Moderators

Howard E. Nelson, Partner, Head of Environmental Practice, Bilzin Sumberg

Howard E. Nelson has more than 30 years of experience in environmental law, land development, zoning, and regional planning. He represents clients throughout all phases of the development process from site location through permitting and construction, as well as in permit appeals and defense of environmental enforcement matters.

Howard focuses a substantial portion of his practice to the analysis and remediation of site contamination issues, representing several national homebuilders in pre-acquisition site analysis and contamination remediation. He works closely with environmental professionals in the formulation of appropriate diligence inquiries and the preparation of remedial strategies designed to reduce costs and time frames for completion of projects. Howard also represents a variety of non-residential developers and industries with respect to contamination assessment and remediation issues.

Howard also has extensive experience in representing clients in complex wetland matters, including issues related to protected and sensitive wetlands and preservation efforts. He was instrumental in the drafting of Florida's Wetlands Uniform Mitigation Assessment Method, and he focuses a substantial portion of his practice on assisting property owners in navigating the maze of local, state and federal wetland permitting. In addition to traditional permitting for wetlands and other natural resources, Howard has substantial experience in wetland litigation and enforcement defense, both locally and throughout the state.

Howard is a frequent author and lecturer on environmental law topics and has participated in Florida Environmental Network's Annual Growth Management & Environmental Permitting Conference and Annual Environmental Permitting Summer School for the past 13 years. He has been quoted in local and national media and trade publications, including The Wall Street Journal and NAIOPs Development Magazine.

Howard is consistently recognized by legal publications such as Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America, and Florida Super Lawyers.

Prior to entering private practice, Howard served as a regional planner for both the South Florida and Treasure Coast Regional Planning Councils. In addition, he worked as a senior planner for a major South Florida engineering firm. He earned his J.D. at Nova Southeastern University, and his M.A. in Urban and Regional Planning and B.A. at the University of Florida.

Eugene (Gene) Jones, Executive Director, Southern Waste Information eXchange, Inc.

Gene Jones serves as Executive Director of the Southern Waste Information Exchange (SWIX), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which has been operating since 1981 assisting businesses and municipalities with their waste management and remediation issues. 

In addition, Gene is a serial entrepreneur and brings over 40 years of experience with waste management and recycling in senior executive level positions. Over the past 40 years, he has successfully founded, built and sold several businesses including Environmental Management & Consulting Services, Inc., Advanced Derived Fuels, LLC,  Hazardous Substance and Waste Management Research, Inc., Environmental Industry Conference Management, LLC, FieldClean of Florida, LLC, Landcare Equipment Sales and Services, LLC. and his latest venture Florida Industrial Hemp Company, LLC.

Gene is based in Florida and specializes in building strategic relationships with waste recycling firms and brings a vast network of associations in the recycling sector from his work in organizing conferences such as;

Conferences:

•  the PFAS Forum,

•  the Agricultural Plastics Recycling Conference & Trade Show, 

•  the Waste Conversion Technology Conference & Trade Show, 

• the Southeast Recycling Conference & Trade Show, 

• the New Life for Closed Gas Stations Conference and Exhibition, 

•  the International Symposium on the Redevelopment of Manufactured Gas Plant Sites, 

•  the National Conference on Waste Exchange and Resource Reuse, 

•  Florida Medical Cannabis Conference & Exhibition,

•  Florida Industrial Hemp Conference & Exhibition,

•  Cannabis in Sports Conference, and

•  Florida Remediation Conference.

Associations:

•  Florida Agricultural Plastics Recycling Cooperative

•  Florida BioFuels & BioEnergy Association, Inc., 

•  Recycle Florida Today, Inc.,

•  International Society of Technical & Environmental Professionals, Inc., 

•  Florida Brownfields Association, Inc., and

•  Keep Florida Beautiful, Inc.

Gene is a Martial Arts practitioner and has his 8th degree black belt in Shaolin GoJu and a 5th degree black belt in Nisei GoJu. Gene is also the Author of Instant Self-Esteem: Empowering Self-Confidence and The Mindful Sensei.

Gene is also the inventor of the Soap Bag Saver, which he designed for the reuse of leftover soap bars.  

Michael R. Goldstein, Esq., Managing Shareholder, The Goldstein Environmental Law Firm, P.A

Michael R. Goldstein, Managing Shareholder of The Goldstein Environmental Law Firm, P.A., and a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent and Chambers and Partners rated attorney, practices exclusively in the areas of environmental law and environmental redevelopment for a broad range of clients, including retail, residential, and industrial developers, public and private companies, real estate funds, lenders, and local governments. A major aspect of Mr. Goldstein’s environmental legal practice involves support of real estate and business transactions, including managing pre-acquisition and pre-leasing due diligence investigations; structuring, negotiating, and drafting environmental provisions in purchase, lease, and development agreements; and assisting lenders evaluate and limit the risk of exposure to environmental liability in connection with new loans and potential foreclosures. In addition, he works closely and extensively with real estate development principals and engineering, planning, and design professionals to help coordinate federal, state and local regulatory approvals for complex retail, industrial, residential, mixed use, and marina related projects throughout the State of Florida.

