We know the headline words like hazardous waste, underground storage and groundwater contamination. Here is an industry in which hundreds of companies of startling diversity are working throughout the state on projects from mining to highways to military bases to your corner gas station. Janet Kerley, owner of Lead-Rite, Inc., provides information listing approximately 130 New Mexico environmental companies. New Mexico has more environmental companies per capita than other areas.
Some firms do it all and others focus on a specific niche.
They design systems to solve problems in groundwater hydrology, landfill engineering design, remedial systems design and geotechnical engineering for the mining industry. We also work in the area of water availability, making long-range predictions regarding aquifers and water tables. We have a hydrologic testing lab supporting both our own work and that of others across the country. Claude Schleyer, principal engineer for the Environmental Services Unit of BDM International, Inc., says that their firm is a good example of the trend toward mergers and buyouts. In New Mexico the firm works primarily with oil and gas industry clients, providing consulting support for regulatory compliance, hazardous waste minimization and litigation support.