Separating fact from fiction: Brian Sulley’s expertise in air quality helps him forge a diverse career in aggregate and separate spin from science
Q: What is your position and what are your responsibilities?
A: I am a technical director and principal with RWDI. My specialty is air quality, and my responsibilities range from preparing routine permit-to-operate applications for small companies to multi-year complex environmental assessments that often require expert witness testimony. These assessments involve estimating air emissions generated by industrial processes, vehicle tailpipes, and agricultural operations, to name a few. I have conducted assessments for the traditional heavy industry sectors such as mining, aggregate extraction, hot mix asphalt production, cement plants, pulp and paper mills, petrochemical facilities, and automotive production, as well as for institutional facilities such as hospitals and universities. I am ultimately responsible for the overall quality of RWDI’s air quality assessments, and also act as an expert witness on air quality matters before the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal.
Q: What is it about your job that other people wish they got to do?
A: I think the best part of my job is making site visits to the facilities being assessed. I’ve watched blasts in limestone quarries, witnessed the inner workings of paper mills in Northern Ontario, and toured the extensive smelter complex and its supporting mines and mills in Sudbury. I’ve performed audits on top of the coke ovens in Hamilton, toured oil seed plants in Alberta, and visited a french-fry factory in Atlantic Canada. I also get to participate in some amazing projects that are conducted in RWDI’s wind tunnel testing facility here in Guelph. In the wind tunnels, I have witnessed testing of the integrity of some of the world’s tallest buildings and longest bridges, viewed wind currents simulated by smoke to determine effects on complex urban environments, and observed the results of sports aerodynamics testing in white papers for the latest racing bicycles, to name a few projects. It is an awesome place to work.
Q: What do you find most challenging in your work?
A: The biggest challenge in conducting air quality assessments is getting accurate emission data for the myriad of processes that we assess. Much of the information on air emissions is based on testing done from 20 to more than 40 years ago, forcing us to use our experience to adapt that information to today’s processes and procedures.
Q: Describe your typical day on the job and how the work you do contributes to your company.
A: A typical day involves writing or reviewing reports; performing or reviewing emission calculations and computer modelling of air pollution; or keeping up on regulations and air-quality-related literature. Once every week or two, I will be out of the office for industry association meetings, client meetings, or site visits, which provides variety and a chance to network and connect in person with other stakeholders. On top of this, I typically go on quarterly business development trips, targeting specific sectors or geographies. The variety of projects and the chance to travel and meet new people keeps things interesting and challenging.
Q: How did you get interested in this work?
A: Growing up in Newfoundland, I gained an early appreciation for the great outdoors, as my father was an avid fisherman and hunter, spending as much time as he could outside. He also spent time working for the government in his early years, helping enforce early environmental regulations in the province. You could say I came by it naturally when I decided to pursue environmental engineering at the University of Waterloo. In co-op engineering programs, the work terms often shape the course that your education and career follow. A person has little control over which work terms are available each semester, and the odds are often against you being able to determine which path to take. Quite frankly, I got lucky. I managed to get two work terms with the Oil, Gas and Energy Division at Environment Canada, looking at air emissions from the electricity sector, and two work terms in the chemical industry, conducting quantitative hazard assessments dealing with air emissions resulting from accidental releases. The rest is history.
Q: Detail your past or ongoing education and how it is relevant to your job.
A: I hold a Bachelor of Applied Science in environmental (chemical) engineering from the University of Waterloo. I was fortunate to be part of the first cohort for this program when it started in 1999 and was able to take a wide variety of courses dealing with ecology, toxicology and environmental assessments, in addition to more conventional chemical engineering courses such as separations and process control. Since then, I have been fortunate to work at a firm where continuing education is promoted extensively through internal training and access to some of the top people in the field, as well as encouragement to enrol in external courses and attend conferences.
I have also been the instructor for the Introduction to Air Quality course at Conestoga College in Kitchener since 2003, for which I must maintain awareness of current regulatory and scientific developments. I enjoy teaching and have taught numerous related courses at both the college level and at conferences and workshops over the years. Each course provides me with as many learning opportunities as it does the individuals taking the course.
Q: Where do you see the industry going in the next few years?
A: Concerns about climate change and long-term health impacts related to air quality dominate the field and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. While air quality has been slowly improving overall for the last decade, our continued reliance on fossil fuels prevents us from making major improvements. As new, cleaner technologies begin to gain more acceptance, we will see greater improvements, but we have a long way to go. In the meantime, balancing the needs of society with the protection of the environment [means] that the type of work I do will continue, and the scrutiny applied by other stakeholders will only increase.
Q: What advice would you give to others looking for a career in the aggregate industry?
A: Objective, resourceful, and knowledgeable environmental professionals will always be needed by the aggregate industry. Conducting rock-solid assessments, developing concrete mitigation solutions, and defending your work in front of the public or a tribunal requires deep knowledge and a commitment to an ethical, objective approach to this work. My advice is to learn as much as possible about the industry and the challenges it faces, but also to learn about the objections raised by the other stakeholders. A person must listen to and understand the concerns of all stakeholders, be able to separate fact from fiction, science from spin, and develop a solution based on good engineering practices and sound science. Above all else, a person can never stop learning.