BURTON C. KROSS, Ph.D.

Dr. Kross has been a consultant and advisor to industry, government agencies, and NGOs for about 32 years, providing environmental management and public health expertise related to many topics:

• Environmental impact assessment, monitoring, and routing for corridor projects - including oil/gas pipelines, coal slurry lines, electric power transmission lines, highways, and railroads
• Independent oversight and audit functions for national and state consent decrees
• Air quality monitoring, modeling, and control system design
• Permitting of industrial sites to meet regulatory requirements for air, water, hazardous waste, and solid waste emissions
• Occupational safety and health programs for industrial and agricultural workers
• Expert witness testimony related to human exposures and environmental emissions
• Training, education, and community outreach on topics of employee/community right-to-know, hazardous chemical exposure reduction, and social responsibility
• In depth knowledge of nitrate toxicity, indoor radon, and pesticide exposure assessment
• Monitoring of pesticides and their metabolites in workers and the environment

During his career, Dr. Kross developed a blend of business, academic, and independent oversight experiences. He was an associate professor on the medical and engineering faculties at the University of Iowa from 1987 to 1998. As director of the University's Center for International Rural and Environmental Health, he established training and research programs in Latin America and six countries in Central Europe. He maintains an academic affiliation as an adjunct associate professor at the University of Iowa and Colorado State University.

Prior to joining the academic community, he spent 15 years in the environmental and engineering consulting industry. He was group vice president of ERT, Inc. with responsibilities for international operations, computer services, air quality monitoring, new business ventures, and instrument development. Dr. Kross formulated strategy, lead in-country development efforts, and established professional service businesses in the following countries: Mexico, Venezuela, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Greece, Egypt, Indonesia, Peoples Republic of China, Australia, Nigeria, and Sudan. During his business career, he has negotiated over 200 contracts with industry, government agencies, and foreign entities.

Other relevant international and management experience includes serving on the Board of Directors or Executive Committees for the following organizations:

• Board of Directors, ERT de Panama, A Panamanian joint venture
• Board of Directors, TECMA, SA, a Mexican joint venture with ICA
• Board of Directors, Platte River Power Authority, appointed position by City of Fort Collins
• Board of Directors, Ecology Consultants Inc.
• Board of Directors, Western Scientific Services, Inc.
• Chairman, Board of Directors, Farm Safety for "JUST KIDS"
• Iowa Waste Reduction Center, University of Northern Iowa
• Pesticide Advisory Council to Iowa Secretary of Agriculture
• Governor's Task Force on Radon Measurement and Remediation – State of Iowa
• Board of Directors, Midwest Universities Consortium for International Activities
• Appointed by World Bank to advisory board for School of Public Health, Debrecen, Hungary
• Faculty Senate, School of Environmental Sciences, Nova Gorica, Slovenia

While serving in these management and policy-making capacities, Dr. Kross has acquired diversified technical and international experience. For example, he helped to develop a corporate environmental policy statement and implementation plan for Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., a major agribusiness. Some representative examples of project experience follow:

• Oversight and compliance audits for a National Consent Decree covering Nucor's steel mini-mills
• Independent on-site monitoring contractor for Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment at Rocky Mountain Steel Mill, Pueblo, CO
• Oil field, pipelines, and industrial complexes in Saudi Arabia and Mexico
• Siting and environmental assessment for corridor projects - including oil/gas pipelines, electric transmission lines, coal slurry pipelines, railroads, and highways
• Environmental studies for fossil-fuel thermal electric generating stations
• Environmental assessments for nuclear power plants and waste repository siting
• Occupational safety and health programs for agriculture, mining, construction, and recreation industries
• Ground and surface water monitoring programs for statewide regions, the food industry, and rural watersheds
• Air pollution monitoring and modeling for power plants, oil pipelines, steel mills, machinery factories, and solid waste incinerators
• Environmental policy development for corporations and agencies
• Expert witness testimony related to exposure assessment, nitrate toxicity, and groundwater

As a member of the graduate faculty at the University of Iowa and the School of Environmental Sciences in Nova Gorica, Slovenia, Dr. Kross was responsible for teaching the following academic courses and community outreach programs:

• Air Pollution Control Technology
• Environmental Health
• Principles of Environmental Engineering
• Theories of Environmental Policy and Assessment
• Global Environmental Health Policy Development
• Environmental Epidemiology (taught in Slovenia)
• Fundamentals of Environmental Sciences (taught in Slovenia)
• Environmental Policy Development and Management (taught in Slovenia)
• Agricultural Chemicals: Acute and Chronic Exposures — community outreach for health professionals
• Farm Chemical Safety Guides — community outreach for farm family members
• Radon Public Awareness — community outreach for children and adults

Dr. Kross is a registered professional engineer in Colorado and has been qualified as an expert witness in both state and federal court. Dr. Kross has provided testimony to the US Congress, numerous State agencies, and international commissions. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society, and Chi Epsilon, the civil engineering honor society. In 1992 he received the Iowa Environmental Health Association outstanding service award. Dr. Kross is the author or co-author of more than 100 journal publications, book chapters, reviews, technical reports, and commercial documents.

