1041 s oxford drive

Methane Soil Gas Investigation – Methane Buffer Zone

Methane Soil Gas Investigation (SGI)

Grace Partnership, Inc has on-boarded Terra-Petra to conduct a City of Los Angeles Methane Soil Gas Investigation (SGI) in Los Angeles. The property falls within a Methane Buffer Zone.

Terra-Petra recently completed the site assessment and sampling in accordance with LADBS guidelines under Terra-Petra’s LADBS Methane Testing Lab License #10224.

We are in the process of drafting the Summary of Methane Soil Gas Investigation report and will be delivering it to the client shortly.

purple line extension project

Methane Monitoring – LA Metro Purple Line Extension Project

Methane Monitoring Reports For Metro Purple Line Expansion Project

Terra-Petra is pleased to announce that our Environmental Engineering Specialist has signed off on monthly methane monitoring reports required for the Metro Purple Line Extension project in Beverly Hills.

The soil gas monitoring will be done at two zones: the Beverly Hills High School (BHHS) area, and near the Fine Arts Theater on Wilshire Blvd.

Terra-Petra Environmental Engineering John Conaway PE Vietnam Vet

In Honor of our Veterans: Terra-Petra Team Members Who’ve Served

On this Veteran’s Day 2017, Terra-Petra would like to honor our own brave Veterans, John Conaway – U.S. Marine Corps,  Anthony Avina – U.S Marine Corps, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, H&S company, and Eduardo Rangel – U.S. Army, 2 time Afghanistan Veteran.

We would like to thank John, Anthony and Eduardo along with all of those who have served —and those who continue to serve— for your valiant service to defend this amazing country of ours. We truly appreciate all of your hard work and dedication.

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” –John Fitzgerald Kennedy

John Conaway, PE

Terra-Petra’s Professional Engineer (PE Civil) and Vietnam Veteran, John R. Conaway has over 40 years of experience in project supervision, development, evaluation, training, and safety. His impressive and expansive career track started when John received a draft notice in late 1965, when the military presence started to increase in Vietnam.

On July 28, 1965, during a noontime press conference, President Johnson announced that he would send 44 additional combat battalions to Vietnam increasing the U.S. military presence to 125,000 men. Monthly draft calls were doubled from 17,000 to 35,000. “I have asked the commanding general, General Westmoreland, what more he needs to meet this mounting aggression,” Johnson said. “We will meet his needs. We cannot be defeated by force of arms. We will stand in Vietnam.”  He further commented, “I do not find it easy to send the flower of our youth, our finest young men, into battle. I have spoken to you today of the divisions and the forces and the battalions and the units, but I know them all, every one. I have seen them in a thousand streets, of a hundred towns, in every state in this union-working and laughing and building, and filled with hope and life. I think I know, too, how their mothers weep and how their families sorrow.”

Instead of going into the army, as he had expected, John went into the US Marine Corps, and served from January 1966 to January 1968. He received his training at Camp Pendleton, California, and was later transferred to Camp Lejeune, NC. One of the highlights of his service was being selected to run the supply department on a 3-month “Caribbean cruise.” During the cruise, his ship broke down, allowing him to spend several weeks in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The photo,of John above was taken after during war games in November 1966 on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. He achieved the rank of sergeant in 18 months, which was a record time for getting to the rank of E-5.  Although he came close several times, John was able to avoid being sent to fight on the front lines in Vietnam, although he is still considered a Vietnam-era Vet.

John Conaway, PE, Terra-Petra Environmental Enginner

John earned a reputation for his expertise in design and inspection of methane mitigation systems and waterproofing for commercial and residential structures. John has worked with solid waste disposal, environmental engineering, managing road and facility maintenance and construction, permitting, project engineering and design in California, Nevada, and North Carolina.

Read more about John Conaway.

