Cleaning up New Mexico

New Mexico Business Journal, Sept, 1997 by Susan Craig

"It can become difficult to define what is an environmental consultant," says Nathan Wade of the New Mexico Environment Department, "because most projects and compliance require an interface with many types of engineers." Janet Kerley, owner of Lead-Rite, Inc., provides information listing approximately 130 New Mexico environmental companies. These are divided roughly into thirds as large national companies, medium-sized companies and small three-to-10-person firms. New Mexico has more environmental companies per capita than other areas. Some firms do it all and others focus on a specific niche.

Daniel B. Stephens & Associates, Inc., does it all, though they diversify by partnering with other firms for specific projects. "In order to compete we form partnerships with smaller and larger companies," says marketing manager Arian Gonzales. About 30 percent of DBS&A's work is for government clients; the remainder is for private industry. They design systems to solve problems in groundwater hydrology, landfill engineering design, remedial systems design and geotechnical engineering for the mining industry.

"Our expertise lies in knowing how contaminants move through a zone to affect groundwater," says chief operations officer and senior hydrologist Greg Lewis. "We also work in the area of water availability, making long-range predictions regarding aquifers and water tables. We have a hydrologic testing lab supporting both our own work and that of others across the country."

Claude Schleyer, principal engineer for the Environmental Services Unit of BDM International, Inc., says that their firm is a good example of the trend toward mergers and buyouts. BDM's past work with government organizations and large installations nationwide has now been augmented by the acquisition of Geoscience Consultants Ltd. (GCL), a specialist in private sector clients and field work. In New Mexico the firm works primarily with oil and gas industry clients, providing consulting support for regulatory compliance, hazardous waste minimization and litigation support.

Other firms go for the niche. Keystone Environmental & Planning, Inc., is one of them, serving primary client New Mexico Highway Department in hazardous materials assessment. "It's more cost-effective to find out in advance if any hazardous materials are present than to shut down a crew during a job in progress," says senior hydrogeologist Kelly Kading. He sees a trend in smaller environmental firms teaming with others. "Being small is a big advantage, giving us the ability to move faster," he adds. "Megafirms frequently use the small niche firms. I think we'll see a squeezout of medium-sized environmental companies as the partnerships between the national turnkey and the niche firms continue to grow."

John Shomaker & Associates, Inc., concentrates on water resource and environmental consulting, providing assessments of groundwater availability, well siting, assistance with well design and groundwater flow modeling. Their environmental work focuses mainly on hydrocarbon problems from gasoline spills or leaks, and problems caused by high nitrates or radioactive materials. "We study the character of contaminant plumes," says Roger Peery, senior hydrologist, "the path contaminants create in groundwater. In water work, we look at the site and the source of water, test the aquifer, define the extent of the contamination and recommend a reclamation process." They then monitor the cleanup, a process that may take five to 10 years or more.

Most of such work in the state is done in order to comply with regulations rather than to react to a major spill; or to review a property for a real estate transaction. Shomaker's environmental sleuthing includes aerial photographs showing present or prior sites like gas stations, Sanborn fire maps showing labeled buildings or records of state and federal agencies.

Regulatory compliance means meeting the requirements of federal (and state) clean air, clean water and hazardous waste acts. It also may mean complying with NEPA (National Environmental Protection Act) standards covering, among others, endangered species, noise and air quality.

To the general public, environmental cleanup usually brings to mind leaking underground storage tanks. That's an area that has had its day, say the folks who know. The original tax funding underground storage tank cleanup generated a lot of revenue that stimulated work for the industry, but when the tax was lowered, environmental cleanup companies had to look at other prospects. Though the tax has been raised again, Kading says that "consulting fees are low, and it doesn't pay to do this work. In the early 80s the industry in New Mexico overbuilt due to the large funding available. Now I think we are seeing a period of corrective action."

So what's to take the place of UST cleanup? The industry is scrambling to adapt to numerous factors affecting how they work, and for whom, and why. Schleyer believes that the character of hazardous waste management and remediation is rapidly changing. "I see a lot of attention paid to characterization of the problem, assessment of the real risks and acting accordingly rather than blindly trying merely to reach regulations. I see it as the maturing of an industry." BDM project engineer Diane Lindsay adds that New Mexico is typical among states trying to keep up with the changes. Regs must be modified to accommodate the trend toward risk-based characterization We're experiencing a lull in the industry right now as the changes take place."