He received his doctoral degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering and a master's degree in Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health from the University of Iowa in 1987. He earned another master's degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado in 1972. His undergraduate degree was with high distinction in Chemical Engineering from the University of Iowa in 1969.

Representative Project Experience
During his industrial and academic career, Dr. Kross has been responsible for many international and domestic environmental policy projects, environmental impact assessments, Superfund health assessments, research grants, and training/education activities. Representative projects include:

• Consultant to EMSNet, Limited, LLC, Boulder, CO. Oversight director for an independent team of consultants to review environmental compliance of Nucor Corporation and its contractors, under a National Consent Decree with the US EPA and Department of Justice. The Consent Decree covers RCRA corrective action, air emissions controls, environmental management systems, and water. (2000 to present)
• Consultant to EMSNet, Limited, LLC, Boulder, CO. Compliance monitoring and onsite oversight for Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's Consent Decree with Rocky Mountain Steel Mill, Pueblo, CO (2002-present)
• Consultant to Counsel, Patton Boggs, LLP, Denver, CO. Member of an environmental management team providing advice to the Dole Food Company's international operations - including water monitoring,occupational health and safety, training and community outreach, and exposure assessment issues - (1998-present)
• Program Manager for 3-year environmental impact assessment and monitoring for Chicotopec Oil Field Development, including production and pipeline facilities in Mexico (1978-81)
• Program Manager for routing and environmental impact assessment of oil shale pipeline project, Rio Blanco Oil Share Project, CO (1974-76)
• Program Manager for siting and environmental impact assessment for coal gasification project, including production facility, pipelines, and mining, Public Service Company of New Mexico (1974-76)
• Center Director for a 5-year environmental and occupational health training and research program focusing on six countries in Central Europe (Slovakia, Romania, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovenia), supported by the Fogarty International Center of NIH, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Stanley Foundation, and the University of Iowa - (1996 -98)
• Principal Investigator. Assessment Methods for Pesticide Exposure study to develop questionnaires, dermal exposure assessment methods, and fluorescent tracer/video imaging methods for the quantitative measurement of pesticide exposures among farm workers in Iowa, supported by the National Cancer Institute - (1991-1994)
• Principal Investigator. Mortality Study of Golf Course Superintendents for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, with follow-up studies supported by TORO, Inc. to determine occupational pesticide exposures to workers using spray equipment in the lawn care industry - (1994-1996)
• CO-principal Investigator. Iowa Statewide Rural Well-Water Survey. Comprehensive evaluation of groundwater and drinking water resources in Iowa. Included measurement of organic and inorganic contaminants at 686 sites, Iowa Department of Natural Resources - (1987-1992)
• Program Director. Support to Iowa Department of Public Health to conduct health assessments at Superfund sites in Iowa for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry - (1989-91)
• Principal Investigator. Temporal variation of atrazine contamination of well water in Iowa. Design monitoring program and direct analytical laboratory activities for monthly, weekly, and daily assessment of private, rural water supply quality study in Iowa. Continue monitoring at 10% of sites for selected parameters, including tritium dating and radon. Iowa Department of Natural Resources and US EPA -(1988-93)
• Principal Investigator. Provide technical support for a hazard communications program, including identification of key hazards in construction, review of training materials, and assistance with training at the Iowa Laborers' Training Center, Laborers' National Health and Safety Fund for OSHA -(1990-92)
• Director of Technology Transfer. Part of Hazardous Substances Research Center headquartered at Kansas State University. Projects and technologies focus on remediation approaches to reduce groundwater contamination at waste sites. US EPA - (1990-1998)
• Officer in charge. A $1.0 million contract with the Saudi Arabian Meteorology and Environmental Protection Agency (MEPA) to write enabling language for a Royal Decree which established the environmental policy framework for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The project also involved writing regulations for monitoring, permitting, and enforcing air pollution control. In addition, job descriptions and training programs were developed to staff the new agency - (1978-82)
• Project Manager. A $2.5 million contract with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to train air pollution monitoring and control professionals and technicians to staff their new environmental agency (MEPA)-(1979-81)
• Consultant to Stanley Consultants, Inc. An air pollution control strategy for the Republic of Slovenia, part of the Slovene Environmental Project supported by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank-(1992-94)
• Program Director. International short-courses held in Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Costa Rica, and the US regarding environmental management, air pollution control, surface mine reclamation, solid/hazardous waste disposal, environmental health, environmental epidemiology, research ethics, and establishing a professional services business - (1983-98)
• Core Director. Training/education core for a 10-year, $9.0 million NIOSH Center for Agricultural Disease and Injury Research, Education, and Prevention - (1992-98)
• Associate Director. A 11-year, $13-million Environmental Health Science Research Center supported by National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences of NIH - (1991-98)
• Consultant to Lake Delhi Recreation Association, Inc, Manchester, Iowa. Conducted environmental impact assessment and prepared testimony to oppose the siting of a pork slaughtering facility near this community. The citizen's action committee prevailed when the proposed project was terminated by its sponsors (1987)
• Consultant to Monroe County, Iowa. Reviewed plans for a sanitary landfill and coal mining project to assess environmental impacts. The county rejected the permit application, and was then sued by the Star Coal Company. Subsequent work included expert witness testimony in state court. My client prevailed upon appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court - (1992-93)
  
