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Vapor Technical Program

Advancements in Vapor Intrusion and Emerging Contaminant Air Quality Issues, October 3-4, 2023, Chicago, IL

Discover new guidance, technology, and solutions on vapor intrusion!


Final Program available! View the sessions, presentations, speakers, and more.


Keynote Presentation: The Quest for a More Technically Defensible Attenuation Factor for Vapor Intrusion Screening

Matthew Lahvis, Principal Soil and Groundwater Engineer, Shell Oil Products (US) Inc

Matthew Lahvis is a Principal Soil and Groundwater Engineer at Shell Oil Products (US) Inc. in Houston, Texas where he provides technical support on soil and groundwater issues related to oil and gas operations. Matt’s role is multidisciplinary, involving research on petroleum chemical fate and transport, development of risk-based, sustainable business practices, review of site-investigation and remedial strategies, external advocacy, and legal support. Matt has authored numerous research articles and a book chapter on vapor intrusion. His research on vapor intrusion helped underpin California’s Low-Threat Tank Closure Policy and USEPA’s and ITRC’s vapor intrusion guidance. More globally, Matt served as a technical advisor in the development of vapor intrusion guidance for China, the UK, Australia, and Canada. 

Over his career, Matt has earned scientific achievement awards by the US EPA Office of Underground Storage Tanks and the Association for Environmental Health and Sciences (AEHS), a Shell CEO HSSE and Social Performance Award, and a Shell Executive VP Brilliant People and Responsible Partner Award. Matt is a member of the American Petroleum Institute’s Soil and Groundwater Task Force and an Associate Editor for Groundwater Monitoring and Remediation journal. Prior to joining Shell, Matt worked for 11 years at the US Geological Survey - New Jersey District where he authored the open-source unsaturated-zone reactive transport model R-UNSAT. Matt was also an Adjunct Professor for 5 years at Drexel University where he received his PhD in Civil Engineering in 1993.
Technical sessions and panels will cover these timely topics:                              
  • VI Policy     
  • Sampling and Analysis Learning Lab: Procedures and Best Practices
  • Data Evaluation: Risk, Background, and Variability Challenges
  • Data Evaluation: New Approaches and Tools       
  • Mitigation Technologies
  • Mitigation Design Solutions
  • VI Mitigation: Construction Challenges and Performance Monitoring
  • Case Studies 

Session II - Sampling and Analysis Learning Lab: Procedures and Best Practices
The conference will feature, for the first time, a “learning lab” on vapor intrusion analytical challenges. It all starts with obtaining high-quality data. Discover best practices for sample collection, how your laboratory partner can help get the data you need, lessons learned from more than 30 years of VI sampling and analysis, and the impact that new Method TO-15a will have on the VI marketplace. This engaging, interactive session will provide answers to your most pressing sampling and analytical questions and will serve as key input to subsequent sessions on data evaluation, which include presentations on the effects of spatial/temporal variability, background concentrations and new tools to facilitate a complete understanding of the vapor intrusion pathway.