EPOC Course Catalog

Below is our course catalog with descriptions of our offerings which can also be viewed on our LMS site.  If you wish to enroll in a course, click on the course link. This will take you to our LMS site where you will be required to login with your EPOC membership credentails. Once logged in, you can click the "Enroll Me" button to complete registration and make any course payment. While in the LMS, you can also view all our other course offerings and enroll.

Determining Hydraulic Conductivity from Low Flow Sampling Data - On Demand Course - 2 CT CECs (CTLEP 618 D) - $125
This program consists of a recorded webinar held on 5/13/25. 
Course Description: The collection of accurate water quality samples is essential in evaluating contaminated groundwater conditions. Low flow sampling has been generally adopted to obtain accurate water quality samples through monitoring the stabilization of key indicator parameters. During low flow sampling water levels and pumping rates are monitored to achieve steady state flow to a well. In this seminar, we will present a method for determining the hydraulic conductivity of the formation using the steady state water level and pumping rate achieved during low flow sampling. The method has been tested and published in the US and abroad and shown to provide equivalent conductivity values achieved in slug testing. As such it can help expedite a site investigation by eliminating the need for another investigatory phase after sampling to determining hydraulic conductivity. Furthermore, the method avoids sand pack drainage problems associated with conducting slug tests in wells screened above the water table. Additionally, the method avoids the limited available pneumatic slug test solutions for high permeable wells that have oscillatory response.
Speakers: Meredith Metcalf, Ph.D. and Gary Robbins, Ph.D.

Laboratory Data Quality Assessment and Data Usability Evaluation for Environmental Investigation and Remediation Projects - On Demand Course - 6 CT CECs (CTLEP-436 D) - $375
This program consists of a recorded webinar held on 5/8/25.

Course Description: This workshop will explore intermediate to advanced Data Quality Assessment and Date Usability Evaluation (DQA/DUE) concepts. The DQA/DUE is a two-step process for evaluating the quality of analytical data to determine whether the data are of sufficient quality for the intended purpose. The first step in the process is the Data Quality Assessment (DQA), which consists of the identification and summary of QC non-conformances. The second step is a Data Usability Evaluation (DUE) to determine whether the data can be used to support the decisions that will be made using that data. Included in the workshop are case studies and a panel discussion to provide practical knowledge from environmental professionals on the various QA/QC issues encountered during projects. The case studies provide examples of how the DQA/DUE processes works for a laboratory data set when dealing with different conceptual site models.
Speakers: CT DEEP staff: Veronica “Roni” Tanguay and Kevin Vanderveer; Rebecca Merz, Phoenix Environmental Laboratories, Inc.; Jeffrey Smith, Complete Environmental Testing (CET); Christina Venable, LEP, Loureiro Engineering Associates, Inc.; and, Tina Clemmey, EnSafe Inc.

Correlation of Historic Lead Arsenate Use at Orchards and Modern Drinking Water Contamination- On Demand Course - 2 CT CECs (CTLEP-616 D) - $125
This program consists of a recorded webinar held on 4/29/25.
Course Description: Arsenic is a known carcinogen. In recent years, the occurrence of arsenic in Connecticut bedrock drinking water wells has become a widely reported issue. DHS has taken initiatives to inform private well owners about arsenic occurrence in groundwater in certain parts of the state. Although the source of arsenic in the bedrock groundwater in New England has been thought to be geogenic, no such definitive correlation has been established. In addition to the rocks possibly generating the arsenic contamination, it is also possible the arsenic comes from the wide use of lead arsenate pesticide on fruit tree between the 1890s and 1970s.
To evaluate the potential association between arsenic contamination and orchards, the presenters, in cooperation with the Connecticut Departments of Energy and Environmental Protection and Public Health, and local health officials conducted studies in Connecticut that entailed groundwater sampling of domestic wells and soil sampling on nearby orchards or former orchards. That study revealed that elevated levels of lead and arsenic are still present in soil at current or former orchard sites dating back to the period when lead arsenate was sprayed. They also found a statistically significant correlation between the groundwater contamination and location to nearby current or former orchard properties.
Speakers: Meredith Metcalf, Ph.D. and Gary Robbins, Ph.D.

Passive Gas Sampling Technology for Environmental Applications - On Demand Course - 2 CT CECs (CTLEP-612 D) - $125
This program consists of a recorded webinar held on 4/10/25.
Course Description: Passive gas sampling technology was developed in the mining industry in the 1940’s. The sampling technology as well as the supporting analytical chemistry has evolved significantly since the technology’s initial development. The current technology allows this method of in-situ gas sample collection to be effective in soil, water and air. The development of engineered adsorbents has expanded the range and efficiency of compounds that can effectively be collected by the passive gas sampling method. The application of this sampling technique provides accurate data for the assessment and potential mapping of contaminants for environmental site assessment work, remediation work and other applications. When applied to achieve unique project objectives, passive gas surveys can provide important information to inform remedial planning, post-remedial efficacy, environmental site assessment and environmental site monitoring.
Speakers: Michael Brophy and Ray Fenstermacher P.G., Amplified Geochemical Imaging, LLC

Environmental Use Restrictions (EURs): Process, Practical Tips, and Review of Five-year Inspection Requirements - On Demand Course - 2.5 CT CECs (CTLEP 615 D) - $175
This program consists of a recorded webinar held on 4/1/25.
Course Description: This course is designed to walk LEPs through the EUR process and the new five-year inspection requirements. In addition, a discussion will review the components of the EUR Submittal form used to request approval of an Environmental Use Restriction from the Connecticut DEEP. The emphasis will be on coordination and timing of creating, gathering and compiling the necessary materials, including avoidance of common mistakes and omissions.
Speakers: CT DEEP staff: Jade Barber, Jeff Brais, Joanna Burnham, and Doug Pelham, Cohn Birnbaum & Shea P.C.

