Enviro Data 2012 Released

Geotech has been working for the last several months on a major new version of our Enviro Data software. With a fresh new look, Enviro Data 2012 allows you to more easily manage your databases, perform common tasks, import data in difficult formats, and generate just the output you need. The version got the name 2012 early in its development, and we didn't change it even though it's being released now. (It took longer because of all the useful stuff we wanted to put in it.)

Here are just a few of the new features:

• Redesigned interface makes the software easier to use for new users, while providing the full functionality of the software to experienced users.

• A new database tracking feature helps you keep track of your Enviro databases in Access, SQL Server, and Oracle. Now you can open a database with just a couple of mouse clicks, without having to navigate to the desired folder and file.

• Many new and updated import and export formats, including SEDD, ADR, WQX, Scribe, ERPIMS, EQuIS, ADaPT, COGCC, EnviroInsite, RockWorks, NJ Hazsite, and  NYSDEC, among others.

• New import options, including an updated “Uncrosstabber” to help dissect and import Excel tables. You can also define your own imports of multiple related files.

• New data review tool for projects that don’t need Enviro Data’s full CLP-based validation.

• Support for biological data for both individual and population census data.

• Enhanced Bulk Data tool for managing time sequence data like level loggers and multi-parameter probes, downhole data, and 2- and 3-D survey data.

• Expanded Field Tool capability that now lets you create your field documents such as container labels and chains of custody in the field based on actual field conditions.

• Stations can now have aliases, similar to Parameters.

• Enhanced Crosstab Wizard export with integrated statistics.

• More regulatory limit options, including bolding, underlining, and super- and sub-scripts.

• Regression curve option for graph reports.

• Significantly enhanced performance for retrieving large data sets.

We have now completed the development, in-house testing, and external testing, and are now releasing it to all users. 

COGCC Rule 609 - Colorado Setting a Precedent

In February the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) published Rule 609 making Colorado the first state in the country to require pre- and post-drilling sampling of water sources near new oil and gas wells.  With this new rule in place, producing companies and their consultants must do baseline studies prior to, during and after drilling takes place to ensure water sources are of the highest quality.  Since about 2007, Geotech Computer Systems has been helping clients use our Enviro Data software to report data to COGCC . With the implementation of the new state database for uploading the results, Geotech has cooperated with COGCC to update the transfer of data to their database using their new XML format. With this change, now you can obtain your data from your laboratory in the comprehensive Enviro Data format, perform your in-house quality control, reporting, and mapping, and then upload the data to COGCC, properly handling data details like Facility IDs and Sample IDs generated by the state. Contact Mike Rich, mrich@geotech.com for additional details. 

Enviro Data Tip

Often on data management projects the hardest part is to get the data imported properly. This generally isn’t an issue for ongoing projects, because most labs can make usable electronic data deliverable (EDD) files, especially for Enviro Data, for which the standard format, our Data Transfer Standard, is both comprehensive and structurally simple. The problem often comes in, though, for historical data, or for data from other sources than a capable laboratory. So that brings us to the tip. If you can get the data in a columnar file, but different from our preferred format, it can still be easy to get it in with Enviro Data’s User-Defined Columnar Format option. The columns can be called whatever you want, but often the easiest thing is to start with an Excel file with just the columns you have data for, and then name the columns the Enviro Data field names. An example of this is shown in the following figure:

While there are a number of fields that Enviro Data would like to have, these can be added during the import using the Import Defaults feature. Then when you want to import this file, choose the User-Defined Columnar Excel/CSV format, and say that the first row has field names. Tell Enviro Data to match Enviro Data field names. If you will have more than one file of this type, you can save this format with a name. Then proceed with the import. The next time for the same format is even easier - the format you created will appear on the first Wizard screen as another import option. 

Enviro Spase News

.Net Conversion Nearly Complete

With the announcement from ESRI that ArcGIS 10.2 will be released in June, and no further information about whether VBA will be supported or not, Geotech is assuming it won’t, and completing the development of Enviro Spase in VB.Net. The conversion is complete, testing nearly complete, and documentation progressing. Geotech will keep you posted if we hear anything further from ESRI about the status of VBA. Unfortunately a .Net version of Enviro Spase won’t be as easy for users to modify as the VBA version has been. The good news is that the new version will be easier to install and use.

Geotech News

Geotech Attends Energy Expo

In February Dave Rich attended the Energy Forum and Expo in Grand Junction, Colorado. In addition to catching up with a number of existing clients and prospects, he made quite a few new contacts. Recently Colorado became the first state to require baseline sampling of nearby water sources for all oil and gas wells, both before and after drilling. In response to this, Geotech worked with the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to add the capability for Enviro Data to create the format required by the State to submit this baseline sampling data. The energy companies and consultants in Grand Junction were very interested in this capability.

In addition to the conference, Dr. Dave also attended a reception hosted by Olsson Associates, an Enviro Data client, and the whole group then went to a screening of the movie Frackland, a rebuttal to the anti-fracking movie Gasland.  As you can imagine, a lively discussion followed the movie, and Dave was shown on the local TV news.  

Geotech Attends AEHS Conference

At the end of March, Geotech again attended the AEHS Annual International Conference on Soil, Water, Energy, and Air in sunny San Diego, California.  Mike Rich represented Geotech and he shared a booth with Richard Cartwright of MECX. Geotech and MECX are members of The Remediation Partners, a consortium of companies that work together to find solutions for a wide variety of environmental and remediation needs.  Mike and the Remediation Partners met many new companies and people and provided many avenues for people to pursue as they look for solutions to their specific environmental problems.  From data management to remediation, Remediation Partners is your one stop shop for your environmental needs.   Many new partnerships were born and Geotech looks forward to working with all these new companies in the future.

