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Excelling in All Phases of Environmental Engineering
Throughout his 20 year career in environmental consulting, Jeff Carnahan has remained true to his goal to understand and focus on the needs of his clients. While his current position as President of EnviroForensics®, a leading environmental engineering firm, garners much of his time, Jeff still puts a priority on providing personalized client service. It’s a combination of successfully solving client challenges and honing his scientific, regulatory and management skill-set that continues to separate Jeff from his peers. It also is one reason why EnviroForensics, a REGENESIS® client, continues to excel in all phases of environmental engineering. Shares Jeff, “I have been extremely fortunate to serve on the EnviroForensics team. My career at EnviroForensics includes roles as Director of Technical Services, Vice President, and now President. However, I still have plenty of direct contact with the technical and scientific aspects of our clients’ projects by working alongside our investigation and remediation experts. Because my true passion is science, I’ll probably never stop working in the day-to-day, hands-on area of environmental remediation.”
Scientific Problem Solving
Jeff’s career in environmental engineering began as a Field Geologist, fresh out of graduate school, where he earned his M.S. in Geology from Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis. He knew early on he wanted to combine his love for the sciences with his interest in the environment. Continues Jeff, “From day one, I was hooked on the dynamic nature of scientific problem-solving in the field. Throughout my career, in my successive roles as Staff Geologist, Project Manager and Senior Project Manager, I’ve enjoyed an increasing awareness of the complexities of the environmental investigation and remediation industry.” Although EnviroForensics specializes in many aspects of the environmental industry, a significant component of the company’s business focuses on finding sources of funding to handle cleanups. This is an area in particular that Jeff has addressed since joining the firm in 2009. He continues, “When Steve Henshaw (EnviroForensics CEO) asked me to join the company as a Senior Project Manager, I began having more one-on-one discussions with small business owners who were facing huge environmental liabilities. I quickly began to see how disruptive environmental liabilities are to a business and its stakeholders. EnviroForensics has helped hundreds of companies address their remediation funding through the years, and as a result, our company has experienced substantial growth.”
The Business Case for Remediating Contaminated Sites
Another area where Jeff has made significant contributions is in developing a business case for remediating sites vs. MNA, which has enormous long-term benefits. Shares Jeff, “Estimating the costs of long-tail environmental remediation projects is a large part of the work we do. Since many of our clients are utilizing historical general liability insurance policies to fund their cleanup efforts, there are often multiple financial stakeholders with a keen interest in the total cost of the problem, or claim.” As Jeff points out, recognizing this all too common challenge provided a springboard for a new approach. Continues Jeff, “When you shift your perspective from looking purely at the cost of remedial work to achieve regulatory closure, and start quantifying the future costs of risk and liability associated with leaving contamination in the ground, remedial decisions may change. EnviroForensics provides solutions that are tailored to each of our client’s individual facts and circumstances.”
Partnering with REGENESIS
As you might expect, both EnviroForensics and REGENESIS share several complementary services, products, and solutions, which is one reason EnviroForensics elects to work with REGENESIS on many of its projects. Shares Jeff, “We enjoy working with REGENESIS due to the customer service we receive and the wealth of available information they provide us in planning and implementing our work.” This close working relationship and mutual trust between the two firms has resulted in EnviroForensics’ preference for several REGENESIS products. Jeff continues, “We like PlumeStop® because of its applicability and effectiveness, and 3-D Microemulsion® because it’s long proven to be an industry standard in bioremediation substrates. In addition, we utilize CRS®, because ISCR is an important portion of groundwater remediation and it works synergistically with bioremediation. Bio-Dechlor INOCULUM® PLUS is effective in helping to avoid any stalling or population issues with bioremediation activity, and we also use Persulfate as a pretreatment of soils prior to excavation removal to avoid the cost of hazardous soil removal. And last but not least, Oxygen Release Compound (ORC®) is a great product because it stimulates aerobic bioremediation after excavation activities at petroleum sites.”
Married, and the proud father of two children, Jeff enjoys his family time and acknowledges that some may say environmental engineering runs in the family at the Carnahan household. “I am married to a geologist and environmental consultant,” shares Jeff. “Our two companies have very different client bases, so although our home conversations often focus on nerdy topics, we can keep it friendly!”
When asked about the future goals of EnviroForensics, Jeff is quick to point to a continuing effort on stellar client service. “Since one of our core values is keeping our eyes forward, we are continually scanning the horizon for ways to better serve our clients nationwide. We are presently positioning our infrastructure to be able to assist a higher number of small business and environmentally impaired property owners in more states.”
REGENESIS is proud to have Jeff Carnahan, President of EnviroForensics, as a valued client and partner in environmental remediation, and appreciates his role and expertise in providing successful remediation outcomes for REGENESIS and its clients.
