Chapman Engineering opened its environmental lab in 1989, for analysis of fuels in soil and water samples. It now performs only in-house methods for "Petroleum Storage Tank" (PST) release detection. Qualified contract labs are used for EPA and Texas methods for the company's "Voluntary Cleanup Program" (VCP), "Innocent Owner/Operator Program" (IOP), and other environmental assessment work in Texas.

Chapman Engineering was heavily involved in the drafting of environmental rule language for the Texas Risk Reduction Program (TRRP) in 1998-2000, and in guidance document work under that rule set from 2000 through 2003. We now apply the TRRP rule and guidance in assessment, data quality review, and as interaction with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) regulators calls for such review and negotiation.

It was the company's expert combination of assessment and laboratory work that was especially beneficial to the stakeholders involved. Chapman Engineering carried this involvement in "pro bono" fashion in support of "Industry Council on the Environment" (ICE -- see www.ice-texas.org/) and the Texas Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association (TPCA, www.tpca.org/).

The lab uses GC/FID*-based analysis for fuel fingerprinting, in both the PST release detection and environmental assessment areas. Comparing the relative aging and similarities or differences in "phase-separated hydrocarbon" (PSH) or new petroleum product samples has huge benefit.

* Gas chromatography by flame ionization detector