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AMERICAN GROUND WATER CONSULTANTS   
STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS  

DESCRIPTION OF FIRM  

 AGW Consultants (AGW) provides consulting services in the areas of 

  • Water rights technical support 
  • Ground-water exploration, development, protection, remediation 
  • DRASTIC analysis 
  • Wellhead protection and vulnerability assessments 
  • Water well permitting 
  • Drilling program evaluations 
  • Well drilling methods 
  • Well log interpretation 
  • Water well design, construction supervision, testing 
  • Equipment specification 
  • Underground injection well permits and design 
  • Discharge plans 
  • Saturated and vadose zone hydrology and modeling 
  • Contamination transport 
  • Hydrogeochemistry 
  • Water corrosion potential 
  • Ground water tracer studies 
  • Water system design and construction supervision 
  • Wastewater lagoon liner design and construction supervisor 
  • Environmental Site Assessments, Phases I, II, and III 
  • LUST site investigations and remediation 
  • Waste water lagoon leak detection 
  • Litigation support 
  • Expert testimony 

 

FIRSTS

THERMONICS (1971)   

 Developed the Thermonics geophysical methods for: 

COMPUTER MODELING (1972)  

First firm to create and commercialize digital computer models of ground-water systems. Prepared the first computer models of the Santa Fe, and Carlsbad, New Mexico and Tucson, Arizona areas. 

GROUND WATER TRANSPORT MODELING (1972)  

AGW was the first firm to carry out commercial computer modeling of ground water contaminant transport. Work was carried out in southern part of Tucson Basin to track contamination from copper-mine tailings piles. 

ZETA-SP AND ELECTROSPOT - LOCATION OF LEAKS IN LINED PONDS (1973)   

AGW developed the Zeta-SP and Electrospot methods of locating leaks in lined impoundments and has applied the method to pump-storage projects, industrial waste water lagoons, and municipal wastewater aeration ponds. 

UNDERGROUND INJECTION PERMITTING (1976)   

AGW was the first firm in New Mexico to work on the permitting of a commercial underground injection well for Beker Industries in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Work included injection and casing integrity tests, aquifer analysis, and computer modeling of contaminant transport. 

DISCHARGE PLANS (1976)   

First Discharge Plans in New Mexico in 1976 for Plateau Refining Co. and Beker Industries. AGW also prepared discharge plans for Phillips Uranium and Gulf Mineral Resources Corporations in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico and several large residential developments. 

FIELD GEOCHEMISTRY LABORATORY (1978)   

 AGW was the first firm in the United States to field a mobile, laboratory grade, gas chromatograph with detection limits of specific CFC tracers of 0.01 parts per trillion. The laboratory was used for a number of projects including determination of sources of water at the Tao Ski Valley for the New Mexico State Highway Department; tracing ground- water flow beneath an earthen dam embankment at the Cholla electric power plant near Holbrook, Arizona; and tracing of sea water circulation patterns in an Alaskan fjord. 

AQUATRACE - TRACERS (1978)   

 First commercial application of proprietary conservative CFC tracers in ground water now widely used by others. 

SUPERFUND WORK (1981)   

 First New Mexico firm to work on a Superfund site in 1981; namely, the Albuquerque South Valley Superfund Site. AGW has carried out work on the Phoenix Litchfield Superfund site for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers where our task was to analyze all consultants reports, RI/FS and OUFS documents and to completely reanalyze all basic data to determine the party's) responsible for the TEE contamination and to assign liability. As part of this work effort, we were responsible for evaluating site history and use, the source of contamination, the extent of contamination, the rate of plume movement, and the mass of contaminant within the soil horizon and the ground water.

 

SPECIALIZED SERVICES 

AGW has carried out hydrogeochemical analysis of ground-water basins.  We have specified drilling equipment for purchase for water development projects around the world (Bolivia, Zaire, Brazil, Tunisia).  We have also participated in the evaluations of multi-million dollar ground-water development projects in a number of countries (Somalia, Tunisia, Burkina Faso).  AGW scientists have conducted mine ground-water inflow and dewatering studies for mines in  Sierra Leone, China, Australia, and the United States. 

