Meet Ted Smith from FAS3
Title: Vice President
PRINCIPAL GEOLOGIST: EARTH & WATER RESOURCES, LLC
PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
Mr. Ted Smith currently serves as Principal Geologist for his firm Earth & Water Resources, LLC. His practice specializes in site characterizations and project reviews with an emphasis on Karst geology and sinkhole damage investigations, expert witness and litigation support, hydrogeological evaluations, contamination and environmental site assessments. Mr. Smith has over 30 years professional geological experience in environmental and engineering geology, as well as an extensive background in mining and mineral exploration. Since becoming a consultant in 1992, he has worked on a wide variety of environmental and geotechnical projects, including assessment and remediation of contaminated industrial facilities and geotechnical investigation of properties impacted by sinkhole and karst activity. Projects range from the geotechnical evaluations of hazardous elemental phosphorus tailings impoundments in Florida, Idaho, and Newfoundland to the closure of a phosphogypsum stack and chemical plant in central Florida, as well as extensive contamination assessments of various industrial facilities. Of particular note, Mr. Smith served as the technical consultant for the Veterans Expressway in Tampa, Florida from 1992 to 1996, when he managed the assessment and remediation of hazardous materials sites in the project right-of-way, including the assessment and closure of a former landfill.
Sinkhole and karst investigations are a specialized area of skill. Since 1996, Mr. Smith has directed a technical services group that has conducted over 3,000 forensic projects involving the investigation of sinkhole damage claims for the insurance industry. He has managed over 25 geologists, scientists, and technicians with annual revenues in excess of $6 million. Specific services ranged from geologic and geophysical site evaluations, emergency response, to the design, management, and oversight of sinkhole remediation and other subsurface ground improvement projects. Mr. Smith has provided expert testimony on numerous legal cases involving sinkhole activity, remediation of associated damages, and facility permit disputes.
From 1983 to 1991, Mr. Smith worked in mineral exploration and mine development in the western U.S. as a Regional Geologist and Project Geologist for various mining firms. At the White Pine Gold Mine in eastern Nevada, he was responsible for the management of exploration and mine geology programs. Mr. Smith was also a member of the development and exploration teams at the Bullfrog and Richmond Hill Mines in Nevada and South Dakota. In addition to his responsibilities for evaluating regional and ore deposit geology and ore reserves, he directed surface and groundwater quality testing programs for exploration and mine permitting.
KEY PROJECTS
SINKHOLE AND KARST INVESTIGATIONS (various insurance clients, Florida)
Director and Senior Project Manager: Oversight of more than 3,000 sinkhole and karst investigations in Florida, including site evaluations and preparation of remedial plans for subsurface grouting and underpinning.
Responsible for the financial performance of the technical services group, including profit and loss, budgeting, planning, and invoicing. Annual revenues exceeded $6 million.
Responsible for client development and management of client relations.
Responsible for the management of over 25 geologists, scientists, and technicians.
Developed investigation protocols and methods, reporting guidelines, and report formats.
Prepared numerous technical presentations and professional papers.
Serves as a Neutral Evaluator for the arbitration of sinkhole damage claims for the Florida Department of Financial Services.
ELEMENTAL PHOSPHOROUS FACILITY CLOSURE
Sr. Project Manager: Conducted a multi-year investigation of a former elemental phosphorus production facility involving evaluation of the extent of impacted ground water and surface water, as well as the resolution of multiple regulatory issues.
Managed the design and construction of a slurry wall and cap system for final closure of the facility.
HYDROGEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS (VARIOUS CLIENTS, FLORIDA)
Project Geologist: Conducted in-depth hydrogeological investigations for a wastewater reuse project at a citrus operation, a large residential development project, sand mine and processing plant, and a closed phosphorus production facility.
VETERANS EXPRESSWAY (HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA)
Project Manager: Managed project involving contamination and remediation issues on the Veterans Expressway in Tampa, Florida.
Individual projects included contamination assessments at several petroleum-contaminated sites and a former un-permitted landfill, a wetlands restoration project, emergency response activities, petroleum storage tank closures and construction dewatering in contaminated areas.
