Also In This Issue:

	Mining and Minerals Focus: Asbestos Mineralization in Raw Materials			Meet RJLG Information Technology Leaders
	Speciation of Environmental Particulate			Who's Who in Nanotechnology
	Materials Focus: X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) Reveals the Surface Chemistry of Advanced Materials			Conference Corner

Mining and Minerals Focus: Asbestos Mineralization in Raw Materials – top

Raw materials, such as ores, crushed stone, sand and gravel, are the fundamental building blocks of our society.  They are used to build our homes, our roads and offices, and provide valuable jobs.  Almost every county in the United States is home to at least one raw materials operation.  Unfortunately, due to the American geology, there is a possibility in many of these operations for asbestos mineralization.  Mining and milling rock that contains asbestos has the potential to release fibers to the air, thereby increasing the risk of disease to workers and to the surrounding community from fugitive dust.  Asbestos contamination of the raw material products may reduce their value or prevent their use altogether.  Existing legislation overseas, preventing the import of products contaminated with asbestos and a growing support in the American legislatures to ban any asbestos content in products, present significant challenges to many raw materials producers.

Fortunately, the minerals that can comprise asbestos are primarily found as larger rock crystals that are not fibrous.  These minerals (both amphibole and serpentine) are a major component of the bedrock in much of America.  Though rare, under the correct geological conditions, these minerals can grow into asbestos fibers.  RJ Lee Group has assisted many raw material producers in evaluating their operations to identify and quantify the serpentine and amphibole minerals on their properties.  We provide on-going monitoring and analysis to assure both the producer and the public that asbestos levels are below all regulatory levels.  RJ Lee Group has the expertise to differentiate between the asbestos and non-asbestos forms of these minerals, thus preventing the producer from wasting valuable resources on a problem that doesn’t exist.  We have also assisted many raw material producers with issues arising from governmental regulators who incorrectly classified non-asbestos minerals as asbestos. 

For more information, contact RJLG’s Drew Van Orden, Senior Scientist, at dvanorden@rjlg.com or Kim Allison, Manager of TEM Laboratory Services, at kallison@rjlg.com.



Speciation of Environmental Particulate – top

Environmental particulate in air, soil, sediment or indoor and outdoor dust can be of forensic interest when permissible limits are exceeded, when the particulate presents a nuisance problem, when clean-up costs need to be allocated or when remediation strategies need to be employed.  Issues to be addressed may include identification and quantification of the particulate of interest, source identification, potential for adverse effects and development of remediation strategies.  These issues are best addressed using particle-by-particle analytical speciation techniques where a unique species is defined by the combination of chemical composition, particle size, shape and association.  Analytical speciation techniques for particles include the acquisition of species-specific characteristics using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) where the EDS provides elemental composition information and the SEM image allows description of the physical measures.  The SEM/EDS analysis may be supplemented with other appropriate techniques including, for example, optical microscopy, bulk chemistry, and X-ray diffraction.

RJLG has significant expertise in analytical speciation techniques including, for example, differentiating arsenic derived from an industrial source from that derived from the application of a herbicide product; differentiating lead derived from a battery reprocessing plant from that derived from coal ash; determining the proportion of total cadmium in soil related to a specific mineral source; and differentiating among various sources of carbon-rich particles.  For more information or if you would like a consultation regarding analytical speciation techniques, contact Dr. Stephen Kennedy, Senior Scientist at skennedy@rjlg.com. 

Join Dr. Stephen Kennedy for a free Web Seminar Presentation on “Particle Speciation in Soil, Sediment and Dust”, on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 @ 1:00 PM EST. Dr. Kennedy will discuss what is meant by particle-by-particle speciation and the information that can be gained.  He will also review different characterization methods most specifically the MSEM and CCSEM.  Please contact Ellen Martin at emartin@rjlg.com to sign up.

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Materials Focus: X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) Reveals the Surface Chemistry of Advanced Materials – top


Surface chemistry plays a key role in the performance of most advanced, high-technology materials and products.  Surface composition is highly important because the surface constitutes the direct zone of interaction between any solid material and its environment, be it gases, liquids, or other solids.  Therefore, the surface chemistry of a material (eq.., oxidation states, ionic and molecular bonding, lateral and depth distribution of elements and compounds) will affect many fundamental material properties such as: adhesion strength, biological compatibility, catalytic activity, corrosion resistance, oxidation behavior, surface appearance, tribological performance, and wettability, among others.  X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), also known as electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA), is the premier qualitative and quantitative analytical technique for characterizing the chemical composition of the topmost surface (≤ ~10 nm) of solid materials. 

For the past year, RJLG scientists have been using the state-of-the-art Model K-Alpha XPS instrument manufactured by Thermo Scientific (www.thermo.com). 

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Meet RJLG Information Technology Leaders – top

Since 2004, RJLG IT Leaders from our Waynesburg, PA office managed and developed software and hardware on various IT projects for the United States Air Force.  In result, RJLG was the 2009 recipient of outstanding performance appraisals by USAF in all categories including Quality of Product/Services, Schedule, Cost Control, Business Relations and Management of Key Personnel.

RJLG Waynesburg recipients for outstanding performance include:  Matt Sedlak (Program Manager), Harlan Shober (Software Architect/Development Manager), Dennis Moore (Product Manager), Jin Liu (Product Manager), Aaron Siri (Software Engineer), Jonathan Roberts  (Software Engineer), David Hesson (Software Engineer), Brian Van Maurik (Software Engineer), Michael  Bradburn (Software Engineer), Brian Crockard (Software Engineer), Ben McCracken (Software Engineer), Grant Salko (Software Engineer), Jason Welling (Technical Writer), and Rex McCracken (System Engineer).

