Environmental Business Solutions
Founded:
1992
CEO:
Daniel Johnson
Employees:
21
Revenues in 2000:
$3.8 million
Projected revenues for 2001:
$4 million
Address:
8799 Balboa Ave., San Diego
Business:
Environmental consultants
Dan Johnson has been cleaning up in the business of cleaning up.
As president and co-founder of Environmental Business Solutions, Inc., Johnson handles everything from leaking stormwater pollution prevention to potential contamination on the site of San Diego’s Downtown baseball park.
EBS was founded in February 1992, focusing on environmental consulting. Then, as now, that includes site assessment, hazardous materials, stormwater regulations, and so forth.
Growth was slow but incremental throughout most of the 1990s. About two years ago, however, EBS’ business took off, Johnson said.
The firm did $3.8 million in business in 2000 and was on track to do about $4 million in business this year, he said.
Johnson noted environmental cleanup is a growth industry. As the public becomes more aware of environmental issues, and as the government piles on more mandates, companies must take on the challenge. And that means more business for companies like EBS, he said.
Johnson cited stormwater regulations as an example. Locally, this will be one of the major environmental issues of the decade, thanks to a new get-tough stance from the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
“Although the law was on the books, and to a certain extent the regulations were on the books, what happened when they passed the new permit in February of this year was a whole new era for stormwater,” he said.
The regulations have been around for about 10 years, but the onus is now on local cities to enforce the rules. The cost could be in the hundred-thousand-dollar range or in the millions, or even tens of millions, depending on the size of the city, Johnson said.
Clients ‘Overwhelmed’
Developers could end up paying a bundle, as well. It’s not just the cost, but also the complexity of the regulations that remains a challenge, Johnson said.
“These people need help complying with the new regulations. And they’re overwhelmed. Imagine if you took a big, thick book and you said, ‘Here’s this new program that you have to implement, and you’ve got 365 days to get this thing off the ground. And we wish you luck,’ ” he said.
EBS has been working primarily with cities and government agencies to help implement the new rules , including training and outreach. But he also works with developers, who may face having to implement extensive water drainage and treatment programs, Johnson said.
Another issue EBS handles , which Johnson expects to grow increasingly important in the next few years , are “brownfields.” Brownfields, or areas of either severe contamination or suspected contamination, have long been an impediment to development, he said.
“People don’t redevelop it. They don’t want to touch it because they’re fearful; afraid of the contamination that’s associated with that, and (afraid of getting) entangled in the liability web that goes with that,” Johnson said.
To overcome that fear and encourage development, the Environmental Protection Agency has made grant money available. Also, reforms have been passed to shield developers from liability, he said.
But that still requires a consultant familiar with environmental issues, and that’s where EBS comes in, Johnson said.
“We identify if there really and truly are any risks there, and on the other hand, we remove some of these impediments from a liability perspective. We say, ‘Well, banks, you can go ahead and make a loan, and we’re not going to hold you liable,'” he said.
Downtown Ballpark
One such brownfield is the former warehouse district that’s now the location for the Downtown ballpark, on which EBS has been working for about four years. At 26 blocks and $1 billion, it’s the largest redevelopment area in San Diego, Johnson said.
Although the project is stalled , on a matter unrelated to environmental issues ,redevelopment there might never have begun at all were it not for two things. First, the desire to put a ballpark in the area has stimulated interest in the district, and EBS’s environmental work made it safe to invest in the project, he said.
In any development project , especially brownfields , uncertainty is devastating. EBS’s work quantifies exactly where the environmental damage has occurred, minimizing risk to developers, Johnson said.
Also helping to push the project forward is AB-1361, also sometimes known as the Polanco Act, after former Assemblyman and now state Sen. Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles. The law, enacted in 1990, shields cities and developers from liability if they undertake cleanup according to specific guidelines, he said.
EBS’s project, within the framework of the Polanco Act, helped reduce risk to developers even further, Johnson said.
“What would happen, if not for the ballpark, you’d have this perception that you have this old warehouse district with foundries and tanneries and gas stations and dry cleaners and other stuff. How long would it take to redevelop that but for encouraging brownfields redevelopment with these tools that we have?” he said.
Coming Surge In Business
For these reasons, Johnson predicts a tremendous surge in business for environmental consulting firms over the next decade. Some specialties, such as storm water regulations and brownfields, could see a tenfold increase within five years, he said.
EBS expects to do very well in the area of brownfields. Since the company was hired for the ballpark in 1997, that high-profile job has served as a calling card for other prospective customers, Johnson said.
“Because it’s so complex, because it’s such a large project, it basically provides a track record for EBS that we can work on large, multifaceted projects with complex issues and work with teams,” he said. “It’s really increased the visibility of the company.”
Paul DesRochers is one client who came to EBS on the strength of the work EBS did with the ballpark. As executive director of the Community Development Commission for National City, he noticed that the city was able to coordinate a cleanup plan for several ballpark properties at once, saving San Diego a lot of money, he said.
DesRochers wanted something similar in National City, for several properties the city has acquired along the harbor, DesRochers said.
“They poked that area like a pin cushion, and so we got an action plan a cleanup plan for those properties so they’ll be developed and cleaned up simultaneously,” he said.
DesRochers added that a previous environmental consulting firm the city had worked with didn’t understand the legal issues as well. As a result things moved much more slowly. Had the city not gone with EBS, National City would be a year behind in its harbor development plan, compared to where they are now, he said.
Another project EBS is assisting DesRochers with is Education Village, a project jointly developed by the city and Southwestern College. The college, San Diego State University, and UC San Diego will each have a satellite campus in the middle of a two-block area Downtown, he said.
Other completed projects include the former Fuller Ford site along National City Boulevard, and the site for National City’s new chamber of commerce, DesRochers said.
“It looks like there were some old tanks built, probably in the ’20s, and so next week, (EBS is) going to be out there monitoring the wells to see what goop is in there, to see what may have to be done, or hopefully not have to be done,” he said.
DesRochers noted that unlike some other environmental firms, EBS was very well grounded in the Polanco Act and the specific procedures that need to be undertaken to reduce liability.
“They have an understanding of redevelopment undertakings under the state law. Not everyone knows how to do it . He knows how to proceed, and he understands how to best protect us,” he said. “They’re a very competent, professional firm, and they understand both the public and the private sector needs, and are therefore able to provide a very efficient service.”
