The Wire - Fall 2022

News from SWCA Environmental Consultants Volume 22, Number 2 | 2022

FOCUS: North Star

Joseph J. Fluder, III, CEO

What’s your North Star? I reflect on this question often, especially during this season of wrapping up the current year and looking ahead to the next. We all approach the question differently –with a focus on our business plans, the broader community, our people, the planet, or likely some combination thereof. In this issue of The Wire, SWCA’s North Star takes many forms. Our cover story speaks to how we can prepare our coastal communities for a changing climate. We partnered with four coastal communities in North Carolina to facilitate a risk and vulnerability assessment, engage residents, and identify and prioritize potential resilience projects to safeguard their towns. Learn more about our adaptation planning approach in “Where the Water Goes: Planning Resilient Coastal Communities in North Carolina”, page 4.

We answer the call to advance sustainable conservation by having meaningful conversations with Tribal communities to understand and respect Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge and incorporate it into land management practices (“A Plant by Any Other Name”, page 10).

Uncover the layers of value provided by growing pollinatorfriendly vegetation on solar farms – for the environment, the local community, and the developer’s bottom line (“The Perks of Pollinators: How Natural Habitat is Heating Up in the Solar Industry”, page 14).

Visioning is not only a practice best applied to preserving and enhancing our current state, but also recognizing where we may need to alleviate our impact. We recently sat down with Dr. Jeff Wakefield to learn more about strategic environmental spill response management, natural resource economics, and Natural Resource Damage Assessments (NRDA) (“The Economics of Disaster”, page 22).

And if you’re navigating your company’s sustainability strategy for next year, we share key takeaways and lessons learned from reducing and eliminating certain single-use plastics across our offices nationwide (“SWCA’s Key Takeaways for Reducing SingleUse Plastics in Offices”, page 26).

I look forward to hearing from you about your own North Star, whether it’s for your organization, your community, or the planet.

WHERE THE WATER GOES Planning Resilient Coastal Communities in North Carolina

North Carolina’s Coastal Plain region features low, flat land and wetlands.

Shaped by rivers, sounds, and the Atlantic Ocean, the coastal regions of North Carolina offer thousands of miles of scenic waterfront. Yet, due to the increasing impacts of climate change, these very waterways threaten the livelihood of a coastline dotted with historic towns and millions of residents. Coastal communities are facing intensifying storms, rising sea levels, and high flood risk.

Twenty-six communities (shown here) along North Carolina's coast participated in the first phase of the N.C. Resilient Coastal Communities Program. SWCA worked with four of those communities including Bertie County, the town of Windsor, Hertford County, and the town of Hertford.

PROACTIVE HAZARD MITIGATION ALONG THE NORTH CAROLINA SHORELINE

North Carolina launched its N.C. Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP) in 2021 as a framework for counties and municipalities to prepare for coastal hazards through technical and financial support. The program equips local governments with the tools necessary to set goals, assess vulnerabilities, prioritize projects, and apply for funding.

Twenty-six commmunities participated in the first phase of the program and were provided technical assistance and grant process guidance. The North Carolina Division of Coastal Management paired SWCA with four communities in the northeastern part of the state: Bertie County, the town of Windsor, Hertford County, and the town of Hertford.

COASTAL HAZARD AND COMMUNITY ASSET MAPS WERE DEVELOPED FOR EACH LOCALITY

Areas exposed to sea level rise (shown in blue) 1

Flood hazard areas (shown in pink) 2

Historic storm inundation (shown in stripes) 3

DIVERSIFIED STRATEGIES

Over eight months, SWCA provided technical assistance to each community to facilitate a risk and vulnerability assessment, complete a community engagement process, and then develop a resilience project portfolio that is proactive, equitable, and sustainable.

There’s no one right answer to climate adaptation. Diversification of each community’s project portfolio allows plans to address a wide variety of concerns: human safety, infrastructure updates, local economic health, and environmental conservation.

The high priorities among these four communities are largely focused on improving water drainage and flood safety, due to flat land and proximity to sea level. Built-environment projects include a variety of infrastructure retrofits in flood-prone areas, riverfront retaining walls, emergency shelters, and water management and maintenance plans.

Nature-based resilience projects reduce flood risk by putting flood-prone lands into conservation and restoring natural floodplain and channel designs, giving water places to go that have less impact on communities. The communities also chose follow-up studies such as land use mapping, feasibility research, and hydrologic watershed assessment, as well as strengthening communication with residents about flooding.