 

 

 

 

 

Anthony Avina, Deputy Methane Inspector

Anthony B. Avina served in the United States Marine Corps for 8 ½ years (2005-2013) with the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, H&S company. While serving in the Marine Corps, he received training as an Electro-Optical Ordinance Repairman which taught him how to repair and maintain night sights, thermal sights, missile systems, fire control systems and optical sights.

During his service he went on numerous training exercises across the United States from Yakima, WA, Boise, ID and, Fort Knox, Kentucky. He deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan in 2009-2010 for a tour of service overseas where he conducted internal/external base security and his job as an Electro-Optical Ordinance Repairman conducting preventive maintenance and repairs on the battalions’ vehicles.

Anthony Avina, Terra-Petra Deputy Methane Inspector

Sergeant Anthony Avina, US Marine Corps

By the end of his service he attained the rank of Sergeant and was running the day-to-day operations for the Instrument and Optics shop, and was responsible for the training and welfare of eight Marines.

Within his term of service, he received the following awards: Presidential Unit Citation, Navy Unit Commendation, Selected Marine Corps Reserve Ribbon 2nd Award, National Defense Ribbon, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terror Ribbon, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Armed Forces Reserve Medal and, NATO ISAF Medal.

Anthony Avina,

 

Eduardo Rangel, Deputy Methane Inspector

In 2007, SPC Eduardo Rangel received a wartime award for valor and heroism from the US Army for “exceptional veterans day spotlight terra-petrameritorious service while deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. SPC Rangel’s personal courage and commitment to mission accomplishment in a combat zone, under the most extreme circumstances, greatly contributed to the success of Operation Enduring Freedom. SPC Rangel’s performance reflects great credit upon him, combined task force fury, combined Joint Task Force-82 and the United States Central Command.”

Eduard’s superiors highlighted the fact that he exhibited “courage under fire” in Shavak Afghanistan, and in the Paktia, Poli-alarm, and Logar provinces of Afghanistan while conducting combat patrols. He laid down heavy suppressive fire for his platoon members engaging the enemy. As the enemy attacked several times via well-organized ambushes, SPC Rangel remained calm while taking commands and calling out enemy distance and description. He participated in over 100 combat mounted and dismounted patrol missions in these Paktia, Poli-alarm, and Logar provinces of Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom VIII. His tireless efforts, knowledge, and willingness to give resulted in accomplishment of all of his assigned missions covering thousands of miles of rugged terrain throughout all three provinces.

The second citation was awarded to Eduardo in 2010 for “meritorious service as a combat engineer while assigned to Eduardo Rangel - Terra-Petra Deputy Methane Barrier InspectorAlpha Company, 508th Special Troops Battalion from 04 March 2006 to 01, November 2010.” The citation goes on to state: “SPC Rangel’s technical and tactical competence, combined with his dedication to duty set the example for others to follow. His attention to detail and selfless service inspired every paratrooper to achieve success.  His performance reflects great credit upon himself, Alpha Company, 508th Special Troops Battalion, The 82nd Airborne Division, and the United States Army.

One of the achievements highlighted in the award document outlines how Specialist Rangel was deployed to West Point NY where he was assisted in the training of over 120 Cadets in Demolitions and Urban Breaching Techniques. He was also a part of two deployments to the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Polk, LA. During the JRTC deployment, he was key to his Platoon’s ability to conduct Route Clearance and Sanitation Operations. He mentored and instructed the Platoon on numerous techniques, tactics and procedures–often citing personal experiences.

 

Eduardo Rangel, U.S. Army, 2 time Afghanistan Veteran

Terra-Petra going “underground” (aka below grade) in Denver and beyond…

at Haselden ConstructionWe are very excited about the new opportunities that have developed for Terra-Petra in the Denver area, as well as the state of Colorado, and other surrounding states including Wyoming, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma as of late. One of our key contacts that we met with is working for Haselden Construction out of Wyoming. The company is working on the final stages of a hospital building project in Laramie. Terra-Petra is looking to take on some potential future waterproofing design consulting projects with Haselden. We would also like to plan to work with Haselden in the Wyoming area and support them with more below grade waterproofing, as well as some environmental consulting needs in the near future.

