Hatfield Consultants - News for 2009

Orange-Senqu River Awareness Kit Launched in Maseru, Lesotho

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 7:00:00 AM -07:00

On behalf of the Orange-Senqu River Commission (ORASECOM), the Orange-Senqu River Awareness Kit was launched at a special function organized to coincide with the second biannual ordinary session of ORASECOM on October 19th 2009.

The Orange-Senqu RAK can be accessed on-line at: www.orangesenqurak.org

The Orange-Senqu River Awareness Kit supports the objectives of the Orange-Senqu River Commission (ORASECOM), addressing high-priority transboundary water management issues through an improved understanding of the relationship between water resources and the environment. The Orange-Senqu RAK is an information and knowledge management hub for the Orange-Senqu River basin, designed to support capacity development and the sustainable management of the environment and resources within the basin, through transparent access to information. Included within the Orange-Senqu RAK are self-learning resources, supported by interactive visualisation tools, maps, documents and quizzes.

The intended audience for the Orange Senqu RAK is the broad spectrum of stakeholders in the Orange-Senqu River basin, including government agencies, river basin managers, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and educational establishments.

Hatfield Consultants, in cooperation with Strata 360, was contracted to design the Orange-Senqu RAK for the Commission by Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH under the Transboundary Management in the SADC Programme.

Hatfield has pioneered an innovative approach to presenting environmental data and information and conducting training programs through developing interactive CD-ROMs. This interactive River Awareness Kit approach has been implementing successfully by Hatfield and Strata 360 in a number of river basins around the world, including the Lower Mekong River Basin (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam), the Nile River Basin (Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, and Ethiopia), and the Athabasca River Basin (Alberta, Canada). Hatfield is currently developing RAKs for the Limpopo (Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe) and Kunene River basins (Namibia and Angola).

Hatfield’s River Awareness Kits can found on-line at www.riverawarenesskit.com.

For more information, please contact Simon Hughes, Manager of the Geomatics and Environmental Information Systems Group or Grant Bruce, Vice President of Hatfield, at +1 (604) 926-3261.

About Hatfield:

Hatfield Consultants (Hatfield), established in 1974, is a Canadian environmental consulting company that has undertaken over 1,300 projects in North and South America, Asia, Europe and Africa. Hatfield provides services in the areas of environmental assessment and monitoring, contaminant monitoring, GIS and remote sensing, environmental information systems, aquatic ecology, and biodiversity assessments.

Hatfield is pleased to announce that Karl Kliparchuk has joined Hatfield as a Remote Sensing Specialist.

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 7:00:00 AM -07:00

Mr. Kliparchuk draws on over 21 years of experience in the application of geospatial technologies working with government agencies, environmental companies, engineering companies, mineral exploration companies and educational institutions. He has worked in Canada, the USA, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Brazil, employing his expertise in GIS and image processing technologies.

In addition to his project management and technical role, Mr. Kliparchuk is also an experienced trainer and has developed and delivered GIS and remote sensing training in Canada and abroad. He has conducted GIS and remote sensing User Needs Analysis for government agencies and private companies to gain an understanding of geo-information needs, training requirements, business processes, and interdepartmental data sharing.

Mr. Kliparchuk has worked with the British Columbia Ministry of Forests since 2000, analyzing the capabilities of monoscopic and stereoscopic high spatial resolution satellite imagery (IKONOS and Quickbird) for topographic and forest cover mapping.

Prior to joining Hatfield, Mr. Kliparchuk was the GIS Business Manager for McElhanney Consulting Services Ltd.

About Hatfield:

Hatfield Consultants (Hatfield), established in 1974, is a Canadian environmental consulting company that has undertaken over 1,500 projects in North and South America, Asia, Europe and Africa. Hatfield provides services in the areas of environmental assessment and monitoring, contaminant monitoring, GIS and remote sensing, environmental information systems, aquatic ecology, and biodiversity assessments.

