‘Why I use the Contaminants extension for Leapfrog Works’ with Eryn Torres at Geosyntec consultants

who will explain why she is using the Contaminants extension in her daily workflows, the variety of projects and range of applications she uses it for and the value she is gaining.

As the Contaminants extension for Leapfrog Works brings contaminant modelling into 3D geological models, some of the themes include:

• 3D versus 2D communication
• How it fits into and improves responding to reporting requirements posed by regulators e.g., variograms, statistical analysis, plume volumes and mass calculations
• Keeping reporting artifacts up to date, e.g. a table or cross-section
• Updating analyses

Eryn Torres is a lead for 3-D modelling and visualisations at Geosyntec consultants. She has supported projects in various stages of investigation and remediation. She has provided visualizations, groundwater flow estimates, contaminated mass and volume estimates, resource-in-place estimates, and characterizations of conditions changing over time. She also provides strategic guidance and evaluations for monitoring and remediation activities on sites with a variety of media and contaminants of concern. With time spent as a geologist at Venoco, Lynn Energy and AECOM, she has built and maintained subsurface models for both public and private sector clients with upstream oil and gas, regional groundwater management, and groundwater remediation needs. She has extensive experience managing all types of geologic, hydrogeologic, and chemical analytical data.

Overview

Video Transcript

[00:00:05.430]
<v ->Hello, everyone.</v>

[00:00:06.270]
And thank you for joining the Q&A

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for the Contaminants extension.

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My name is Jeff McKeon,

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a project geologist with Seequent.

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And today I am joined by Eryn Torres of Geosyntec.

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Just to start off, Eryn,

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I just wanted to get you

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to maybe give a brief description of yourself

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and Geosyntec as a company.

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<v ->Great. Thanks, Jeff.</v>

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My name is Eryn Torres.

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I am a senior professional

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with a background in geology and geophysics,

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and I lead a subsurface analysis team here at Geosyntec.

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So Geosyntec is a multidisciplinary consulting firm.

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We have over 1500 scientists, engineers,

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and support personnel.

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We work together to address complex problems

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involving the environment, natural resources,

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and civil infrastructure.

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So I work in many sectors,

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but one of my primary focuses is in remediation

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of contaminated soil and groundwater.

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<v ->Awesome. Awesome.</v>

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Cool.

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So I guess we can just go ahead and jump into the Q&amp;A.

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So with the first question,

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how did you first hear about Seequent,

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and how did you first hear about the Seequent solutions?

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<v ->Oh, okay, great.</v>

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So I first became aware of Leapfrog Works,

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actually through a client of ours.

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She had heard about the software,

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and she was really curious

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about whether it would be useful for a landfill site

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that we’re helping her manage.

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So after she mentioned it,

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I did some research on my own,

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and I began to see how Leapfrog Works

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might be really helpful

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to visualize and to analyze site conditions

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that many of the projects that Geosyntec supports.

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<v ->Awesome. Awesome.</v>

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Good to hear. Glad that it’s helpful.

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So what challenges or problems led you

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to use Seequent’s Contaminants extension?

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<v ->Oh, good question.</v>

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So I mentioned that I lead a team

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that’s focused on subsurface analysis,

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and while the base Leapfrog Works software

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that fits really well with our needs for visualization,

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but I knew that we also needed

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to be able to calculate waste volumes

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and total contaminant mass.

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So when I inquired about this functionality,

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I was really excited to hear

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that Seequent was actively working on a solution

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to meet those needs.

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And that was the Contaminants extension to Leapfrog Works.

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<v ->Cool, and so you were,</v>

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if I’m remembering correctly,

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you were one of the first people

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to use the Contaminants extension.

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Cool.

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<v ->Yeah, I got to be in on their early access program,</v>

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and that was really beneficial.

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<v ->That’s awesome. That’s awesome.</v>

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So what trends in your industry drove you

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to use the Contaminants extension?

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<v ->Great, so our industry is really regulation-driven,</v>

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particularly for remediation sites.

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And regulators want responsible parties

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to be able to show measured progress.