It looks as though the “wild-west” area is booming again thanks to certain industries – particularly with regard to below grade waterproofing needs. There are also many construction sites that are subject to some sort of contamination issue due to the fact that Denver, for one, is growing very fast. Multi-unit housing complexes going up in droves to support (population) growth in this area. The oil, mining, and legal marijuana industries, in particular, are driving this kind of speedy growth.

To that end Denver appears to also have plenty of waterproofing requirements, but they also have their share of environmental concerns. However, the Denver area still does not have a tremendous amount of regulations in place with regard vapor barriers and mitigation systems (like there are in cities like in New York or Los Angeles). So owners/developers in the Denver, as well as in many of the surrounding (Rockies/Midwest) areas, are now in a rush (or will soon need to be in a rush) to put these specific measures in place for current/older and new buildings —and this will become more and more of a necessity in order to maintain the clean environmental conditions in the area(s). We all know that there are many environmentalists residing in places like Colorado, so the consensus is that it is just a matter of time before tighter measures and regulations are put into place and owner/developers will be required to go down certain mitigation paths to better conditions.

Terra-Petra is looking to be the “go-to” environmental engineering firm as the construction industry (in the “wild west” area) continues to catch on to a growing environmental protection concern where building and land development is concerned. Yes, there are plenty of big environmental engineering firms located in Denver including URS and AECOM. This indicates that there is a market for larger scale environmental projects now and on the horizon. It’s going to be another wild ride in the west!

Terra-Petra awarded contract to perform methane and water intrusion inspections for Northern California project

Terra-Petra was recently awarded the contract to perform inspections at the Maple Street Correctional Facility site in Redwood City, California. The Northern California site requires excavation below the water table and is located within a region impacted by naturally occurring methane gas. As such, the future building is susceptible to the impacts of methane gas and water intrusion and requires a dual methane barrier/waterproofing system. Gergen Construction is in the process of installing the system which will consist of a membrane and passive venting system to adequately protect the building.

The inspections will be administered through Terra-Petra’s San Francisco office. Terra-Petra’s Deputy Methane Barrier Inspectors (DMBI) come prepared with diverse certifications and extensive knowledge of prevalent systems, making Terra-Petra a versatile choice for any methane/water impacted construction project. The Maple Street Correctional Facility site is no exception. For this project, Terra-Petra’s certified Hydroshield, Coreflex and Liquid Boot inspectors led to the selection of Terra-Petra as the best team to get the job done.The joint effort and long-standing relationship between Terra-Petra and Gergen Construction will ensure an efficient and reliable system to provide the project owners with an environmentally safe building.

 

 

 

Terra-Petera Methane begins mitigation system installation project for The Irvine Company in Playa Vista, California

Terra-Petra is excited to announce that the methane mitigation system installation is in progress on three new apartment complexes in Playa Vista being developed by The Irvine Company.

The Irvine Company selected the architectural firm of McLarand Vasquez Emsiek & Partners (MVE) out of Irvine to realize their vision of bringing a premier apartment community to the west side of Los Angeles. MVE has designed three mediterranean style apartment complexes each having one level of subterranean parking with on grade parking and four levels of apartments above grade. The building footprints increase in size moving from west to east from 187,067 SQ.FT., 256,866 SQ.FT. and 333,827 SQ.FT. 

MVE’s design team for these three projects included the following prestigious firms:

Structural Engineer: Englekirk –  Los Angeles
Civil Engineer: Fuscoe – Irvine
Geotechnical Engineer: Group Delta – Torrance

The project are located in the City of Los Angeles Methane Zone, thus Terra-Petra was selected by The Irvine Company as the methane design engineer for these projects given our strong Terra-Petra personnel witnessing the installation of Treco Barrier Solutions Vapor Lock-M. Left to right Andrew Alvarran, Jesus Mora, Danile Valdez and Eduardo Rangelreputation as a high quality methane consulting firm as well as our ability to simultaneously design three large scale complex projects in an expedited fashion. We were brought on to the design team in February of this year. We completed the methane mitigation system design work along with all permitted systems by the beginning of October, and way ahead of schedule.

