Our Team

Navigating the complexities of leachate treatment demands more than skill—it calls for seasoned experience. With more than 40 years of expertise in water and wastewater design, our engineers are your trusted partners for all your leachate treatment needs.

Dave Horvath, PG

Principal Engineering Geologist

Expertise

With more than 30 years of professional experience in the solid waste management consulting industry, Dave Horvath has been leading the EARTHRES, a Division of RESPEC, solid waste practice for the past decade. His extensive experience has allowed him to witness and contribute to significant advancements and progressive changes, including the transition from landfilling to waste diversion and conversion, as well as innovations in leachate treatment and LFG management for beneficial use. His expertise includes leachate treatment, landfill and waste management facility planning and development, permitting, design and construction sequencing, LFG management and biogas beneficial reuse, odor and active area gas management, and operational support for site activities.

Key Projects

New Leachate Treatment Plant

Fairless Landfill, PA

Served as project manager and owner’s representative during design and construction of a 350,000 GPD design/build project. Reviewed D/B contractor’s design and permit documents, submittals, addressed RFIs on the owner's behalf, led CQA efforts during construction, and provided design services for supplemental treatment system components, including centrifuge, SBR temperature conditioning, clarification, SCADA system, and supplemental leachate storage.

LTP Pretreatment and Effluent Force Main Design

GROWS Landfill, PA

Provided design and permitting for new leachate conveyance and pretreatment infrastructure. The system included influent combined leachate valve vault, grit chamber and pump station, and a 5-mile pretreated effluent force main incorporating an advanced line pressure and leak-detection system at multiple points along the pipeline monitored via a network of solar powered radio telemetry stations tied into the pump station PLC for automated monitoring and control.

Expertise

With a distinguished 45-year career, Tom Pullar is a seasoned environmental engineer specializing in leachate and wastewater treatment, site remediation, and solid waste management. His expertise encompasses end-to-end project management, from design and permitting through operational oversight for large-scale facilities, including landfills, transfer stations, and wastewater treatment plants. Known for his comprehensive approach, Tom has served as the engineer of record for over 50 facilities and has conducted more than 500 waste stream characterizations and 400 site assessments. He is also highly experienced in multimedia facility audits, supporting regulatory compliance and environmental best practices across various sectors.

Key Projects

Sanitary Landfill Leachate Treatment Plant

Pen Argyl, PA

Designed and permitted a state-of-the-art 100,000-gpd LTP with advanced MBR and RO technology, significantly enhancing treatment capacity to meet stringent discharge standards.

Designing and Developing RNG/LFGTE Solutions Lackawanna County, PA

Led the design and permitting of an RO system, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards for discharge or beneficial reuse.

Municipal Waste Processing Facility

Philadelphia, PA

Provided engineering and permitting for a municipal waste processing facility, addressing complex regulatory requirements.

Tom Pullar, MS, PE

Senior Project Manager

Ezaz Khan, MS, PE

Senior Project Manager

Expertise

Ezaz Khan is an expert in mechanical and process design with more than 35 years of experience in the leachate treatment, energy, and solid waste sectors. His background includes gas-to-energy projects, natural gas processing, and complex water and wastewater treatment systems design. Ezaz’s technical proficiency covers advanced treatment technologies, such as MBRs, RO, and UF, which he has applied across multiple large-scale projects. He has professional engineering credentials in multiple states and a track record of supporting environmentally sustainable projects from conceptual design through commissioning and operational troubleshooting.

Key Projects

Leachate Treatment System Design

Various Locations

Oversaw design and permitting for complex leachate treatment systems targeting pollutants like ammonia, BOD, hydrogen sulfide, and heavy metals, ensuring safe environmental discharge.

Medical Waste Treatment Facility Design

Led the process and mechanical design for a facility dedicated to treating medical waste, focusing on system efficiency and regulatory compliance.

Solid Waste Transportation Design Support

NJ, PA, DE, OH

Provided engineering expertise for landfill expansions, including wastewater treatment plant designs with cutting-edge treatment equipment such as equalization tanks, clarifiers, and centrifuges.

Biogas to Energy Projects

Designed natural gas and LFGTE systems, integrating renewable energy solutions to enhance the sustainability of waste facilities.