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And to do this,

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we need to be able to show through visualizations,

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but also through measurements,

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through mass and volume calculations,

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that remediation efforts are effective.

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<v ->Cool. Cool.</v>

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That makes sense.

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So what made our solutions stand out

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over others that you researched?

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<v ->Oh, great.</v>

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Well, when I consider a software

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that I or my team is going to use,

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I need it to be an industry standard.

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I need it to be transparent in what it’s doing,

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well-documented and reliable.

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And I also need to be able to explain to regulators

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what the software is doing.

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So I know that Leapfrog Edge,

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which is used in the mining industry,

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has been really well vetted and validated,

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and it comes with a really powerful set of analytical tools.

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And that includes advanced ferrography, spatial modeling.

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And like I mentioned,

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these mass and volume calculation capabilities.

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So in the Contaminants extension,

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Seequent took this proven reliability of Edge

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and adapted it for use by the environmental industry.

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So even though by the time I got to it

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it was still in this early access program,

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it already was a really well-vetted and thought out

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and trusted software solution.

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<v ->Yeah. Yeah, definitely.</v>

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I tend to see that as a trend

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throughout multiple different solution sets

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and multiple different softwares,

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where things kind of start in the mining industry

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and then kind of gradually get introduced

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into the environmental space.

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So that’s really interesting that you see that.

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So what feature of our product was most appealing?

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<v ->Great.</v>

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I think for me, the feature that was most appealing to me

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about Contaminants extension,

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and then also about Leapfrog Works in general,

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is the clarity.

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I can see what data is being used.

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I can run statistics on pretty much any data set,

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and that’s my raw data or model data that’s in the project.

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I can see what data did I use, what query filter did I use.

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All of that information is kind of a click away.

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If I need to check my (muffled speaking) parameters,

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I can see that really easily,

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either in an experimental variogram plot,

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or by viewing my spatial model as an ellipsoid

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in the 3D viewer.

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I can see what happens to my model

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if I change these settings.

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I can save a static model,

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a static copy of any model,

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and then I can make changes to the active model.

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And then I can see what the differences are.

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I can run reports on the volumes and masses,

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and seeing those side by side.

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So some modeling software, kind of a black box.

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And I guess my favorite part about Leapfrog Works

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with the Contaminants extension

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is that I know what my inputs are.

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I know my model parameters.

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I know what my outputs are

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at every step of the (indistinct) process.

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<v ->Nice, nice.</v>

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So a good transparent workflow.

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That’s awesome.

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So how did you go about implementing

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and introducing the Contaminants extension

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within your group?

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<v ->Right, so I mentioned,</v>

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I started as part of that early access program,

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and honestly, I’ll just be very, very transparent with you.

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If that wasn’t in progress

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when I first came across Leapfrog Works

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and came up across Seequent and their solutions,

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I probably wouldn’t have gone very far down that road.

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I knew I needed to be able to have these capabilities,

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the variogram parameters,

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the mass and volume calculations, the spatial models.

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I knew I needed that kind of flexibility.

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And if that wasn’t there

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or at least on the verge of being available,

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I probably wouldn’t have gone very far

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’cause I don’t want to deal with a black box.

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<v ->Yeah. Yeah, definitely.</v>

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That’s definitely understandable for sure.

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Cool. Cool.

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So I guess moving on to the next question,

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how did our team help with this implementation?

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<v ->Oh, that’s great.</v>

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I worked with a variety of really excellent staff

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at Seequent, especially at the beginning.

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So I talked with them, with sales representatives

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to get my free trial started.

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I talked with developers

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to gain access to that early access program.

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I talked with support to answer questions

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about using the software.

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And honestly, I feel like the relationships that I developed

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at the beginning are one of the highlights

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of my experience with Seequent.

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I really appreciate the open dialogue

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that I have with the developers,

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and all the response to feedback that I’ve given.

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<v ->Yeah, definitely, definitely.</v>

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That’s something that I’ve also,

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I’ve been with Seequent

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for about I would say seven months now.

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And that’s something that I respect in the company,

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is kind of collaborating and working with people

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that are using our product to develop the product,

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just so that we’re kind of developing the right thing

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and moving in the right direction.