Hatfield Presents Results of Latest Research at Da Nang at the Fourth Annual U.S. - Viet Nam Bilateral Joint Advisory Committee Meeting on Agent Orange/ Dioxin

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 7:00:00 AM -07:00

Hatfield and the Government of Viet Nam presented the results of the Comprehensive Assessment of Dioxin Contamination in Da Nang Airport, Viet Nam: Environmental Levels, Human Exposure and Options for Mitigating Impacts study at the fourth annual U.S. - Viet Nam bilateral joint advisory committee meeting on Agent Orange/ dioxin on September 8th, 2009. Following this presentation, Hatfield’s study was reported in the Chicago Tribune, by the AFP, and by the Associated Press (see links below).

Since 1994, Hatfield has undertaken a major toxic chemical management program in Viet Nam to assess and mitigate the impacts of Agent Orange dioxin on the environment and in the human population. High levels of Agent Orange dioxin contamination recorded at the Da Nang Airport has made this site a priority study area for the Vietnamese and US Governments. Over the last five years, Hatfield, with the support of the Office of the National Steering Committee 33, the Vietnamese Ministry of Defense and the Vietnam-Russia Tropical Centre (VRTC), has undertaken a comprehensive assessment of Agent Orange contamination in and around the Airport. The assessment involved environmental and human tissue sampling and human health surveys. Based on study results, a number of mitigation measures have been recommended by Hatfield and Office 33 to reduce contaminant exposure before complete site remediation.

Hatfield’s work in this area has been recognized by the international community as the most comprehensive investigation of dioxin exposure in Vietnam.

Report Availability

A copy of the Comprehensive Assessment of Dioxin Contamination in Da Nang Airport, Viet Nam: Environmental Levels, Human Exposure and Options for Mitigating Impacts report will be available in early October on Hatfield's website.

To be notified when the report is available, subscribe to Hatfield's News RSS feed , or receive Hatfield news updates via email .

Additional Information

To learn more about Hatfield’s Agent Orange investigations, visit Hatfield's web-page dedicated to Hatfield's ongoing Agent Orange projects.

To read recent articles about Hatfield’s Agent Orange investigations:

AFP - US, Vietnam face Agent Orange legacy by Ian Timberlake (Sept 23, 2009)
Chicago Tribune - Toxin in Agent Orange still polluting South Vietnam, study says by Jason Grotto (Sept 13, 2009)
Associated Press - Survey: Dioxin levels high in Vietnam near US base by Ben Stocking (Sept 11, 2009)

For more information, please contact Thomas Boivin, President of Hatfield, at +1 604-926-3261 or tboivin@hatfieldgroup.com.

Images

Blood sampling, Thanh Khe Medical Centre, Da Nang (full size version)	Drainage canal near Agent Orange storage location (full size version)
Harvesting spinach, Thanh Khe District (full size version)	Agent Orange Storage Area Soil Sampling (full size version)

About Hatfield:

In Memory of John McKnight

Wed, 5 Aug 2009 7:00:00 AM -07:00

John Kenneth McKnight
September 15, 1962 - August 5, 2009

Father, Son, Brother, friend to all who knew him.

On August 5, 2009, John was taken from his family and friends after a brief illness at St Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, Canada. John will be lovingly remembered and sadly missed by partner Liana, daughter Genevieve, mom Kit, sisters Mary (Ken) and Anne (Paul), brother Paul and his many, many friends in British Columbia, Ontario and all around the world. A passionate environmentalist, naturalist, birder and boater, John found joy in the company of his friends and family and enjoying listening to music of all kinds. He maintained the dream that the Leafs would bring home the Stanley Cup. John loved to expand his world view through travel and work in many parts of the world including India, South East Asia, Afghanistan, Europe, Belize and every part of Canada and the United States.

Memorial services were held in BC on Sunday August 9 and will be held in Ontario on Saturday September 19th.

Should friends desire, donations in John's honour can be made to one of the following charitable causes.

