. Principal geologist in charge of technical evaluations of company projects as well as owner in charge of running the company.

AJA

• Mr. Herman directed and co-published a fate and transport model for evaluating the natural attenuation of VOC's in groundwater.
• Site characterization evaluations of more than 600 contaminated hydrocarbon and chlorinated hydrocarbon sites.
• Characterization and remediation design, installation, and operation of more than 75 other highly contaminated (hydrocarbon and chlorinated hydrocarbon sites) sites using sparge/vent technology for cleanup.
• Fate and transport evaluations / risk assessment evaluations at more than 100 hydrocarbon and chlorinated hydrocarbon contaminated sites.
• Co-authored site characterization improvement document for the Pennsylvania Underground Storage Tank Indemnification Fund (PA-USTIF) – Bulletin #6 (historically saved tens of millions of dollars and continues to save hundreds of thousands of dollars per year for Pennsylvania tax payers as a result of its implementation).
• Facilitated regulatory site closure at approximately 220 contaminated sites through: cleanup by active remediation, site characterization and passive remediation utilizing fate and transport modeling and /or risk based criteria, and/or negotiations based on proven compliance with the regulations in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.
• Negotiated fate and transport evaluations as a viable technical basis to achieve site closure prior to state and federal agencies adoption as a viable standard alternative for remediation.

Experience With Remedial Technologies Specification and application of the following technologies (alone or in various combinations)

• Combined soil vapor extraction / air sparging for cleanup of solvent and hydrocarbon contaminated sites
• Bio-reclamation (above ground and in-situ)
• Soil vapor extraction
• Dual phase extraction
• Chemical oxidation
• Pump and treat management (including pneumatic, total fluids, jet pump, and multi-well applications)
• Ozone treatment technology

Expert Evaluations and Expert Testimony

• 2002 through 2013) Expert evaluation(s) of tank removals, problematic site characterizations, and remedial technology effectiveness for approximately 179 contaminated sites for the State of Pennsylvania Insurance Department, Bureau of Special Funds, (PA-USTIF).
• 1986 – provided expert depositional testimony as an employee of the State of Delaware on behalf of the attorney general in a case involving a service station that had contaminated a public supply well in southern Delaware (three days of testimony – case settled).
• 1993 – provided expert depositional testimony for a client regarding its former dry cleaning facility in eastern Pennsylvania related to historic releases of perchloroethylene and its degradation by-products against an insurance carrier (statute of limitations exceeded based on successful summary judgment by the insurance carrier)..
• 2009 -- Testified as an expert on behalf of the PA-USTIF in front of the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board on a case involving leaded and unleaded gasoline and the applicability of the site for insurance coverage (decision made in favor of our client PA-USTIF).
• 2014 -- Testified as an expert on behalf of a client based in southern Delaware in front of the Delaware Environmental Hearing Board on a law suit regarding contamination of area domestic and public supply wells involving hydrocarbons, chlorinated solvents, metals (including lead, cobalt, arsenic, and lead), and in-organic contaminants (salts, nitrates, nitrites) for a former pickle plant in southern Delaware (decision in favor of our client – former pickle plant owner).

Technical Publications

• Herman, C.; Newsom S.; and Others, state of Delaware DNREC "Technical Guidance Document', April, 1990.
• Brown, Richard A., Ph.D., Curtis Herman, and Eric Henry. 1991. "The Use of Aeration in Environmental Clean-ups." Paper presented at the Pittsburgh Waste Conference of HAZTECH International, David Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA, 14 - 16 May.
• Brown, Richard A., Ph.D., Eric Henry, Curtis Herman, and Wendy Leonard. 1991. "The Use of Aeration in Environmental Clean-ups." Paper presented at the NWWA Conference and Exposition on Petroleum Hydrocarbons and Organic Chemicals in Ground Water, Houston, Texas, 20 - 22 November.
• Brown, Richard A., Ph.D., Eric Henry, and Curtis Herman. 1992. "Treatment of a Solvent Contaminated Site With Air Sparging / Soil Vapor Extraction." Paper Presented at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers 1992 Spring National Meeting, Hyatt Hotel, New Orleans, LA, 29 March - 2 April.
• Angell, Keith G., P.E., David Bass, SeD, Richard Brown, Ph.D., Michael Dacey, Curtis Herman, Eric Henry, and Mark Kresge. 1991. "Air Sparging Case Studies: Proof That Innovative Technique Works" Paper presented at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst Sixth National Conference on Hydrocarbon Contaminated Soils, Amherst, MA, 23 - 29 September.
• Angell, Keith G., P.E., David Bass, ScD, Richarcrl3rown, Ph.D., Michael Dacey, Curtis Herman, Eric Henry, and Mark Kresge. 1991. "Air Sparging, An Innovative Technique For Site Remediation" Paper presented at Hazardous Materials Management Conference, HazMat South 1991, 2 - 4 October.
• Angell, Keith G., P.E., David Bass, ScD, Richard Brown, Ph.D., Michael Dacey, Curtis Herman, Eric Henry, and Mark Kresge. "in Situ Remedial Methods: Air Sparging Case Studies" Paper Published in The National Environmental Journal.
• Herman, Curtis M. @ Miller, Paul C.; "Use of Air Sparging and Soil Venting for Remediation of Soil and Groundwater Contaminated with Petroleum Hydrocarbons: A Comparison of Two Sites", The Focus Conference on Eastern Regional Groundwater Issues; September 27-29, 1993.
• Henry, Eric, and Curtis M, Herman, P.G. 1996. "Use of a Biological Attenuation and Dispersion Model as a Screening Tool to Assess the Applicability of Site Closure or Passive Remediation of a Hydrocarbon Impacted Site" Paper presented at the NGWA Tenth National Outdoor Action Conference, Sahara Hotel, Las Vegas, NV, 13 - 15 May.

Presentations

• Delaware DNREC, "Technical Requirements for Abandonment and Removal of Underground Storage Tanks", Dover, Delaware, 1988
• Delaware DNREC "Technical Requirements for the Investigation and Remediation of Petroleum Contaminated Sites" Seaford, Delaware, 1988
• HAZTEC International 1991, Ninth Annual Exhibition and Conference, "The Use of Aeration in Environmental Clean-Ups", Pittsburgh, PA, 1991

Significant Achievements

• Development of Air Sparging Technology (included other associates at Groundwater Technology, Brown, R. A.; Henry, E., Yaniga P., et. al.)
• Research/Development of In-Situ Ozone Technology (included other associates at Groundwater Technology; Brown, R. A., et. al.)
• Development of the state of Delaware DNREC "Technical Guidance Document', April, 1990 for the characterization and cleanup of hydrocarbon impacted sites.
• Primary author of site characterization improvement document for PaUSTIF
• Worked as a third party reviewer for USTIF.
• 33 years of environmental consulting experience