Defense Contractors Look to Environment : They are seeking cleanup jobs in the wake of cutbacks in military spending.
Last week, I shared an excellent meal with a group of recyclers. These were not my normal brand of recyclers--you know, the ones who dine on organically grown veggies in a retrofitted adobe. No, these were defense contractors, eating mahi mahi at a Radisson Suites hotel in Oxnard. And what they were recycling was themselves; they were there to find out how to become environmentalists.
The event was a meeting of the Channel Islands chapter of the National Contract Managers Assn. This is a group of local business folk who administer contracts that, until recently, flowed in torrents to American industry from the Department of Defense.
Companies employ them to function as go-betweens between the defense supplier and the armed services involved. “We’re high-level buyers,” explained my table-mate for the evening, Marilyn Erwin of Mission Research Corp. The topic of the evening was how to get work from industries not being affected by the shrinking defense budget.
And that, according to the evening’s speaker, might mean cozying up to the environmental industry. Yes, there is such an industry. Big companies, like the oil and chemical firms, also big government agencies like the EPA and the Energy Department have been putting out contracts for cleanups and retrofitting.
And some trained and qualified person has to be there to “monitor the performance,” as Erwin put it. Are you and I, fellow Sierra Clubbers, going to go on daily patrol with our Geiger counters and bean counters to see that the repair work gets done and at the price promised in the cleanup contract? Well, maybe, but I doubt it.
There may be a big difference between building an air base and cleaning up after three generations of air-warriors have been refueling there, but at this dinner, I discovered that the same people who built America’s war machine and supplied it for 50 years are gathering in hotel rooms around the country to learn how they can, in effect, clean up after the kids.
“Environmental Contracting in the ‘90s: Opportunities and Pitfalls” was the announced topic for my night out in Oxnard.
The speaker, F. J. (Jack) Schroeder, is a leading light in this new trade. According to the printed program, Schroeder was originally an engineer on Air Force design and construction jobs in 20 countries.
He scared listeners--including this one--half to death with a recitation about the degradation of our local soil, air and water. But the audience was there to find out about new business opportunities, not to open a vein, so he thoughtfully switched to a list of businesses where members of the audience might offer their services as environmental contract supervisors.
Those in the crowd, asserted Schroeder, have been involved in keeping track of lots of hazardous materials (such as bombs and rocket fuel), as well as piles of war surplus materials (such as planes, parts, paints and parachutes).
He suggested that they now look to companies that handle toxic materials (such as paint and petroleum manufacturers), firms that transport waste products, and non-defense, public agencies that are stuck with messes (such as abandoned mines and toxic waste dumps) but have some money for cleaning them up.
In a pamphlet on the dinner table, which described the National Contract Management Assn., I got a glimpse of the future--sort of. “In the near future, almost everyone in the field will contend with environmental issues,” was a quote attributed to the group’s national president, Mary Mayer.
I once saw a movie about the launderette business. One character challenged another about the profitability of such an enterprise. The proprietor retorted proudly: “Oh, there’s money in muck.”
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* FYI: Business people, technicians and lawyers interested in a seminar entitled “Commercial Environmental and International Contracting: An Evolving Focus,” scheduled from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 4 at the Harbortown Marina Resort in Ventura, should call Deanna Carney at 987-8831, Ext. 219, for information.
