While Bill’s formal education was in biology, in which he holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University, his innate engineering abilities and concern for the environment have propelled him through a diverse, decades-long career that has included stints with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Environmental Devices Corporation (ENDECO) in Marion, the Massachusetts Offshore Oil Exploratory Drilling Program, and the National Oil Spill Response Team, which took him to the Amoco Cadiz spill off the coast of France in 1987. Then, in 1987, he founded K-V Associates, Inc. (renamed Kerfoot Technologies, Inc., in 2004) to develop new environmental devices for groundwater applications and to provide consulting services. It was clearly a good move for Bill, who now holds over 50 patents, the most notable being one patent for soil gas detectors - for detecting leakage from underground tanks; and another for ozone injection systems - for treating contaminated soil and groundwater. He has also found time, in his professional life, to author over 60 publications, as well as numerous chapters in noteworthy environmental engineering books.
Fortunately for the community, Bill’s energy and enthusiasm for solving environmental problems doesn’t end with his day job. For years he was a director for the APCC (Association for the Preservation of Cape Cod), and afterwards remained on its scientific advisory board. Bill was particularly busy during the decade of the 80’s: besides founding Oyster Pond Trust, he served on the county water resource advisory board from 1979 to 1984. He was also involved with
the Falmouth Planning Board in work that would lead to the nutrient-loading bylaws in the Towns of Falmouth and Mashpee. In 1987, after serving on the Massachusetts ocean sanctuaries study group of the Office of Environmental Affairs in Boston, Bill received a commendation from the U.S. EPA: "In recognition and appreciation for noteworthy contributions and special achievements in environmental protection services."
These days, his involvement with environmental problems continues apace: he is on the board of the Association for the Environmental Health of Soils (AEHS), and is a frequent speaker and contributor to the National Ground Water Association (NGWA). He has served as a Licensed Site Professional (LSP) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and currently heads a group conducting training seminars to consultants and regulators for introducing chemical oxidation processes for groundwater and soil remediation. Clearly, Bill’s talents make him an asset not just to OPET, but to all of Cape Cod!