Bertie County, North Carolina

When the size of a natural floodplain is reduced, its capacity for water storage reduces, too.

DECISIONS

MADE WITH LOCAL KNOWLEDGE AND ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION

SWCA’s team of natural resources and geospatial experts assessed risk and vulnerability by mapping hazards against existing infrastructure, analyzing climate data, and identifying areas where resilience could be improved in alignment with existing coastal plans. SWCA partnered with Punchard Consulting and a graduate student at UNC City and Regional Planning to support the risk and vulnerability assessment.

Government staff, residents, and Community Action Teams collaborated with us to document stories about flooding, pinpoint at-risk areas, and share feedback on potential projects through in-person and virtual public involvement meetings facilitated by SWCA.

Next, our environmental planning team led each community in identifying a suite of potential projects, prioritizing options, and selecting the most crucial projects to implement in the near term.

The program empowers local governments to have project plans identified, and competitive supporting data to make a strong case when applying for grants from federal programs and other sources. For more information, please contact Meg Perry

Wetlands hold water from storm events and help reduce flood impacts.

Marking community assets (yellow) and areas of flooding (blue) against a sea level rise and flood zone map during a public meeting in the town of Hertford, North Carolina.

Watch the video to learn more on how SWCA partners with clients to build a more climate-resilient future.

A winter view of the Perquimans River which flows past the town of Hertford in northeastern North Carolina.

“We are hopeful about the possibilities that this program opens up for communities to think long term and go after transformative funding.”

– Meg Perry, an environmental planner and project manager at SWCA

Bald cypresses (Taxodium distichum) absorb floodwater, prevent erosion, and filter out pollutants in North Carolina’s coastal areas.

Anne Cabrera, Director of Climate Driven

Services highlights,

“We help communities approach their adaptation options holistically, incorporating elements such as ecological restoration and nature-based engineering solutions. This broader perspective on the potential solutions to mitigating hazards is a benefit to people and the larger environment."

A PLANT BY ANY OTHER NAME

BACKGROUND

recommendations

Although the 2004 Power Fire in Northern California’s Eldorado National Forest occurred nearly two decades ago, recent grant funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation provided an opportunity to restore the area’s ecology and strengthen partnerships between Native American communities and the U.S. Forest Service.

Spurred by long-standing consultation between local Native American Tribes and the Eldorado National Forest, in late 2019 the nonprofit organization American Conservation Experience selected SWCA as the environmental agency to partner with local Native American Tribes and the Forest Service on a conservation project using this funding.

SWCA worked with representatives from the Ione Band of Miwok Indians, the Jackson Band of Miwuk Indians, and the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California to create a digital database and field guide identifying native plants of Indigenous significance and to target restoration areas in the forest’s 17,000 acres of burn scar.

Plants are critical for all aspects of life, providing food, medicine, building materials, tools, and—for Native American communities—ceremonial functions. The native plant field guide provides locations and descriptions of these significant plants along with other information that will help the Forest Service improve forest management practices. The guide also serves as an important practical teaching tool for Tribal communities who want to preserve their Indigenous knowledge for future generations.

“Native cultures are inextricably linked to the habitats and plants in the areas where they reside,” said SWCA Lead Anthropologist Suzanne Griset. “A critical part of sustainable conservation is to better connect with Tribal communities to understand and respect Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge and incorporate it into land management practices.”

SWCA partners with Native American Tribal communities, the Eldorado National Forest, and American Conservation Experience to create a native plant field guide and  provide restoration

CREATING THE GUIDE

SWCA and Forest Service staff met with Tribal representatives—Rollie Fillmore, Cultural Representative of the Jackson Band of Miwuk Indians; Darrel Cruz, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer/Cultural Resources Office Director of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California; and cultural representatives from the Ione Band of Miwok Indians—to learn about the plants that are significant to them and how they can be best managed to flourish.

Over the course of multiple meetings, the group compiled the significant indigenous and botanical information needed to produce the native plant field guide.

In such an ecologically diverse area, the original list of plants likely to occur within the burn scar included over 500 species. After several months of discussion and knowledge sharing—and a great deal of translation between scientific names, common names, and traditional Tribal names—the team pared down the list to 79 culturally significant plant species to record within the burn scar.

“Native cultures are inextricably linked to the habitats and plants in the areas where they reside.”