Donations "in trust" for Genevieve can be made in care of Ken McCrimmon, 36 Brandy Lane Way, Newmarket, Ontario, L1N-9B1. Please contact Ken: kenmccrimmon@hotmail.com

To share your memories of John, please visit the online memorial guest book: www.personalalternative.com

Fish Movement Study for the Shell Jackpine Mine

Thu, 28 May 2009 7:00:00 AM -07:00

Hatfield Consultants has been working in the oil sands region of northern Alberta for over six years. Our work in the region has focused on aquatic baseline studies for environmental impact assessments, air quality and wildlife surveys and monitoring aquatic conditions as part of the Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program.

Hatfield is currently undertaking ‘Operational Monitoring for Validating Fish Habitat Models’ as part of Shell’s Jackpine Phase I fish and fish habitat monitoring program. The objective of the study is to validate, refine and calibrate fish habitat suitability index models by comparing species biomass and abundance with physical environmental variables, such as vegetation type, stream flow and substrate composition found in representative study reaches.

In April 2009, Hatfield was selected to implement a multi-year fish movement study of the Muskeg Creek, as part of the aquatic resources monitoring initiative undertaken by Shell Canada Energy in support of the Jackpine Mine. The program includes delineation of stream morphological characteristics using remote sensing data supplemented with ground-based surveys, small and large-bodied fish mark/recapture assessments, and operation of two-way fish counting fences. The primary objectives of the study are to assess the use of Muskeg Creek by fish populations and to quantify spring spawning migrations to upstream lake habitat.

For more information, please contact Mr. Daniel Moats at +1 604-926-3261.

About Hatfield:

Hatfield Consultants (Hatfield), established in 1974, is a Canadian environmental consulting company that has undertaken over 1,300 projects in North and South America, Asia, Europe and Africa. Hatfield provides services in the areas of environmental assessment and monitoring, contaminant monitoring, GIS and remote sensing, environmental information systems, aquatic ecology, and biodiversity assessments.

Hatfield Launches Carbon Project Survey in Indonesia

Mon, 25 May 2009 7:00:00 AM -07:00

Based on the results of a Carbon Project Survey, Hatfield will provide trial forestry and geomatics services to support the carbon projects of selected partner organisations.

An effective international response to climate change is likely to include a Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) mechanism. This creates opportunities for sustainable land management projects that deliver carbon benefits. In advance of the establishment of an international compliance mechanism, the voluntary carbon emissions market for Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses sector has rapidly expanded, providing opportunities for public institutions, private corporations and non-profit organizations to create revenue streams from land use projects.

Earth observation (satellite and aerial imagery) products and services can support and enhance land use and forest carbon projects that are being developed as part of the voluntary carbon emissions market. Hatfield Consultants and Hatfield Indonesia are implementing a project funded by the European Space Agency called Earth Observation Services for Forest Carbon Emissions Projects (EO-FORCE). EO-FORCE involves the design of integrated remote sensing and forestry products and services for land use and forest carbon projects, and implementation and evaluation of trial services to projects in Indonesia.

Requirements Assessment

The first step in the process of developing these products and services is to undertake a Requirements Assessment, which can be downloaded here and submitted via email. Download the requirements assessment questionairre here (Word ; PDF)

Thomas Boivin, President of Hatfield, explained “This Requirements Assessment aims to compile the data and information needs for organisations developing land use and forest carbon projects in Indonesia. The survey provides a valuable opportunity to provide input related to the development of remote sensing products for land use and forest carbon projects and we are looking for partners to participate in service trials.”

View more information on Hatfield’s forestry sector projects.

For more information, please contact Thomas Boivin in Canada at +1 604 926-3261 or Dr. Andy Dean in Indonesia at +62 251 8324-487.

About Hatfield:

Hatfield Consultants (Hatfield), established in 1974, is a Canadian environmental consulting company that has undertaken over 1,300 projects in North and South America, Asia, Europe and Africa. PT Hatfield Indonesia was established in 1990 and provides forestry, geomatics, and environment services throughout Southeast Asia. Hatfield can support entities and projects meet recognised voluntary carbon standards and generate sustainable revenue. In anticipation of enhanced standards, Hatfield promotes ‘best practices’ and products and services that exceed the current accepted standards for carbon project validation.

