Geo Blue Consulting supports client projects throughout the United States from our headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Geo Blue is a registered California Small Business Enterprise (SBE), founded in 2016.
Water Resources
Municipal Water Supply – Local Alternatives
San Mateo County, California
Coastside County Water District retained Geo Blue to provide water resources consulting services in support of local water source development. Beginning in early 2021, Geo Blue conducted an alternatives assessment of local sources. We developed an inventory of potentially feasible source alternatives and worked closely with District staff to rank and present water portfolio recommendations to the District Board of Directors at a public meeting. Geo Blue provides ongoing technical and regulatory services to the District as it works to plan and implement local source recommendations.
GSP Review and Water Supply Impact Evaluations
Wholesale Nurseries, California
Our client, an expanding wholesale nursery company with facilities located throughout California, needed to address water supply concerns as it implemented its business growth plan. Five of its nurseries are 100% reliant on groundwater, and groundwater basin overdraft and rapidly evolving groundwater pumping regulations threatened water supplies for these critical facilities. Geo Blue reviewed local and regional groundwater conditions and groundwater use regulations proposed by nascent oversight agencies. During the study, Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) established by California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) were preparing Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs). To minimize risks to nursery inventories and operations, Geo Blue developed a review framework and evaluated groundwater supply security and regulatory risks for each nursery.
Technical Support For Water Right Registration
San Mateo County, California
Geo Blue provided technical support to a property owner for registration of an appropriative water right in a heavily used coastal groundwater basin. As agent for the owner, Geo Blue prepared the registration and interfaced with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and with the State Water Resources Control Board. Geo Blue’s turnkey services supported resolution of neighbor concerns and State approval of water diversion needed to support site activities.
Hydrogeologic Report to Expedite Building Permit
Sonoma County, California
Geo Blue prepared a Hydrogeologic Report to help our client expedite permitting of residential development in Dry Creek Valley, an area of intense groundwater use north of Healdsburg, California. The West Dry Creek Valley area overlies a Class 1 Major Groundwater Basin. Geo Blue’s approach leveraged publicly available hydrologic data and a robust conceptual site model to eliminate unnecessary and costly pumping tests and field work. We successfully reduced our client’s permitting timeline by several months, allowing construction to proceed in 2022, and concurrently assured the owner of reliable water supply for the project.
Community Water Supply Well Permitting Support
Santa Clara County, California
Geo Blue prepared a Preliminary Technical Report required by the California Department of Drinking Water for permitting of a community water supply well. Several variances were required to successfully provide a high-quality, reliable water supply for proposed new communal facilities.
Regulatory Response
Brownsfields and Re-development
PFAS Investigation at Former Chrome Plating Facility
San Francisco Bay Area, California
The State Board directed investigation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at chrome plating facilities in 2019. Cleanup of chlorinated solvents and metals had been ongoing at the client’s property for more than twenty years. Geo Blue developed a comprehensive and efficient investigation strategy and oversaw investigation. PFAS concentrations in groundwater and a potential source area were discovered. Geo Blue’s investigation strategy supported informed decision-making to develop next steps and progress the site towards a remedy and closure.
Greenhouse Operator Response to Notice of Violation
Salinas, California
Our client received a NOV from the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board in 2019 and was threatened with fines and potential disruption of greenhouse operations at the property. Geo Blue worked with the Regional Board to develop a response plan and timeline for compliance that was feasible for our client. Our alternatives analysis weighted our client’s operational needs and potential synergies with facility operations. We prepared design plans for a bioreactor to address water quality concerns and reduce nitrate concentrations in greenhouse effluent. Our client ultimately received a Notice of Applicability from the Regional Board which enrolled discharge from the bioreactor in the Central Coast Water Board’s General Waiver. This precedent-setting regulatory approval helped our client to achieve their sustainability goals, including water efficiency metrics, and cost-effectively brought the facility into compliance with Regional Board requirements.
SCHOOL SITE CLOSURE - FORMER INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY
SF Bay Area, California
Our client operates schools at properties throughout the state. One of their inner-city properties in the Bay Area had historically been used for industrial purposes. Petroleum, metals, and PCBs were discovered in soil prior to redevelopment of the site as a school. USEPA and the local agency, under agreements with the Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Department of Toxic Substances Control, directed investigation and remediation of the property. Geo Blue oversaw sampling activities and remedy implementation and compiled and presented site data in response to agency directives to progress the site towards closure.
Strategic and Technical Support for UST Site Closure
Cloverdale, California
Geo Blue provided the strategic and technical support necessary to propel an active fueling facility in Cloverdale, California, to case closure in just 2 years. Abandoned underground storage tanks (USTs) were discovered at the property during reconstruction of a fueling facility in 2015. Residual petroleum was removed from the USTs, but some contaminated soil and groundwater could not be feasibly removed. With careful consideration of past releases, multiple former property owners, historical remediation efforts for other releases, and continued petroleum operations, Geo Blue proposed and implemented a site assessment in 2019, and subsequent soil and groundwater investigations in 2020 to delineate the release impacts and support a natural attenuation remedy that could be approved by Sonoma County. Our 2021 closure recommendation was accepted, and the North Coast Regional Water Quality Board finalized UST case closure in February 2021. Geo Blue is proud to have led the charge for closure of this dynamic and complex project.
Affordable Housing Project - Expedited Phase I and II ESA
Chinatown, San Francisco, California
Geo Blue completed expedited Phase I and II Environmental Site Assessments, including a vapor intrusion investigation, in support of our client’s mission to develop to affordable housing in San Francisco. A potential development property was occupied by a residential hotel with ground floor commercial and was located downgradient from a former dry-cleaning facility. Geo Blue performed an ASTM-compliant Phase I ESA and assessed vapor intrusion risks, including sampling sub-slab soil gas. Our work was used to provide assurance of a healthy and safe development relative to vapor intrusion concerns, and to obtain financing approvals for the project.
PFAS Site Assessment – Redevelopment Site
Los Angeles, California
Geo Blue completed an expedited assessment of soil and groundwater for PFAS impacts at a redevelopment site in Los Angeles. The property had a long history of industrial uses, and residual contamination at the property included petroleum hydrocarbons, metals, and chlorinated solvents. In addition, the property had been abandoned and damaged by a series of fires. Geo Blue’s initial scope had been to support our client in development of a vapor intrusion mitigation strategy for chlorinated solvents, concurrent with a property transaction. To secure project financing including insurance, Geo Blue was asked to assess PFAS impacts at the site. We developed and performed an assessment on an expedited basis, and our client was able to successfully complete the transaction.