“One of the first project lessons was learning how to communicate with each other about the same plants with differing names and groupings for each Tribe, for botanists, and for anthropologists,” Griset noted. “We all have different plant classification systems that are based on different principles.”

Interns from American Conservation Experience then completed pedestrian surveys under the guidance of SWCA’s team to photograph and collect locational data for these significant plants to be used in the guide and in GIS analysis.

Using these data and information from the Tribes, the team prioritized potential restoration and traditional gathering areas and created the plant guide. The guide contains plant descriptions, Native American use categories, and locations and images for each plant species. The data are also maintained in a digital database that each Tribe can access independently to maintain for their purposes.

“It was important to the Tribal groups to capture the information completely and accurately in a digital format to preserve their Indigenous knowledge and pass it on to younger generations in a way that they will connect with,” Griset said.

Additionally, a printed plant guide with general locations, descriptions, and images of each plant species will be available to Forest Service staff to help them identify and manage these important plants in the field.

“This project further improves the avenue for traditional ecological knowledge to be meaningfully included in forest management decisions. It has been a very rewarding experience to create strong relationships with the Tribal representatives and help create such a purposeful resource,” Griset said.

“A critical part of sustainable conservation is to better connect with Tribal communities to understand and respect Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge and incorporate it into land management practices.”

NEXT STEPS

The Eldorado National Forest and local volunteer organizations can now improve the resource management of these priority plant species and restoration areas by implementing existing and planned conservation initiatives, restoration projects, and public education outreach programs.

Potential efforts include:

• identifying areas that could benefit from planting native seeds,

• removing invasive species,

• controlling erosion, and

• balancing other stakeholder uses that may harm native plants.

A scaled-down version of the plant guide in the form of a small brochure will be available to the public to increase awareness of the sensitivity and importance of traditional plants.

“It has been a great pleasure to work with my SWCA colleagues and our partners—the Tribal representatives, the Forest Service staff, and American Conservation Experience,” shared SWCA Project Manager Aaron Elzinga. “Above all, it was an honor to have been entrusted with the Tribes’ special knowledge and contribute to something that can be used as a practical and educational tool by both the Tribes and the Forest.” For more information, please contact Aaron Elzinga

THE PERKS OF POLLINATORS

How Natural Habitat is Heating Up in the Solar Industry

California poppy flowers (Eschscholzia californica) thrive beneath solar panels.

UTILITY-SCALE SOLAR PROJECTS BENEFIT FROM POLLINATOR -FRIENDLY VEGETATION

“Our clients recognize that it’s becoming the norm to operate more sustainably and add layers of value to their developments,” comments April Montgomery, SWCA's National Client Services Director of Power Generation. “Utilityscale solar projects and native pollinator vegetation pose a unique opportunity: using nature-based solutions to add value to our clients’ long-term bottom line, the communities they operate in, and the environment.”

Deep Roots Make Excellent Solar Development Ground Covers

Native plants are inherently the best adapted to a project area’s soil and site conditions, and most pollinator varieties provide more robust root structures compared to agricultural crops and turf grasses. The natural resilience of deep roots can open the door to a wide array of benefits for solar developers, helping to maximize a project’s generating capacity while minimizing impacts on the local community and environment.

Federally Endangered Smith's Blue Butterfly

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Can Utility-Scale Developers Cut Costs with Pollinator-Friendly Solar?

Purposeful management of vegetation and soil is cost effective for developers over the long term. SWCA estimates that the operation and maintenance of pollinator vegetation is 80% to 90% less expensive than turf over ten years for utility-scale developments.

Once established, robust root systems keep costs low. Established native vegetation and extensive root systems help prevent runoff and soil erosion, outcompete weeds and invasive species, retain more water, need mowing only once a year, and require no fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, or aeration. Herbicides are used only for spot treatments as the vegetation takes hold.

BENEFITS of NATIVE GRASSES AND WILDFLOWERS include

Dense vegetation creates a layer of shade on the ground, absorbs latent heat, and promotes lower ambient air temperature through transpiration as a part of photosynthesis. This cooler, moderated microclimate can improve the energy production efficiency of solar panels.

Furthermore, developers can get ahead of future requirements such as pollinator scorecards, laws regarding invasive plants and fire risks, and potential monetary incentives for supporting pollinators.

