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Lisa Summerfield is one of 21 project managers in the DEQ Remediation and Redevelopment Division’s Superfund Section.  The Superfund Section works in partnership with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) on the cleanup of contaminated sites.  Lisa’s primary role as a project manager within Superfund is the investigation and cleanup of hazardous waste sites that are on the federal National Priorities List (NPL).  NPL sites are the most serious and hazardous sites of contamination in the country.  Michigan has had as many as 81 Superfund sites; it currently has 67.  It can often take countless years to clean up a Superfund site, and often at a cost of millions of dollars.  Lisa currently manages seven Superfund sites statewide. 

 A typical week for Lisa may be meeting with parties liable for site contamination along with U.S. EPA representatives to discuss technical and/or legal site issues as they relate to state and federal regulations.  Lisa may spend a few days out in the field collecting samples of groundwater from monitoring wells in and near a contaminated site.  She may also spend time in the office reading reports, meeting with geologists, toxicologists and other DEQ divisions to determine the best way to tackle a particular issue regarding a site of contamination.  Lisa may be conducting a public meeting to inform the area citizens of the contaminated site within their community. 

Other project managers within the Superfund Section have similar duties to Lisa’s as well as more focused ones, such as groundwater modeling, assessing brownfields, scoring potential new sites of contamination, administering the Pollution Emergency Alerting System (PEAS) for reporting environmental emergencies and assessing U.S. Department of Defense sites of contamination.

 Photo left:  Lisa taking field notes after a couple of days of sediment and surface water sampling with DEQ Superfund Engineer Mark Henry.

Photo left:  The Ott Story Cordova Superfund site in Muskegon was once a working chemical plant site.  There has been a groundwater treatment system (foreground) in full operation since 2000.  One of Lisa’s duties is to attend monthly operation and maintenance meetings in partnership with the U.S. EPA to assure everything is in good working order and to trouble shoot any issues that may arise

Photo right:  Contaminated groundwater – Ott Story Cordova

 For career information and educational requirements to become a project manager or Environmental Quality Analyst, please visit the following website: www.michigan.gov/mdcs.  For more information on the DEQ Remediation and Redevelopment Division, visit this website:  www.michigan.gov/deqrrd.