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
EARTH & WATER RESOURCES, LLC – Lakeland, Florida
Principal Geologist; 2011 to present
BCI ENGINEERS & SCIENTISTS, INC. – Lakeland, Florida
Project Geologist, Project Manager, Director, Associate; 1992 to 2011
ENVIROPACT, INC. – Clearwater, Florida; CHASTAIN SKILLMAN, Inc. – Lakeland, Florida
Geologist, Project Manager; 1991 to 1992
WESTERN STATES MINERALS CORPORATION – Ely, Nevada
Regional Geologist; 1990 to 1991
BOND GOLD CORPORATION, ST. JOE GOLD CORPORATION – Denver, Colorado;
Tucson, Arizona
Project Geologist, Geologist; 1983 to 1990
LICENSURE, CERTIFICATIONS, AFFILIATIONS
Professional Geologist, Florida (No. 1368)
Certified Professional Geologist (No. 9870)
Florida Department of Financial Services Certified Neutral Evaluator
Licensed Environmental Professional (No. 350)
OSHA Hazardous Water Safety Training
MSHA Mine Safety Training
American Institute of Professional Geologists
National Ground Water Association
Society of Economic Geologists
EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
M.S., Geology, 1983
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
B.S., Geology, 1980
PUBLICATIONS
Induced Sinkhole Formation Associated with Installation of a High-Pressure Natural Gas Pipeline, West-Central Florida, co-authored with George C. Sinn, Jr., P.E., Proceedings of the Thirteenth Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst, May 6-10, 2013, Carlsbad, New Mexico; National Cave and Karst Research Institute, Symposium 2
Scott Lake: The Formation and Investigation of a Large Sinkhole Occurrence in the Mantled Karst of West-Central Florida, co-authored with Carl W. Christmann, P.E., Proceedings of the Eleventh Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst, Geotechnical Special Publication No. 183, American Society of Civil Engineers, 2008
“The Lake is Gone!” The Scott Lake Conundrum, co-authored with Richard M. Powers, presentation and abstract, American Institute of Professional Geologist 43rd Annual Meeting, St. Paul, Minnesota, September 2006.
Regulatory Agencies and Environmental Assessment, co-authored with J.S. Rogers and D.P.H. Tucker, in Florida Citrus: A Comprehensive Guide, University of Florida IFAS, SP-278, 2006.
Characteristics of Stable and Reactivated In-filled Paleo-Karst Features in West-Central, Florida, co-authored with Mark H. Horwitz, in Geotechnical Special Publication No. 122, American Society of Civil Engineers, 2003.
The Role of the Geological Engineering Consultant in Residential Sinkhole Damage Investigations; in Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology of Sinkholes and Karst - 1999, edited by B. Beck, A. Pettit, and J. Herring, A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, 1999.
Sinkhole Damage Investigations for the Insurance Industry in West-Central Florida; in The Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology of Karst Terranes, edited by B. Beck and J. Stephenson, A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, 1997.
Construction of a Four-Lane Highway Embankment Over a Contaminated Landfill; coauthored with L. D. Madrid, Proceedings of the 44th Annual Highway Geology Symposium, May 1993, Tampa, Florida, pp. 175-182.
Geology of the Richmond Hill Gold Deposit; co-authored with T.A. Duex and others, “Proceedings of the Third Western Regional Conference on Precious Metals, Coal, and Environment," AIME, 1987, pp. 67-71.
Geochemistry of Fluid Inclusions from the Hollinger-McIntyre Gold Deposit, Timmins, Ontario, Canada; co-authored by P. L. Cloke and S. E. Kesler, Economic Geology, vol. 79, pp.1265-1285.
Relation of Fluid Inclusion Geochemistry to Wall Rock Alternation and Lithogeochemical Zonation at the Hollinger-McIntyre Gold Deposit, Timmins, Ontario, Canada; co-authored by S. E. Kesler, CIM Bulletin, vol. 78, no. 876, pp. 35-46.
Evaluation of Fluid Inclusion Gas Contents as Indicators of Conditions of Formation (T, P, fO2) of Ore Bodies: co-authored by P.L. Cloke and S.E. Kesler, presentation and abstract - Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, November, 1983.