Using Simplicity to Address Contaminant Problems Under Conditions of Uncertainty - On Demand Course - 4 CT CECs (CTLEP 524 D) - $250
This program consists of a recorded webinar held on 5/10/21. 
Course Description: Academic hydrogeologists, unconstrained by time, spend careers doing experiments, field studies, and mathematical exploration to discover new science and engineering and achieve a level of certainty they hope will be “beyond reasonable doubt.” In contrast, practicing hydrogeologists and engineers usually have to adhere to legal standards of proof, being “scientifically more likely than not.” Very detailed information on the subsurface usually is obtained at contaminant sources to be able to remove the most contaminant mass during remediation efforts. But farther away, the scientific certainty of fate, transport, and attenuation unaffected by engineering seldom achieves precision and accuracy better than factors to even an order of magnitude because of unknown subsurface heterogeneities, vertical flow, and aquifer properties.
Professionals attending this course will gain a better appreciation of the degree to which unknown heterogeneities influence engineering and regulatory decisions, and then be introduced to a comparatively simple hydraulic and then a geochemical technique to evaluate contaminant fate and transport and achieve essentially the same level of certainty as do more complicated methods such as complex numerical modeling using default parameters by necessity. 
Speaker: Dr. Donald I. Siegel. Partner, Independent Environmental Scientists (Manlius, NY); Emeritus Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor of Earth Sciences (Syracuse University, NY)

In Situ Remediation Monitoring Programs: Considerations and Design - On Demand Course - 4 CT CECs (CTLEP-504 D) - $250
This program consists of a recorded webinar held on 4/16/21.
Course Description: In situ remediation is used to treat numerous contaminants in soil and groundwater through the application of reagents and physio-chemical processes in the subsurface. The performance and effectiveness of in situ remediation technologies are assessed through monitoring of groundwater and other media. Often, monitoring programs are established based on existing well networks and industry rules of thumb. Development of monitoring programs needs to account for the type, scale, and longevity of the applied in situ remediation technology, as well as the conceptual site model. The objectives of this course are to review the effects that different in situ remediation technologies have on soil and groundwater and best practices for monitoring those effects.
The first part of this course will include a review of in situ remediation technologies and their physio-chemical effects on groundwater systems. The course will then present the concept of a zone of influence for in situ remediation, the influence of the conceptual site model on the zone of influence, and how groundwater geochemical conditions stabilize following an in situ remedy application. Then, design considerations for in situ remediation monitoring programs will be discussed. Several case studies will be presented to illustrate design concepts.
Course participants will learn how to design monitoring programs for in situ remediation that provide an adequate level of information to understand the effectiveness of the remedy, while providing the ability to address uncertainties of the subsurface. They will learn about the different stages and objectives of monitoring. Further, they will gain an understanding of the range of biogeochemical and physical effects that can occur during implementation of an in situ remedy. Design concepts will be reviewed. Participants will be provided with a framework for selection of design parameters. 
Instructors:

• Lucas Hellerich, PhD, PE, LEP, Woodard & Curran, Inc.
• Zackary Smith, LEP, Verdantas

Identification and Delineation of NAPL Source Term Using Laser Induced Fluorescence Screening Tools - On Demand Course - 4 CECs (CTLEP-482 D) - $250
This program consists of a recorded webinar held on 9/16/20. 
Course Description: Chlorinated solvents, petroleum, creosote, and coal tars are common contaminants at thousands of sites all over the world. These “source term” light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) and dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) contaminants are potent sources of dissolved phase contamination, making proper characterization of their subsurface architecture a keystone of long-term remediation success. Unfortunately, these NAPL bodies typically distribute themselves in a highly heterogeneous fashion, leaving investigators with little alternative to gathering large data sets to understand their architecture, making traditional sampling and analysis costs prohibitively high.
Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) is a cost-effective alternative to traditional sampling because it logs the NAPL continuously in the subsurface in real time. 250 to 450 feet/day production rates are typical, making high-resolution characterization of NAPL bodies possible in just a few days or a week or two.
While LIF offers numerous benefits, it’s critical that stakeholders understand LIF technology, what the LIF technology can and can’t tell them about their site, and how to avoid applying LIF to sites and conditions that can’t benefit from LIF. In addition, proper selection of LIF technologies is key to optimizing detection of your site’s particular NAPL and potential false positives that might be encountered.
The presenter, who is the lead developer of all LIF systems currently commercially available, will provide a brief summary of how each type of LIF system works, which LIF system to apply to which contaminant, what information LIF can provide, along with its limitations. Finally, no screening technology data set should be left “standing alone” without limited targeted validation of the NAPL site conceptual model that results from the investigation. Proper validation techniques and data interpretation using multiple lines of evidence will be discussed. 
Presenter: Randy St. Germain, Dakota Technologies, Inc.