PES Marks More Than 28 Years of Service to Clients

Early PES testing van It was 1971: Hank Aaron hit his 600th home run and The French Connection won the Oscar for Best Picture. In Santa Monica, California, three aerospace engineers refocused their skills and experience to provide specialized environmental services, and Pacific Environmental Services was formed. Entering the market just one year after the EPA was established, PES grew rapidly in response to fast-changing technologies and regulations.

The 1977 passage of the Clean Air Act Amendments and other landmark environmental legislation fueled PES' nationwide expansion. Within a year, Bob Norton, now a Senior Vice President, opened the firm's North Carolina office to provide support to EPA's Air Planning Headquarters. By the end of the decade, PES had established solid credentials in air modeling, planning, and permitting.

In 1985, when Congress expanded the Superfund program and environmental issues regained national attention, a group of new owners, headed by Chairman Dean High and President Terry Li Puma, purchased PES. Joining Messrs. High and Li Puma in the acquisition were John Chehaske, Vice President, to manage PES' source testing services and Mike Lukey, Senior Vice President, to manage PES' industrial air pollution support. This new management team brought broad consulting experience to the firm along with a quick-moving entrepreneurial style that continues to guide the company today.

PES' new officers soon moved the firm's headquarters to Washington, D.C. and launched an aggressive expansion of services. Immediately following the acquisition, John Mazur, Senior Vice President, brought industrial hygiene work experience to PES. In 1987, Frank Meadows opened the firm's Ohio office to improve air testing support to Midwest clients. Two years later, Paul Koch, Senior Vice President, joined Mr. Meadows in Cincinnati, bringing new strength to PES' wastewater, stormwater, pollution prevention, and GIS services. Systems development services expanded under Vice President Cal Thames, and PES embarked on pioneering work in modeling, data management, and applications for the increasingly common personal computers in government agencies and US businesses.

During 1989, the year the Berlin Wall fell, PES won its first 5-year, $50 million contract to provide air quality, hazardous waste, industrial hygiene, and multi-media environmental support to the US Air Force. The same year, PES acquired Arthur Beard Engineers, an environmental firm whose principals, Jeff Van Atten and Dave Wohlscheid, now PES Vice Presidents, brought respected credentials in value engineering and over 30 years of water and wastewater experience. By the end of the decade, PES was winning new contracts reflecting the firm's diversification of specialized services and an expanding client base.

In the 1990's, PES' growth and diversification accelerated. New offices opened in Texas, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Pharmaceutical, consumer products, and electronics companies joined the ranks of PES clients, as the firm expanded pollution prevention, hazardous waste, air toxics, water quality, and industrial hygiene services. In 1993, PES' Systems Group introduced i-STEPSŽ, the firm's multi-media environmental data management system, which has evolved to an industry standard for organizing, tracking and reporting environmental information.

In 1999 as PES celebrated its 28th year, the firm had again extended its specialties with the formation of Validation and Process Associates (VPA), a consulting division serving the pharmaceutical, medical device manufacturing, and biotechnology industries with good manufacturing practice and process engineering support.

PES now numbers over 150 professionals working in offices from coast to coast and serving clients representing nearly every industrial sector; national, state and local regulatory agencies; and numerous other government agencies (DOD, USPS, etc.) . For the future, PES will apply its proven management concepts to guide the firm -- emphasizing customer satisfaction, a commitment to technical excellence, and the continued encouragement of the entrepreneurial spirit that launched PES more than a quarter century ago.

Photo: Early PES testing van, 1972