• Expert witness for Woodward, Hall, & Primm, Houston, Texas. Prepared testimony about human exposure assessment of neighbors at the Brio Superfund site, owned by Monsanto Company et al. (1994)
• Expert witness for Dwight James PC, Des Moines, Iowa. Prepared testimony and deposition for plaintiff in the Sharon Reutzel vs. Spartan Chemical Company case regarding a product liability issue. Case settled before trial in favor of Ms. Reutzel (1993-96)
• Consultant to Jacobs Energy Corporation, Moline, Illinois. Prepared air, water, solid waste, and siting permit applications for two CO-generator facilities utilizing railroad ties and wood waste for fuel (1993-98)
• Consultant to US Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration. Prepared feasibility study report and generic environmental impact assessment  for  a plasma   torch  medical waste  treatment facility (1993-94).

Representative Publications
Dr. Kross is the author or co-author of more than 100 journal publications, book chapters, technical reports, and commercial documents. A representative listing of publications is provided.

Peer-reviewed Journals:
Kross BC, Selim MI, Hallberg GR, Bruner DR, Cherryholmes K. Pesticide contamination of private well-water: a growing rural health concern. Environment International 1992; 18:231-41.

Kross BC, Ayebo AD, Fuortes L. Methemoglobinemia: nitrate toxicity in rural America. Am Fam Physician 1992; 46:183-8.

Kross BC, Vergara A, Raue LE. Toxicity assessment of atrazine, alachlor, and carbofuran and their respective environmental metabolites using Microtox. J Toxicol Environ Health 1992; 37:149-59.

Kross BC, Hallberg GR, Bruner DR, Cherryholmes K, Johnson JK. Nitrate contamination of private well-water in Iowa. Am J Public Health 1993; 83:270-2.

Fuortes LJ, Ayebo AD, Kross BC. Toxicity of cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides. Am Fam Physician 1993; 47:1613-20

Field RW, Kross BC, Vust LJ. Radon testing behavior in a sample of individuals with high radon screening measurements. Risk Anal 1993; 13:421-7.

Kross BC, Field RW, Weih LMB, Vust LJ. Factors associated with elevated radon levels in Iowa. Health Phys 1993; 65:178-84.

Neuberger JS, Lynch CF, Kross BC, Field RW, Woolson R. Residential radon exposure and lung cancer: evidence of an urban factor in Iowa. Health Phys 1994; 66:263-9.

Field RW, Fisher EL, Valentine RL, Kross BC. Radium-bearing pipe scale deposits: implications for national waterborne radon sampling methods. Am J Public Health 1995; 85:567-70.

Blair A, Kross BC, Stewart PA, Ogilvie L, Falk R, Popendorf W, Ward MH, Zahm SH. Comparability of information on pesticide use obtained from farmers and their proxy respondents. J Agric Safety Health 1995; 1(3):165-76.

Dusdieker LB, Stumbo PJ, Kross BC, Dungy CI. Does increased nitrate ingestion elevate nitrate in human milk? Arch Ped Adoles Med 1996; 150(3):311-5.

Kross BC, Burmeister LF, Ogilvie LK, Fuortes L. Proportionate mortality study of golf course superintendents. Am J Ind Med 1996; 29:501-6.

Trnovec T, Kross BC, Ginter E. Perspectives on rural environmental health status in Central Europe. Intl J Environ Occup Health 1996; 2:125-34.

