Understand how regulations can cause conflicting views between laboratories and end users on the data quality.

1. Understanding End-Users’ Approaches to
Ensuring the Quality of Environmental Data
By Christina Hiegel, P.E.
Civil/Environmental Engineer

2. Introduction
Christina has over 11 years’ experience
in the environmental industry. She is a
registered civil/environmental engineer
and manages the chemistry group at
Trihydro. Her primary responsibilities
include providing technical support for
projects in data defensibility, data quality,
and leading data quality efforts.
Christina Hiegel

3. Importance of Data Quality
Laboratory
• Certification
• Methodology
• Standard
Operating
Procedures
• Legal
Defensibility
Consultant/
Responsible Party
Regulatory Agency

4. Importance of Data Quality
Laboratory
• Certification
• Methodology
• Standard
Operating
Procedures
• Legal
Defensibility
Consultant/
Responsible Party
• Regulatory
Requirements
• Legal
Defensibility
• Project
Objectives
Regulatory Agency

5. Importance of Data Quality
Laboratory
• Certification
• Methodology
• Standard
Operating
Procedures
• Legal
Defensibility
Consultant/
Responsible Party
• Regulatory
Requirements
• Legal
Defensibility
• Project
Objectives
Regulatory Agency
• Public Scrutiny
• Public Protection
• Legal
Defensibility

6. Differing Quality Standards

7. Reporting Limits

8. Holding Times

9. Preservations

10. Choosing Analytical Methods

11. Data Validation Standards

12. Data Validation Standards
USEPA. 2010. USEPA Contract Laboratory Program National Functional Guidelines for Inorganic Superfund Data Review (USEPA 540‐
R‐10‐011). Available from: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/clp/download/ism/ism1nfg.pdf.

13. Data Validation Standards

14. Data Validation Standards
USEPA. 2008. USEPA Contract Laboratory Program National Functional Guidelines for
Superfund Organic Methods Data Review (USEPA‐540‐R‐08‐01). Available from:
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/clp/download/somnfg.pdf.

15. Calibration Standards

16. Calibration Standards
USEPA. 2008. USEPA Contract Laboratory Program National Functional Guidelines for Superfund Organic
Methods Data Review (USEPA‐540‐R‐08‐01). Available from:
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/clp/download/somnfg.pdf

17. Precision

18. Data Reporting
TIER IV
TIER III
TIER II
TIER I

19. Final Data Management
Electronic
Data
Deliverable
Laboratory
Report
Data
Validation
Final Reports
Figures
Tables

20. Meeting Quality Objectives
Communicate:
• General project information
• Regulatory requirements
• Reporting limits and analyses requirements
• Analyses, constituents of concern, target analytes
• Subcontracting requirements
• How to communicate with each other
• Validation objectives
• Audit changes to the data
• Other information (e.g., sampling requirements, blanks, turn, and
special reporting packages)