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So that’s awesome that you had that opinion as well.

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So what was, I guess,

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what was the initial reaction to our products,

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specifically the Contaminants extension?

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<v ->The reaction.</v>

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So my reaction was stoked.

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My staff’s reaction,

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it was like opening a birthday present,

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like all kinds of fun tools to use.

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My client’s reaction, sorry,

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that’s my little one saying happy birthday.

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My client’s-

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<v Child>(muffled speaking) my birthday really soon.</v>

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<v ->My client’s reaction,</v>

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So honestly, my favorite part about my client’s reactions

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has been maybe their lack of reaction.

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And let me explain that a little bit.

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So I use Leapfrog Works

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with the Contaminants extension most of the time,

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almost every day.

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And I use it to facilitate meetings with clients

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on some really complex sites.

[00:09:00.010]
My client wants to know what a groundwater plan looks like

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at some different historical dates.

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I can drag those models into the viewer.

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They want to know how much soil

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they might be required to excavate

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under different regulatory requirements.

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I can pull up a report.

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They want to see how much of that soil contamination

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is submerged, visually and by mass.

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I can draw up a cross-section.

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I can pull up a report on the fly.

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What about what happens to a groundwater plume

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way out in the future?

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Well, in that case,

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I would work with my colleague who’s a groundwater modeler.

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I could provide her with stratigraphic layers

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to use in a flow model.

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I could provide her with starting concentrations

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for (muffled speaking) stimulation,

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and then import those results right into Leapfrog

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where I then use it (muffled speaking)

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to show future plume conditions.

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Of course, that last example takes some time

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and some work behind the scenes.

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I have to be able to export and import

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from a flow modeling software.

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I have to collaborate with another technical expert.

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But what my client then sees is so smooth and seamless.

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So my clients generally don’t say,

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“Wow, that’s such a cool software.”

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They get answers to their questions,

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which allows them to ask another question,

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and ultimately to get to key project decisions

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that otherwise would be much more difficult to reach.

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<v ->That’s really, really good to hear.</v>

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That’s awesome.

[00:10:23.710]
So I guess moving on to the next question,

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this is a dual-part question,

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how has our solution helped since implementation,

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and what types of projects

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do you use the Contaminants extension on?

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<v ->Awesome.</v>

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So I mentioned before that I use Works

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with the Contaminants extension

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to derive contaminant mass, plume volume,

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spatial distribution of different lithologies,

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contaminated soil, groundwater levels, surface features.

[00:10:57.670]
I could keep going.

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I have clean water clients for whom I use Leapfrog Works

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to look at surface

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and groundwater conditions and interactions.

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I have landfill clients for whom use the solution to,

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they need a model of the base of the landfill,

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the volume of fill, the proximity of groundwater

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to landfill extents.

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We actually have a landfill client

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who’s looking at mining the resource

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from their coal ash landfill.

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So we’ve used the Contaminants extension

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to model the volume and mass of various ash types.

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We use it to support a large,

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actually a variety of large petroleum refinery sites,

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and then some small dry cleaner sites,

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and kind of more variety in between.

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<v ->Yeah. Yeah. That’s really cool.</v>

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That’s really cool that you’re kind of,

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I guess, flexing or using the Contaminants extension

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just as a geostatistical toolkit,

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and you can use it on a variety of projects,

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not just specifically on contaminants.

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So it’s really cool

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that you’re kind of getting a bunch of use

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on a bunch of different projects

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with the Contaminants extension.

[00:12:05.630]
Awesome.

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So how has this solution,

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or has the solution saved any money

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or increased any productivity?

[00:12:15.430]
<v ->That’s a great question.</v>

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This saving money is kind of interesting,

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because of course, as consultants,

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we primarily make money by charging clients for our time.

[00:12:26.450]
And of course they’re coming to us for our expertise.

[00:12:29.580]
So the money that we save

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is actually saving our clients money,

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and that amount is likely to be very significant.

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Because again, we can show regulators

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why various project-level decisions

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are smart and efficient and justifiable.

