A graduate of California Polytechnic University with a bachelor’s in civil engineering, Mehrdad Javaherian also holds a master of science in public health and a PhD in environmental epidemiology. He leverages his training to serve as president of LRM Consulting, Inc., where he has collaborated on a number of environmental projects; including a groundwater contamination project in South Lake Tahoe in 2014.

1. Mehrdad Javaherian

2. Introduction
 A graduate of California Polytechnic University with a bachelor’s
in civil engineering, Mehrdad Javaherian also holds a master of
science in public health and a PhD in environmental
epidemiology. He leverages his training to serve as president of
LRM Consulting, Inc., where he has collaborated on a number of
environmental projects; including a groundwater contamination
project in South Lake Tahoe in 2014.
In 2014, the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board
discovered MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) in the
groundwater in a well in South Lake Tahoe. A volatile organic
chemical, MTBE began to be added to gasoline in the 1980s and
eventually found its way into the groundwater in the 1990s.

3. MTBE
 At one point, the contamination became so severe that 13 South
Tahoe Public Utility District wells were decommissioned. In
response, the district took legal action against the oil companies
responsible for the contamination and won a $69 million
judgment in 2002. In 2004 California banned the chemical, and
Nevada followed suit in 2007.
However, MTBE was again found in 2014 in a well that provides
water to the Mark Twain Hotel. The contamination involved
Tahoe Tom’s gas station, the former owners of which never
completely cleaned up the groundwater at the site. According to
Dr. Javaherian, a consultant to the property owner, Lake Tahoe
Investments, the presence of MTBE was due to the release of
gasoline by other operators, and the spread of the chemical was
likely affected by drought conditions. However, Lahontan held
Lake Tahoe Investments partly responsible for the cleanup.