• Reduces soil erosion

• Increases soil organic matter

• Creates habitat for bees and butterflies to forage

• Increases pollination for nearby crops

• Enhances on-site water management

• Reduces maintenance and mowing

• Builds healthy topsoil

• Develops stronger resistance to weeds

Acmon blue butterfly (Icaricia acmon) on chamise shrub (Adenostoma fasciculatum) near the site of a utility substation project in California.

It’s never too soon to start restoration – planting woody vegetation next to active construction at a solar site.

“Designed and implemented well, the incorporation of native pollinator vegetation into a project enables our clients and partners to capitalize on lower costs for operations and maintenance over the long term, increase production efficiency, and reduce risks on their clean energy developments.”

Tony Somers, an SWCA Landscape Architect specializing in energy development landscapes

Wildflowers bloom at a solar farm in Minnesota.

Bigelow coreopsis (Coreopsis bigelovii) at a proposed solar project site in California.

A hummingbird feeds from a Turk’s-cap lily flower (Lilium superbum) in Texas.

Dun skipper butterflies (Euphyes vestris) and small beetles feed on a common buttonbush flower (Cephalanthus occidentalis).

Fritillary butterfly (Speyeria sp.) on rabbitbrush shrub (Chrysothamnus sp.), a plant that establishes easily in Nevada’s dry conditions.

A leafcutter bee (Megachile sp.) pollinating a sego lily (Calochortus nutallii).

Do Local Communities Benefit from Pollinator-Friendly Solar?

Cross pollination contributes to stronger crops in the surrounding farmland, and the vegetation on-site can financially support farmers by improving soil health while solar companies are leasing their land. The native vegetation suppresses dust from the site and consumes less of the community’s valuable water resources while producing less chemical pollution.

Communicating the benefits of pollinator-friendly solar will often correlate with better public perception, smooth permitting, and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) opportunities for the developers.

When the solar arrays are decommissioned, farmers and communities might reclaim the land and choose what they’d like to do with the healthier, transformed landscape: return it to agriculture, turn it into a public natural area, or pursue other opportunities.

Developers can build local relationships and invite others to benefit from the land by partnering with universities or nonprofits involved in pollinator research.

How is Pollinator-Friendly Solar Productive for the Environment?

Reintroducing natural ecological components to soil suffering from degradation brings the soil-forming, nutrient-cycling processes back to life. Deep roots break up soil that’s hardened over the years, recharge groundwater, and improve soil carbon sequestration. The surface vegetation slows runoff, allowing plants to decompose on the site, which, in turn, creates more topsoil.

These projects can help restore natural ecosystem services to the site and surrounding ecology. Overall water quality is healthier when vegetation at the project site is managed as nature intended because chemical treatments that can pollute the water are no longer needed. Greater flora biodiversity releases more oxygen, supports pollinator habitat, and promotes cross-pollination for the surrounding ecosystem. Solar panels are damage-proof to small animals who may visit the field to forage.

Wildflowers under solar panels in Massachusetts.

SWCA surveys for rare plants among Bigelow coreopsis flowers (Coreopsis bigelovii) at the Raceway Solar project site in California.

What Are Some of the Challenges When Implementing Pollinator Planting?

“No doubt it takes time, up-front investment, and collaboration among parties to successfully plan and implement this type of revegetation project,” mentions Davy Crawley, SWCA’s Pensacola, Florida, Office Director who specializes in project management, siting, design, permitting, and construction compliance for energy development clients.

Hurdles for developers include familiarizing their teams and their engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractors, teaching the concepts to stakeholders, carefully analyzing site conditions, and planning site-specific vegetation and maintenance.

Despite the learning curve and investment in the beginning, the benefits of pollinator-friendly solar for developers go far beyond checking a compliance box. These concepts are rooted in sound science and accompanied by the payoff realized with solutionforward business strategies.

DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING POLLINATOR REVEGETATION IN VARYING ECOREGIONS

“Rule number one: we need to take care of the soil, especially the topsoil,” emphasizes Nate Wojcik, SWCA’s Principal Restoration Ecologist. “We focus on the natural underlying ecology, and we can incorporate soil handling practices, revegetation and maintenance actions, development of the seed mixtures, landscape architecture, project life cycle, and strategies to implement the plan to success.”

For revegetation plans tailored to pollinators, we consider which pollinators to encourage and their natural social behaviors (such as bees following their queen), assess the existing habitat and how it has been impacted, and build pollinator function into the seed mix and site design.

For solar projects, the plants’ height in all phases of the growth cycle must be under 24 inches to avoid blocking the solar panels or posing a fire risk to the panels and site.

