Practitioner Spotlight--Ken Click

Name: 

Ken Click

Office:

Greater New York (Valhalla, NY)

Practice area: 

Environmental liability management

Area(s) of expertise: 

Contaminant Plume Delineation, UST Removal Oversight and Sampling, Site Remediation, Remediation System O&M, Vapor Intrusion Investigations

About me in 140 words: 

My name is Ken Click and I am a Project Manager in the Valhalla, NY office. I’ve been with Antea Group for a little over three years and have really enjoyed my time here. Over the course of my career, I’ve had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects and have been able to enjoy the diversity of the environmental remediation practice. Each project that I’ve been a part of has its own set of unique challenges and these challenges have allowed me to learn and grow as a professional. When I am not at work, I like to spend time with friends and family, play basketball, golf (at least I try and look like I know what I’m doing out there), go for hikes, and travel.

Favorite thing about being an environmental liability management practitioner:

My favorite thing is that each project is different. While many of the remedial strategies that we implement may be similar to other projects, there are always site-specific details that may make the task at hand more challenging. I like having the knowledge to adapt to any changes that inevitably occur out in the field so that the job can be completed in a safe, reliable manner for the client. Additionally, although you may not see the fruits of your labor on a daily basis, it is nice to get that closure letter from the regulatory agency at the end of the day that indicates that a remedial strategy that was chosen by you and your colleagues has successfully cleaned up a project site.

What is the most interesting project you’ve ever worked on?

One of the most interesting projects that I’ve worked on were a couple of vapor intrusion investigations. We were trying to decide whether or not vapors associated with gasoline were migrating into the building from beneath the sub-slab. At this point, I hadn’t had much experience with vapor intrusion investigations and was fascinated with the results that we got back from the lab after the sampling event. Although we were able to prove that no vapors associated with gasoline were found inside the building, we still had to go through each compound that was detected in the sub-slab and ambient air samples to determine where they originated from. It was, dare I say, fun going through each compound and researching what it was used for and how it may have been linked to items found inside each building during the preliminary site visit. I felt like a detective trying to figure out where each compound came from while simultaneously proving that it had nothing to do with gasoline. To top it all off, we ended up getting closure from the regulatory agency based on the analytical results from both of these investigations and that was rewarding as well. Plus, it made the client happy!

What are some of your favorite tools/resources for professional development in this practice area?

I would say that my favorite resource for professional development in this practice area would be the people that I get to work with on a daily basis. Due to the variety of projects that Antea Group works on, someone always has another way of looking at things or may have had something similar happen on another site that they may have worked on in the past. Having people with a wide variety of experience is an invaluable resource to have as you are presented with unique challenges that a certain site may present. It’s nice to know that there are so many people to reach out to within the environmental remediation practice that are so eager to help out when called upon. The ability to gain insight from coworkers and bounce ideas off of them is something that has definitely provided me with the knowledge and skillset to become the practitioner that I am today.

What do you consider your biggest professional achievement so far?

My biggest professional achievement so far is continuing to gain knowledge and experience throughout the ELM practice. I know it may sound cliché to say, “you learn something new every day” but since beginning my career at Antea Group, I have gained experience in many areas to make my job as a Project Manager that much easier. Since starting my career here at Antea Group, I didn’t want to get stuck and specialize in one area per se. I wanted to be able to perform any task that was given to me, in any area within the ELM practice, and do it well. If anyone needed support for anything within the ELM practice, I was their guy. I believe that this thought process has helped me grow as a professional and advance through the continuum in the way that I have. I have enjoyed the new set of challenges that I have been presented with each step of the way.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was a kid, I always wanted to be a professional basketball player. Obviously, that didn’t work out but being an environmental consultant is cool too!

What was your first job?

I worked for a private, family-owned fuel company as a fuel dock attendant on the Hudson River. I would assist customers with fueling up their boats and other customer service related tasks. I guess you can say I’ve come full circle!

Is there something unique that people might not know about you?

In addition to playing sports like basketball, baseball, golf, I really enjoy music as well. I enjoy all types of music across many different genres and time periods. However, I really enjoy hip-hop. My favorite hip-hop is from the 90s-00s era and my favorite artist is Eminem. One thing that people may not know about me is that I own Eminem’s entire discography (physical CD copies, yes, people still use those) including the CD that was sold out of the trunk of his car before he was signed to a record label. I may also know every Eminem song word for word and can recite them verbatim when the mood strikes. Don’t worry, I’ll save that for after work hours.

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