About Us
HAIL Environmental is an award winning specialist contaminated land consultancy, covering all areas of the profession. We focus our services on one field and one field only: site contamination. This enables us to provide an unparalleled depth of knowledge and expertise.
Our services cover all areas of Aotearoa New Zealand, and our team includes more certified site contamination specialists (CEnvP-SC) than any other firm in the country. Collectively, we have worked with every one of the 51 categories in the Hazardous Activities and Industries List (HAIL), and we have a proven track record of developing innovative solutions for challenging problems.
Sustainability is a key focus in our work, and we endeavour to treat issues locally (rather than taking the ‘dig and dump’ approach) wherever possible. Our work has been recognised through a range of accolades, and we play a role in shaping policy & industry developments through positions on a number of government panels and industry associations.
We operate to high ethical standards, constantly invest in upskilling our people for technical excellence, and always keep client priorities at the forefront of decision making.
Our Haerenga
Brendon Love founded HAIL Environmental in 2014 after 20+ years of industry experience across New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.
Here’s an overview of how we’ve developed over the years.
1987 - Brendon qualifies as a mechanical engineer. This gave him a solid grounding in practical and diagnosis-based approaches to problem solving.
1990 - Brendon began working for Groundwater Technology in Australia as a contaminated land consultant. During his 7 year tenure, he gained a wide range of experience across different industries.
1993 - While working for Groundwater Technology, Brendon spent 6 months in the United States learning in situ remediation techniques for hydrocarbon impacted sites.
1997 - Brendon started SEM New Zealand Limited to provide contaminated land consulting services, based out of the South Island.
2005 - SEM was acquired by Kingett Mitchell Limited. Brendon served as a senior contaminated land consultant until it was acquired by Golder Associates in 2007.
2007 - As part of the transition, Brendon’s role evolved into principal and contaminated sites team leader, looking after 5 offices throughout Aotearoa.
2014 - After 7 years of leading teams at Golder Associates, Brendon started HAIL Environmental to provide contaminated land consulting services in the Bay of Plenty.
2014 - Shortly after starting HAIL Environmental, Brendon was contracted by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council to manage the $21.3m Kopeopeo Canal dioxin remediation project (2014-2020).
2016 - Dr Dave Bull joined HAIL Environmental as our Wellington representative and partner.
2016 - Kylie Eckersley joined HAIL Environmental as our Auckland representative and partner.
2019 - HAIL Environmental was awarded the ALGA ‘Best Regional Remediation Project’ for our work on the Kopeopeo Canal remediation.
2019-21 - HAIL Environmental won several Australasian Land and Groundwater Association (ALGA) project excellence awards and the SOLGM local government award for community engagement on the Kopeopeo Canal project.
2020 - Reagan Knapp joined HAIL Environmental as our South Island representative based out of the Banks Peninsula.
2021 - Sarah Newall joined HAIL Environmental as our Hawke’s Bay representative.
2022 - Brendon Love was appointed to the ALGA board.
2022 - Dr Dave Bull was appointed to the board of the WasteMINZ association.
2022 - Anna Carter joined HAIL Environmental as our Waikato representative based out of Hamilton.
2023 - HAIL Environmental won a WasteMINZ Award for Excellence for the Awatoto Industrial Area Remediation project that addressed the damage of Cyclone Gabrielle. We were also announced as finalists for our work on the KiwiRail Waltham Mechanical Hub Redevelopment.
2024 - Josh Scarrow joined HAIL Environmental, based out of Katikati.
Our Approach
Hailing from a practical and hands-on background, we take a pragmatic, solutions-focused approach to every aspect of client projects.
By combining our in-depth knowledge of New Zealand’s resource management law with a data-driven focus, we’re often able to find innovative and sustainable solutions that aren’t necessarily obvious at first glance.
Every team member is an experienced contaminated land specialist, which means that clients get a senior consultant looking after every project stage. This ensures an attentive and detailed focus, and that we’re able to act with agility based on the information at hand.
Our services cover all aspects of site contamination, from identifying potential issues to classifying and rectifying the situation so that your project can proceed smoothly.
Our Values
Our organisational values are environmental responsibility, business agility and technical excellence:
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Environmental Responsibility
We take our commitment to preserving the environment seriously. All of our team operate from home offices to avoid commuting, and some of us have solar panels and electric vehicles. We use specialist field equipment that reduces repeat site visits, and we put local consultants on each job to minimise carbon emissions from travel. We’re constantly looking for ways to better implement sustainable solutions on client projects, and use data to drive our actions. We’re also a member of the Sustainable Business Network.
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Business Agility
Our collective business model is designed to be agile and solutions focused, and our culture is one of mutual support. We have a flat management structure, so that we can focus on getting client results instead of internal processes. We don’t sweat the small stuff. We look after each other. And we all have autonomy on projects with support from the wider team where necessary.
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Technical Excellence
We’re constantly investing in our people by funding opportunities to attend industry events and training. Every consultant is a senior expert in their own right, and we’re all Certified Environmental Practitioners (or applying to become certified). Collectively, we have more than 100 years of site contamination experience, which is evident in our proven track record, awards, and relevant industry governance commitments.
Our Team
We operate under a collective business model, designed to attract the best talent, retain staff for the long term, and enable us to focus more time on client results instead of internal hierarchies.
Working mostly from home offices means that we’re able to keep overheads low, take more income home, provide great value for money to our clients, and focus on what really matters: living our lives and performing at work.
Click the ‘Meet the Team’ button below to learn more about the people behind HAIL Environmental. Or if you’re an experienced site contamination specialist looking for a career change, please reach out. We would love to hear from you.