Pollinator seed mixes (also called a planting palette or seed matrix) must include different varieties of flora, each serving a purpose. “We plan a mosaic of vegetation that is well adapted to the site conditions and provides practical benefits for the pollinator species supported by the project. These benefits can include providing nectar, host plants, refuge, and wind breaks,” comments Sharif Durzi, an SWCA Project Manager and pollinator-minded biologist.

SWCA inspects for stormwater compliance at a Massachusetts solar array.

Watch our pollinator-friendly solar video to learn more. Dakota skipper butterflies (Hesperia dacotae) collect nectar from a pink coneflower (Echinacea purpurea).

Creating a Suitable Pollinator Habitat by Using the Concepts of Successional Ecology

The ecology in an area naturally changes over time in the process of ecological succession. We apply the concepts of successional ecology when developing soil and vegetation management plans for pollinator-friendly solar.

1. Annuals with shallow roots begin to break up the soil and can be driven over during construction.

2. After construction, flowering plants are selected to bloom in the early, mid, and late seasons, flowering annuals take hold quickly, and grasses and other vegetation provide ground cover.

3. A different seed mix with trees and bushes is planted in certain locations to break the wind and mitigate the visual impacts of the development.

4. Deep-rooted, hardy, perennial vegetation takes hold within 2-3 years, reclaims the soil, combats annual weeds, and provides nectar from flowers.

“We sit down with our client, the landowner, and the construction contractor to create soil and vegetation management strategies with drawings, standard operating procedures, and open discussions about how the practices bring value back into the ecosystem — and how we can best work together to bring the plan to life,” details Ryan Rupprecht, an SWCA Senior Project Manager specializing in siting, permitting, and resources studies for renewables.

Regional Resources Considerations and Challenges for Successful Pollinator Vegetation

The American West and Mountain regions are challenged by wildfire, water scarcity, arid deserts, and lack of topsoil, but many regions have space for projects.

The Northeast and Midwest have natural water resources, a variety of native vegetation, and generally have requirements for vegetative screening to reduce visual impacts.

The Southeast has plenty of water, long growing seasons, varying topography, fire risks, and, in some regions, sandy soils that don’t retain water well.

Eager to learn more about your region’s pollinators and their favorite native plants? Download our Pollinator Guides!

Evaluating soil type for a solar permitting project in Massachusetts.

Soil testing.

What’s Next for Pollinator-Friendly Solar?

As pollinator populations are in distress worldwide due to habitat loss and climate change, SWCA recognizes that pollinator planting in tandem with utility-scale solar is one of many solutions for pollinators. On behalf of our clients, we will be watching for more standard definitions on the requirements of successful pollinator-friendly solar.

SWCA has been providing soil and vegetation management planning services to clients in the renewable energy generation, oil and gas, transmission, land development, and ecological restoration sectors for 22 years, allowing us to refine innovative methods for customized vegetation management plans, especially those tailored to benefit wildlife within a project area while minimizing operational management efforts.

Reach out to April Montgomery to learn more about solar pollinator planting in practice.

Wildflower bloom in California.

The pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus) pollinates plants along their routes to catch insects in the Mojave Desert.

Wildflowers seen during a solar project in Massachusetts.

Field of wildflowers in Texas.

THE ECONOMICS OF DISASTER

With SWCA's growth this year, we now bring a wealth of expertise in Natural Resource Damage Assessments, natural resource economics, and strategic environmental spill response management to our clients across the country.

We sat down recently with Dr. Jeff Wakefield, a Natural Resources Technical Director in our Philadelphia office, to learn more about this growing sector and what it means for SWCA’s clients.

Before: NRDA Caillou Lake Headlands Project before restoration

Wire: Dr. Wakefield, what is NRDA?

Dr. Wakefield

NRDA stands for Natural Resource Damage Assessment, which is a legal process built around two laws: the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA). While the process can be complex, the idea is simple. Suppose there’s an oil spill, and it takes three months to clean up an oiled shoreline. Then it’s another 21 months before all the ecological functions of that shoreline return to normal. That’s a 24-month period when the shoreline is not providing the services it should. The company responsible for the spill might compensate for those lost services by restoring a nearby shoreline that has been adversely changed by erosion. The NRDA process identifies the right amount of restoration: not too much, not too little.

Wire: Is the NRDA process different from the emergency response?

