Groundwater Analytical was founded in 1987 by brothers Dave and Jon Sanford, and their father Wes Sanford. At that time, Jon was graduating from business and law school, Dave was teaching chemistry in a local high school, and Wes was teaching chemistry at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, in Buzzards Bay.

Dave, Jon and Wes recognized that the growing environmental industry was going to depend on reliable and economical analytical services. Their vision was to meet that growing need by building a service-oriented, high volume production laboratory which could efficiently produce standardized environmental analyses.

They decided to name their new company, Groundwater Analytical. Although a bit long, it seemed to convey the focus and essence of the business. On July 1, 1987, they incorporated Groundwater Analytical. They rented a small office at 258 Main Street in Buzzards Bay and started to set up their laboratory. By the fall of 1987, they received their environmental laboratory certification from the Massachusetts DEQE. Now, they were in business.

Initially, Groundwater Analytical offered only volatile organic analyses by GC/PID/ELCD. After getting things rolling, Jon, Dave and Wes decided to expand. In 1989, they relocated Groundwater Analytical down the street to a building at 228 Main Street in Buzzards Bay. They purchased a GC/MS, an FT-IR, and a couple AAs. Now with six employees, they were offering volatile organic analyses by GC and GC/MS, total petroleum hydrocarbons by IR, and metals analyses.

Today, Groundwater Analytical employs a technical staff of more than 50 people, operates on two shifts, and serves clients in all New England states. We offer a wide range of environmental analyses for RCRA, CWA and SDWA compliance, including volatile organics by GC and GC/MS, semivolatile organics by GC/MS, organochlorine pesticides by GC/ECD, polychlorinated biphenyls by GC/ECD, chlorinated herbicides by GC/ECD, petroleum hydrocarbons by GC/FID, petroleum hydrocarbons by IR, metals by ICP, GFAA and CVAA, and various water quality analyses by FIA, IC, and manual chemistry techniques.