The construction phase of this development began under Western National, serving as the General Contractor on the project. All three buildings are being constructed concurrently and Terra-Petra will be responsible for carrying-out all Deputy Methane Barrier (DMBI) inspection work for each one. The arduous task associated with performing continuous inspections of the methane mitigation system for three projects being constructed simultaneously can only be achieved by Terra-Petra given that we maintain the largest and most experienced staff of DMBI Inspectors in the industry.  

We're looking forward to completing another successful methane mitigation project!

Related articles on the Playa Vista Development.   

http://www.ocbj.com/news/2012/oct/28/irvine-company-eyes-playa-vista/
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324784404578145572308360156
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/nov/26/business/la-fi-mo-playa-vista-sale-20121121

INSPECTION UPDATE: 4661 W. Wilshire Blvd. Methane Zone Property

Terra-Petra is serving as the Deputy Methane Barrier (DMBI) and Waterproofing inspector for the Wilshire Condominium project at 4661 W. Wilshire Blvd. The condominium project was designed by Archeon Group Architects and is being constructed by Becker General Contractors, Inc. The methane barrier membrane installation is being performed by Ralph Ray Construction.

Terra-Petra’s DMBI Eduardo Rangel is serving as the projects inspector. Terra-Petra’s Daniel Valdez (Inspection Supervisor) is onsite today conducting a tutorial for the Terra-Petra office staff to bring them up to speed on the nuances of the Vapor Lock-M system, one of the many approved methane barrier membranes in the City of Los Angeles.

Terra-Petra is a big proponent of cross training our staff to provide them with an appreciation and understanding for each field of work that we can handle. This approach has proven to be invaluable in our success as a company as all staff members have a better grasp of each person’s roll with the company.

We've found that the guys are very supportive of one another and tend to “pull together" to finish projects and ensure a high quality work product for our clients.  

Grand Opening Of The New Terra-Petra San Francisco Office

Terra-Petra would like to officially announce the grand opening of its new office in San Francisco. We acknowledge the growing and highly consistent need for methane and vapor intrusion mitigation services in the Bay Area, and we are very excited to now have regular local representation to better serve our clients in a continued effort to offer superior and highly responsive services. 

The Terra-Petra San Francisco office is located at:

One Sansome Street, Suite 3500
San Francisco, CA 94104

Phone: 415.590.4890
Fax: 415.590.4891

 

Contact us for more details about our new San Francisco location, or schedule an appointment today.

 

Raul Ramierz joins Terra-Petra’s Deputy Methane Barrier Inspection (DMBI) Team

Terra-Petra congratulates Raul Ramirez who is now officially certified by the City of Los Angeles as a Deputy Methane Barrier Inspector (DMBI). 

Raul successfully passed both the written and oral examinations carried out by the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety Materials Control Section this past Monday August 5, 2013.

Terra-Petra maintains the largest staff of Deputy Methane Barrier Inspectors in the industry. The addition of Mr. Ramirez to the Terra-Petra team will provide additional flexibility to respond to inspection demands without delaying the construction progress.

Environmental Engineering Firm, Terra-Petra, Continues to Expand LA City Deputy Methane Inspector Team

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Most governing agencies require methane gas barrier inspections. Terra-Petra, an environmental engineering firm based in Los Angeles, has announced that it will continue to expand its current Deputy Methane (Barrier) Inspection team as methane barrier inspection services become more and more in demand and necessary in the City of Los Angeles. All methane gas mitigation systems should be inspected by a certified professional with experience in methane gas mitigation systems to insure that they have been installed properly.Terra-Petra's expanding Deputy Methane Barrier Inspection team will continue to provide this much needed service throughout the City of Los Angeles.

> > >Read more.

 

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