Moderators

John J. McNally, P.E., Esq., Environmental Attorney, John J. McNally, P.A.

John J. McNally, has extensive experience in corporate environmental due diligence and in managing environmental risks. This experience includes working with environmental engineers and professionals in various areas to evaluate environmental conditions and requirements, addressing with regulatory agencies to resolve environmental problems and integrate in contract terms to enable completion of real property transactions, loans, and corporate mergers and acquisitions.  In addition to property contamination issues and requirements, John J. McNally, P.A. also has experience in addressing other conditions such as mold, radon, vapor intrusion, and asbestos that require attention as part of performing due diligence evaluation.

Mr. McNally represents individual clients as well as multiple clients in larger complex multi-party litigation or corporate/real estate transactions, In either case, Mr. McNally works closely in coordinating the environmental consultants involved in addressing the evaluation and resolution of the environmental issues in the context of the financing, lease, purchase and development of real estate.  He also assists in addressing these issues within leases purchase/sales transactions, along with any other environmental issues associated with the acquisition, development and operation of commercial facilities and properties.

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 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.

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

Stephen F. Hilfiker, Founder and President, Environmental Risk Management, Inc.

Steve Hilfiker, founder and president of Environmental Risk Management, Inc. (ERMI), has served in a variety of industry association roles since 1991. Currently, he serves:  

• on the Board of the Florida Ground Water Association & is Chair of the Environmental Committee;
• on the Technical and Legislative Committees of the Florida Brownfields Association;
• as a member of Environmental Professionals of Florida;
• as founder and leader of ICEA (the Informal Coalition of Environmental Associations), an advocacy group seeking to keep environmental concerns at the top of state legislative priorities.

Steve received a Master of Science from the University of Florida in 1990.  Based in Ft. Myers, he has been conducting environmental assessment, risk management, forensic and remediation services throughout Florida since 1991. Perhaps most significantly, Steve is well connected in Tallahassee and is actively involved with the development of environmental policy and legislation in Florida.    

Steve is a trusted, authoritative advisor to business owners, developers, financiers, real estate agents, educators, and legislators. As a result, he has been invited to speak at conferences and meetings of numerous professional organizations, including: 

• Real Estate & Environmental Seminars
• Financial & Development Conferences
• Bar Associations & Forensics Groups
• High Schools, Universities and Civic Groups

His articles have appeared in The Florida Specifier, the CCIM Newsletter, various industry trade publications, and multiple Florida newspapers. 

Gary Rose, MGP Program Manager, Sevenson Environmental Services, Inc. 

Mr. Rose has over 30 years’ experience in site remediation. For the past 20 years he has served as Sevenson's Program Manager for former Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) projects. Mr. Rose received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Special Studies from State University College at Fredonia, NY. His project experience includes implementation of innovative and traditional construction methodologies on HTRW sites which required excavation and earthwork; steel sheeting and protective shoring systems; materials handling, processing and treatment; solidification and stabilization; sediment remediation; temporary and portable wastewater treatment; and containment systems construction.

Joseph L. Applegate, P.G., Sr. Principal Hydrogeologist, Geosyntec Consultants, Inc.

Joe Applegate is a Sr. Principal Hydrogeologist in the Tallahassee, FL office and has 35 years of experience and has managed multiple USEPA CERCLA, RCRA, and FDEP environmental contracts and programs and has managed federal, state, and industrial sites including petroleum, dry-cleaning facilities, chemical manufacturers, fire training facilities, landfills, former MGPs, and pesticide manufacturers and applicators.

Joe is a recognized regulatory expert with extensive knowledge of federal and state environmental rules, regulations, and permitting processes allow him to meet the clients and regulatory community needs quickly and efficiently. Joe has managed numerous State of Florida Superfund, State Hazardous, Drycleaning Solvent, State Owned Lands and Site Investigation, Brownfields, Petroleum, and Former Manufactured Gas Plants.  He has managed multiple conditional closure projects and developed RC packages for private client projects as well as for the FDEP.   He has also managed projects with emerging contaminates, including 1,4 Dioxane and PFAS. He has presented at multiple conferences in Florida on industrial uses of these compounds, physicochemical properties, fate and transport of PFAS in soil and groundwater, as well as general assessment and remedial approaches.

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.