SPEAKERS

Carol Murray – ESSA. Carol is a Senior Partner and the Adaptive Management Lead at Essa. Carol has 36 years of environmental consulting experience and has worked on more than 250 projects addressing a wide range of environmental and natural resource management challenges for a diverse mix of government, Indigenous, NGO and private sector clients. Much of her career has been dedicated to providing sound science-based information to decision-makers. Adaptive management is a major focus of her work, applied in various contexts including industrial effects reduction, ecosystem restoration, and endangered species recovery. She has co-authored two book chapters and several papers on adaptive management, and is passionate about helping clients learn how to use rigorous adaptive management approaches to identify and reduce the scientific uncertainties that will most affect their management decisions and improve environmental outcomes.

Kerri Skelly

Scott Steer – Active Earth. Scott is an environmental toxicologist and partner at Active Earth Engineering Ltd., specializing in the performance and technical management of contaminated sites risk assessment. He is an Approved Risk Assessment Specialist with the Society of Contaminated Sites Approved Professionals of British Columbia with more than twenty years of experience in contaminated site assessment, human health and ecological risk assessment, and environmental toxicology. Pete is also a Partner at GeoEnviroPro.

Jana McLean – Iris Legal. Jana McLean is the principal of Iris Legal, a firm that specializes in environmental, natural resources and Indigenous law. Jana is nationally recognized for her environmental and Indigenous law practice, appearing in Best Lawyers in Canada and Chambers. Jana regularly advises in all areas of environmental law, including contaminated sites, water and fisheries law, environmental assessments, environmental compliance, environmental enforcement and prosecutions. She acted as counsel in significant cases concerning air quality, fisheries law, contaminated sites, monetary penalties and pipeline developments.

Mandeep Purewal – AtkinsRéalis. Mandeep is the AtkinsRéalis Technical Lead for Risk Assessment and an environmental toxicologist with 19 years of experience in site assessments. She is a Director of the Contaminated Sites Approved Professionals Society (CSAP) in British Columbia and a rostered Risk Assessment Approved Professional. Mandeep specializes in the senior review of human health and ecological risk assessments for properties with soil, sediment, surface water, groundwater, and air impacts. She provides technical support, review, and advice for risk assessment and toxicology matters. Mandeep has authored and reviewed several risk assessments evaluating the climate readiness of contaminated sites, focusing on determining vulnerabilities and next steps.

Tara Siemens-Kennedy – AtkinsRéalis. Tara is a Senior Environmental Toxicologist and Risk Assessor with more than 23 years of experience conducting human health and ecological risk assessments. She is AtkinsRéalis’ Technical Director of Risk Assessment, an AtkinsRéalis Fellow and is a CSAP Risk Assessment Approved Professional. Tara sits on Board of Directors of CSAP as Vice President and Treasurer and is a member of several CSAP committees (currently or previously). She has designed, conducted and/or provided senior review of more than 500 HHERAs for a wide spectrum of contaminants for sites across the country.

Grant Walsom – XCG Consulting Ltd. Grant is a Partner and Senior Project Manager at XCG Consulting Limited, a Professional Engineer registered in Ontario and Alberta, and a registered Consulting Engineer in Ontario. In addition, Mr. Walsom is a Qualified Person as defined by the Ontario Regulations (O. Reg.) 153/04 and 406/19. Mr. Walsom currently serves as the past-Chair of the Board of Directors for the Ontario Environment Industry Association (ONEIA) and former co-Chair for the Excess Soils Working Group of the Brownfield Advocacy Committee. Mr. Walsom has also served on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Brownfield Network (CBN) as Vice-President, President, and Past-President, and now as an advisor. He has been involved with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (Ministry) through the implementation of O. Reg. 406/19 (On-site and Excess Soil Management).

Peter Sutton – Terrapex. Peter is Vice President, Environmental Services at Terrapex, responsible for the operations of the site assessment and remediation, risk assessment, ecology, and hazardous materials practice areas at the company. A licensed professional engineer and designated “Consulting Engineer” in the Province of Ontario, Peter is also registered with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks as a “Qualified Person” for both the submission of Records of Site Condition (QPESA) and Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessments (QPRA). Peter has served on the Canadian Brownfields Network (CBN) Board of Directors since 2020 and is currently co-chair of the CBN Technical Advisory Committee that provides technical insight into various issues relating to, or affecting, brownfields and brownfield development, across the country. Peter’s longstanding involvement in brownfield projects has included numerous projects involving the management of excess soils on behalf of both generators and receivers of these materials.

Pete Craig – VEI Contracting Inc. Pete Craig is a former consultant now working as a contractor with VEI (formerly Vertex Environmental) in Kitchener, ON. VEI, with its in-house treatability laboratory, is one of Canada’s leading specialists in difficult soil, sediment and water treatment projects. With close to 25 years of experience in contaminated sites remediation, waste disposal, spill response, cost estimation and project management in multiple Canadian provinces, the United States and Europe – including experience as the technical director for contracting projects >$100M in value – he’s fascinated by uncertainty, risk, incentive structures, innovation and decision-making. Pete is also a Partner at GeoEnviroPro.

MODERATORS

Steve Boyce – Active Earth. Steve Boyce is a Principal and the Manager Partner at Active Earth, and is a Partner at GeoEnviroPro. Steve has nearly 20 years of experience in environmental site assessment and remediation, environmental project management, permitting, and team leadership. Steve particularly enjoys managing large and complex projects that require coordination and input from diverse fields. Steve is an expert in soil characterization and relocation, including to both land and sea, and has been actively involved in the evolution of BC’s soil management policies. In his leadership role at Active Earth, Steve is responsible for guiding the company’s strategic plans and overseeing continual improvements to the company’s structure and systems. Steve enjoys mentoring young and emerging professionals, and promoting knowledge-sharing in our industry.

Guy Patrick – Patrick Consulting Inc. Guy is a contaminant hydrogeologist and environmental engineer with over 40 years of experience across Canada and globally in the assessment and remediation of contaminated sites in soil, sediment and bedrock environments. At GeoEnviroPro, he provides technical training via in-class courses and webinars (http://geoenviropro.com/), with a focus on effective use of conceptual site models in site characterization, risk assessment and remedial planning. Guy’s work experience includes the investigation and remediation of complex legacy sites in BC, Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia, California, Massachusetts, South Africa and Australia. Guy is an active member and formerly sat on the board of the BC Contaminated Site Approved Professional (CSAP) Society.

Reidar Zapf-Gilje – GeoEnviroLogic Consulting. With over 40 years’ experience in environmental assessments, remediation and management, Reidar has directed and managed contaminated soil, groundwater and sediment projects from the initial investigations to implementation of remediation and/or risk management solutions. He provides specialist review and advice on brownfield remediation and redevelopment projects in Canada and abroad. In his role as Chair of the Contaminated Sites Roster of Professional Experts, Reidar led the development of the contaminated sites approved professional (CSAP) review system, designed to assist the Ministry of Environment with issuance of regulatory instruments. With a desire to see the development of a true community of contaminated sites professionals, Reidar founded GeoEnviroPro to bring practitioners, regulators and others together to share information and learn from one another’s experiences. Reidar has also taught part-time in UBC’s departments of Civil Engineering and Earth Sciences as Adjunct Professor.