Forest Products

SynTerra is an innovator of environmental solutions for the pulp and paper industry.

Known for expertise in solid waste, residuals management, and groundwater, SynTerra provides a broad range of services to a diverse set of clients — from the largest companies to small independent mills.

SynTerra expertise covers: all major regulatory programs; mill environmental, health, and safety initiatives; facilities design; and technical staffing. SynTerra innovations include the use of large diameter geotextile tubes for wastewater treatment sludge dewatering and the use of fiber sludge landfill caps.

Accurately project your landfill life and volume.

SynTerra has the expertise to help companies plan for future construction phases and budget capital, or to help those simply seeking a better way to compute landfill life and volume. SynTerra specializes in measuring the volume of materials placed in landfill cells and projecting landfill life.

Using advanced digital tools and years of expertise to assist the landfill owner — including tools like digital topographic maps and information like in-place water disposal rates — SynTerra creates highly accurate volume estimates and provides you with engineering drawings that are useful in daily operations and planning. These resources will help you identify:

Isolated areas of overfilling where waste will need to be redistributed prior to final closure

Areas of significant settlement or subsidence

Conformance of the waste disposal to permitted grades and limits

Improve your landfill with operations support.

Our solutions help landfill owners improve landfill stability, maximize available space, comply with applicable environmental regulations, and more. SynTerra identifies improvements that can be readily implemented. Our solutions include:

Use of residuals as a construction material replacing cover soils or interior earthen berms, creating additional waste disposal capacity

Retrofitting the landfill with surface water and subsurface drainage structures that improve waste stability, enhance waste consolidation, and increase landfill airspace

Adjustment of waste placement sequencing to provide improved waste compaction and ease disposal during wet season operations

Blending of waste materials for odor control and improved overall workability

Use of a coarse waste material as an internal drainage medium

Identification of waste disposal methods that may impact operator safety

Assistance in landfill airspace valuation and in examining the economics of solid waste disposal options

Other SynTerra capabilities in the pulp and paper industry

Solid waste management — Click for more information.

Industrial — Click for more information.

Residual characterization

Beneficial reuse of residuals

Landfill development

Storm water and wastewater BMP plans

SPCC Rule compliance

NPDES permit support

Environmental management system development

Impoundment closures

Landfill lifecycle planning

Pond dewatering and residuals management

Volume determinations and life projections

Solid waste disposal economic evaluations

Groundwater monitoring and statistical analysis

Groundwater alternate source demonstrations

Wetlands permitting

Phase I environmental site assessment

Asbestos and lead-based paint surveys

Kathy Webb, P.G.

Senior Market Leader | Principal

Kathy, a founder of SynTerra (previously 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 also co-authored a trade journal paper with case studies of low-impact remedial strategies. Kathy is a licensed Professional Geologist in North 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, 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.