BCEIA 2017 Board of Directors: Biographies
OFFICERS
BRIAN WHITE
President
Represents: McElhanney
Mr. White is a graduate of Dalhousie University with a degree in Environmental Engineering. He has more than 14 years of engineering consulting experience, providing project management and engineering design services for environmental and construction projects in across BC, Alberta and Atlantic Canada. During his career, Brian has worked with all levels of government (Municipal, Provincial Federal and First Nations) and private and public corporations. Brian specializes in projects that require Phased Environmental Site Assessment, Remediation, hazardous materials, permitting, materials testing and construction management.
In Brian’s current role he manages McElhanney’s Environmental Services Division located in McElhanney’s Victoria Branch. He is also an active member on the Victoria Chamber of Commerce Policy and public affairs committee and has participated in or been involved with several non for profit boards and organizations throughout his career.
CHRIS MCCUE
1st Vice President
Represents: McCue Engineering Contractors
Chris McCue, AScT is President of McCue Engineering Contractors. He has 22 years’ experience in the design, construction and operation of wastewater treatment and contaminated site remediation technologies first as a consultant and now as a specialized remediation contractor.
Chris graduated from Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Environmental Protection Technology program in 1994. Upon graduation, Chris secured employment in environmental consulting, focusing on contaminated site management and remediation. After two years of general field experience, Chris joined a specialized Remediation Group responsible for managing site remediation projects.
Chris remained in consulting for five years before starting McCue Engineering Contractors in July of 2000. McCue specializes in the design, construction and operation of remediation systems, industrial wastewater treatment systems, mine water treatment systems, and vapour mitigation systems. Chris and his company have provided these services at mine, upstream oil and gas exploration, oil refining, oil terminal, bulk fuel storage, fuel retail, chemical manufacturing, dry cleaning, highways, landfill, pipeline and spill sites in Canada and the US.
Chris received a Distinguished Alumni Award from KPU in 2013 and continues to support the EPT Program by hiring graduates of the program.
LUKE DINELEY
Treasurer
Represents : Borden Ladner Gervais
Luke Dineley is a partner in both Borden Ladner Gervais’ Insurance and Tort Liability Group and Environmental Law Group in our Vancouver office. Luke focuses his practice on civil litigation, with an emphasis on insurance and tort law, and environmental law.
In the area of insurance and tort law, Luke represents and advises insurance companies, manufacturers, and individuals in matters involving product liability, personal injury, motor vehicle liability, professional negligence, fraud, and coverage issues. Luke has appeared at all levels of courts in British Columbia on insurance matters and has a wealth of litigation experience on insurance matters.
In the area of environmental law, Luke’s experience includes representing and advising clients on a wide variety of contaminated site issues relating to both commercial and residential properties — including cost-recovery actions on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants. In addition, Luke has represented and advised major companies on environmental regulatory compliance, emergency spill responses, and environmental prosecutions. Luke is also an executive board member of the British Columbia Environmental Industry Association and frequently publishes and speaks in the area of environmental law.
Luke’s practice also includes debt and insolvency litigation, particularly realization and collection files for major banks, credit unions and other lenders. Luke has represented and advised major financial institutions on a wide variety of realization related litigation
Luke also has experience in expropriation matters. He has advised a range of clients on expropriation and related matters, including private and corporate landowners advancing expropriation compensation claims, and oil and gas companies acquiring interests in lands.
KATE BRANCH
2nd Vice President
Represents : Core6 Environmental Ltd.
Kate is a founding member of Core6 (established in 2012) and a Senior Environmental Engineer. Her experience encompasses project management and engineering for environmental assessment, site investigation and remediation projects; environmental management plans; facility audits; and wastewater treatment projects. Kate has both an Engineering Degree from University of Guelph and a Science Degree from Mount Allison University. Throughout her 18 years of working in the industry, Kate has enjoyed the challenges and synergies offered by large multi-disciplinary teams.
MIKE FARNSWORTH
Secretary
Represents: Keystone Environmental
Mr. Farnsworth has been employed in the environmental profession since 2000. He has over 15 years of experience in the assessment, management and remediation of industrial, commercial and undeveloped properties for clients including First Nations, Federal and Provincial government agencies, developers, property managers, petrochemical companies and real estate organizations in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.
Mike has been a Director on the BCEIA Board for the past four years and on the BEST organizing committee since its inception. In 2015, he accepted the role of Chair of the Business Development committee and recently lead the organizing committee to the 16th Annual BCEIA Environmental Hockey Tournament.
