Name
Dan Keltner
Office
Naperville, IL (Chicago)
Practice Area
Environmental Mergers and Acquisitions Consulting
Areas of expertise
Due Diligence and Regulatory Reporting
About Me in 140 Characters
Five years into my career I left my home state of Iowa with my girlfriend (now wife) while she pursued higher education. That move ultimately shaped my career and led to career opportunities in Connecticut, California, and Illinois.
Favorite Thing about Being a Practitioner
I like that every due diligence project is unique. I really enjoy reviewing historical documents and trying to fully understand and report the history of a property.
What is the most interesting project you’ve ever worked on?
In Connecticut I worked on a former adhesives research and development site that had significantly impacted soil and groundwater with chlorinated solvents. Fortunately, the site was underlain by a thick glacial clay aquitard that effectively trapped most of the contamination and prevented deep aquifer contamination. One task I had was to gather data from hundreds of boreholes and monitoring wells to develop a detailed cross section to optimize remediation and to identify target areas for future remediation based on contaminant migration potential.
What is a key ingredient for success as a practitioner?
Research skills are critical in due diligence. Every government agency is unique, and finding the best information source, or any information in some cases, can be very challenging. Once you have the information, it takes a keen sense to understand what is relevant and how it shapes report findings.
What’s your favorite part of your job?
Variety. Almost every day I cross over multiple practice areas, which keeps things interesting. While much of my work is with Environmental Mergers and Acquisitions, I manage or support several projects in Remediation, H&S, and occasionally EHS Auditing and Compliance.
If someone at a party asks what you do, how to you respond?
“I’m an environmental consultant – you know, we assess and clean up other people’s environmental messes. Like at gas stations and stuff.”
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A Meteorologist. I always did (and still do) enjoy watching the weather. By the start of college, I understood there were very few career opportunities in that field.
What was your first job?
I worked at a grocery store. To this day, I still show off my grocery bagging skills when needed.
If you had one month off, where would you go or what would you do?
Alaska, to enjoy its remoteness and beauty with my family.
What is on the top of your bucket list?
Finish visiting all 50 states. There are only four left for me to visit (Hawaii, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon).
