Solution

The Facility component is used to group related data. A Facility within ERIMS can be a single company location or facility, such as a mine or factory, but it can also be defined as a production line, a series of wells, or a group of equipment. Clients usually establish one or more Facilities underneath the Company (described within this section).

Users select a Facility following login and once selected, the user is able to review only data related to that specific Facility. The Facilities and functionality available to the user are dependent on their specific role and rights.

Company

The Company component is used to summarize data from multiple Facilities and is useful for accessing corporate-wide information. It provides for rollup reporting and trend analyses over a course of years or seasonal fluctuation.

Security

End-users are limited to accessing only their Company’s information. Each client can manage their users’ rights and create groups to control access to specific information and functionality. All components have READ (Read, Edit, Add, Delete) permissions to control the activities each end-user is allowed to perform.

Each client has their own dedicated, secure database to ensure complete separation of client-specific information. We use high availability disaster recovery practices and databases are continuously backed up as an additional fail safe for data integrity.

EPA GHG Mandatory Reporting Requirements

The EPA Greenhouse Gas Mandatory Reporting Rule (GHG MRR) has triggered much activity across a broad range of industries. In order to comply with the mandatory reporting rule, ERIMS takes intense data collection and reporting requirements, and simplifies them into a concise tool enabled package. Thanks to automation of e-GRRT reporting, the EPA’s electronic submittal tool, GHG MRR is made simple and straight forward.

Reporting

Reporting can be performed from several areas and include preformatted reports for regulators, facility- and company-wide reports, cross-tab reports, as well as graphs, charts, maps, and trend analysis reports. ERIMS can export reports to several file formats such as Excel, Word, PDF, CSV, text, etc.

Draft reports for regulators can be generated in the specified format and routed via email to the appropriate personnel for review and approval. Upon approval, an electronic signature is automatically applied to the finalized documents for submittal to these agencies.

Dashboard

The Dashboard represents high-level summary reports on one screen. This component provides quick access to specific information without having to navigate through the system. Usually displayed as graphs and tables, these reports may include time series analyses or seasonal fluctuations of groundwater elevations or flow rates. Report panes can be expanded for closer analysis, printing and exporting.

Permits

The Permits component manages information related to restrictions imposed by regulatory agencies. ERIMS handles different types of permits, including construction, operation, and discharge. Permit requirements, such as dates, limitations, parameters of interest, and sampling frequency are associated with specific Mapsites (defined within this section). Renewal dates, revisions, comments, and documents associated with a given permit are also tracked within the system.

Compliance

Compliance is a component directly related to Permits. Each Permit has a specific set of requirements defined by regulatory agencies. Environmental permits identify locations requiring sampling, the frequency of sampling, and parameters of interest. The Compliance component provides for the configuration of specific parameters, acceptable ranges, and frequency of monitoring for each sampling location (i.e., Mapsite). The parameters can be flow readings, groundwater elevations, chemical analysis of water, etc.

Notice of Violation

The Notice of Violation (NOV) component allows clients to track specific regulatory violations and the required actions, penalties, fines, settlements, legal action and extensions related to them. Action Items can then be setup to designate a specific date for closure of item and send email notification to the individual assigned the task to ensure required action is taken.

Notifications

The Notifications component allows certain end-users to be automatically notified by email for specific reasons, including receipt of data, upload issues, and instances of non-compliance or regulatory exceedances. As noted under the Notice of Violation component, Action Items can be configured with designated dates for closure of item and send email notification to the responsible party to ensure that the required action is taken.

Flow

Flow covers a broad range of flowing features such as treatment plant effluent or influent, containment pound discharges, extraction or injection wells, streams, etc. For instantaneous flows, a single value from a meter is usually used. For stream cross-sectional measurements, ERIMS uses a complex algorithm to automatically calculate flow volume based on the width, depth and velocity of each measured segment of a stream.

Sample Results

Sample Results include parameters measured in the field and analyses performed by laboratories, regardless of the media sampled — air, soil gas, water, soil, biological or construction material corings, etc. Results can be manually entered, but are usually imported in the system via EDDs (Electronic Data Deliverables). ERIMS conducts verification of results data as it is loaded into the system and generates upload status reports that can be routed to the appropriate personnel via email.

Mapsites

Mapsites are locations and are used to identify any feature consisting of northing and easting coordinates and elevation. Mapsites can be classified as outfalls, wells, boreholes, stream points, air sampling devices, surface water sampling points, equipment, buildings, data loggers, etc. Each Mapsite can have an unlimited number of aliases since more than one identifier may be used for the same point/location.

Visits

Field activities are classified as Visits and identify the specific Mapsites visited and work conducted. Examples of field activities include: stream flow measurements, sample collection, groundwater measurements, operation and maintenance, equipment replacement, or areas of interest (AOIs) investigations. Information typically recorded in field log books, such as the field crew members, weather, comments, etc. can be input into the system. Scanned copies of the log pages can be uploaded and stored with a particular Visit including photos. Chain-of-Custody forms and sample bottle labels can be generated from the Visit component.

AOIs

Areas of Interests (AOIs) are features that are routinely monitored, such as surface fractures, land slumping, heaving, or pooling water. AOIs can be a point with one set of coordinates or a line consisting of several sets of coordinates. They can be displayed within ERIMS on integrated GIS (geographic information system) maps with automatic calculations of relevant lengths and distances.

Well

The Well component is used to record and track groundwater elevations. When the depth-to-water is input, the groundwater elevation is automatically calculated. Reports, graphs, and charts can be generated to evaluate groundwater elevation trends based on seasonal fluctuation or company activities. ERIMS also stores well construction and lithological data used to produce bore logs.

Property

The Property component is used to store a wide variety of Land Ownership information such as: property owners, current occupants, claims, leases, buildings, property access, and owner and occupant communications. Properties can be associated to specific activities and Mapsites.

Survey Tool

The Survey Tool component is used to capture form-based information and can be tailored to meet our clients’ specific needs, such as equipment inventories, maintenance logs, or environmental audits. As with other components, this information can be manually entered or emailed to the system as electronic files for uploading.

Waste Management

The Waste Management component allows for the classification and manifesting of materials for storage and shipping. Specific functionality includes waste classification, container specification and labeling, material quantity and weight summaries, storage location, manifest generation and shipment tracking. Reports can be generated for waste type and quantities, container type and labels, storage location, and shipping status.

Building Management

Building Management component is used to manage asbestos surveys, real estate management, and building envelope inspections. Asbestos surveys encompass photos, sampling, field forms and abatement. Real estate management covers building and property inventories, leases, appraisals, etc. Building inspections entail roofing, pavement, electrical, security systems, and overall building condition assessments.

Mine Production

For mining clients, the Mine Production component tracks mining progress and is used to plan required field activities. As mining proceeds, the distance mined is recorded within ERIMS and the integrated GIS map mine panel movement layer is automatically updated for visual verification.