Kathy Webb, P.G.

Senior Market Leader | Principal

Kathy Webb, who co-founded SynTerra (then known as The Fletcher Group) in 1992, has completed remedial investigations and regulatory compliance projects associated with Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) facilities, state and federal Superfund sites, solid waste landfills, brownfield redevelopment, utility coal combustion residual (CCR) management units, and regulated industrial facilities. She has supported litigation as an expert witness related to chlorinated solvents, metals, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

Kathy is known for her practical assessment strategy with the perspective of the client’s business objectives. She routinely evaluates groundwater corrective action systems for effectiveness and progress toward achieving compliance objectives. She has co-authored a trade journal paper with case studies of low-impact remedial strategies. Kathy is a licensed Professional Geologist in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Mark Taylor, P.G.

Principal

Mark has worked more than 40 years in natural-resource based industries. His expertise includes mine geology and mine engineering, hydrogeologic and geotechnical investigations, solid and hazardous waste management, and regulatory negotiations. He has published peer-reviewed papers about coal geology, ore geochemistry, mineralogy, and solid waste management. He is a leading expert in mining and environmental permitting for litigation support.

Mark is licensed as a Professional Geologist in South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Washington. He serves on the boards of the Upstate Red Cross and Upstate Forever. He served on the South Carolina Board of Registration for Geologists for six years. Mark holds a Master’s degree in Geological Sciences from The University of Michigan and a Bachelor’s degree in Geological Science from Harvard University.

Andrea Kehn, P.E.

Vice President of Engineering | Principal

Andrea Kehn, leader of our Civil & Environmental Engineering Business Unit, has 28 years of experience in chemical manufacturing and environmental consulting. She leads and supervises staff professionals on multidisciplinary projects for a variety of industrial clients. Andrea’s vast experience and expertise includes: air quality construction and operating permitting; air quality modeling; air permit record-keeping and reporting; Oil Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) and Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPP); NPDES permitting; water quality modeling; process safety management; risk management compliance and auditing; and RCRA compliance.

Andrea is registered as a Professional Engineer in South Carolina. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Technological University.

Ruth Albright, P.E.

Vice President | Principal

Ruth has led projects for major industrial facilities throughout the Southeast and beyond. She built her knowledge of environmental regulations and their application to manufacturing operations while working for the second largest chemical manufacturing company in the United States. At SynTerra, she has expanded both her knowledge and reputation working for chemical manufacturing operations of all sizes. She has also worked extensively with other manufacturing operations, including pulp and paper, industrial equipment, pharmaceuticals, food, and automotive parts and assembly. Her experience includes air and wastewater permit compliance, solid and hazardous waste management, solid waste construction permitting, hazardous materials transportation, wastewater treatment systems, air pollution control equipment operations and maintenance, and ambient air monitoring systems.

Ruth is a professional engineer registered in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Michigan, Arkansas, and Kentucky. She is an active member of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce Environmental Technical Committee and serves as the chair of the water subcommittee. She has previously served as the program and committee chair for the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce Environmental Affairs committee. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Clemson University.

Integrating groundwater modeling into water management for CCR basin closure

Blog

Lessons Learned from Groundwater Modeling to Support Engineered Solutions for Post-Excavation CCR Basin Water Management

For CCR basins constructed in steam valleys in the southeastern United States and planned for closure by excavation, post-closure groundwater control is often required. Numerical simulations suggest that groundwater elevations may intersect planned final grades, creating uncertainties in future groundwater-surface water interactions and requiring proactive engineered solutions supported by a solid understanding of complex geology and hydrology.

This presentation reviews lessons learned from recent projects in the Carolina Piedmont, emphasizing targeted field data collection, conceptual site model (CSM) development, and iterative numerical modeling to guide closure design. High-quality water level and flow data are critical for defensible hydrologic analysis. Case studies show how heterogeneous and transient site conditions, such as shallow bedrock, uncertain historical channel geometry, evolving basin conditions, and water management, affect groundwater responses, reinforcing the need for a well-defined CSM to support reliable model predictions.

Water budget analysis links field data, modeling, and design by quantifying surface and groundwater contributions, evaluating storm and recharge variability, and identifying controlling factors in model calibration. Catchment basin delineation is critical, as the magnitude of inflow directly affects drainage sizing and long-term performance. Integrating those insights into groundwater models improves accuracy when evaluating closure elements such as groundwater collection systems, stormwater channels, sumps, soil backfill quantities, and performance goals.

By comparing results across multiple projects, this presentation highlights recurring challenges, strategies to reduce uncertainties, and practical considerations in developing effective, regulator-ready engineered designs. These lessons can help streamline future monitoring, design, permitting, and performance evaluation for CCR basin closure across the region.