Field RW, Kross BC. Intercomparison of waterborne radon-222 collection methods: professional vs. homeowner collection. Ground Water Monitor Report, Fall 1996, pp. 106-12.

Kross BC, Nicholson HF, Ogilvie LK. Methods development study for measuring pesticide exposure to golf course workers using video-imaging techniques. Appl Occup Environ Hyg 1996; 11(11):1346-50.

Field RW, Steck DJ, Lynch CF, Brus CP, Neuberger JS, Kross BC. Residential radon-222 exposure and lung cancer: exposure assessment methodology. J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol 1996; 6(2):181-95.

Ayebo A, Kross BC, Vlad M, Sinca A. Infant methemoglobinemia in Transylvania Region of Romania. Intl J Occup Environ Health 1997, 3(1):20-29.

Field RW and Kross BC. Iowa survey of waterborne 222Rn concentrations in private wells. Health Phys. 1998, 74 (2):249-252.

Stewart P, Fears T, Nicholson H, Kross BC, Ogilvie L, Zahm SH, Ward MH, Blair A. Exposure received from application of animal insecticides, American Ind Hygiene Assoc J 1999, 60:208-212.

Weyer PJ, Cerhan JR, Kross BC, Hallberg GR, Kantamneni J, Breuer G, Jones MP, Zheng W, and Lynch CF. Municipal drinking water nitrate level and cancer risk in older women: the Iowa Women's Health Study, Epidemiology 2001, 11:327-338.

Book Chapters:
Kross BC, Cherryholmes K. Toxicity screening of sanitary landfill leachates: a comparative evaluation with Microtox analyses, chemical, and other toxicity screening methods. In: Richardson ML, editor. Ecotoxicology Monitoring. Weinheim FRG and New York: VCH Publishers, 1993: 225-49.

Kross BC, Olson ML, Ayebo AD, Johnson JK. Humans. In: Rechcigl JE, editor. Soil Amendments Impact on Biotic Systems. Boca Raton, FL: Lewis Publishers, 1995: 153-214.

Fourtes L and Kross BC. Contributors to chapter, Nitrate and Nitrite Toxicity, Pediatrics Handbook on Environmental Health, American Academy of Pediatrics, 1999.

Technical Reports:
Merchant JA, Kross BC, Donham kJ, Pratt DS, editors. Agriculture at risk, a report to the nation. National Coalition for Agricultural Safety and Health, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 1989.

Kross BC, et al. Iowa statewide rural well-water survey data report: an initial analysis. Iowa Department of Natural Resources; 1991. Technical Information Series No. 19, p. 142.

Kross BC, Wallace D, Liegors W, Hrcek D. Identification and assessment of air pollution sources in the Republic of Slovenia. Proceedings of International Symposium on Environmental Contamination in Central and Eastern Europe; 1992 Oct 12-16; Budapest, Hungary.

Kross BC, Ogilvie LK, Popendorf W, Nicholson HF. Assessment methods for pesticide exposure. Chapters I, II, and III. The University of Iowa for Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Etiology, National Cancer Institute, 1992-94.

Commercial Documents:
Applicant's Environmental Report, Hayden Station Unit 2, Colorado-Ute Electric Association, Inc., 1972.

Ecological Analysis of Sites for a Reservoir to be associated with Craig Coal-fired Generating Station, Colorado, Stearns-Roger, Inc., 1972.

Ecological Description of the Proposed Surface Mine Area, Williams Fork Mountains, and Review of Post Mining Rehabilitation, Peabody Coal Company, 1972.

Investigation of Effects of Little Dell Lake on Water Quality in Emigration Creek, Parleys Creek, and Mountain Dell Reservoir, Utah, US Army Corps of Engineers, 1973.

Examination of Alternate Routes for a Railroad Spur to Craig Station, Stearns-Roger, 1973.

Right-of-way Application for Two 345-KV Transmission Lines in Caribou National Forest, Idaho. Pacific Power and Light Company, 1973.

Applicant's Environmental Report, Effingham County Airport Expansion, Effingham Airport Commission, 1974.

Environmental Analysis Report, Maybe Canyon Phosphate Mine, Agricultural Products Corporation, 1974.

Revegetation Study Navajo Mine and Gasification Project, Public Service Company of New Mexico, 1975.

Detailed Development Plan--Impact Assessment of Tract Ca Oil Shale Development Project, Rio Blanco Oil Shale Project, 1975.

Environmental Monitoring Plan for Jubail Industrial City, Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, 1983.
[Top]

Home | Overview | About EMSNet | Approach | Articles | Tools
Professionals | Basic Program Elements | Global Program Elements | Top