Our Staff
Laurie Goldner, Ph.D., President
Laurie Goldner has a Ph.D. in Zoology/Ecology from the University of Georgia. She has over 24 years of experience in the environmental field, including 22 years conducting and managing site investigations and remedial actions under both RCRA and CERCLA. Her experience includes complex sites with a variety of contaminants including pesticides, petroleum hydrocarbons, chlorinated solvents, PCBs, coal tar, and metals. She has designed and conducted remediations involving the removal and off-site disposal of hazardous wastes and contaminated soil, and has used innovative approaches to re-characterize contaminated soil under RCRA to allow less costly disposal options. Laurie’s expertise also includes human health and ecological risk assessments at pesticide and coal tar contaminated sites. In addition, she has served as a fact witness on a number of sites and provided expert witness services for an UST/chlorinated solvents site and a metals contaminated site.
John Rezac, P.G., Senior Geologist
John Rezac, B.S., is a licensed Professional Geologist and a Utah Certified Underground Storage Tank Consultant who studied Geology and Hydrogeology at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and the University of South Dakota. John has over 12 years of environmental consulting experience. He has prepared NEPA Environmental Assessments for FAA and FCC projects as well as over one hundred Phase I ESAs at residential, agricultural, mining, industrial, and commercial sites. John has also managed investigation/remediation projects at sites ranging from gas stations to large industrial facilities, including two PacifiCorp coal fired power plants and Nucor Steel’s Plymouth, Utah production facility. In addition, John has experience in Storm Water Pollution Prevention Planning (SWPPP); Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure Planning (SPCC); fate and transport modeling; remediation feasibility assessment; visual impact assessment; geotechnical investigation and design; and construction materials testing and inspection.
Steve Torpey, P.G., Project Geologist
Steve Torpey is a licensed Professional Geologist and Certified Groundwater and Soil Sampler in the State of Utah. Steve has a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from the University of Utah and has over 13 years of experience in environmental consulting. Steve has completed numerous projects involving groundwater monitoring, vapor sampling, drilling, soil sampling, and surveying. Recent projects have included the ongoing management of a groundwater monitoring program at a Superfund site in Salt Lake City, implementing a perimeter air monitoring program for a remedial excavation of a former coal gasification facility in Ogden, Utah, and conducting a vapor intrusion investigation for a property located in South Salt Lake, Utah. His experience also includes research and preparation of human health and ecological risk assessments. Steve served as project manager for a multi-year program of indoor air quality monitoring in Federal office buildings. Prior to working for SAGE, he worked for a drill-testing laboratory where he was involved in Coal Bed Methane research.
Joelle Dickson, Environmental Analyst
Joelle Dickson earned her degree from the University of Utah in Parks, Recreation and Tourism with an emphasis in natural resource management and public land planning. Joelle’s 11 years of experience in the environmental field has included preparation and management of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Endangered Species Act documentation; Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) preparation; environmental plan and permit preparation; site monitoring and compliance reporting; and technical research, writing and editing. Joelle is a certified EPA Method 9 Visible Emissions Reader and has performed monitoring at construction sites and industrial facilities since 2006. She is also a State of Utah certified Asbestos Inspector and a Salt Lake Valley Health Department certified Pre-demolition Building Inspector.
Cynthia Johnson, Ecologist
Cynthia Johnson has a Master's degree from Utah State University in range ecology with an emphasis in reclamation of disturbed lands and 25 years of experience in environmental consulting. Cindy is a plant ecologist with specific expertise in the ecology of upland and wetland plant communities in the Intermountain and Rocky Mountain West. She has delineated and evaluated the functions and values of wetlands in Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, and Texas. Cindy has also developed plans for the creation of wetlands for mitigation purposes, as well as for the restoration of native upland and wetland plant communities. She has been involved in the implementation and construction oversight of a variety of revegetation and mitigation projects, including wetland creation along Wolf Creek Road between Kamas and Duchesne, Utah, and at the Salt Lake City International Airport. Cindy has also contributed to biological assessments for the Utah State Office of the BLM and to Environmental Assessments for the FAA.
Ken Larsen, Project Manager
Ken Larsen is an environmental professional with more than 30 years of experience conducting and managing a wide variety of projects at sites in 40 states. Mr. Larsen has completed more than 1,500 Phase I/II/III Environmental Site Assessments and hundreds of asbestos related projects including inspections, operation and maintenance (O&M) plans, and the design and supervision of abatement projects. He has performed and managed asbestos inspections and prepared O&M plans for 180 U.S. Postal Service facilities in the State of Utah. Ken has also conducted and managed numerous lead-based paint inspection, sampling, assessment and abatement projects and mold investigations including sampling and remedial project design and management. Mr. Larsen participated in all phases of investigation, site remediation planning, and project management of 28 mill sites and 30 related sites utilized for development of the national nuclear program under the EPA’s Formerly Utilized Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP).