The Top 5 Environmental Consultant Mistakes — and how technology can prevent them

7 min readNov 2, 2017

In my career I have reviewed thousands of environmental reports. The majority of my review time was not spent formulating new ideas for predicting contaminant flow or identifying opportunities to increase pollutant recovery. Instead, it was spent looking for foolish mistakes — the kind of mistakes that keep environmental consultants like me up at night, mistakes that could cause regulators to lose trust in my work, and mistakes that could cost my clients money.

In the environmental business we deal with a lot of data. There is data from field instruments, data from laboratories and data from personal observations. It is not unusual to have over 30,000 data points for a single project! We have to:

· Manage the data

· Back up the data

· Organize the data into tables

· Compare the data to regulation standards

· Make complex calculations

· Run statistical analyses

· Plot the data on maps

· Draw contours

· Make conclusions

Then, in as short as time as possible, we have to submit all this information in a report — Just so our clients, regulators, and (sometimes) third party attorneys can pour over the report looking for mistakes!

We spend hours checking and rechecking data yet somehow mistakes still happen. I have found the best way to avoid mistakes — eliminate the opportunity for them to occur in the first place.

Below I will go over the top 5 mistakes I have personally seen environmental consultants make and show how new automation technology can be used to eliminate those mistakes and produce faster, better and more accurate results.

Mistake 1- Data Management Errors

· Transposed Numbers

· Data Entered into the Wrong Cell of a Table

· Formula Carryover

Environmental consultants must organize data into large tables, make calculations with the data and compare it to regulatory standards. It is extremely easy when looking at a screen all day to mix up a number, paste data into the wrong cell or make a mistake copying and pasting formulas. You can find a famous example of this type of mistake made by two well-established Harvard Professors. If a couple of Harvard guys can make that kind of an error, are these types of mistakes common for everyone?

**TRANSPOSED NUMBERS**. Part of a data table with columns for well number, sample date, well casing elevation, depth to water, and water table elevation. In June of 2012 the well casing elevation was inadvertently transposed from 38.04 to 38.40. That means that **every** calculated water table elevation since 2012 has been off by 0.36 feet!

Mistake 2 — Mapping Errors

· Data Plotted at the Wrong Location

· Contour Map Errors

Environmental data is typically plotted on maps and then contoured. This information is studied to draw conclusions regarding contaminant distribution and migration. It is not uncommon for data to be mixed up between locations or for contouring errors to result in incorrect maps and subsequently incorrect interpretations.

Confession — I once reviewed a report written by a Junior Geologist. I approved it and it was sent in the environmental agency. Several weeks later I got a letter from the regulator. The letter pointed out that data had been mixed up between two locations. The author chastised me for having put my name on a report without having reviewed all the data. He was right. I felt like a fool. After that very uncomfortable experience, I vowed never to let that happen again — no matter how much time it took to review, and re-review, the data.

**CONTOUR ERRORS**. The contours on the right side of the map are 2 tenths of a foot apart while the contours on the left are 4 tenths of a foot apart. Some contours are in the wrong place. Additionally, there is data way above the contour range that was not even contoured!

Mistake 3 — Wrong Information in Reports

· Cut and Paste Errors

· Incomplete Reports

The easiest way to create a report is to start with an old report as a template, strip out the old information and then copy and paste the new information. However, it is extremely common to find reports that contain information from a previous date, or information from the wrong site or even from the wrong client! Mistakes like this are not only embarrassing but show a lack of attention to detail and are often very easy for clients and regulators to spot.

Mistake 4 — Missed Budgets and Deadlines

Project managers juggle many reports with varying priorities. Data comes in and sits on someone’s desk waiting to be entered into tables. Draft reports sit in a pile awaiting review. Naturally things fall through the cracks. Good, reliable and accurate quality assurance always takes time. When found, mistakes have to be corrected. Changes to tables, maps and text often take an inordinate amount time especially if the source of the mistake is unclear. Consultants live by billable hours. Non billable time costs the consulting company money, a price that is all the more painful if it could have been avoided in the first place.

Mistake 5 — No One Looked at the Data

With the pressure to get reports out on time and within budget it is easy to go through the motions: Make the tables, generate the maps, summarize the data and then assume nothing has changed.

In the hurry to get routine progress reports out by a deadline, and within budget, the consultant follows the reporting process but may never really look hard at the data. Data gaps may be providing misleading information, preferential contaminant flow paths may go undetected and changing conditions may contradict the conceptual site model. Compliance with regulatory deadlines is important, but information must be studied closely and processed in order to adjust strategies and achieve cleanup goals in a cost effective and timely manner.

Preventing Mistakes

Environmental consultants have established multiple quality assurance checks and review processes in an attempt to eliminate mistakes. Reviewing data to check for mistakes often takes a long time. Some consultants use a peer review process to check for mistakes while other consultants might check 10% of the data and assume the rest of the entries are correct. However, no matter how much time is available to check and re-check data entries, mistakes still creep through the process and onto final reports.

Using Technology to Eliminate Mistakes and Increase Productivity

The best way to prevent mistakes is to eliminate the opportunity for them to occur in the first place. Modern technology can be used to manage data, eliminate mundane and redundant tasks and even provide data analysis — without being subject to human error.

Examples of Automation Technology

Automated Database Uploads

Technology can be used to import data directly from the laboratory to a cloud-based system. The same technology can be used to import historical data and automatically to combine it with the same system. When manual data entry is eliminated, the mistakes associated with data entry disappear as well.

Automated Tables

Technology can be used to automatically create summary data tables. Contaminant exceedences are automatically highlighted in red to give the reader a clear understanding of the data. Well casing elevations and water table elevations are automatically propagated and calculated, without a mistake, in seconds.

Automated Maps

With nothing more than an internet connection and a computer or tablet you can access the system and automatically plot the data on maps, aerial photos or even hand sketches. Multiple types of contours can automatically be drawn to depict the contaminant flow and areal extent of contaminants. Mapping processes that used to take hours can now be completed in minutes, without mistakes.

Automated Statistics

Technology can be used to access the project database to automatically perform a statistical analysis. Statistical calculations, such as a Mann-Kendall Trend Analysis, which typically involve numerous manual data entry points, can be automatically performed for any chemical compound, for any date range for any number of monitoring wells without mistakes, in seconds.

Automated Report Generator

Technology can be used to automate the creation of routine reports. Clear, consistent reports that include data summaries, results of statistical analyses, regulatory exceedences, statistical charts, maps and tables can be completed in minutes. Modern platforms can now even generate reports in state approved formats removing the guesswork for consultants especially those new to the business.

Technology Options for Environmental Consultants

Early adopters of modern technology can have a clear advantage over their competitors. The technology reduces opportunities for mistakes and automates clerical tasks so that the professionals can spend more time managing their projects instead of checking for simple mistakes.

There are many technology solutions to choose from. However, not every solution is right for every company and every project. Check out the solutions listed below to see if this technology fits your needs. If you are not sure, contact the company and ask for a demo. Compare seat license and software maintenance costs. Compare complexity and training requirements. Compare hardware requirements.

· OptaHub

· ArcGIS

· EPA

· Equis

· MS Access

· Surfer

Early adopters of modern technology can have a clear advantage over their competitors. This technology may prevent you from making a disastrous and embarrassing mistake, and the automation features may end up saving you a lot of time in the process. Many people say “The way we have always done it works perfectly fine.” That way is suited for a world that no longer exists. People are competent at the task, but not competent at accuracy and speed.