NAEP General Meeting November 18, 2014
Careers in Environmental Consulting: Zephyr and Personal
Experiences
Bryan Osborne
Zephyr Environmental Corporation
Crompton park cleanup Sunday 11 am, meeting at Peterson at 10:30, buses will be
running
Last meeting December 2nd.
Aggie class of 2002
Chem Major
Zephyr Environmental Group
Part owner
A privately held, full-service environmental, health and safety consulting firm
About 75 employees
Offices in Austin, Houston, Columbia, Maryland, and York, Pennsylvania
Diverse staff:
 chemical, civil, environmental engineers
 health and safety
 geologists
 biologists/wildlife management
 environmental scientists
Service Areas:
 Air Quality---60%
 Natural Resources
 Water Quality
 GIS
Air Quality
 Permitting
 Dispersion modeling
 Control Technology evaluations
 Emissions Inventories & Trading
 Greenhouse gas reporting
 ongoing compliance support---audits, making sure rules are being followed
Natural Resources
 wetlands determination and waters of the US permitting
 wetland mitigation, creation, and restoration
 threatened or endangered species & habitat
 environmental documentation preparation (NEPA, TxDOT, FERC)
Water Quality
 Industrial and municipal wastewater permits
 industrial and construction storm water pollution prevention plans
 spill prevention, control, and countermeasures
 industrial wastewater discharge compliance evaluations
 facility response plans
 water and wastewater conservation program development
 water quality assessments
 discharge monitoring reports and compliance record keeping
 water availability---increasingly complicated
GIS---Geographic Information Systems
 customized maps, figures, and graphics
 3D data visualizations
 sub-meter GPS data collection
 environmental constraints evaluations
 linear assessments and desktop delineations
 data interoperability and integration
Training
 Don't do a lot
 Emergency response
 TxDOT: hazardous materials
 Environmental: RCRA Hazardous waste, SWP3, SPCC
 Health & Safety
Waste Management
 Operating facilities generate waste, have to put it in the right place
 Not generate as much b/c expensive
Clients:
HEB, Samsung, 3M, Alcoa, Exxon, Coca-Cola, LCRA, Houston Methodist Hospital
(waste and boilers) , Cemex
Industries served:
Oil and Gas, Chemical Manufacturing, Electric Power, Cement/Concrete/Aggregates,
Semiconductor/Electronics, Food Industry, Forest Products, General Manufacturing,
Law Firms, Metals Smelting/Refining, Mining, Petroleum refining, Pharmaceutical,
Public Sector
Project Example---Permitting a New Polymer Plant in Texas
 Client's Project: Construct and operate a new PET plant on Texas coast
 Also included new power generation (utility) plant
 Scopes of services provided by Zephyr
-Strategic advisement
-preparing permit applications
-assist with public engagement process for permits
-work with reviewing agents certifications
 Strategic advisement
 Must get permits before financing and building
 Different perspectives in performing audit
Examples of Permits:
Air
 Preconstruction permit for emissions from plant
 GHG permit
 Had to get permits from TCEQ and EPA
Natural Resources
 US Army Corps of Engineers Permit for Wetlands Impacts
 Biological/Cultural Impacts Assessment for GHG and USACE permitting
Water
 Water rights permitting (water intake permit)
 wastewater and stormwater discharge permits
 construction stormwater permit
Skills needed to execute project:
Organization, communication of data items, proficiency in Excel, technical writing,
regulation applicability review, software
250 tons of air contaminants, dozen people working on project
Took 3-6 months to write permits, 12-18 months for TCEQ to review
Couple years for whole process
EPA publishes standard for different pollutants
Houston has a lot of NOX emissions, creates ozone---Not meeting standards "Non
attainment" for Ozone, neither is Dallas
Early action compacts---council of governments in area realizes they're about to
bust standards, permitting could be hindrance to economy, control strategies to
keep them out of non-attainment (Corpus is one of these)
Professional Involvement:
 Air and waste management association
 alliance of hazardous materials professionals
 CLEAN AIR Force of Central Texas
 TCC/ACIT
 Clean Air Partners
 Industry Council on the Environment
 Maryland Green Registry
 Maryland Industrial Technology Alliance
 Semiconductor Environmental Safety and Health Association (SESHA)
Texas Association of Environmental Professionals
 TCEQ EnviroMentor Program
Community involvement: breast cancer fundraiser, book drives, food banks
CE News ranked Best Firm to work for 2013 in Environmental Services
Background on Bryan Osborne
Education, Motivation, Experience
Did a lot of internships--learned what he didn't want to do (lab work)
A lot of overlap between chemistry and environmental field
First job as permit reviewer at TCEQ ("permit engineer")---a lot of good experience
Went to grad school at UT---masters in energy and earth resources, cross between
petroleum engineering and MBA
Joined Zephyr 7 years ago
A lot of opportunity to learn and establish relationships
Need to be motivated to do a career well---need to be passionate about it
Family history in Environmental and energy sectors helps with motivation
Experiences have shaped where he is, learned a lot from internships about what he
didn't want to do
Wetlands are wherever there's a project. Army Corps of engineers is national so
requirements are the same.
Zephyr has internships (1 or 2 interns)
Hire straight out of undergrad
All on website