Dr. Wakefield Yes, it is. Although SWCA staff are often involved in both phases, the initial response and the assessment that follows are two different challenges. Many state and federal agencies and jurisdictions are often involved in an emergency response. Think of a storage tank leaking oil into the ocean: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration becomes involved due to the impact on the ocean; the National Park Service becomes involved if the oil washes onto a national seashore; and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state wildlife agencies may become involved if birds walk through the oil on the shoreline.

In a case like this, a standard framework (the incident command system) ensures that everyone supporting an emergency response is rowing in the same direction. Within this system, there is a group focused on the environmental impact and responsible for designing and implementing programs that gather environmental data and use those data to help develop response strategies. That’s where our team fits in.

At the same time—and sometimes continuing for years after—there is a NRDA process going on. Most of our work in this area does not occur in a courtroom and there are no judges. It is groups of scientists and economists working to a) understand what actually happened during and after the oil spill and b) determine the amount of ecological restoration that would compensate for the ecological losses.

Wire: How do you gather accurate data for restoration and compensation?

Dr. Wakefield Spills can happen in the blink of an eye, and you wouldn’t believe how fast the response process comes to life. Our experts are most effective when they arrive early in the emergency response process; it is much easier to start the response on the right foot than to try and overcome data challenges later. SWCA response teams work to collect the observations needed to conduct a NRDA later and do so in a way that will stand up in court if need be. It is critical to capture all the necessary information at this phase of the response before ephemeral data like the extent of an oil spill or the number of species impacted is lost or forgotten.

As I mentioned, the NRDA process typically starts in tandem with the emergency response, but it really ramps up as the emergency response part winds down, sometimes weeks, months, or even years after an incident. Our role is to arrive as early in the emergency response process as possible and collect the information that will likely be critical to the NRDA once the assessment begins. This way our clients are not left trying to piece together information from a halfwritten report or recollection.

When we have good data to rely on, it’s usually easy to work together with agency scientists to efficiently reach logical conclusions. When we don’t have that information, it is much more difficult. Either way, once we are engaged, we stick with our clients throughout the entire process.

SWCA, as a subconsultant to Coastal Engineering and Consultants, performed on-site inspection services for the entire Caillou Lake Headlands (Whiskey Island) Restoration Project in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. Funded by a disaster response settlement, the project is one of the largest coastal restoration projects in Louisiana’s history. Whiskey Island is part of a chain of barrier islands that are the front-line protection against coastal erosion but faces a great amount of erosion itself. The team constructed 600 to 800 feet of beach, which includes a back beach, dune, and front beach, and constructed approximately 500 feet of marsh area on the western end of the island.

After: NRDA Caillou Lake Headlands Project after restoration

After Before

Wire: Collecting data from large tracts of land sounds time consuming.

Do you use technology to help in the collection?

Dr. Wakefield

Yes, all the time. Let’s use wetlands as an example. One question that often comes up in Oil Pollution Act NRDAs is how the spill affected wetlands. That is a very difficult question to answer if hundreds of wetland acres may have been affected and yet the information you have comes from only a handful of 1-square-meter study sites. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, our clients spent a lot of money adding 1-square-meter study sites so that NRDA participants would not need to spend a lot of time disagreeing about what happened in the unsampled areas.

We don’t collect as much data from 1-square-meter study sites today, but, because we can supplement those data with high-resolution drone and satellite imagery, our results are much more reliable. This not only reduces the cost of the study but also reduces the level of effort needed to interpret the data and the amount of restoration required to cover uncertainty. Trusting the science and using it to find a path forward are the best ways to reach a fair outcome in the end.

Wire: What still surprises you about your work?

Dr. Wakefield Honestly, there’s not much that surprises our team when it comes to spills and incident response anymore. It reminds me of that insurance commercial, “We know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two.” We have been working together as a team for more than two decades, which is not something you find often in this field. Our team includes ecotoxicologists, economists, biologists, ecologists, and other specialists. Together, we have north of 200 years of combined experience planning for, responding to, and assessing the environmental impacts of humanmade and natural disasters. In fact, our team members have been directly involved in more than a quarter of all NRDAs completed under the Oil Pollution Act since the law was established in 1990.

But if I had to pick one thing that still surprises me, I think it’s our team’s ability to find order in what appears to be chaos. When we can help a client manage their NRDA liability because we had the foresight to collect the right information at the right time, it’s a great feeling to have a client tell you, “I guess you earned your keep.”

