Moderators

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. 

With over 40 years of experience, Gene specializes in building strategic relationships with waste and remediation firms.  He brings a vast knowledge of various  environmental sectors from organizing and managing conferences such as;

•  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, and 

•  Florida Remediation Conference.

as well as in managing associations such as:

•  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.  

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.

Dr. Fayaz Lakhwala, Ph.D., Key Accounts Manager Soil & Groundwater Remediation, Evonik Corporation

Dr. Lakhwala serves as the Key Accounts Manager within Evonik’s Soil and Groundwater business unit. He holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Environmental Science. He has 30 years of experience in the area of site remediation with activities in technology development, remedial design and engineering, site characterization, treatability studies, project management and business development. He has worked with environmental technology companies, research laboratories and environmental consulting firms. In the past 18 years, his focus has been on the design and application of in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO), in situ chemical reduction (ISCR), enhanced reductive dechlorination (ERD), NAPL stabilization and treatment of heavy metals in soil and groundwater. Besides US, he has worked on projects in Asia Pacific and Europe.

 James P. Rigano, Esq., Rigano LLC

James Rigano has concentrated his practice exclusively in environmental law for more than three decades. Mr. Rigano has served in the Enforcement Division of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, where he was involved in a variety of water pollution control programs and was environmental counsel to the New York Power Authority.

He has extensive experience in subsurface contamination and solid waste issues and has represented clients in numerous matters before environmental regulatory agencies. He has negotiated the environmental issues in numerous transactions and has handled a broad range of cases involving wetlands, open space, and air pollution issues, and has litigated cost recovery actions. Mr. Rigano has had extensive experience with subsurface soil gas issues.

Mr. Rigano has extensive experience with environmental issues in brownfield development projects. He has negotiated technical and environmental issues and has addressed a host of complex regulatory concerns in the redevelopment of contaminated property. Mr. Rigano was
environmental counsel for the New York Power Authority where he was involved in the permitting and environmental issues associated with hydroelectric facilities and major transmission lines.

Prior to practicing law, Mr. Rigano was employed for five years as an environmental scientist conducting research on the environmental effects of electric power generation. 

Mr. Rigano has authored more than 50 articles and has lectured extensively on a variety of environmental insurance coverage topics. He has also chaired more than 20 environmental conferences. He is actively involved in civic, business and bar association organizations. Long Island Business News has featured him in their “Who’s Who in the Law” edition.

Mr. Rigano is the Chair of the Environmental and Energy Law Section of the New York State Bar Association from 2022 to 2023 and Chair of the St. Paul Nursery School in Hempstead, New York. He serves on the Board of the Nassau County Boy Scouts and St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Churchre they enjoy their two young grandsons Easton and Logan. 

Dr. Kesavalu M. Bagawandoss, Ph.D., J.D. Industries & Environment Technical Director North America, SGS North America, Inc.

Dr. Doss has spent more than 40 years in the analytical chemistry arena. Dr. Doss’ expertise  spans chemistry, environmental analysis, hydrocarbon chemistry (gas and liquids), forensics,  industrial hygiene laboratory services (American Industrial Hygiene Association [AIHA]  accredited), Air analyses (TO compendium methods), emerging contaminants - PFAS, 6PPD ,  6PPDQ, biota analyses, hazardous waste management, client services, management of  laboratories, laboratory builds, data validation, data management, sampling, laboratory audits  and litigation support.  Dr. Doss received his Juris Doctorate from Southern University Law Center and was a Law  Review Editor. He is licensed to practice law in Louisiana. He earned his Ph.D., Engineering  (Environmental Science) from the University of Oklahoma, his M.S., Chemistry from Wichita  State University and his B.S., Chemistry from Loyola College, University of Madras.

Michael J. Deliz, P.G., Restoration Program Manager, NASA

Mike has 39 years of professional geological experience and is currently the Restoration Program Manager in the Environmental Management Division, NASA Headquarters.  He is developing cleanup policy, overseeing the investigation and cleanup efforts at all NASA Centers and Component Facilities, and leading its Agency-wide PFAS response actions.  He joined NASA Headquarters following 21 plus years at Kennedy Space Center where he was the Technical Lead and a Remediation Project Manager.  Prior to that, he was a Remedial Project Manager in the Federal Facilities Subsection in the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and an Exploration Geologist in the oil and gas industry.  Mike resides in Merritt Island with his wife and two golden retrievers and is the proud father of two Florida State Seminoles alumni.

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.