In this webinar we are pleased to have a special guest presentation by Virginia (Ginny) Yingling, Senior Hydrogeologist in the Environmental Health Division of the Minnesota Department of Health. Ginny discusses PFAS contamination in Minnesota, including lessons learned from the state's investigation of a chemical production facility, contaminant fate and transport, and reducing exposure. She is joined by Kristen Thoreson, PhD, Director of Research and Development at REGENESIS.
Learn the following in this free webinar:
- State of Minnesota's investigation of an area of PFAS-contaminated groundwater that covers over 150 sq. miles
- Challenges faced by Minnesota Department of Health in communicating the risk of PFAS to the public
- Lessons learned, key aspects of unique PFAS fate & transport behavior observed, and successes in reducing exposures
- How to eliminate risk of PFAS via low-cost in situ remediation using colloidal activated carbon
The state of Minnesota began investigating PFAS in 2002 when PFOS and PFOA were first detected in monitoring and production wells at a chemical production facility in a suburb east of St. Paul. Subsequent investigations of the facility and three major off-site legacy waste disposal areas identified an area of contaminated groundwater that covers over 150 sq. miles and affects the drinking water sources (both public and private) of over 140,000 people. Throughout the course of the investigation, the state grappled with the challenges of risk communication in the midst of constantly evolving: analytical methods, toxicological information, understanding of PFAS sources, fate and transport, and remediation technologies. This talk will focus on the lessons learned, key aspects of unique PFAS fate & transport behavior observed, response to community concerns, and successes in reducing exposures.
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About the Presenters:
Ginny Yingling
Senior Hydrogeologist, Minnesota Department of Health Environmental Health Division
Ginny Yingling is a Senior Hydrogeologist in the Environmental Health Division of the Minnesota Department of Health. She works with a team of Health Risk Assessors to evaluate human exposures to harmful chemicals in drinking water related to man-made contaminated sites. Since 2003, she has been the agency’s lead investigator of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (or PFAS). She has a B.S. from Penn State, and a M.S. from the University of Wyoming, both in Geology, and has over 25 years of experience working on contaminated sites. Ginny is also the co-chair of the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council’s PFAS Team, a group of over 390 environmental professionals drawn from state and federal agencies, academia, industry, consulting, and public interest groups. The team has developed a series of seven fact sheets on PFAS, conducts PFAS training events, is developing a PFAS risk communication tool-box, and is preparing a detailed report on the current state of knowledge regarding PFAS.
Kristen Thoreson, PhD
Director of Research and Development, REGENESIS
Dr. Kristen Thoreson is the lead inventor of PlumeStop® Liquid Activated Carbon™. She heads the chemical research and product development program at REGENESIS. Her team is focused on developing advanced technologies for the treatment of recalcitrant compounds in mixed environmental media. She is trained as a chemist, and her graduate and post-doctorate research focused on mechanistic investigations of chlorinated ethene degradation pathways using molecular models and compound specific isotope analysis (CSIA) for both biotic and abiotic systems. She obtained her BSc in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, and her PhD in inorganic chemistry from the University of Minnesota. She also spent time as a postdoctoral associate at the Helmholtz Zentrum in Munich, Germany as a part of the Research Unit for Environmental Organic Isotope Chemistry.