Hatfield Presents POPs Project Results to the World Bank

Wed, 13 May 2009 7:00:00 AM -07:00

Hatfield Consultant’s will be presenting their work on the ‘Regional Capacity Building Project for Risk Management of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in South East Asia’ to members of the World Bank on Wednesday May 20th in Washington, DC.

The project is currently under implementation with funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) through the Canada POPs Fund. The main objective of the project is to strengthen the capacity of government agencies in South East Asia responsible for hazardous waste and chemicals management to assess, economically valuate and manage human health risks of persistent toxic chemicals, primarily from contaminated hotspots. Ultimately, the project aims at providing government officials with tools to prioritize interventions that reduce local health impacts from exposure to toxic chemicals, especially on the poor and vulnerable.

The countries participating in the project include Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, and Thailand. Regional networking and knowledge management activities have also involved China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Viet Nam. An on-line toolkit is being developed by Hatfield Consultants under the project, which walks users through each step involved in site characterization, prioritization, risk assessment, risk management and economic valuation. The toolkit is currently available in draft form at: www.popstoolkit.com.

Hatfield has over 40 years experience implementing projects related to Agent Orange/dioxin monitoring, Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) inventory, environmental assessments, capacity building and training, environmental governance, and remote sensing and GIS.

For more information, please contact Mr. Thomas Boivin (President of Hatfield Consultants) at +1 604-926-3261.

About Hatfield:

Hatfield Consultants (Hatfield), established in 1974, is a Canadian environmental consulting company that has undertaken over 1,300 projects in North and South America, Asia, Europe and Africa. Hatfield provides services in the areas of environmental assessment and monitoring, contaminant monitoring, GIS and remote sensing, environmental information systems, aquatic ecology, and biodiversity assessments.

GeoEye-1 Imagery Now Available

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 8:00:00 AM -08:00

Hatfield announces that as an official GeoEye Channel Partner, it is now selling the world’s highest-resolution, commercial, color satellite imagery.

GeoEye Channel Partners consist of businesses and organizations with a long history of expertise in the geospatial world, remote sensing and extensive domain experience in a variety of disciplines. For more details, please visit: http://www.geoeye.com/CorpSite/products/channel-partners/

GeoEye-1 imagery products and solutions are now commercially available in half-, one-, two- and four-meter ground resolutions. Imagery products are available in color and black & white. Color imagery comprises four bands: blue, green, red and near-infrared. These imaging options can support a wide range of applications, including mapping, spatial analysis, cartography and high accuracy visualization for a variety of sectors including: Environment, Forestry, Engineering, Mining, and Oil and Gas.

Bill Schuster, chief operating officer for GeoEye, said, “We established extremely exacting requirements for GeoEye-1 and meeting them proved to be very technically challenging—particularly in the calibration phase. Additional improvements can still be made, but we have now succeeded in attaining our performance objectives. The combination of resolution, clarity, color and accuracy make it the best satellite imagery on the market.”

Hatfield Consultants provides clients with a range of Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) products and services that complement traditional environmental assessment and monitoring services. Hatfield’s experienced GIS professionals are familiar with a wide range of satellite data products and use the latest digital image processing and GIS software packages.

For more information, please contact Simon Hughes, Remote Sensing and GIS Specialist, at +1 604-926-3261.

About GeoEye

GeoEye is the premier provider of geospatial information for the national security community, strategic partners, resellers and commercial customers to help them better map, measure and monitor the world. The Company is recognized as the industry's trusted imagery expert for delivering reliable service and the exceptional quality of its imagery products and solutions. It operates a constellation of Earth imaging satellites, mapping aircraft and has an international network of ground stations, a robust imagery archive, and advanced imagery processing capabilities for developing innovative geospatial products and solutions. For more information, visit http://www.geoeye.com/.

