Souder, Miller & Associates' Principals

Karl E. Tonander, P.G., C.P.G.
Vice President/Principal Geoscientist/Regional Manager

Education:

M.S.—Mineral Engineering, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, New Mexico, 1993

B.S.—Geological Engineering, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, New Mexico, 1991

Registrations:

Professional Geologist—Wyoming (PG-2606), Alaska (PG-487), Washington (PG-1509), Utah (5355949-2250), Texas (PG-563), Minnesota (PG-30745, inactive)

American Institute of Professional Geologists—Certified Professional Geologist (CPG-10220)

40-Hour OSHA Hazardous Waste Site Worker Training

8-Hour OSHA Hazardous Waste Site Supervisor Training

Arizona Qualified (Petroleum Storage Tank) Consultant

Colorado Petroleum Storage Tank Listed Consultant #5789

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality LPST Project Manager #PM0000245

Employment History:

1993–Present Souder, Miller & Associates, Las Cruces, NM

1991–1993 Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM

1991 Geotemps, Inc., Reno, NV

Professional Affiliations/Organizations:

Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration

American Institute of Professional Geologists (NM Section Vice President 2002, President 2003, 2004)

International Society of Explosive Engineers

National Ground Water Association

Hydrologist, Santa Fe County Mine Plan Review Board 1994–1996

Member, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Mineral Engineering Department 

Industry Advisory Board 2000–present

Technical Training:

Mine and Mill Closure 2-Day Short Course (Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration

Construction Inspection 4-Hour Short Course (Miller Engineers & Scientists)

Surface Mine Driver Safety Course (Phelps Dodge Mining Co.)

Areas of Specialty:

Reclamation System Design and Implementation

Environmental/Geotechnical Site Assessments and Field Methods

Groundwater Hydrology

Geophysical Site Characterization

Project Management

Experience:

Investigation—While with Souder, Miller & Associates (SMA), Mr. Tonander has conducted, managed or provided senior oversight on over 250 soil and groundwater investigations involving potential and identified underground storage tanks, aboveground storage tanks, hazardous, and solid waste contamination. His investigative experience involves analysis and interpretation of field and laboratory data, report construction and review, and supervision of personnel during the installation of exploratory soil borings and monitoring wells, and subsequent testing activities. Clients have ranged from small private clients and individuals to municipalities, state and federal governments, and Fortune 500 companies.

In addition to these typical investigations, Mr. Tonander has also completed several soil vapor investigations, surface water sampling investigations, and geophysical investigations. As a Data Reduction and Field Technician with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Mr. Tonander worked on projects to evaluate fault structures in relation to future landfill placement and existing natural water drainage patterns for the LANL Environmental Restoration Program, and the use of seismic refraction techniques to identify and characterize small caverns and structural features in both loose sediments and competent strata. Through this work, Mr. Tonander is familiar with a variety of geophysical equipment such as seismographs, magnetometers, and gravitometers as well as various computer software used in the reduction of geophysical field data. Mr. Tonander also worked as part of a reconnaissance team for mineral exploration with Geotemps, Inc. His responsibilities included running Crone “pulse EM,” Crone “shootback loop,” and magnetic surveys in Northern New Mexico.

He has used several in-situ soil sampling techniques including split spoon sampling, continuous sampling, slide-hammer and shelby tube. He has completed soil sampling and groundwater sampling involving a variety of EPA approved methodologies as well as aquifer characterization using pump tests and slug tests. He has used a variety of computer programs in the review of these tests including Aqtesolv and Modflow.

Mr. Tonander has completed extensive course and field work in soil mechanics, rock mechanics, foundation design, slope stability and underground excavation design. While a student at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology he spent three years as the field instructor for engineering surveying, providing instruction on data reduction and proper use of steel tape, dumpy levels, auto levels, transits, theodolites, electronic distance measuring devices (EDMs), and total stations. He has experience collecting and reducing data for topographic studies, level loops, structural surveys, and system layouts. He is also familiar with a variety of engineering graphics programs such as AutoCAD, AutoDesk Land Development, and ArcExplorer.

Reclamation System Design and Implementation—In the past ten years Mr. Tonander has provided project and/or senior level conceptual design, engineering, and implementation of over 30 soil and groundwater reclamation systems. His systems have employed various combinations of bioremediation, nutrient injection, excavation (transport & disposal and on-site thin spreading), total fluids recovery, air sparging, soil vapor extraction (SVE), in-situ air stripping (ISAS), and pump & treat technologies. Mr. Tonander bases design not only on available technology and engineering criteria, but also relies heavily on cost-effectiveness. 

Mr. Tonander has designed SVE systems for operation in a variety of soil types from silty clay through gravel and fractured rock, requiring vacuums of between 1 and 16 inches of mercury and flows of between 80 and 500 cubic feet per minute. Often he has also directed SVE pilot testing prior to final design. SVE pilot testing events over the past few years have been completed using the unique SMA variable flow / variable vacuum SVE pilot test unit that was constructed under his direction. Final remediation system automation has ranged from simple systems requiring only a single mechanical time clock to complex systems utilizing PLUs, computers, and modem based telemetry.

Permitting and Government Agency Interaction—As part of his duties as a Principal Geoscientist at SMA, Mr. Tonander maintains an open dialogue with numerous New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas state environmental agencies. He has successfully completed permitting and project negotiations with the New Mexico Environment Department, New Mexico State Engineer’s Office, the New Mexico Department of Transportation, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Colorado Division of Oil and Public Safety, and various municipalities.