Wire: You have been at this for a long time. What has kept you in this field throughout your career?

Dr. Wakefield It comes down to two things: good questions and a great team.

When I first started in this line of work, someone said NRDA stands for “Not Really Doable Anyway,” referring to the number of difficult questions and roadblocks. Over the years, we have developed data collection and analysis methods that let us answer many of those questions with a reasonable degree of certainty. We are still working on some of the tougher questions, but the process requires us to be always learning.

I’ll also say that by working closely with the same team for this long, you really get to know people. And trust them! We’re all here because we care about the environment, and we want to find the right solutions for everyone involved.

For more information about SWCA’s NRDA and spill response services, please contact Dr. Jeff Wakefield

SWCA’s Key Takeaways for Reducing Single-Use Plastics in Offices

As more companies work to decrease their carbon footprint, many are finding that reducing or eliminating single-use plastics can be an important part of an “all-of-the-above” approach to sustainability. SWCA decided to eliminate single-use plastic cups, plates, utensils, and disposable water bottles in all our offices nationwide, which was a key step in reducing our consumption of nonrenewable resources. If your company is navigating its own sustainability path, we’d like to share a few key takeaways, valuable lessons, and tips for success we learned through our own process of reducing single-use plastics.

1

Earn BUY-IN from local staff

Affecting change at the organizational level can be challenging, but it isn’t impossible. Buy-in from company leadership is one of the first steps, but it doesn’t stop there. You also need support throughout your company structure. Talk to your people and determine who will be responsible for implementing these changes at the local level. For example, you may have an administrator who is the purchaser for each office. Without their support, you might struggle to build momentum.

AUDIT your current processes 2

Take a close look at your current purchasing habits. You need to know what items your company uses before you can determine what needs to be replaced with a more sustainable alternative. You may find that the items targeted for replacement differ from office to office or group to group; be flexible in your recommendations. Also, take note of existing stock and use up these materials during your transition.

Do the LEG WORK 3

Set your teams up for success by providing them with the resources needed to make the transition smoother. Don’t put your foot down that there will be no more plastic utensils, and then simply hope for the best at the next office potluck. Do the research, find sustainable alternatives at comparable price points, and be prepared to discuss some realistic options. This isn’t a test for individual offices to solve on their own. Help take the guesswork out of the equation and provide them with some thoughtful and considered ideas.

LOGISTICS are important 4

Companywide or office-wide purchasing is more feasible when everything you need can be accessed in one place. Assess your existing vendors and distributors to see if they align with your new path for purchasing. Remember: sustainability is much more than the types of items you purchase. Take the time to thoroughly research your vendor’s materials, ethical sourcing, and sustainable business practices. At SWCA, we found bamboo to be an excellent replacement for some of the plastic items we used, so we searched for a source where we could purchase them regularly.

MANY HANDS make light work 5

It takes a village recruit a team of excited and passionate ambassadors to create and communicate the new change throughout your company. SWCA’s Green Team Network and Environmental Sustain ability Committee played pivotal roles in significantly reducing our plastic consumption nationwide.

Help people understand the WHY 6

When people better understand the motivation behind a major change, they are less likely to resist it. Explain how this small step connects to the bigger picture and your companywide goals. It’s not only about using a plastic spoon in a small office; it’s about the much bigger cumulative effect your organization has on the environment and its role in protecting the planet.

LESSONS LEARNED

Persistence is key

SWCA is fortunate to have several factors supporting this change, including a significant interest from top company leadership. Even so, this program requires all offices to participate over the long term, and its success rests on concerted efforts at the local office level, follow-ups to accommodate busy schedules, and individual discussions about the specifics of each office’s strategy.

Make the business case for sustainability

Be prepared to justify why the transition to sustainability practices is a sound business decision for your company. Sustainability can sometimes take a back seat to profits and projects, so bring hard data and your A-game when presenting to leadership.

Progress over perfection

This program is a balancing act between the needs of the environment and the needs of our company. At SWCA, we held no expectations of perfection during the program’s rollout, and we knew we’d have to make some compromises. Substantial changes often happen one step at a time, so focus on the incremental gains toward your bigger sustainability goals.

See our 2021 ESG Report to learn more about sustainability at SWCA.

For more information, please contact Eileen Fagan.

PARTING SHOT

Coastal floodplains are a barrier of protection for communities. Read more in “Where the Water Goes: Planning Resilient Coastal Communities in North Carolina”, page 4.

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