AGW scientists have provided expert witness services in more than 25 cases before State and Federal courts and administrative hearing panels.  We have provided invited testimony before committees of both houses of the Federal Congress and the New Mexico State Legislature. 

AGW has developed a number of proprietary geophysical technologies for tracing the movement of ground water in the vadose and saturated zones and for location of minute leaks in lined wastewater ponds and large earthen dam embankments.  Our project work in this regard has ranged from New Mexico and the American Southwest to Canada and Pakistan. 

 

 CLIENTS 

 TEC has a wide range of clients some of whom are listed below: 

 Hydrological Services 

  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Branch 
  • U.S. National Park Service 
  • U.S. Bureau of Reclamation 
  • U.S. Agency for International Development 
  • New Mexico Attorney General 
  • New Mexico Environment Department, Underground Storage Tank Bureau 

Water Rights Technical Support  

  • Phillips Uranium Corporation - Filed applications for 30,000 acre feet of water rights, provide technical support and chains-of-title. 
  • R.H. Hudson - Filed declarations for acequia water rights and technical support. 
  • National Park Service - Consultation on water rights for Great Basin National Park. 
  • Vista de Oro de Placitas - Move water rights. 
  • P.G. Corp. - Move water rights. 
  • T.C. Horton Interests - Carry out regional hydrological study in support of 3,000 acre foot water rights application. 
  • Winfield Farms - Conduct historical research to verify priority date of 189 acre feet of water rights. 
  • WayCor - Move water rights. 

Indoor Air Quality  

  • U.S. General Services Administration 
  • Western Bank 
  • Lewinger - Hamilton & Associates 
  • U.S. West Relocation 
  • Prudential Relocation 
  • Radalytic Laboratories 

Engineering Projects  

  • Vallecitos Domestic Mutual Water Association - Water system design, New Mexico 
  • Armand Hammer United World College - Wastewater lagoon liner, Wastewater treatment system upgrade, Conservation plan, New Mexico 
  • Riverside Construction - Landfill closure, New Mexico 
  • TAMS International - Tarbela Dam seepage analysis, West Pakistan 

 Environmental Site Assessments  

  • Taco Bell 
  • Metlife Capitol Corporation 
  • Mark Twain Kansas City Bank 
  • Kelco Mechanical 
  • Chevron 

 Oil and Gas Industry  

  • Plateau Refinery, Discharge plan and environmental monitoring 
  • Beker Industries, Discharge plan and Underground Injection Control permits 
  • Pride Energy Company 

Mining Industry  

  • Phillips Uranium - Discharge plans, mine shaft dewatering, hydrogeology, New Mexico 
  • Flour Corporation - Coal mine dewatering projects, China, Australia, U.S. 
  • Noranda Mining Co. - Mine shaft dewatering, New Mexico 
  • Ranchers Exploration - Lagoon seepage detection, New Mexico 
  • Nord Resources - Ground water development, California 
  • Sierra Leone Development Corp. - Open pit mine dewatering, West Africa 
  • Sohio Uranium - Ground water development, discharge plans, monitoring, New Mexico 
  • Kennecott Copper - Tailings-related, ground-water contamination study, New Mexico 
  • ASARCO - Molybdenum exploration, Arizona 

 Process Industries  

  • National Beef Packing - Ground water development, Kansas 
  • Earth Minerals Extraction Co. - Lagoon leakage detection, Canada 
  • Plateau Refining - Environmental permits and monitoring, New Mexico 
  • Marathon Oil Company - Refinery water supply, Illinois.

 

  PROTOCOLS AND STANDARDS 

AGW adheres to the highest professional standards in the performance of projects.  AGW follows all pertinent published protocols and standards.

 

For more information, please contact us.

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