Can eco-friendly plates and food containers made from sugarcane mulch sneak in some hidden PFAS? And can that PFAS end up in your compost, and eventually your garden soil? Cara Roberts and David Springer did the dirty work (literally) to find out. Gunnar and James couldn't wait for them to come onto the podcast and present the scoop. Tune in to hear what they uncovered!

Oh, and this time there's no "Gunnar's gone rogue" segment. In fact, he's eating a slice of humble pie after a listener fact-checked him on one of his recent rants. Oops! After that little reality check, they tidy up a few loose ends and jump straight into the interview. Don't miss it!

This episode was recorded on 4 November 2024.

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The necessary disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this Podcast are the speakers’ own. They do not necessarily represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of 4Pillars Environmental Consulting Pty Ltd or any Client, Supplier or other party related to 4Pillars or the speakers.

(c) Gunnar Haid and James Hammond

Grey Areas and Loopholes – Where to Draw the Line? This episode dives into the murky waters of our industry's "grey areas", or, if we are re being honest, loopholes. From VENM (Virgin Excavated Natural Material) issues to Council demands for auditors in a gotcha move, to James's creative methods for getting trial waste recycling facilities approved, and even the use of silica gel to clean up tank pit samples - these are some of the fine lines or thin ice areas we navigate in the environmental consulting world.

Before Gunnar and James unpack their take on which loopholes are fair game and which ones in their opinion cross the line, they handle some podcast housekeeping, read out a listener comment, and share big news: the NSW EPA has withdrawn their 2022 asbestos position paper!

And, because no episode is complete without a "Gunnar moment," he takes us back to a memorable prenatal class incident. In typical Gunnar style, he set things straight, though, admittedly, even he now wonders whether going full Gunnarish was, well, entirely necessary. Enjoy the episode!

This is the link to the EPA article announcing the asbestos news.

The episode was recorded on 18 October 2024

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The necessary disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this Podcast are the speakers’ own. They do not necessarily represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of 4Pillars Environmental Consulting Pty Ltd or any Client, Supplier or other party related to 4Pillars or the speakers.

(c) Gunnar Haid and James Hammond

In a fictitious world where electricity reigns supreme, Gunnar has "invented" a revolutionary engine that uses ... wait for it ... petrol! That’s right, in this universe, electric engines are the norm, and Gunnar is pitching this wild idea of a new type of engine to a venture capitalist, skilfully played by James.

We’re taking a detour from our usual lineup of site contamination, waste streams, asbestos scares, and blood lead levels. Instead, Gunnar and James are stepping into the world of dramatic fiction — or at least, are attempting to. They’re acting out a "screenplay," minus the screens, with Gunnar taking full responsibility for the writing (and any questionable humour). It’s all in good fun, so let’s embrace the satire and enjoy the ride! Gunnar and James certainly had a blast recording it!

But before the “acting” begins, the two go on a trip down memory lane with a skydiving tale straight out of Top Gun. Depending on who you ask, it was either hilariously entertaining or a borderline disaster that nearly took out everyone nearby. You decide — either way, it’s unforgettable.

Recorded on 18 October 2024, this episode is one for the books!

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The necessary disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this Podcast are the speakers’ own. They do not necessarily represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of 4Pillars Environmental Consulting Pty Ltd or any Client, Supplier or other party related to 4Pillars or the speakers.

(c) Gunnar Haid and James Hammond

A re-think of the classic Preliminary Site Assessment => Detailed Site Assessment => Remedial Action Plan scenario. Guest Andrew Kohlrusch, EPA Auditor and contaminated sites expert extraordinaire, joins Gunnar on an excursion to explore a more bespoke way to assess contaminated sites from the initial stages to the final remediation report.

Of course the two veer off into their private lives first and discuss a Billy Joel Maddison Square Garden concert, whether dinner with David Bowie or Clint Eastwood would be more interesting than chatting with Louis Theroux and how working 'just two days a week' on a certain project mostly really means you will be working 7 days a week on that project and everything else that is going on.

There is a lot in this episode that entertains and even more that informs. Listen in, you will not regret it.

The episode was recorded on 2 October 2024.

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(c) Gunnar Haid and James Hammond

Australia's landscapes are in serious need of an injection of TLC (Tender Loving Care, not some dyslexic chlorinated hydrocarbon). TLC and a bit of money. $7.3 Billion per year over 10 years to be more precise, according to a recent report published by The Wentworth Group.

Our Guest is The Wentworth Group's Prof Mike Grundy, a former Research Director, Soil and Landscapes with CSIRO, and an Adjunct Professor with the University of Sydney. We discuss what is currently going wrong with Australia's landscapes, what is needed and how can this all be financed.

