Our Company

Established in 2003, Vertex Environmental has grown to become one of the largest environmental remediation firms in Canada. We have successfully completed hundreds of remediation projects across Canada and internationally.

Our team includes:

• Senior Environmental Professionals, each with 10 to 25 years of experience
• Licensed Engineers with degrees from the University of Waterloo, a recognized leader in environmental science and engineering
• The manpower and equipment capacity to concurrently tackle multiple sites across North America.
• Long-term partnerships with key suppliers and contractors.

President

Bruce Tunnicliffe, M.A.Sc., P.Eng.

Bruce Tunnicliffe has direct experience with the design and application of in-situ and ex-situ technologies to treat a wide variety of common and emerging contaminants. As the founder of Vertex, and the SMART Remediation Seminar Series, Bruce plays a key QA/QC and technical role at both, while also sharing innovative remediation approaches with the industry when speaking at conferences and symposiums across North America. Bruce holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Waterloo where he studied chemical oxidation of solvents in fractured rock.

Vice-President, Remediation Division Manager

Kevin French, B.A.Sc., P.Eng.

Kevin French has over 35 years of experience and expertise in environmental engineering, specializing in site characterization and remediation. Kevin holds a Bachelors’ degree in Engineering from the University of Waterloo and is a Professional Engineer and a Qualified Person in Ontario. He has been involved in the design and implementation of remediation programs across Canada involving permeable reactive barriers (PRBs), adsorptive and stabilization technologies, in-situ chemical oxidation and reduction, aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation, etc. in soil, groundwater and fractured bedrock for a variety of contaminants, including PHCs, CVOCs, PAHs, heavy metals, soil sterilants, PFAS and other compounds.

General Manager

Nathan Lichti, B.A.Sc., P.Eng.

Nathan Lichti is the General Manager at Vertex and has extensive technical experience in the design and implementation of remediation systems. Over the past 16 years, he has completed 200+ remedial programs across Canada including construction dewatering, ex-situ treatment systems, in-situ injection programs, and vapour mitigation systems. Nathan has experience treating metals, chlorinated solvents and petroleum hydrocarbons in a variety of geological settings including overburden and bedrock sites. Nathan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from University of Waterloo, and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Ontario.

Field Operations Divisions Manager

Mike Gawel, B.Sc., C.Tech.

Mike Gawel has designed and implemented more than 250 in-situ and ex-situ remediation projects in the past 20+ years of experience in the environmental industry. Treatment technologies range from “typical” in-situ and ex-situ programs to highly complex multi-disciplinary programs. Remediation has focused on metals, chlorinated solvents, petroleum hydrocarbons and other recalcitrant contaminants of concern in all types of geological settings. Projects have included stops across North America, the Middle East, South America and beyond. Mike is a licensed EP and C.Tech., and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Science from Wilfrid Laurier.

Research & Characterization Division Manager

Patrick O’Neill, M.A.Sc., P.Eng.

Patrick O’Neill has direct experience with the design and application of in-situ high resolution site characterization (HRSC) technologies, Membrane Interface Probe (MIP), Low Level Membrane Interface Probe (LLMIP), Ultra Violet Optical Screening Tool (UVOST) or Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) and Hydraulic Profiling Tool (HPT). Patrick also has direct experience with the design and implementation of in-situ remedial technologies on over 100 sites. Patrick holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Waterloo where he studied tile drain modeling in the Grand River watershed and the effects of climate change on the model.

Finance Division Manager

Ryan Townson, CPA, CMA

Ryan Townson has two decades of accounting and finance experience in various industries including public accounting, waste management, tech and utilities. Ryan is dedicated to process improvements and improving internal controls. He has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Guelph and a CMA, CPA designation.

Systems Division Manager

Iain Walton, B.Sc.

Iain Walton has firsthand knowledge and experience working on dewatering and remediation projects across Canada. Iain holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Sciences from the University of Guelph. Managing the Dewatering and Water Treatment Division, Iain overseas the design and operation of complex water treatment systems. He also works extensively in the permitting department, processing Municipal Sewer-Use Agreements and Environmental Compliance Approvals. He is the go-to guy if you need solutions to manage groundwater onsite.

Project Manager

Eric Cowan, B.A.S., EPt

Eric Cowan is a Project Manager at Vertex Environmental Inc. and has over 8 years of experience and expertise in the field of environmental science and in-situ remediation. Since joining Vertex in 2015, Eric has been involved in the design and implementation of remediation programs for a variety of environmental contaminants including petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs), chlorinated solvents, heavy metals, pesticides, etc. Eric is also experienced in designing and implementing High Resolution Site Characterization (HRSC) projects utilizing semi-quantitative screening technologies such as Membrane Interface Probe (MIP), Hydraulic Profiling Tool (HPT), and Ultraviolet Optical Screening Tool (UVOST). Additionally, Eric has designed and conducted multiple bench treatability studies and pilot-scale experiments to develop innovative remedial technologies to use at full-scale. Eric holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Sociology from the University of Guelph and a Graduate Certificate – With Distinction – in Environmental Engineering Applications from Conestoga College.

