Kathryn Sommo

Ms. Sommo is a Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC), ISA Arborist, Certified Wetland Delineator, and Certified Senior Ecologist with over twenty years of experience in environmental compliance including: site assessment (surface water, groundwater, soil, and sediment investigations), habitat restoration design, construction oversight, wetland delineation and assessment, wetland permitting, stream bank stabilization, stormwater treatment wetlands, and tree inventories. Ms. Sommo specializes in wetlands regulatory evaluation, remediation, sediment disposal/reuse management, restoration, and monitoring. Ms. Sommo has been responsible for coordinating the preparation of Biological Assessments for NOAA and USFWS review, Essential Fish Habitat Assessments, Mitigation Plans, investigation workplans, reporting and remedial action work plans, Dredge Management Plans, and Beneficial Use Determination applications for sediments and waste characterization. She holds a BS in Fishery Biology from Colorado State University. She is currently a Technical Director for Roux (2002-present).

• White Island Grassland Mitigation and Shoreline Stabilization Project, NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, Brooklyn, NY. Project Manager for a maritime grassland mitigation project on a 70‐acre island that was a former municipal landfill. An inventory of the island vegetation was completed as well as soil, sediment, and surface water sample analysis to fully characterize the nature and depth to the landfill waste. Mitigation activities included the installation of 150,000 CY of sand across the island surface to create a planting substrate free of invasive species for the colonization of a variety of warm‐season grasses to attract ground nesting shorebirds. Slope stabilization techniques included a mixture of conventional (armor stone) and bioengineered solutions (articulated concrete block and cellular confinement systems) across 1.5 miles of shoreline.
• East River Inlet Waterfront Development, Private Developer, NYC Harbor Area, NY. Project Manager for benthic community evaluation for waterfront redevelopment site located within an inlet of the East River and Greater NYC Harbor Area. Completed benthic, sediment, and surface water sampling to evaluate the effects of the contaminated sediment on the benthic community. Work performed in support of the wetland mitigation for tidal wetlands permit approval. Mitigation elements included creation of tidal marshes, provision of benthic habitat structures, and the partial removal of a bulkhead to provide public access to the created water feature.
• Subsurface Stormwater Treatment Wetland, Longfellow Bridge, MA. Wetland Specialist for Subsurface Stormwater Treatment Wetlands (SSTW) systems installed to capture and treat stormwater runoff from the MassDOT Longfellow Bridge rehabilitation project. The SSTWs were installed in both Cambridge and Boston, Massachusetts. The project components included SSTW design review, planting recommendations, construction oversight, documentation, and vegetation monitoring.
• Sediment Remediation, Former Petroleum Bulk Storage Facility, Staten Island, NY. Project Manager for sediment investigation, remediation, and wetland restoration project for a 440-acre former Major Oil Storage Facility containing approximately 95 acres of tidal and freshwater wetlands. As part of a Consent Order between the client and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), Roux developed and implemented a remedial design that minimized impacts to the wetlands while ensuring the protection of human health, wildlife, and the surrounding environment. The remedial design included excavation and off-site disposal of 21,000 CY of sediment over 10 acres of wetlands. Regulatory closure of the wetland restoration was achieved within two years of monitoring.
• New York State Brownfield Cleanup Program (NYSBCP), Various Sites, NY. Project Manager for the for various brownfield sites in New York. Preparation of NYSBCP applications, Citizens Participation Plans, public notice, and mailings. Preparation and implementation of Remedial Investigation and Remedial Action Work Plans, Community Air Monitoring Plans, and data usability reporting. Management of project schedule and monthly reporting to the NYSDEC and New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH).

• Peconic River Wetland Remediation. 2006. Huhn-Sommo, Kathryn, A. Ludlow, W. Medeiros, and T. Green. New York State Wetlands Forum, Inc. 2006 Annual Conference and Meeting, Syracuse, New York.

• Maritime Grassland Creation and Sustainable Bioengineered Shoreline Stabilization (poster). 2014. Sommo, Kathryn, A. Ludlow, D. Flynn. Society for Ecological Restoration, Mid-Atlantic 2014 Annual Conference, Ambler, Pennsylvania, March 25, 2014.

• Maritime Grassland Creation and Sustainable Bioengineered Shoreline Stabilization (poster). 2014. Sommo, Kathryn, A. Ludlow, D. Flynn. The Waters We Share, Restoring the NY-NJ Harbor & Estuary: Ensuring Ecosystem Resilience and Sustainability in a Changing Future, Conference, June 3, 2014.

• Maritime Grassland Creation and Shoreline Stabilization. 2014. Sommo, Kathryn, A. Ludlow, D. Flynn. Conference on Ecological and Ecosystem Restoration, New Orleans, Louisiana, July 30, 2014.

• Incorporating Wildlife Habitat into Water Treatment Areas. 2014. Sommo, Kathryn. Webinar for Wildlife Habitat Council Conservation Academy, August 20, 2014.

• Integrating Ecological Elements into Remedial Designs, 2014. Sommo, Kathryn, V. Burrows. 26th Annual Wildlife Habitat Council Symposium, November 11, 2014.

• Habitat Enhancement Project Connections along the Atlantic Coastal Flyway 2016. Sommo, Kathryn, Nathan Epler, J. Douglas Reid-Green. Society of Ecological Restoration, Mid-Atlantic 2016 Annual Conference, March 13, 2016.