NEWS photo Mike Waksfield CHRIS HATFIELD, president of West Vancouver-based Hatfield Consuitants Ltd., an environmental consulting firm, says his fa- ther was the one who turned him into an environmentalist. Chris Hatfield: In his own words How did you get interested in en- vironmental issues?: ‘‘My father really influenced me the most to go into environmental work. Without that influence I’d proba- bly be doing something else right now. ‘“‘My father was an engineer by trade, but he was an environmen- talist before it was in to be an en- vironmentalist. He influenced all his children to be that way.”’ Are there many environmental consulting firms?: ‘‘There’s quite a few around now. The industry’s kind of changed a little bit in that there’s not many big companies around. “During the early 1980s many of the companies disappeared or downsized. We would be the average size for the more estab- lished companies."’ Do you travel muck in your job?: “I was probably out of the coun- try about half the year last year. I'm trying to cut down on my : ae Johanne Olsen Through Dan Interiors, Johanne presents a complete shopping experience from furniture to unique gifts and quality kitchen accessories. “Our store offers such fine lines as Kosta Boda, licala, and Arabia of Finland. We atso have a complete line of cookware, including Cuisinart, lagostina, Sigg, and Copperware. Remember us for exciting acrylic lines for patio and boaters” A bridal registry is also available. For those who appreciate the difference. pan Interiors South 922-1181 travels a little bit, but all our senior people travel a lot. “‘We have four or five people from this office in Indonesia right now working on projects. Interna- tional work would be over 50% of what we do.”’ What did you do before you started this company?: ‘‘When | graduated from UBC in 1967 I went to work with the Department of Fisheries in Newfoundland. Then I went back to school at Queens University to get my masters degree. __ “From there I went to work with the Department of Fisheries in Winnipeg. I came back to B.C. in 1972 and worked here for the Environmental Protection Service for a couple of years until 1974, which is when I started the com- pany.”’ © ESTATE CHINA # Royal Worcester 12 Place Setting § Hours: Tuesday-Sacurday 10am to 5pm J ALWAYS PURCHASING CONSIGNMENT WELCOME 1730 Marine Dr., West Vancouver 926-7710 Sunday, June 7, 1992 - North Shore News - 21 Consulting firm is a beacon of green light IT’S A warm mid-after- noon in West Vancouver’s Ambleside area, and Chris Hatfield is in pain. Earlier in the day he had walk- ed down the hall of the Bellevue Avenue office building that houses his Hatfield Consultants Ltd. business into a dentist’s office to have some work done on_ his teeth. He wants to go home but grins aad bears it long enough to grant a reporter an interview. One of the top news stories this week is the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. A front page newspa- per keadline proclaims: Dark predictions mark opening of con- ference. The news does not surprise Hatfield, an environmental con- sultant. In fact, he had been mak- ing those same dark predictions several years earlier. “I would go around to organizations like the World Bank in Washington and the Canadian International Development Agency in Ottawa and talk about en- vironmental assessments and en- vironmental consulting. But they really were not that interested in listening. “They said their wealth was very poor and they couldn’t af- ford all these environmental con- trols. 1 used to point out that it wasn't a frill, it was a necessity to CHRIS HAT™ELD goes over data with Grant Bruce, an environmental chemist with Hatfield Consultants. Peter Humphries Summer Rope Skipping Camps June 29-July 3; suly 6-10; Joly 19-17 Look for brochures tn the schools or phone 925-1597 pian all these projects on pollution control. ‘Bur it fell on deaf ears."* Hatfield says he tried to impress upon international agencies that they were literally polluting themselves out of sustainable and economic projects such as tourism and fishing. Hatfield Consultants employs about 30 people and operates five By Surj Rattan News Reporter companies. 11 also owns an aqua farm on Saltspring Island. The main company was set up by Hat- field in 1974 and since that time has provided services to approxi- mately 400 private and public sec- tor clients. While it is primarily an en- vironmental consulting firm that provides environmental impact assessments of pulp mills, mines, oil well and gas operations and Pipelines, the company is also in- volved in aqua farming. Eight years ago Hatfield got in- volved in salmon farming in Chile. The environment has now become big business, says Hat- field. “When I graduated from UBC in 1967, there was no such thing as environmental consultants. They just didn’t exist. The only NIGHT OF option there was the govern- ment. . “But then over the next 10 years private companies started up and industrial operators aiso started setting up environmental divisions within their companies and hired biologists.”* Hatfield does consulting work for 18 of B.C.’s pulp and paper companies. He says they are now committed to reducing en- vironmental poliution. “The pulp and paper industry has had some pretty serious prob- lems and they’re spending a lot of money cleaning up and rebuilding their plants,”’ says Hatfield. He has worked on projects in @ NAME: Chris Hatfield @ AGE: 47 Lo, © OCCUPATION: President, Hatfield Consultants Ltd @ RESIDENCE; West Vancouver @ BORN: Chilliwack @ FAMILY: Wife Jill, one son @ EDUCATION: Bachelor of science in fisheries and zoology from University of B.C.; master of science in aquatic ecology from Queen’s University Thailand, Chile, Inconesia, Argentina, China, the Northwest Territories, Venezuela and Brazil. Hatfield spent half of 1991 working on international >rojects. NEWS photo Mike Wakelieid BEAUTIFUL MUSIC The Internationally Recognized ELMER ISELER SINGERS In Concert with THE COLLINGWOOD SCHOOL CONCERT CHOIR Saturday June 20/92 at 8:00 p.m. z at Collingwood School 70 Marine Drive, West Vancouver Tickets $15.00 each Please phone the Collingwood School Box Office at 925-3331 between 10:00a.m. and 8:00p.m. Monday to Friday, to reserve.