From intern to project manager on our environmental risk and remediation team, Chase Farnsworth has over a decade of experience in the environmental consulting industry. Our team of professionals offers experience and regulatory knowledge about potential assets and liabilities on any site, developed or undeveloped.
In his day-to-day tasks, Chase takes on the crucial role of conducting in-depth Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs), meticulously crafting Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) plans, and skillfully preparing NEPA documentation for a diverse range of local, state, and federal agencies.
I recently caught up with Chase to learn more about his work, his projects, and his team!
What do you enjoy about working with the environmental risk and remediation team?
The beauty of our team’s work is we get to touch projects across the firm. We are typically some of the first boots on the ground for site assessments and sampling activities on residential housing projects that may not be constructed for several years, while we also and often get to guide complex sites with contamination or hazardous materials from start to finish. Whether it is a Phase I ESA, Phase II ESA, NEPA federal/state level assessment, storage tank removal, or remediation monitoring, every day is different.
What excites you about the work you do?
The variety, the different stakeholders, and the general goal of helping the environment are what excite me. Over my ten years at Timmons, my group has worked across the country, which comes with something new every time. It’s really hard to get in a rut — the complexity and ever-changing nature keep me on my toes and striving to do my best work.
What’s your favorite or most memorable project you’ve worked on and why?
Favorite and most memorable are two very different things when it comes to the environmental risk and remediation team and some of the sites we encounter! Two projects jump to mind for me: the Martinsville Golf Course Solar site and the Stone Brewing site.
The Martinsville Golf Course Solar site was a former country club golf course surrounded by a former DuPont plant in Henry County, Virginia. The DuPont plant has a long history of contamination as a former EPA Superfund site and was overseen by the Department of Environmental Quality. We conducted several Phase I ESAs and a Phase II ESA, including soil and groundwater sampling, to assess the risk for our client and their proposed future use. Our group leader, John Russell, assessed the main plant site prior to this, so Timmons has had a large hand in the assessment, development, and reuse of the site. The plant site is a new jail, and the golf course is a large solar farm, which was featured by our client at the Virginia Brownfields Conference this past summer.
Another project I must mention is the Stone Brewing site in Richmond. Our group worked with the City to acquire state brownfield funding to help prep the site for future use. Before any beer was poured, John and I conducted soil, groundwater, and vapor sampling where the main brewery structure now sits. The memorable part was the freezing rain coming sideways and the wind attempting to blow us away. I will never forget how “fun” that day was, but we got what we needed, and the results are there for everyone to see.
What advice would you give someone interested in this field?
Find your niche, wherever it is, and make it your own. I was lucky enough to land at Timmons as an intern when I was in college, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the ride. I’m very much looking forward to what’s next for me and my awesome group!
Learn more about our environmental risk and remediation team and the services they offer here or contact Chase Farnsworth at Chase.Farnsworth@timmons.com for more information.