JOHN HIBBARD
Past President
Represents: Tervita Corporation
Mr. Hibbard has been the Chair of the British Columbia Environment Industry Association for the past 4 years. He sat as the Business Development Chair before taking on the role of organization chair in 2013.
Employed by Tervita since April 2008 John works as a leader of the company’s national sales team providing technical sales management for a variety of environmental services across Canada. Mr. Hibbard has industry specific experience in sales management, environmental contracting solutions and waste management systems. His thirteen years industry experience includes providing clients with a wide range of environment improvement solutions for various levels of government, consultants and private industry. John completed his Masters in Environmental Management at Royal Roads University in 2007 after obtaining a Bachelor of Commerce (Real Estate) from the University of British Columbia in 2000.
Directors
KIRBY BRIGGS
Represents: Maxxam Analytics
Kirby Briggs is the Business Development Manager at our BC region. He leads the BC Sales team and is in charge of business development, marketing, building and leading sales teams, and delivering exceptional customer service.
Mr. Briggs is a Business Administration (Industrial Marketing major) graduate from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. He began his sales career in the consumer packaged goods industry and progressed to the ‘over-the-counter’ (OTC) pharmaceuticals and then the prescription pharmaceutical industry where he spent 25 years in various capacities from sales to sales management. Mr. Briggs has extensive background in client event planning and execution. Mr. Briggs is a past board member of the EMA of BC.
CHRIS GILL
Represents: Stantec Consulting Ltd.
Chris Gill is currently an Associate within Stantec Consulting Ltd.’s Environmental Services practice area. In this role, Chris leads a team of primarily site investigation and remediation-trained staff overseeing related ESA projects for a variety of clientele across western Canada.
Previous to his current role with Stantec, he had worked in the environmental consulting industry for over fifteen years focusing primarily on contaminated sites within the commercial and industrial real estate sector. Chris has also worked on property/building condition assessments, hazardous materials surveys and abatements, industrial hygiene monitoring, indoor air quality, and mould assessments during his career. Chris is keenly interested in the field of Brownfield Redevelopment and its multi-disciplinary nature. By taking his experience with assessing impacted sites, and combining it with his personal interest in urban geography and how Brownfields can significantly alter the fabric of public spaces we live within, his aim is to continue to take these forgotten and often ignored parcels and get them reinvented and reconnected to their surrounding areas.
PETER HAMATA
Represents: Stericycle
I have accumulated nine years of work experience in the environmental industry with roles in consulting, operations, management and sales. The majority of that experience is from running my own hazardous materials abatement company (CCR Environmental Corp) where we worked in airports, industrial facilities, schools and residential buildings. I have also worked in the contaminated soil remediation and hazardous waste processing sectors with Tervita, first as a facility technician and then in an inside sales / project coordinator role. After Tervita, I became a consultant with R.J. and Associates specifically for YVR’s hazardous materials abatement projects. Currently, I am in an Account Executive role at Stericycle focusing on providing regulated waste processing solutions for our industrial clients. Other work experience includes Heavy Machinery Operator / Bridgeman with Griffiths Pile Driving and a carpenter’s assistant with Calrudd Construction. Academically, I have a Diploma of Technology in Mining and Mineral Exploration (BCIT) and I should have my Bachelors of Technology in Environmental Engineering (BCIT) complete by the end of the summer. In my spare time, I currently play hockey and curling, and when it warms up I will be scuba diving and camping.
SUSANNAH KENNEDY
Represents: CARO Analytical
Susannah Kennedy began her career in the Environmental industry in 2007 soon after completing her degree in Chemistry at UNBC. Since then she has developed a breadth of experience in the scientific community, predominantly within the analytical laboratory sector, receiving her Professional Chemist designation in British Columbia in 2011. In her current role as Director of Client Relations at CARO Analytical, Susannah applies her deep understanding of customer needs and competitive dynamics to lead CARO’s brand and drive service excellence. Susannah is an also a very active participant of the industry within which she works. She has been a part of the Brownfield Committee of the BC Environmental Industry Association (BCEIA) since 2013, as well as a participant of the membership committee for the Association of the Chemical Profession of British Columbia (ACPBC) since 2014. Most recently, she has become involved as a Surrey Board of Trade, International Team member.
