Agricultural

Client: Campbell County Conservation District, Wyoming

County Conservation Districts have been charged with the responsibility to confirm the quality of soil and water resources available in the regions and to monitor the impacts of developments within and outside their boundaries. IML provides assistance in defining sampling plans and performs water quality, trace metals, and macroinvertebrate analyses to be used in local, regional and national databases.

Coal Bed Methane

Project: CBM Produced Water Monitoring
Client: Marathon Oil Company, NE Wyoming

During the production of coal bed methane (CBM), significant volumes of water are withdrawn from aquifers. Inter-Mountain Labs provides initial characterization of resident aquifer water, ongoing monitoring of water produced from CBM operations, and analyses of water for discharge, disposal or reinjection. Services include field sampling, inorganic and radiochemistry water analyses, and preparation of regulatory reports.

Project: Coal Bed Methane Water Quality Monitoring
Client: Fidelity Exploration and Production

Powder River Basin, Wyoming and Montana
Coal Bed Methane (CBM) natural gas production is highly regulated to monitor environmental impacts on ambient air, native surface water bodies, and irrigated soil. The states of Wyoming and Montana have taken different approaches to this regulation, which results in variable and sometimes contradictory rules. IML has provided field sampling services, analyses of soil, water and air samples, and participation in generation and submission of NPDES and other permit applications and reports.
Project: Soil Impact - Leach Studies
Client: Fidelity Exploration & Production Company

During the production of Coal Bed Natural Gas (CBNG), significant volumes of water are withdrawn from aquifers surrounding coal seams. A potential beneficial use of the water in an arid region is for use in irrigation for crops on surrounding farmland. IML assisted Fidelity consultants in the experimental design and performed the application of CBNG water to replicate an irrigation cycle. IML performed analyses on source water, alternative treatment potentials, leached water, and the impacted soil.

Electrical Utilities

Project: Environmental Monitoring
Client: Basin Electric Power, Laramie River Station, Wyoming

Regulated industrial facilities, like the Laramie River Power Station, have a variety of environmental monitoring requirements. IML helps Basin Electric meet its requirements for both air and water. IML Air Science provides particulate and meteorological monitoring systems, quality control, laboratory analyses, data processing and reports. IML also provides water quality analyses required by the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Project; Overburden, Native and Reclaimed Soil Analyses
Client; Texas Utilities Mining Co., Big Brown Mine, Fairfield, Texas

IML analyzes overburden, native and reclaimed soil samples for trace metal content, acid/base accounting, salinity, and nutrient status. Analyses are suited to meet both federal and state regulations.

Government Agencies

Project; Underground Storage Tank Remediation
Client; For Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality

Generations of gasoline and diesel fuel distributors and retailers operated with a business concept of “acceptable loss” of product due to leaking storage tanks and connecting piping. In the past 15 years, the EPA and state regulatory agencies have passed legislation to require the industry to replace leaking tanks and monitor the concentrations of soil and groundwater contamination and map the plumes. IML has participated in the program by drilling monitoring wells and sampling at predefined frequencies, analyzing water and soil samples to quantify petroleum contamination levels, and preparing reports to the regulatory agencies.

Project; PM2.5 Monitoring Program Support
Client; Kansas Bureau of Air and Radiation

When EPA promulgated an Ambient Air Quality Standard for fine particulates (PM2.5), State regulatory agencies were required to develop monitoring programs. Many states, including Kansas, chose to contract laboratory analyses and data management to one of the few organizations in the world with fine particle monitoring experience, IML Air Science.

Industrial & Manufacturing

Project; Hazardous Waste Landfill Closure
Client; USPCI, Grassy Mountain, Utah

Industrial processes result in waste products that require special disposal procedures in many cases. Industrial hazardous waste landfills have been establishes in multiple locations across the country as one option for disposal of these industrial wastes. IML participated in the closure of one of these facilities. This process required an extremely high level of quality control and documentation and reporting in Contract Laboratory Program (CLP) type format to meet regulators and reviewers requirements. The matrices were complex and the time and quality requirements were stringent. Grassy Mountain was the first industrial hazardous waste facility to be closed west of the Mississippi River.

Project; RCRA Facilities Investigation (RFI)
Client; Exxon Refinery; Billings, MT
Giant Refining; Gallup, NM, plus others
Minerva Refinery; Austin, TX

Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) refineries and other petrochemical plants have been required to evaluate the historical impact of operations on the immediate environment and establish a benchmark from which to measure future activities. Soil and groundwater must be analyzed for a wide range of organic and inorganic constituents with a high degree of accuracy and precision. IML has performed numerous RFI's, efficiently analyzing the difficult matrices with positive evaluations from regulators.