This podcast is all James' baby, he has read the entire report and the article in The Conversation. James and Mike are all over the subject, Gunnar is unusually quiet but does manage to inject a few pessimistic (he calls them "realistic") points from the sidelines towards the end.

The episode starts with the usual banter between out two hosts. One highlight is that Gunnar shows what he and Donald Trump have in common. Is it a bad hairstyle, a fake tan or maybe even narcissism? Listen in and you will find out.

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The necessary disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this Podcast are the speakers’ own. They do not necessarily represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of 4Pillars Environmental Consulting Pty Ltd or any Client, Supplier or other party related to 4Pillars or the speakers.

(c) Gunnar Haid and James Hammond

Measure lead levels in blood of house sparrows and accurately predict lead blood levels in children in that town. No way? Absolutely YES WAY!

That is exactly what Prof Simon Griffith with his PhD candidate Max Gillings have achieved in one of their recent papers.

From the outside it is all so easy. Go to an area with known high lead impact (towns like Broken Hill or Mt Isa come to mind), catch a few hundred sparrows, take a blood sample from each sparrow (non-destructively by the way), analyse the blood for lead (and all sort of other markers) and overlay the data to blood lead levels in children living in those areas that the sparrows frequent.

Establish that there is a correlation and explain why there is one as well. Then use that data to predict children's blood lead levels in areas where there is no good heath monitoring available. Publish the research and take a bow!

It is fascinating research, presented by equally fascinating scientists in a beautiful paper. Gunnar and James were both glued to Prof Griffith's lips and we are sure, so will you.

Link to the paper: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.4c00946

Simon Griffith links:
https://griffithecology.com/

https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/persons/simon-griffith

https://au.linkedin.com/in/simon-griffith-07830719

Max Gillings
https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=yIHdN_0AAAAJ&hl=en

https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/persons/max-mclennan-gillings

This episode was recorded on 26 July 2024

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The necessary disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this Podcast are the speakers’ own. They do not necessarily represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of 4Pillars Environmental Consulting Pty Ltd or any Client, Supplier or other party related to 4Pillars or the speakers.

(c) Gunnar Haid and James Hammond

How can young (female) professionals tackle the flood of knowledge they must acquire in a fast-paced consulting environment while at the same time having to deal with sometimes perceived but too often real disapproval by established good old boys in meetings or on construction sites? How can you tackle the ever niggling self-doubt? How can you become more like the you you want yourself to be?

Hailey Spry from Easterly Point Environmental, a DESI (that’s Queensland’s EPA) Accredited Contaminated Site Auditor and well established and respected expert in the environmental consulting scene, was generous enough to give us some of her rather expensive time and chat about women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). Gunnar and James are handing over hosting duties to two young and upcoming environmental stars for this episode.

Sophia Bourke is a Senior Environmental Consultant and despite her young age (don't let the ‘senior’ title fool you) forms the corner stone of the Environmental Impact Assessment Team at 4Pillars Environmental Consulting. Co-host is Laura Kent, an Environmental Consultant working with Sophia, specialising in Environmental Compliance and Management.

The three of them have an interesting chat about what it is like to be a young professional in a technical field and in an industry that is traditionally rather male dominated.

James took a break during this episode and refreshingly, Gunnar talks very little. Now, that alone should make it worth listening in!

This episode was recorded on 9 August 2024.

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The necessary disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this Podcast are the speakers’ own. They do not necessarily represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of 4Pillars Environmental Consulting Pty Ltd or any Client, Supplier or other party related to 4Pillars or the speakers.

(c) Gunnar Haid and James Hammond

The EPA names and shames a consultancy for allegedly falsifying reports. Meanwhile clients are beginning to use legal privilege as a strategy to avoid potential subpoenas — just as we anticipated in The Power Grab.

On a positive note, thanks to The Policy Predicament (yay!), the EPA has made a change to their website, now featuring all policy and regulatory updates in one easily accessible location. Kudos to the EPA!

Gunnar and James take the opportunity to talk about ethics, morals and integrity in our industry. They discuss the EIANZ's Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, share their approaches to navigating ethical and moral challenges, and offer suggestions on how we might be able to improve our industry's standards.

As usual, none of this sounds all that exciting. But, as usual, the episode delivers more excitement than expected. Tune in, you will come out the other end a way better person.

The episode was recorded on 2 August 2024

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The necessary disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this Podcast are the speakers’ own. They do not necessarily represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of 4Pillars Environmental Consulting Pty Ltd or any Client, Supplier or other party related to 4Pillars or the speakers.

(c) Gunnar Haid and James Hammond