Paul Nicholson (Ontario) is a Senior Environmental Engineer with over 15 years of experience assessing and mitigating human health risks associated with subsurface vapour intrusion. Paul is located in Canada but was in our Melbourne Office from 2016 to 2018 and has completed vapour intrusion projects throughout Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales. Paul brings a wealth of practical expertise from large investigations and mitigation projects in North America with an emphasis on the application of innovative solutions. As a senior member of Geosyntec’s world-renowned vapour intrusion practice, Paul has contributed to research and design projects funded by the United States Department of Defense; he applies these technologies to create cost-effective solutions for his clients. Paul played a key role in the development of Geosyntec’s High Volume Sampling (HVS) methods and modeling. HVS provides a more robust level of subsurface characterisation for vapour intrusion investigations at large buildings, as compared to traditional approaches, and can be used to optimise vapour mitigation systems. 

In addition, Paul has experience with in-situ remediation technologies including enhanced in-situ bioremediation, soil vapour extraction, multi-phase extraction, and sediment capping. 

SPECIALTIES

• Vapour Intrusion Investigation and Mitigation
• Remedial investigation
• In-situ Remediation Design and Implementation
• Remediation System Optimisation

SELECTED AUSTRALIAN PROJECT EXPERIENCE

Manufacturing Facility, Melbourne, Victoria. Project Manager for the implementation of an enhanced in-situ bioremediation program to treat chlorinated solvent impacts in groundwater. The project involved the delineation of an off-site plume, pilot trials involving emulsified vegetable oil (EVO) and EHC in-situ chemical reduction products. The full scale scope of work involved the design, installation and implementation of EVO injections within the active manufacturing facility and incorporated optimised planning to work around ongoing production schedules. Three sources areas and three plume areas were completed with ongoing performance monitoring to evaluate the success of the design and implementation.

Vapour Intrusion Mitigation Design, South Australia Environmental Protection Agency, Adelaide, South Australia. Design and construction of several crawlspace vapour mitigation systems at residential properties for the SA EPA. Developed unique designs for individual properties incorporating the innovate use of crawlspace venting rather than crawlspace depressurization. Crawlspace venting reduced the loss of conditioned air from residential houses which in-turn lowered the operating costs of the vapour mitigation system.

Aerated Floor Vapour Mitigation System Design, New South Wales. Designed a vapour mitigation system for a 10,000 m2 facility incorporating the use of Cupolex aerated floor systems. The Cupolex design reduced construction costs of the vapour mitigation system by almost 50% and the unique design included air inlet ventilation to enhance the biodegradation of potential methane vapours beneath the proposed building while mitigating the chlorinated solvent vapours.