Richard Maxwell

Mr. Maxwell has over twenty years of experience as a Geologist at Roux, and is currently a Principal Geologist and Operations Manager for Roux’s Oakland, California office. His breadth of experience includes providing environmental consulting services for commercial, industrial, and brownfield redevelopment sites. Mr. Maxwell’s work is primarily focused on the design, implementation, and management of complex investigations including Phase I environmental site assessments (ESAs); Phase II ESAs; remedial investigations; and a variety of remedial actions/mitigations including capping, in situ injections, groundwater and vapor extraction, and soil excavation.

• Former Dry Cleaner: Project Principal for the remediation of a former dry cleaner located in Redwood City, CA. The dry cleaner was previously remediated by others; however, daughter products of PCE persisted in the soil vapor and groundwater. Roux completed an evaluation of existing site data and designed a remedy that included Enhanced Reductive Dechlorination consisting of emulsified lecithin substrate and a natural microbial consortium. Additionally, Roux addressed soil vapor intrusion concerns that were identified through indoor air and sub-slab vapor sampling by restoring the concrete slab, then applying a cost-effective vapor intrusion barrier system on the surface of the concrete slab.
• Sunnyvale: Project Principal/Project Manager for the redevelopment of a 33-acre former commercial use site into residential use. The Site soils were impacted with lead, arsenic, and pesticides as a result of former orchard use and groundwater was impacted with chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) due to adjacent and upgradient Superfund sites. Roux completed Phase I and Phase II investigations which were instrumental in obtaining a “comfort letter” from the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB), which noted that the groundwater impacts were not from an on-site source. The RWQCB is providing regulatory oversight under a voluntary oversight agreement. Roux also completed a vapor intrusion risk assessment which ultimately demonstrated that site-specific risk values were below target values. Even so, the client opted to complete a voluntary vapor intrusion mitigation system, which included a vapor barrier and passive sub-slab depressurization system, under each of the residential buildings, along with an innovative in situ permanent soil vapor barrier that consisted of removing permeable soils in a limited area and replacing them with soils amended with cement in order to remove a preferential vapor pathway.
• Santa Clara Square: Project Principal/Project Manager for the redevelopment of a 64-acre site which is planned to include retail, office, and residential use. The site soils were impacted with lead, arsenic, and pesticides as a result of former orchard use. Roux employed high-resolution soil sampling to delineate soil hot-spots and utilized clean samples as re-excavation confirmation samples negating the need to complete post-excavation sampling. This technique minimized soil excavation and off-haul volumes and simplified scheduling, both of which resulted in significant savings to the client. Additionally, the groundwater at the Site is impacted with CVOCs that are migrating onsite from upgradient sources. Roux designed and installed vapor barriers and passive sub-slab depressurization systems under each of the buildings.
• Former Paint Factory: Project Manager for brownfields Site that also required a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)-compliant facility closure. Due diligence environmental investigations determined historical site operations adversely impacted the subsurface, including an light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) plume in addition to petroleum hydrocarbon impacts to the soil and groundwater. Roux provided environmental consulting services for this project, including multiple meetings and discussions with regulators, preparation of multiple interim remedial measure work plans, a RCRA sampling and closure plan, remedial investigation work plan, health and safety plan, community air monitoring plan, RCRA facility closure plan, and the remedial action work plan. Roux completed a remedial investigation at the Site, which characterized the nature and extent of the impacts. The remedial action included a large excavation that required support of excavation (SOE), and was completed under a tent due to odor concerns, multiple ISCO injections, underground storage tank (UST) removal/‌abandonment, installation of a LNAPL recovery system, and installation of an subsurface sewage disposal systems (SSDS). Additionally, Roux provided oversight of RCRA closure activities at the Site, which included emptying, cleaning, and scrapping 65 above ground storage tanks (ASTs)/vessels; decontaminating the ceilings, walls, and floors of the paint factory building; and collection of compliance samples.
• Post Road Corridor: Project Manager for a brownfields redevelopment site, which consisted of 16 separate parcels spanning 4.5 acres and had a variety of former uses, including automotive service/repair and multiple dry cleaners. The Site has both chlorinated and petroleum hydrocarbon impacts to the soil and groundwater. The remedy will consist of a site cover system, soil hot spot removal, in situ chemical oxidation for groundwater contamination, installation of a sub-slab depressurization system, and the potential installation of a permeable reactive barrier.