Project Manager

Daniel Brenner, B.Eng., P.Eng.

Daniel Brenner has experience in the design and application of various ex-situ and in-situ remediation technologies at sites across Canada. His ex-situ experience includes underground storage tank (UST) removal and contaminated soil excavations, and his in-situ experience includes permeable reactive barrier (PRB) construction and direct injection programs using a wide range of remedial amendments to facilitate chemical oxidation, reductive dechlorination, or enhanced bioremediation. He has extensive field experience conducting direct-push injections, bedrock delineation drilling, and well installation programs. Daniel holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Guelph and is a registered Professional Engineer in Ontario.

Project Manager

Farouk Abu-Hijleh, B.A.Sc.

Farouk Abu-Hijleh is a project manager with experience in the environmental remediation and consulting sectors. He has managed a variety of projects relating to the remediation of contaminated sites across Canada involving in-situ soil and groundwater treatment (ISCO, ISCR, adsorption, bioremediation, etc.), high resolution site characterization (HRSC), groundwater and soil vapour treatment systems (P&T, AS/SVE, DPE, MPE) and soil vapour intrusion mitigation systems (SVIMS). Farouk holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Waterloo with a focus on hydrogeology and contaminant transport.

Research Laboratory Manager

Alyson Neufeld, Ph.D

Alyson Neufeld holds a PhD in Environmental Chemistry from the University of Toronto and a Post-Graduate certificate in Environmental Technology from Centennial College. Alyson has experience implementing a variety of in-situ remediation projects as well as running bench scale treatability studies that have helped optimize the design for many in-situ, ex-situ and water treatment projects.

Project Coordinator

Aaron Misner, B.Sc.

Aaron Misner has been involved with the environmental remediation industry for several years designing and implementing vapour intrusion and ex-situ remediation solutions across Canada. Aaron specializes in the design and execution of vapour mitigations systems (VMS) for a variety of situations including new build vapour barrier installation and existing structure retrofits for sub-slab depressurization systems (SSDS). His ex-situ experience includes bioremediation soil remediation, spill response excavations and underground storage tank (UST) removal. Aaron holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from McMaster University.

Project Coordinator

Mahshid Jannati, M.A.Sc., EIT

Mahshid Jannati has extensive involvement in construction groundwater treatment systems, spanning from initial bench-scale testing and design to permitting and full-scale implementation. With a focus on treating dissolved metals, hydrocarbons, and nutrients in challenging construction groundwater, she excels at designing cost-effective approaches tailored to each site’s constraints. Additionally, Mahshid contributes to the permitting department, processing Municipal Sewer Discharge Agreements. She holds a Master’s degree from McMaster University specializing in wastewater treatment via bioelectrochemical and ion exchange technologies.

Financial Analyst

Adrian Vander Vlugt, B.B.A.

Adrian Vander Vlugt is a financial analyst with 4 years of experience in manufacturing and contract based industries. He has experience in financial analysis for a wide variety of remediation projects and in information systems implementation. Adrian holds a bachelor of business administration for accounting, audit, and information technology from Conestoga College and is currently working towards his Chartered Professional Accountant designation.

Accounts Payable/General Accounting Support

Tiberiu Lefter, B.Comm

Tiberiu Lefter has over 10 years of experience in the Accounting field. Tiberiu holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from Athabasca University. What drew Tiberiu to the world of accounting was his passion for Mathematics and the natural ability to work with numbers.

Office Administration

Marilyn Reeves

Marilyn Reeves is an experienced office administrator with training in a wide range of office administration tasks. Able to work under pressure and collaborate with a team: duties include data entry, clerical tasks, scheduling, health and safety procedures and assisting Project Managers and Field Technicians.

Permits

Successful remediation of contaminated sites requires extensive permitting and coordination with regulatory jurisdictions. We have numerous mobile Environmental Compliance Approvals (ECA) for remediation of soil, groundwater and soil vapours. Our mobile ECA permits can be quickly activated (2 to 3 weeks) to begin work on your site.

Vertex has also completed and obtained numerous other site-specific permits in Ontario and in other jurisdictions across Canada and internationally.

Equipment

Vertex has the equipment to take on your in-situ remediation project. We have our own fleet of fully-equipped mobile injection trailers and mobile treatment trailers to handle concurrent or large-scale remediation projects.

Our fleet includes:

• Injection trailers fully-equipped with a variety of injection pumps capable of injecting at pressures up to 3,000 psi, mixing equipment, gauges, valves, hosing and geochemistry monitoring kits.
• Treatment trailers fully-equipped for soil vapour extraction, multi-phase extraction, or dewatering and treatment of contaminated groundwater.

Our equipment is sized to meet your application:

• Active gas station sites
• Active dry cleaning sites
• Small, enclosed spaces (including residential basements)
• Large industrial sites (including active refinery sites)
• Remote sites (including northern Canada, Middle East)