COVID Delayed, LSPRA Holds In-Person Annual Conference
Wednesday, July 06, 2022 03:38 PM
In June, more than 480 LSRPs and other site remediation experts attended the annual New Jersey Site Remediation Conference held by the LSRPA at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick.

Delayed from February because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was the first LSRPA in-person conference in two years.  Last year’s conference was held using streaming technology. This year’s two-day conference, June 14 and 15, 2022, allowed the LSRPs to take in-person continuing education courses, review new technologies, and network with other professionals.

Leaders of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) said they are among the biggest champions of LSRPs and their contributions to success of the site remediation program.

“You have a lot of responsibility on your plate,” NJDEP Assistant Commissioner Mark Pedersen told the LSRPs. “You take your job seriously. You do a great job. We need to continue to build trust between the Department and the LSRPs.”

Among the successes, Pedersen cited more than 12,000 closed cases of all levels of complexity and 19,000 completed RAOs.

NJDEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette said he spends the least amount of his time on site remediation because the program works so well. Instead, his focus has been on climate change and environmental justice.

“Your work already does what we want the environmental justice law to do. You leave this world better than you found it,” LaTourette told the LSRPs in attendance. “Thank you. We appreciate it.”

David Morris, LSRPA President for 2022, extended his thanks to the membership and to members of the Board of Trustees who changed roles. Morris cited Ben Alter and Scott Drew for their work before choosing to leave the board this year. He also thanked Mark Pietrucha and Marlene Lindhardt, who remain on the board but stepped down as officers.

LSRPs also were able to take in-person continuing education courses, covering such topics as ethics, contaminants of emerging concern, environmental justice, PFAS, vapor intrusion, in-situ remediation, and waste classification.