Geotech Trains the Corps of Engineers

Geotech recently completed a training class on Enviro Data and Enviro Spase for the Corps of Engineers Omaha District. The training was very well received, and the staff is excited about getting going with the software. Corps staff are working on updating the ACE-IT approval of Enviro Data from the 2010 to the 2012 release. Geotech is now working with a number of other districts to get Enviro Data going there to replace the existing LDC EDMS software which was used in the past.  Geotech is also talking to other Corps districts about implementing Enviro Data on their projects.

New Clients

Geotech is pleased to have added six new clients to our Enviro Software family in the first quarter of 2013.  The first is a consulting company with offices in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  Founded in 1946, this company specializes in Geotechnical Engineering, Environmental and Groundwater Science, Inspection and Testing Services, and many other disciplines.  The second new client is an environmental and engineering consulting firm located in Colorado, that deals with business segments such as Brownfield Redevelopments, Land Development, Minerals Exploration, Mining, Oil & Gas, etc.  Our third client this quarter is a minerals corporation headquarted in Canada and specializing in the exploration and development of uranium properties in the U.S., primarily in Wyoming and New Mexico.  Fourth on our new client list is another Canadian company , established in 1973, that provides environmental services such as enhanced bioremediation, groundwater cutoff, In Situ chemical oxidation, and many others.  With offices in Canada and Denver, our fifth new client is the environmental arm of a large silver producing company in Canada.   This environmental group provides scientific and engineering services to mining, chemical, gas and government clients.  They also provide water treatment and closure services at mining sites.  Our final new client of the quarter is the Yakama Nation, a Native American group consisting of nearly 10,000 members, living in Washington State.  We are happy that all of these clients have chosen the Enviro software to help them meet their environmental  database management needs.

Spring Special -  Add a Second License for Half Price

Add another eData license for half price! Whether the economy is picking back up is debatable, but saving money is always a safe bet.  That is why Geotech is offering any Enviro license to existing clients at half price.  Yes that’s 50% off!  Have a new hire who will be needing full database privileges?  Get a Single or Concurrent license for a fraction of the price.  Need to put data on the new manager’s computer? Or have a new consultant doing validation for you?  Viewer licenses are a great way to increase data accessibility and have never been more affordable.  Get more out of your data management, and land more work.  Email Mike Rich at mrich@geotech.com for additional details.

Smart Moves in Tough Times - Data Management Help   

One of the smartest things you can do for your business is to call on Geotech when you need data management help.   We have trained, experienced staff to help you when:

1. You have too much work to do and not enough staff to do it.

2. You lose key data management personnel, have project deadlines, and no time to hire and train new people.

3. When you want to save money.  Hiring Geotech staff on an as-needed basis is far less expensive than hiring a full-time employee.

Geotech provides a variety of data management services such as:

1. Data entry and importing

2. Database setup

3. Quality control

4. Reporting

5. Mapping

Geotech has helped a wide variety of clients with their data management needs just in 2012:

1. We have an ongoing project with a downhole push company to help them load their push and traditional lab data and generate various kinds of outputs.

2. A large environmental company in Chicago had us load 25 years of data, nearly three million records of data, from two historical databases and 300 lab deliverable files.

3. We provided a spatial information company with analyses and reports on phosphate mine samples in China.

4. A multi-office environmental consulting firm retained Geotech to make project specific reports for their client projects.

5. Geotech created a project-specific field data entry tool for Oak Ridge Laboratory.

6. A uranium company hired Geotech to add statistics calculation capabilities to the Crosstab Wizard.

7. We did a large data loading project for a refinery in the western US.

8.  And for our Indian tribe clients, we performed data loading, validation modifications, and custom software development for their staff.

So please give us a call the next time you need help managing your data.  We are here to help you!

Geotech Humor - Laughter is Good Medicine!

Q: What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?

A: Frostbite

You might be a Geologist if:

10. You have ever had to respond “yes” to the question, “What have you got in here, rocks?”

9. You have ever taken a 22-passenger van over “roads” that were really intended only for cattle.

8. You have ever found yourself trying to explain to airport security that a rock hammer isn’t really a weapon.

7. Your rock garden is located inside your house.

6. You have ever hung a picture using a Brunton as a level, and your rock hammer as your hammer.

5. Your collection of beer cans and/or bottles rivals the size of your rock collection.

4. You consider a “recent event” to be anything that has happened in the last hundred thousand years.

3. Your photos include people only for scale and you have more pictures of your rock hammer and lens cap than of your family.

2. You have ever been on a field trip that included scheduled stops at a gravel pit and/or a liquor store.

And the #1 sign you might be a geologist…………

1. You have ever uttered the phrase “have you tried licking it” with no sexual connotations involved.

Geotech Services

Geotech specializes in environmental software, database management services and custom programming. We can assist with data loading, reporting, mapping, and other services, or we can train you to do these tasks. Geotech has been successfully providing software and services to hundreds of clients over the past 30 years.  We would be happy to provide you with references. For more information about Geotech products and services, please visit our web site at www.geotech.com.

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CONTACT INFORMATION

Geotech Computer Systems, Inc.
12150 E. Briarwood Ave., Ste. 202
Centennial, CO 80112
303-740-1999 (PH)
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www.geotech.com
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