Expertise

Dean Ritts is a highly skilled environmental engineer with more than 30 years of experience in industrial wastewater treatment, air quality management, and sustainable design. As a Certified Energy Manager and LEED-accredited professional, Dean uniquely focuses on integrating sustainability and decarbonization into environmental engineering. His projects often incorporate zero-water impact strategies, pollution prevention, and compliance with corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals. Ritts has advised a wide range of clients, from the power and oil sectors to food and beverage industries, delivering solutions that reduce environmental impact and meet strict regulatory standards.

Key Projects

Midwest Hydrogen Hub

Developed water and wastewater management strategies to achieve a zero-water impact for hydrogen production at a major refinery, supporting sustainable hydrogen initiative.

Keystone Sanitary Landfill Leachate Treatment Plant

Lackawanna County, PA

Served as the owner’s representative in designing and permitting an LTP, leading the NPDES discharge and water quality management permit processes.

Confidential Project and Client

Confidential Location

Supervised design evaluations for new flows to an existing hazardous LTP, ensuring regulatory compliance and emissions control through comprehensive permit reviews.

Air Quality and Regulatory Compliance for Industrial Facilities

Conducted emissions evaluations, prepared air toxics models, and developed compliance reports for various clients in energy and manufacturing.

Dean Ritts, PE, CEM, LEED AP O+M

Director of Environmental Engineering

Jen Taylor, PE

Senior Project Manager

Expertise

With 28 years of experience in environmental consulting, Jen Taylor has a comprehensive background in managing large-scale projects for government and private-sector clients in solid waste, wastewater, and stormwater management. Her expertise spans all phases of project management, including site assessment, regulatory compliance, and resource procurement. Jen’s hands-on experience extends to regulatory negotiation, permitting, and implementing environmental controls for complex sites, ensuring her projects meet local, state, and federal standards.

Key Projects

Keystone Sanitary Landfill Leachate Treatment Plant Upgrade

Lackawanna County, PA

Managed permitting and compliance for an RO system, including preparing applications for stream discharge, air permitting, and NPDES modifications.

Multi-Media Environmental Compliance and Auditing

Led regulatory compliance efforts and environmental audits for facilities, guiding them through complex permitting and reporting processes.

Petroleum Storage Tank Operations

Directed compliance initiatives for aboveground and underground storage tanks, coordinating permitting and implementing systems to manage environmental impact effectively.

Hazardous Waste Remediation and Site Closure

Supervised site closure and hazardous waste remediation projects, including coordinating with regulatory agencies and contractors for safe and compliant operations.

Expertise

David Brown brings more than 40 years of experience in constructing and testing production and monitoring well systems. His extensive experience includes stratigraphic interpretation, well testing, geotechnical analysis, pump system design, downhole geophysical logging, groundwater flow modeling, geophysical investigations, aquifer testing, ground and surface water quality monitoring, alternative water resource development, irrigation efficiency, and Total Maximum Daily Loads.

Key Projects

Class V Underground Injection Control Wells

Lakewood Ranch, FL

Supervised the installation of new sampling tubes and downhole instrumentation access ports in the Peace River Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority’s UIC and monitoring wells.

Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation Deep Injection Well

Polk County, FL

Regularly assisted in the geophysical logging and pressure testing of the Kaiser Chemical deep injection well, which is used to dispose of acidic liquid waste at depths of over 4,000 feet below the land surface.

Private Industrial Project

Polk County, FL

Assisted in the geotechnical permeameter analysis of rock cores associated with UIC zones, including interpreting simulated injectivity testing; provided input on additional testing parameters and surrogate test samples, and helped author the study’s findings.

David Brown, PG

National Practice Leader, Hydrogeology

Mario DiPasquale, PE

Vice President

Expertise

Mario DiPasquale has more than 20 years of experience in municipal water and wastewater design, including master planning, design, and construction of various treatment facilities, pump stations, and system infrastructure projects. His expertise includes treatment design, system modeling, GIS, pump station and pumping system design, and groundwater well design and construction.

Key Projects

Jimmy Camp Well Field Redrill

El Paso County, CO

Served as the project manager for redrilling two alluvial groundwater wells where improvements included planning, permitting, engineering design, and construction support for the JHW#2 and C#2 high-capacity alluvial wells.

Southmoor Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Water Treatment Plant

El Paso County, CO

Served as the project manager for the 3.0-million-gpd plant, which included permitting, design, and construction administration for the first full-scale Ion Exchange (IX) water filtration system in the United States to remove perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) for municipal drinking water.