NEPA Review, Compliance and Documentation—Since its adoption by congress in 1969, each federal land and funding agency has been required to develop and adopt its own implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act framework (commonly referred to as NEPA). Mr. Tonander has acted as the author or supervisor for projects requiring compliance with NEPA under the direction of several different federal agencies including the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Utilities Service (RUS), the United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These projects have varied in size from small water system improvement projects and assisted living centers to million gallon capacity water storage tanks and wastewater collection and treatment systems spanning over 20 square miles. Each of these projects has required close coordination with SMA staff and contractors, consulted federal, state and local agencies, and the public.

Environmental Site Assessment for Real Estate Transactions—Mr. Tonander has been involved at various levels of production and/or review on over 200 Phase I, II and III Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs). These projects have typically been completed using the standards set forth by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and have involved properties ranging in size from several hundred square feet to over 100,000 acres, from undeveloped rural property to inner-city high-rise offices. Projects have included: site inspections to document present land use and relationship to adjacent properties and to document areas of obvious environmental concern; information gathering for geographic setting, land-use history, and soils and flooding potential; searches of federal state and local agency records; data review to evaluate the potential for environmental concerns; and preparation or review of a final report documenting observations relevant to the apparent environmental condition of the site. In some cases, SMA has also provided additional permitting services to assist in bringing sites into compliance with deficiencies noted during the Phase I ESA, or otherwise assist in steps to limit future liability such as enrolment in a Brownfields program.

Hydrogeologic Evaluation and Well Design—Mr. Tonander has been responsible for several public water supply planning projects, geohydrologic investigations and reports, well head protection, well design, and provided consumptive use studies for several small subdivisions. Borings (and wells) completed under his direction have varied from just a few feet in depth to over 1,000 feet and have been completed in a variety of well diameters from two to twelve inches. He has designed and installed nested wells and has worked in a wide range of lithologies including unconsolidated sediments, volcaniclastic sediment, competent strata, cobbles, fault zones and fractured rock. Projects have included small rural water system and multi-use wells, large municipal supply wells, and evaluation of spring and other surface water resources. Mr. Tonander has also been the senior manager on several hydrogeologic and water rights projects in areas with relatively minimal available background data. Information has been collected for these studies through personal communication with as well as document review from several different state and federal agencies. The resulting projects have met all client expectations for both quality and quantity.

Mr. Tonander has also completed data collection, data review, and report generation for litigation concerning structural damages from groundwater. He directed the investigation of possible sources including leaking City water and wastewater lines and residential watering from the historic area hydrologically upgradient of the site. This investigation included geologic characteristics of the immediate and surrounding areas, review of landscaping water consumption requirements, surface water drainage (versus infiltration) estimation, and sampling of the seep points to determine possible contaminants to help identify the source of the water. He reviewed and provided detailed analysis of data collected from two subconsultants (as well as SMA) and worked with legal counsel for the property owners to prepare for negotiations for damage compensation.

Spill Prevention Control & Countermeasures Plans—Mr. Tonander has completed and provided senior review of numerous Spill Prevention Control & Countermeasures (SPCC) plans for sites in New Mexico and Arizona, with projects ranging in size from small retail fuel sales facilities, to bulk storage facilities, to large industrial settings with millions of gallons of total petroleum storage. He has participated in and coordinated the field verification activities for these projects as well as worked with property owners to complete the design and oversee construction of secondary containment structures. Mr. Tonander has also assisted with the development of mapping and basic GIS services to help track tank maintenance activities, as well as the development of documents and training for the personnel involved in this review. 

Publications/Technical Presentations:

Tonander, 1992, Evaluation of Geophone Coupling Methods for High Frequency Seismic Reflection, prepared for Los Alamos National Laboratory (under contract from New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology)

Tonander, 1993, Interpretation of Seismic Reflection Data from the Piledriver Event Area, Nevada Test Site: A Case Study for Evaluation of Technique for Characterization of Void and Chimney Features, Masters Thesis, New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology, Socorro, New Mexico

Tonander, 1999, Closure Plans for New Mexico Mines Mills & Smelters, presentation at New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology, Socorro, New Mexico

Tonander & Kemp, 2001, Environmental Site Assessments for Real Estate Transactions, continuing education credit presentation series to regional group members of the Realtors Association of New Mexico, Ruidoso, Silver City, Las Cruces, Carlsbad & Roswell, New Mexico

Tonander, 2002, Basic Well Siting and Construction, presentation to New Mexico Rural Water Association members, Carlsbad, New Mexico

Tonander, 2003, NEPA Nuts & Bolts, presentation at New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology, Socorro, New Mexico

Tonander, 2004, Basic Well Construction & Hydrology, presentation to New Mexico Water & Wastewater Association members, Ruidoso, New Mexico

Tonander, 2004, Basic Well Construction & Hydrology, presentation to New Mexico Rural Water Association members, Silver City, New Mexico

Tonander, 2005, Hydrology, Well Construction, Pumps, and Basic System Hydraulics, presentation to New Mexico Rural Water Association members, Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

Tonander, 2005, Hydrology, Well Construction, and Pumps, presentation to New Mexico Rural Water Association members, Silver City, New Mexico