Oil & Gas

Project; Mercury Contamination Analyses
Client; El Paso Natural Gas, San Juan Basin NM

Historical flow measurement for natural gas production was accomplished using mercury manometers. Thousands of measurement “huts” are scattered over the San Juan Basin with varying levels of mercury contamination from the old measurement activities. IML provided quick turn mercury analyses utilizing Contract Laboratory Program (CLP) methods and reporting formats.

Project; Produced Water Monitoring & Organics Analyses
Client; Burlington Resources, San Juan Basin NM

Inter-Mountain Labs, Inc. provides routine monitoring of various samples from the oil and gas industry including coal bed methane. Services include water analyses ranging from TDS, determination of irrigation or livestock suitability, formation identification, potential scaling parameters, characterization of API water; soil analysis for brine spill indicators, BTEX/TPH analysis for pit closures; analysis of crude for TOX.

Mining

Project; Automated Environmental Monitoring
Client; Rio Tinto Energy America, Colowyo Mine, Meeker, Colorado

IML linked remote air, water, and meteorological measurement systems using spread spectrum and telephone modems. The system allows real-time display of measurement results and remote troubleshooting by IML engineers.

Project; Air Quality Permit for Coal Mine Expansion
Client; Rio Tinto Energy America, Colowyo Mine, Decker, Montana

IML Air Science provided a permit application package for altering an existing permit to accommodate increased production. The application included both short and long term ambient impact analyses.

Project; Mine Blast Emissions Monitoring
Client; Thunder Basin Coal, Black Thunder Mine, Wright, Wyoming

IML Air Science provides weather forecasts and gaseous air pollutant measurements for a large monitoring project in Wyoming's Powder River Basin. The goal is to characterize the relationship between mine blasting activities and ambient air quality impacts.

Municipalities

Project; Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Compliance
Client; Municipalities throughout the Rocky Mountain region

IML provides laboratory analyses and data management support for dozens of regional, municipal, and tribal regulatory agencies. Drinking water samples are analyzed in our laboratory for inorganic, trace metals and organics using EPA approved methodologies. Data from the laboratory analyses are integrated in custom database programs and presented in formats defined by the regulatory agency or clients for use in Consumer Confidence Reports. IML handles thousands of samples annually.

Project; Municipal Landfill Monitoring
Client; Rawlins, Wyoming

Disposal of household and business waste has traditionally occurred in municipal landfills that may or may not be lined with impermeable membranes. Flow of precipitation through the waste may leach potentially toxic materials into groundwater. IML provides site mapping, field sampling, comprehensive analyses, and assistance in reporting to municipalities.

Petroleum Refineries

Project; RCRA Facilities Investigation (RFI)
Client; Exxon Refinery; Billings, MT
Giant Refining; Gallup, NM plus others
Minerva Refinery; Austin, TX

Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) refineries and other petrochemical plants have been required to evaluate the historical impact of operations on the immediate environment and establish a benchmark from which to measure future activities. Soil and groundwater must be analyzed for a wide range of organic and inorganic constituents with a high degree of accuracy and precision. IML has performed numerous RFI's, efficiently analyzing the difficult matrices with positive evaluations from regulators.

Regulatory

Project; PM2.5 Monitoring Program Support
Client; Kansas Bureau of Air and Radiation

When EPA promulgated an Ambient Air Quality Standard for fine particulates (PM2.5), State regulatory agencies were required to develop monitoring programs. Many states, including Kansas, chose to contract laboratory analyses and data management to one of the few organizations in the world with fine particle monitoring experience, IML Air Science.

Project; Underground Storage Tank Remediation
Client; Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality

Generations of gasoline and diesel fuel distributors and retailers operated with a business concept of “acceptable loss” of product due to leaking storage tanks and connecting piping. In the past 15 years, the EPA and state regulatory agencies have passed legislation to require the industry to replace leaking tanks and monitor the concentrations of soil and groundwater contamination and map the plumes. IML has participated in the program by drilling monitoring wells and sampling at predefined frequencies, analyzing water and soil samples to quantify petroleum contamination levels, and preparing reports to the regulatory agencies.

Project; PM2.5 Monitoring Support
Client; Regulatory agencies throughout the USA

IML Air Science provides Federal Reference Method micro-gravimetric laboratory and data management support for dozens of state, municipal, and tribal regulatory agencies. Filters are prepared and analyzed in our laboratory designed specifically for the method. Data from the field are validated and integrated with the laboratory data in custom database programs. IML Air Science handles tens of thousands of samples annually. Operation and field QC services are provided to many sampling networks.

Project; Carbon Monoxide Monitoring at Grand Teton NP
Client; Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality

IML Air Science designed, built, installed, and is operating a Reference Method carbon monoxide measurement system. This fully automated system operates at a remote location in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. The results will be used to provide high integrity data for better understanding the impacts of summer and winter visitor traffic in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Additional services included siting, development of a quality assurance project plan, system audits and calibrations, instrument service and troubleshooting, and data management.