VIJAY LANJI
Represents: Envirogreen Technologies Ltd
Vijay Lanji is President of Envirogreen Technologies Ltd. He oversees the strategic direction of this BC-based company which specializes in providing thermal treatment solutions forhazardous waste materials. Operating for over 20 years, Envirogreen owns the only permitted hazardous waste thermal treatment facility in BC. Envirogreen’s client base extends throughout Western Canada and the Western United States, including Alaska and Hawaii.
Vijay joined Envirogreen as President in 2012. Before that, he served as the Northern & Special Projects Regional Manager for Quantum Murray LP, establishing a strong presence in Canada’s High Arctic. Vijay also founded AXIS Projects Inc., an environmental contracting firm, in 1995. AXIS merged with HAZCO (now Tervita) in 2001.
Some career highlights include coordinating agreements with Inuit organizations and communities to become one of the first non-Inuit firms to conduct decommissioning contracting work on Canada’s High Arctic DEW Line Sites; senior project management of several complex multi-year environmental remediation projects in Canada’s remote High Arctic; contractor of choice for Marathon Developments Coal Harbour Remediation Project (five year project involving site clean-up of approximately 100 acres of former multi-use industrial property on downtown Vancouver’s waterfront).
ELENA RANYUK
Represents: Stormtec Filtration
Elena Ranyuk is the Technical Director at Stormtec Filtration. She has a PhD in Organic Chemistry and seven years of research experience at the leading academic institutions in Canada, France and Russia. She worked on a range of interdisciplinary projects from the synthesis of novel materials for detection and removal of heavy metals from water to development of cancer diagnostic and therapeutic agents. She authored over 20 scientific publications in leading peer-reviewed journals.
At Stormtec, Elena is responsible for reviewing contaminated water challenges and recommending appropriate water treatment technologies, managing technically challenging projects, and training the operations staff. The projects Elena worked on include water treatment at BC Hydro’s Mica Dam, Avanti Kitsault Mine, and Vancouver International Airport.
Elena is currently doing her MBA in Management of Technology at SFU Beedie School of Business.
MICHAEL SUMAL
Represents : Clean Harbors
Michael is an Account Manager for Clean Harbors where he assists clients with technical, logistical and pricing requests. Michael has been active in the environmental industry since graduating from SFU with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. He spent four years doing business development in the laboratory industry and is now part of the hazardous waste industry.
Michael joined the board of the BCEIA in 2015 and is part of the communications committee where he has worked to launch the new website and redefine the appearance and marketing approach for the newsletters and other media sent to BCEIA members.
FORREST TITTLE
Represents: British Columbia Institute of Technology
I joined the British Columbia Institute of Technology in October 2016 as the Dean of the School of Energy, overseeing approximately 200 staff and 20 programs ranging from certificate to B.Eng. Previously, I was the Dean of the School of Applied Sciences and Technology and earlier the School of Sustainable Building and Environmental Management at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. I have experience in Applied Research, having had oversight of NAIT’s Centre for Oil Sands Sustainability and the Boreal Research Institute. I have also served as a Board member on the Alberta Capital Airshed, the Edmonton Waste Management Centre of Excellence and as the Chair of the Chemical Technology program at NAIT where I delivered courses in Environmental Chemistry, Air Quality, Air Quality Monitoring, Environmental Instrumentation and Environmental Law. I have a Master’s degree in botany and a PhD in biological sciences specializing in plant physiology and biochemistry.
KAREN TU
Represents : Waste Management
Karen Tu has currently been a BCEIA board member since 2015 serving on the business development committee. She is also a Manager Third Party Sales for BC region at Waste Management. She brings more than a decade of work experience in the waste and environmental industry. Her unique expertise comes from a combination of both business development and technical experience. Her educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of British Columbia with a focus on environmental chemistry.
ADAM WAY
Represents: Harper Grey LLP
Adam Way is an associate with the Environmental, Commercial and Construction Law Groups of Harper Grey LLP.
Adam’s environmental law practice involves contaminated sites litigation and risk management. On the litigation side, a large portion of his work relates to recovery of remediation costs pursuant to the Environmental Management Act and common law and appeals before the Environmental Appeal Board. Adam works for and provides advice to clients on a broad range of environmental files, from residential contamination caused by historic underground oil storage tanks (USTs) to large-scale commercial properties involving complex contamination and remediation.
On the construction side, Adam’s practice entails assisting with complicated multi-party disputes involving construction deficiencies. In the context of his commercial law practice, Adam provides advice to clients involved in a variety of commercial disputes, including real estate matters.