You are invited to the Joint Dinner Meeting of the
Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists
and
American Society of Civil Engineers
North Carolina Section
Eastern Branch

RSVP Deadline: 5:00pm on April 12th, 2018
RSVP by Emailing Rick Kolb or
RSVP and Pay Online

Brochure:  PDF

Speaker: Heather Kennealy from the Law Offices of F. Bryan Brice and Ed Woloszyn from S&ME

Date: Thursday, August 2, 2018

Topic: Legal and Technical Aspects of the GenX Issue

Time: 5:00 PM socializing begins, 6:30 PM buffet dinner, 7:30 PM Presentation begins

Summary:  Emerging contaminants are being targeted by environmental regulatory agencies. For those chemicals with scant toxicological data on the effects to human health, the regulatory community will take a conservative approach for establishing health goals or action levels, as well as implement stringent restrictions on the release of these unregulated chemicals that can be costly to manufacturers. One such emerging chemical is Gen-X, which is in a group of chemicals referred to as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Upon discovery of this unregulated chemical in drinking water plants along the Cape Fear River in North Carolina, Chemours was identified as the source of GenX. Chemours, and its prior parent company Du Pont, have a long-soiled history of contamination and litigation outside of North Carolina. In September 2017 that changed when the N.C. Attorney General filed its action against Chemours for releasing GenX into the Cape Fear River from its Fayetteville Public Works Facility. Subsequent class actions were filed by private citizens living in New Hanover and Brunswick Counties as well as a private action by the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority. Chemours also faces claims filed by homeowners near the plant whose groundwater has been contaminated, some of whom live upgradient from the plant, demonstrating the contaminant is also dispersing through the air. The goal of our presentation is to fully evaluate the science and toxicity of GenX, its present regulatory challenges and possible solutions, as well as to highlight the litigation currently going forward in state and federal courts in North Carolina.

Heather Kennealy is an attorney with 16 years of environmental law experience working for both private law firms and the federal government. Her litigation experience has involved class action, multi-district litigation, and complex tort matters in state and federal courts. Mrs. Kennealy is serving as Of Counsel, and working on GenX matters, with the Law Offices of F. Bryan Brice, Jr. in Raleigh. Mrs. Kennealy also maintains her own shop (Kennealy Law Practice) in Hillsborough, where she focuses on smaller agricultural and land-use cases. She received her undergraduate degree in Public Health and Environmental Science from UNC-Chapel Hill and her law degree from Vermont Law School. Mrs. Kennealy holds a Master’s in Environmental Law and is licensed to practice law in North Carolina and Massachusetts.

Ed Woloszyn is a Principal Scientist/Project Manager at S&ME’s Raleigh office location with over 28 years of experience in environmental consulting.  In 1985, Ed received his undergraduate degree from the College of Charleston in Marine Biology, earning an award for Outstanding Student in the Field of Marine Biology from The Navy League of the United States Charleston Chapter. His first career position was in analytical chemistry at General Engineering Laboratories. Ed then pursed and received a Master’s of Science degree at North Carolina State University from the Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences in 1990. Ed continued his career at Westinghouse Environmental and Geotechnical Services working on CERCLA human health risk assessments and then moved on to project management at S&ME in 1993. Since then, he has managed compliance specialists, engineers, and industrial hygienists. Ed then transitioned his career to managing environmental contracts with the Department of Defense and with the State of North Carolina. Ed is currently responsible for multi-disciplinary engineering, industrial hygiene, and testing services for the manufacturing industry.

Location:  This dinner will be held at Clouds Brewing at 126 North West Street, Raleigh, North Carolina 27601.

PDH:  1 Professional Development Hour will be available after the presentation.

Costs:

• AEG and ASCE Members: $35.  $30 if you RSVP by 5:00 PM on Monday, July 30, 2018.
• Non-members: $45.  $40 if you RSVP by 5:00 PM on Monday, July 30, 2018.
• Public-sector employees and teachers: $25.  $20 if you RSVP by 5:00 PM on Monday, July 30, 2018.
• College students free with valid ID.
• Cost includes one drink ticket courtesy of Hazmat Emergency Response and Remediation (HERR) and SGS North America.

RSVP:  Please RSVP by emailing Rick Kolb (rick.kolb1@gmail.com) by 5:00 PM on Monday, July 30, 2018.
-or-
RSVP & Register online

Payment Method:  Pay at the door using card, cash, or check. Checks can be made out to “AEG Carolinas Section”.