Mr. Black is a seasoned consultant with over twenty years management experience in environmental and geo-engineering services, used to addressing difficult project and management issues.  He has extensive experience in performing work overseas, including as a contract staff to the environmental services group of an international oil and gas company.  Some of John’s key skills include:

Professional Experience

Examples of Mr. Black’s professional experience include:

• Currently assisting in the preparation of EIAs for two E&P blocks: one off the coast of Colombia and one block in the Orinoco interior of Colombia.
• Served as contracted environmental management staff assigned to lead environmental assessment and regulatory review for international projects for an independent oil and gas exploration company pursuing projects in Azerbaijan, Brazil, Venezuela, Pakistan, Spain and other countries.
• Prepared environmental due diligence assessments for numerous oil-field properties in Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, Venezuela and the U.S.  Assignments, including meetings with agency personnel, related to the development and operation of existing and new E&P properties, on-shore (Azerbaijan, Brazil and Venezuela), off-shore marine (Brazil) and off-shore inland seas (Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela), on-shore oil, gas and coal-bed methane fields in U.S. and Canada.
• Assisted a Houston-based E&P company evaluate environmental issues related to on-shore properties in southern and eastern Colombia.
• Participated in preparation of EIA for a seismic survey off the coast of Colombia.
• Participated in development of ESHIA report templates under contract to a “supermajor” oil and gas company HSE staff, to help staff standardize and improve the quality of future ESHIA reports.
• Provided environmental legacy assessments for numerous industrial facilities in the U.S., Mexico, Aruba, Costa Rica and Ecuador.
• Assisted a US-based company entering the Mexican chemical manufacturing market identify and obtain all the requisite environmental permits needed to begin operations.
• Provided input to two major pipeline EIAs in the western US; provided geologic input for FERC re-licensing of several nuclear power plants in western U.S..
• Served as project manager during development of bid package, plans & specs, contractor identification and selection, for major hydrocarbon remediation project using SVE/AS system at a major port in California.
• Identified and quantified residual environmental liabilities associated with historical activities performed at numerous chemical plants in Germany, Italy, Slovakia and the U.S., in a multi-billion dollar international deal.
• Provided technical input to a plan to remediate a hydrocarbon-contaminated marine drilling rig repair facility in the Delta province of Nigeria.
• Served as Geosciences Discipline Leader, heading a group of eight professionals within the environmental services division of a major environmental consulting firm; successfully served as Operations Manager of the Houston offices of two major international environmental consulting engineering firms.
• Quantified cost impacts resulting from historic waste management practices at numerous coal-fired electric power plants and former manufactured gas plant sites located around the U.S., for several large acquisition projects.
• Investigated the seismic potential of several major geologic faults in California, Utah, Washington State, Central & South America.  
• Served as Project Manager on several Superfund site investigations around the US.
• Supported environmental litigation matters, involving soil and groundwater contamination encountered under a residential sub-division in Wyoming; contamination of groundwater resources in oilfields in West Texas and Oklahoma; and the standard of practice in environmental due diligence.  Assisted in depositions.
• Led successful proposal preparation efforts to perform work at a major US nuclear weapons facility, resulting in multi-year multi-million dollar assignments; was a key team member in a successful proposal effort for the stabilization of Forest City bridge, a mile-long multi-span structure over Lake Oahe, in South Dakota; using a novel video approach to explain key features of the situation to client.
• Provided engineering geologic input for the design and construction of dams and reservoirs, tunnels and bridges, and stabilization of rock slopes in several US States and foreign countries.
• Served as field geologist during full feasibility studies for four major hydroelectric power plant projects, including analyses of reservoir leakage potentials, dam site stability conditions, penstock routing, sub-station siting, transmission-line routing.

Professional Affiliations

• Independent Environmental Consultant [2001- ], Houston: Serving contracting and consulting firms’ oil & gas, chemicals and electric power clients. Affiliated with Acorn International since 2006.
• Pilko & Associates, Inc., Houston, Texas [1999-2001]: Senior Environmental Consultant, focused on energy, petroleum and chemical industries, globally.
• Independent Environmental Consultant [1996-1999], Houston: Serving E&P clients worldwide
• Dames & Moore, Inc.[1994-1996], Houston: Senior Geologist and Managing Principal-in-Charge;
• Woodward-Clyde Consultants [1980-1994], San Francisco, Peru, Denver, and Houston: Project Engineering Geologist to Principal and Vice President.
• Lahmeyer International, GmbH, Frankfurt, Germany: Project Engineering Geologist (Masterplan for Electric Power Development Project, INDE, Guatemala); 3-year assignment.
• Ministry for Overseas Development, U.K. Government: Engineering Geologist (assigned to ICAITI, based in Guatemala City, Guatemala)
• Low & Parsons Brown, Watford, U.K.: Staff Engineering Geologist

 International Experience & Languages

• Native of the United Kingdom, widely traveled in Western Europe;
• Six years residence and work in Central America, based in Guatemala City;
• One year residence and work in Peru, based in Lima.
• Functional (formerly fluent) in Spanish; some French
• In-country project experience in 20 countries, including Australia, Azerbaijan, North, Central and South America and Western Europe.
• Not-in-country project experience in another 10 countries, including Algeria, Argentina, Japan and Kazakhstan

Education
B.Sc.  (Applied Geology), with Upper Class Honors; University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, 1972

Professional Accreditation
Registered Professional Geoscientist (Geology), Texas #5836

Languages

Fluent Spanish