Mr. Goldstein’s practice has a heavy emphasis on the remediation, financing, and beneficial reuse of contaminated sites and involves a broad array of Brownfields related transactional, administrative, regulatory, legal, legislative, and policy work for clients in both the private and public sectors. He has developed a national reputation as one of the leading and most innovative Brownfields practitioners in Florida, working on important and precedent establishing projects as well as heading up or participating in numerous local, regional, state, and federal environmental restoration initiatives. On a statewide level, Mr. Goldstein was the founding Chairman of the Florida Brownfields Association and served as its Chairman and/or President for the first five years of the organization’s existence. Mr. Goldstein’s tenure as Chairman and President was distinguished by his commitment to elevating environmental justice and public health as critical areas of emphasis for business, community, regulatory agency, and local government stakeholders. In 1996, the Miami-Dade County Commission appointed him Chairman of the Miami-Dade County Brownfields Task Force, a post that he held until the committee’s business was completed in 2004. In January 2006, Mr. Goldstein was appointed to serve on the Advisory Board of the Bureau of National Affair’s highly respected Environmental Due Diligence Guide, which serves as a national reporting, editorial, and opinion forum for environmental transactions and related Brownfields and policy matters. In 2008, he founded and funded the Goldstein Brownfields Foundation, which is dedicated to empowering economically and health disadvantaged individuals and communities with scholarships, programming, and resources to restore polluted land, revitalize neighborhoods, and protect public health. The Goldstein Brownfields Foundation also focuses on increasing the ethnic and gender diversity of lawyers working in the environmental arena through academic scholarships, educational and career programming, and professional mentoring. In 2009, Mr. Goldstein was appointed to the Executive Committee of the National Brownfields Coalition, an affiliation of private and public sector stakeholders working in the U.S. Congress to advocate for improvements in environmental redevelopment policy and legislation. 

James Langenbach, P.E., Senior Principal Environmental Engineer, Geosyntec Consultants, Inc.

James Langenbach is a Senior Principal Environmental Engineer based in Florida with more than 20 years of experience focused on assisting clients with environmental assessments; remediation design and treatment system optimization; environmental management systems; sustainable remediation designs; and regulatory compliance.

For decades, a wide range of industries have used chlorinated solvents as degreasing agents and for similar commercial applications. In many places throughout the world, these solvents have seeped into the ground near work sites, either through spills or as runoff, creating dense plumes of contaminants that can threaten aquifers and ecosystems. Jim is at the forefront of practitioners developing novel solutions to these issues in this field.

As a consultant, Jim is recognized for using innovative approaches in the planning and execution of projects that are grounded in practical applications of existing and emerging technologies. His clients include federal, state, municipal, and industrial sites throughout the Southeastern United States. He specializes in the management of multi-party PRP group sites, and the characterization and remediation of complex manufactured gas plant (MGP), and chlorinated solvent sites with non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) source areas using the latest, proven assessment tools and remediation strategies to achieve exit-strategy focused remedial goals. Jim has served as Geosyntec's engineer-of-record on a number of key projects at NASA's Kennedy Space Center,  in addition to managing remedial actions at multi-party PRP sites such as the Orlando MGP Superfund Site. He also has served as Geosyntec's lead engineer on projects in Florida's Dry-Cleaning Solvent Cleanup and Hazardous Waste Program, during which he has completed assessments or remedial designs for more than 30 solvent, metal, and petroleum-impacted sites.

To advance the state of the practice, Jim's work emphasizes sustainable remediation approaches to the design or optimization of soil and groundwater treatment systems. Examples include his efforts to transition sites from energy-intensive, mechanical treatment systems to passive, in situ biological treatment and flux control approaches. He also designed and created a solar-powered groundwater recirculation system at Kennedy Space Center for the enhanced in situ treatment of a chlorinated solvent plume.

Chad Northington, P.E., Senior Project Manager, Terracon

Mr. Northington is a professional engineer with over twenty years of experience in the environmental field in the areas of site investigation, remediation engineering and construction, project management, and technical assistance.  He received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in environmental engineering from Michigan Technological University.  Mr. Northington currently serves as a Senior Project Manager for Terracon. In this capacity, he provides technical support for application of soil and groundwater remediation solutions. Mr. Northington works directly with environmental firms and end users to develop turnkey remedial approaches for in situ-applied strategies across a broad spectrum of technology classes.  

Natasha Lampkin, FCCM, FCCN, Program Administrator, Petroleum Restoration Program, Division of Waste Management, Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Program Administrator with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Petroleum Restoration Program. Natasha holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration. She has been working in the Petroleum Program for 25 years. Her service in the program includes strategic planning, site management, performance-based cleanup, coordination with local programs, state cleanup, reimbursement, contracting, noticing, database design, metrics, federally funded projects and process improvement.

John A. Collins, General Manager and COO, AquaBlok, Ltd.

John Collins is the General Manager and COO of AquaBlok, Ltd. Mr. Collins is responsible for all day-to-day activities of the company, including technology development, manufacturing, and marketing. AquaBlok developed, patented and manufactures a wide range of materials using their unique technology in not only the environmental remediation markets, but also in phosphorous reduction, annular sealants, pond/canal liners, and other geotechnical segments. Mr. Collins has over 25 years’ experience in a variety of engineering and environmental related businesses managing research, product development, technology licensing, capital goods manufacturing, and acquisitions. He has been with AquaBlok for fifteen years and has guided the development of several new products and managed multiple major remediation projects.