What is an Environmental Consultant?

Jun 25
08:29

2012

Leighanna Cumbie

Leighanna Cumbie

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An environmental consultant is a necessary person to avoid costly citations with the EPA, or in trying to buy Brownfields properties, and also when planning a community. If you work for or own a manufacturing company, then you have probably had an environmental audit to determine what types of permits might be needed to stay compliant with EPA regulations. Perhaps there is a piece of land that would be the perfect place to build condos, but unfortunately there is factory remnants or the property once was used for some type of industrial purpose.

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An environmental consultant is a necessary person to avoid costly citations with the EPA,What is an Environmental Consultant? Articles or in trying to buy Brownfields properties, and also when planning a community.   If you work for or own a manufacturing company, then you have probably had an environmental audit to determine what types of permits might be needed to stay compliant with EPA regulations.  Perhaps there is a piece of land that would be the perfect place to build condos, but unfortunately there is factory remnants or the property once was used for some type of industrial purpose.  Before the property can be re-zoned to be residential an environmental team must decide if the land can be cleaned so that it is not harmful to live on.

Often people are concerned with making sure that everything is up to OSHA standards, but they sometimes forget about the EPA.  The Environmental Protections Agency (EPA) is there to ensure that as people continue to use landfills and produce potentially harmful waste that there is still protection to our earth.  We must not abuse the earth but instead find ways to co-exist.

An environmental consultant can help ensure that in every aspect of owning and running a manufacturing company that all permits required by the EPA are acquired.  There are air permits, waste water permits, and several operating permits.  All of these permits are centered around trying to minimize the harmful effects of industry on our planet.

While it is part of our responsibility to be mindful of how we treat the earth, the EPA isn’t a watchdog for individuals and its main concern isn’t the earth as a whole, but instead it is more about how industry affects the earth and as a result effects the population.  For instance, if a manufacturing company stores certain items outside in the open elements, and then one day it rains.  And as it rains on these stored items it washes certain chemicals off the items and into a nearby run off stream.  Now those chemicals have contaminated that run off stream that contaminated stream leads into a larger water supply area, which also leads into the city’s main water source.  Now the city’s water source is contaminated. 

Yes that is a very simple example of how a manufacturer could contaminate a water source, and while typically that does not happen, it is always best to have an environmental consultant audit the plant to ensure that all the necessary permits and protocols are in place.  If you need the have an environmental audit performed on your company click here.