Cameron-Cole a Founding Reporter

Cameron-Cole has become a Founding Reporter of The Climate Registry by being among the first to join. The Climate Registry is a nonprofit organization established to measure and publicly report greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in a common, accurate and transparent manner consistent across industry sectors and borders.  
 
Cameron-Cole is committed to taking a sustainable approach in its own operations. "As a Founding Reporter, Cameron-Cole will be one of the first organizations to participate in a program that has significant support from states, provinces, tribes and regional initiatives.  The work conducted under this program will no doubt help to shape future mandatory GHG reporting programs across North America.  We are pleased to be a part of this leading effort," explained Connie Sasala, Senior Vice President of Cameron-Cole's Strategic Services practice.   

Thirty-nine U.S. states, five Canadian provinces, three Native American tribes, two Mexican states and the District of Columbia are the founders of the organization. Cameron-Cole was one of 54 corporations, state and local governments and other organizations that achieved Founding Reporter status by being the first to join The Climate Registry.  Cameron-Cole joined in December 2007.

The Climate Registry was incorporated March 2007 in Washington, D.C.  The Climate Registry provides accurate and transparent measurement of GHG emissions and ensures consistency of measurement metrics across industry sectors and borders. The Climate Registry accounting infrastructure supports both voluntary and regulatory programs.  For more information please visit, http://www.theclimateregistry.org/.

Cameron-Cole's Strategic Services practice area assists a wide variety of organizations in managing their greenhouse gas emissions using established methods, such as the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD)/World Resources Institute (WRI) Greenhouse Gas Protocol, and those under leading domestic and international programs. Cameron-Cole is also approved by the California Energy Commission (CEC) and California Climate Action Registry (the Registry) as both an independent certifier of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and technical assistance provider for Registry members.

Cameron-Cole Bioremediation Meeting

Cameron-Cole staff from multiple offices (Boulder, Pensacola, Alameda and Baton Rouge) and key individuals from a Cameron-Cole client attended a Bioremediation Conference presented by Professor Portier at Louisiana State University located in Baton Rouge. 

The intent of the meeting was to expand the attendee’s knowledge and awareness of this technology and to understand its application in a field environment.  The use of biotechnology involves the growth and culture of bioorganisms that feed on the contamination.  Specific organisms and strains are used to combat different contaminants.  These organisms need both nutrients and oxygen to sustain their growth and to sustain their ability to deplete the contaminants of concern.  The resulting byproduct of this bioactivity is carbon dioxide and mineralized salts. 

Professor Portier presented a slide show on the use of bioorganisms to remediate contaminated soil and groundwater.  Professor Portier described the use of bioreactors to treat extracted groundwater as well as the use of bioplugs to treat in situ soil and groundwater.  LSU has the largest collection of bioorganisms to combat remediation in the nation.  The University is linked with the Coast Guard for emergency response in the event of major spills.  LSU has been involved with major spills such as the Exxon Valdez in Alaska.

Professor Portier concluded the conference with a tour of LSU's laboratory where bench scale testing is performed to assist in the application of this technology in the field on specific projects.

Statistics

Statistics utilizes standard acceptable mathematical procedures to gain a clearer understanding of numerical data for direct or indirect comparison.  These procedures are becoming more widely applied in the environmental field.  They can aid us evaluating analytical data on a site to determine if all the “offending” analytes are part of the site data population or actually a member of a different data population.  Statistical procedures can also be used to define the upper and lower limits of the data set for a more precise comparison to regulatory limits.  Each of the above presented data analysis procedures includes multiple steps to achieve the end result.  Sometimes these steps can be intimidating and each step increases the odds of an error being introduced into the overall analysis.  However, there are a few macro packages available for Microsoft®  Office Excel that automate and simplify the steps necessary to complete the analysis.  These macros are presented below.

An evaluation of data in a data set to determine if all data values are actually members of the data set population or a member of another population or an “outlier” can be performed with a macro package presented in a paper by Zoran Nakit, et.al. (2007) in the September-October issue of GROUND WATER; we refer you to this journal for a description of the statistical process.  The underlying hypothesis in evaluating the data with this macro is that the data population is normally distributed.  This is at the core of the macro’s decision-making process.   This is a simple-to-use Excel macro where the primary decision the user must make is the Bin size.  This should be done during preliminary evaluation of the data.  The macro results are presented numerically and graphically.

A simple statistical procedure for evaluating site geochemical data is defining the upper (and lower) 95% confidence limits on a data set.  This allows for a clear comparison to contaminant level regulatory limits.  Associate Professor Kenneth Portier of the University of Florida Department of Statistics has developed an Excel macro package that simplifies the process of calculating the upper 95% confidence limit of a data set.  Simplified, this macro first utilizes a Shapiro-Wilk's Test on the analytical data to determine the best-fit distribution.  The summary statistics are presented for both distributions along with the 95% upper confidence limit.  The goodness-of-fit results for both distributions are also presented along with the recommended (best-fit) distribution.  This macro can be used with a substantial number of non-detects and presents the results for the Chebyshev method for estimating the upper 95% confidence limit.  The results for all analytical methods are presented both numerically and graphically in the calculations sheets.

Before either macro is utilized, a detailed understanding of how each macro processes the data is required.  The data should be evaluated prior to selecting a procedure to verify that the steps utilized by the chosen macro are appropriate.  I would also recommend a sample data set with known characteristics be generated and the chosen macro be utilized to analyze the data.

Upcoming Events 

Mark your calendars -- here are just a few of the interesting events taking place in upcoming months.  Cameron-Cole staff will be attending these events.

February 27 - 29, "2008 Sustainable Opportunities Summit," Denver, Colorado. For the second year, Cameron-Cole is a participant in the planning of this Summit.  The intention of the Summit is to bring together corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists from across Colorado and the nation in a unique forum to explore how companies can become more engaged in addressing climate change issues.  This year's theme, "Welcome to the Sustainability Era," will focus on how various economic sectors and industries are already profiting from meeting this challenge and incorporating climate change into their business strategies.  Cameron-Cole's Connie Sasala, Senior Vice President of Strategic Services, will be moderating the "Sustainability Changes in the Supply Chain" session at the Summit.  More information:
http://www.sosummit.org/home/

May 15 - 16, California Climate Action Registry 6th Annual Conference, "Navigating the Carbon World," San Diego, California.  This educational and networking conference highlights carbon markets and regulation and provides an insightful look into climate programs across the globe. Over 1,000 professionals representing businesses, government, and nonprofit organizations from around the world are expected to attend.  For more information contact:
http://www.climateregistry.org/