About Hatfield:

Hatfield Consultants (Hatfield), established in 1974, is a Canadian environmental consulting company that has undertaken over 1,300 projects in North and South America, Asia, Europe and Africa. Hatfield provides services in the areas of environmental assessment and monitoring, contaminant monitoring, GIS and remote sensing, environmental information systems, aquatic ecology, and biodiversity assessments.

Hatfield Launches New RAMP Website

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 8:00:00 AM -08:00

In January 2009, the Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program (RAMP) launched a new website, developed by Hatfield, with graphic design contributions from Strata360 (Montreal), providing improved access to information related to the program. The website presents material and information in an interactive format to support a common understanding of the environment and specifically aquatic ecosystems in the lower Athabasca River Basin.

The primary function of the website is to provide:

An overview of RAMP;
Details of RAMP monitoring;
Results from the monitoring program;
Information of Community Programs;
Answers to frequently asked questions; and
A single source for news about the program.

In addition to these organizational elements, the website utilizes maps, diagrams and interactive features to present information related to the Athabasca River, the Resources and Environmental Management practices and the People residing in the lower Athabasca River Basin.

Patrick O'Brien, RAMP Steering Committee Chair stated:

"This update sees new and improved access to information about RAMP and its activities. The materials provided have been assembled to increase understanding of what the RAMP program is, how it functions and what the findings mean.”

The new RAMP website can be accessed at: http://www.ramp-alberta.org/

For more information, please contact Dr. Wade Gibbons at +1 (604) 926-3261.

About RAMP

RAMP is an industry-funded, multi-stakeholder environmental monitoring program initiated in 1997. The intent of RAMP is to integrate aquatic monitoring activities across different components of the aquatic environment, different geographical locations, and Athabasca oils sands and other developments in the Athabasca oil sands region so that long-term trends, regional issues and potential cumulative effects related to oil sands and other development can be identified and addressed.

Since 2003, Hatfield has undertaken the management and implementation of RAMP. As part of their on-going contribution to the improvement of the program, Hatfield have designed and built a web-enabled environmental database for RAMP.

About Hatfield:

Hatfield Consultants (Hatfield), established in 1974, is a Canadian environmental consulting company that has undertaken over 1,300 projects in North and South America, Asia, Europe and Africa. Hatfield provides services in the areas of environmental assessment and monitoring, contaminant monitoring, GIS and remote sensing, environmental information systems, aquatic ecology, and biodiversity assessments.

Hatfield Highlights for 2008

Fri, 2 Jan 2009 8:00:00 AM -08:00

As we start a new year at Hatfield we look back on some of the highlights of 2008 from a personal and project perspective.

In 2008, Dr. Peter McNamee became a partner at Hatfield, adding his expertise in oil sands developments and extensive experience in environmental consulting, both domestically and internationally. Peter’s easy smile, positive attitude and willingness to host cooking classes have made him popular with staff, and we congratulate him on his new position!

Dr. McNamee shares his cooking skills with Hatfield staff to benefit charity.

This year Hatfield welcomed eight new staff members and became involved in numerous new projects, including environmental management of the Port Mann Highway Expansion project and the creation of awareness tools for transboundary issues in the Orange-Senqu River Basin in Southern Africa. Two other projects that began in 2008 are highlighted below.

Internationally, Hatfield continues to be a leader in the investigation of contaminants in the environment, and are currently implementing the World Bank Regional Capacity Building Program for Health Risk Management of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in South East Asia. The project is designed to enhance the capacity of government agencies in South East Asian Region to manage POPs and POP-like chemicals, using a risk-based management approach applied at a regional level. Through this project, Hatfield has developed a capacity-building program and a web-based toolkit (www.POPsToolkit.com) designed to provide access to interactive risk assessment and risk management decision-support systems, project data and results, and project training materials.

Hatfield continues to grow and is looking forward to continued success in the New Year!