For more information, contact:

• Matt Sedlak RJLG Director of Information Technology and USAF Program Manager at msedlak@rjlg.com
• Harlan Shober RJLG Software Development Manager and USAF Enterprise Software Architect at hshober@rjlg.com
• Dennis Moore RJLG Product Manager and USAF RCM Product Manager at dmoore@rjlg.com

Who's Who in Nanotechnology – top

Nanotechnology is emerging fast, with revolutionary new products already on the horizon. The list of products that are already used and being envisioned is mind-boggling, with applications ranging from medical breakthroughs (tiny cancer-fighting particles in the bloodstream) to the revolutionary (eliminating pollution) to the mundane (stain-resistant clothing).

RJ Lee Group has a long history of providing services for the characterization of particulate matter, including metals, ceramics, polymers, ink, electronic materials, paints, and all types of colloidal materials. The characterization of the nanoparticles as well as the identification of any contaminant particles in the material is critical in understanding and developing better products. Today we are on the forefront in the investigation of nanoparticles and working closely with government agencies, national laboratories, academia and industry to evaluate and develop sampling techniques and analysis methodologies as well as analytical instrumentation that will advance the industry.

Here are just a few examples of how our experts can help...

• Contact Kristin Lee Bunker, PhD at klbunker@rjlg.com to discuss advanced instrumentation and characterization techniques, like the Hitachi S-5500
• Contact Gary Casuccio at gcasuccio@rjlg.com to discuss the RJLG interaction with various government agencies and how we are collaborating on the nanocharacterization protocols
• Contact John Mastovich at jmastovich@rjlg.com to discuss X-ray Analysis and analytical accessories.
• Contact Keith Rickabaugh at krickabaugh@rjlg.com to discuss the RJLG interaction with leading ES&H experts and how we are collaborating on the related analytical protocols

Conference Corner – top

2009 ASCLD Workshop & Symposium – RJ Lee Solutions will be exhibiting at The 37th Annual Workshop for the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD). The program includes information on topical issues and training suitable for laboratory directors/administrators and policy makers.  The symposium will provide sessions on current trends and initiatives of concern to managers, recent research findings, other issues that affect crime laboratories, and the annual ASCLD business meeting, including updates on ASCLD initiatives. 

Energy Inc – Visit RJLG’s representatives at their booth at this half-day conference, reception and trade show on September 22, 2009. It will focus on the business opportunities for companies in western Pennsylvania in the energy industry, with a special emphasis on traditional energy sources such as natural gas, coal and nuclear power.
The event will kick off at 1:00 p.m. with registration, a one-hour reception and trade show. From 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. there will be speakers discussing energy opportunities in our region. There will be a reception in the trade show area from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Looking Ahead

24th International Activated Carbon Conference
Nano EHS
Joint Forensic Science Meeting 2009
AVS International Symposium and Exhibition


Contributing Writers and Editors
A special thank you to this month's contributing writers and editors

Jeannette Christensen, Director, Litigation Services
Stephen Kennedy, Senior Scientist
Alex Sciulli, President & COO
Matt Sedlak, Program Manager for EHM+DRC, EHM+ and CBM+
Brian Strohmeier, Manager of the Surface Analysis Laboratory
Drew Van Orden, Senior Scientist

From The President
Mr. Alex Sciulli

As of August 24, 2009, RJLG began its work as one of several pre-selected subcontractors now participating in the multi-billion dollar Mission Support Contract (MSC) to provide support services for the environmental cleanup at the DOE’s Hanford nuclear reservation in the State of Washington. Lockheed Martin Integrated Technology, LLC; Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.; and Wackenhut Services, Inc ., formed the winning contract team that makes up the Mission Support Alliance, LLC.  Also part of that group, RJLG and TestAmerica Inc. are jointly assuming operational and management responsibilities of the existing Waste Sampling and Characterization Facility (WSCF).  The contract is a cost-plus award-fee contract valued at approximately $3 billion over ten years (a five-year base period with options to extend it for up to another five years).  RJLG’s portion is almost $18M annually over a proposed 5-year contract.  The ceremonial kick-off event is planned for September 9th to welcome almost 100 new employees to our company. 

Early this year, RJLG was notified that several of our U.S. Air Force (USAF) contracts were placed on Stop Work due to an internal Air Force process, and later terminated for convenience. Since then, many have been diligently working to resolve this issue by obtaining certification through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) so contracts can be reinstated.  The USAF has since reinstated those contracts in preparations to restart, once the NDAA approval is obtained by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD).  The contracts are expected to restart for RJLG within the September-October 2009 timeframe.  Once restarted, RJLG will continue to assist the USAF in improving weapon systems management.

As our breadth of services continues to grow and improve, we have not lost sight of the real reason for our success … our people.  We are implementing two new internal communication initiatives: ASK Alex and CSI. ASK Alex is an opportunity for groups of employees to meet with me informally and ask specific questions.  Questions can also be sent via e-mail.  CSI stands for Company Suggestions & Ideas.  It’s a program that evaluates employee suggestions and ideas with an opportunity for recognition.  An ad-hoc committee will determine which ideas or suggestions have merit.  If an idea is implemented, the employee who submitted the idea will be rewarded.  These programs are important for internal communications efforts.  We also want our staff to know they are connected and their suggestions are very important to our strategic planning process. 

And finally, something old is new again at RJLG, as the company’s new tagline begins to appear in more and more places. Check it out …

Delivering Scientific Resolution.