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I can certainly speak to the productivity.

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Flat out, some of the work that we’re doing

[00:12:50.690]
with Leapfrog Works and the Contaminants extension,

[00:12:52.820]
we just couldn’t have done with another solution.

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At least not in the same amount of time.

[00:12:57.690]
So we’re able to move projects forward

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at a rate that we just couldn’t be doing otherwise.

[00:13:04.330]
<v ->That’s awesome. That’s really good to hear.</v>

[00:13:06.690]
Cool.

[00:13:07.630]
So I guess moving on,

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what have you been most impressed with,

[00:13:11.860]
specific to the Contaminants extension?

[00:13:16.073]
<v ->Great.</v>

[00:13:16.906]
Well, the software has really impressed me

[00:13:19.900]
in a variety of ways,

[00:13:21.850]
but I have to say it’s really more the people at Seequent

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who’ve made more of a lasting impression on me.

[00:13:26.960]
I continue to find willing, attentive ears,

[00:13:30.470]
real eyes towards the future,

[00:13:32.500]
and active progress towards staying at the forefront

[00:13:35.430]
of 3D modeling software.

[00:13:37.600]
I also see the kind of holistic thinking I like to do.

[00:13:42.040]
Not just can we get the software to do this one thing,

[00:13:45.100]
but how do we manage our data?

[00:13:47.160]
How do we enable collaboration across disciplines?

[00:13:50.560]
How do we leverage cloud computing and data storage

[00:13:53.220]
into the future?

[00:13:54.580]
This is all really encouraging,

[00:13:55.930]
and makes me really excited for the future.

[00:13:58.510]
<v ->Awesome. Awesome.</v>

[00:13:59.450]
Great to hear.

[00:14:01.140]
So I guess looking forward,

[00:14:03.150]
what are your plans or what plans do you have

[00:14:05.600]
to use the Contaminants extension in the future?

[00:14:09.550]
<v ->Yeah, so my immediate plans</v>

[00:14:10.770]
are to keep doing what we’re doing,

[00:14:12.470]
and be ready to adopt, to support more projects.

[00:14:15.700]
I also plan to continue to push the limits of our workflows

[00:14:18.730]
by creating some best practices

[00:14:20.640]
for time series analysis in Leapfrog.

[00:14:23.280]
There’s probably nothing quite as effective

[00:14:25.890]
in communicating remediation effectiveness

[00:14:28.330]
than showing contaminant mass and volumes decreasing

[00:14:31.330]
over the life of a remedy.

[00:14:33.030]
Except perhaps visually showing those plumes shrinking too.

[00:14:37.530]
And this is something that we’ll continue to do

[00:14:40.000]
into the future.

[00:14:41.420]
<v ->Yeah, that’s really good to hear.</v>

[00:14:42.890]
And just to speak to the time series-dependent data,

[00:14:47.550]
we are actually, in the next release,

[00:14:49.210]
we’re implementing time series-dependent data

[00:14:52.700]
into the Contaminants extension.

[00:14:54.310]
So you can visualize that in the program itself,

[00:14:59.520]
instead of having to do the workarounds

[00:15:01.950]
that we’ve been doing previously.

[00:15:05.850]
<v ->Music to my ears.</v>

[00:15:06.884]
And really couldn’t have told me

[00:15:08.050]
anything more exciting for today.

[00:15:11.530]
<v ->Awesome. Awesome.</v>

[00:15:12.820]
Glad to hear that.

[00:15:13.740]
Well, I think with that we are at the end of our questions.

[00:15:19.400]
We at Seequent really appreciate your time,

[00:15:22.520]
taking time out of your day to let me, I guess,

[00:15:27.670]
interview you and do this Q&amp;A.

[00:15:29.200]
So yeah, we are appreciative of that.

[00:15:33.500]
<v ->Great. Thank you very much.</v>

[00:15:35.893]
And yeah, I really appreciate you.

[00:15:38.020]
<v ->Awesome.</v>

[00:15:39.440]
Cool. Well, have a good day, Eryn.

[00:15:41.433]
<v ->Thanks. You too, Jeff.</v>