Terra-Petra attends ICSC RECon once again—with 2018 highlights

Retail real estate professionals and developers remained upbeat at RECon 2018, as most (if not all) felt that the “doom and gloom” of previous years is now a thing of the past. Most retailers, owners and developers, it seemed from our own reaching out to attendees on the Expo floor, are continuing to move forward.  This year’s conference fell over the Jewish holiday Shavuot, which may have potentially impacted attendance levels, but ICSC said that ReCon attendance was on par with previous years.

Read about some of highlights that real estate professionals shared during the second day on the showroom floor on www.nreionline.com.

Terra-Petra’s senior executive team was excited to be at ICSC RECon at the Las Vegas Convention Center –once again!

Former NFL player Michael Strahan gave the opening keynote at this year’s RECon event.  The Football Hall of Famer, Two-time Emmy winner and Super Bowl Champion spoke at the Westgate Hotel on Sunday, May 20. Other speakers included Daymond John, CEO & Founder of FUBU and Star of ABC’s Shark Tank, and Jennifer Fleiss, CEO & Co-Founder of Code Eight and Co-Founder of Rent the Runway.  A number of conference sessions, professional development workshops, covered everything from “How to Attract E-Commerce Brands” to “Vacant Storefront to Lessons Learned From the 2017 Hurricane Season.” Read about more ICSC RECon 2018.

Highlights from the ReCon 2018 Expo floor and Terra-Petra booth N1418….

Business card in the bowl for a chance to win!

Terra-Petra booth at ICSC ReCon 2018

ICSC ReCon 2018 – Expo floor was packed!

 

 

 

Terra-Petra makes Top 20 once again in 2018 – on LA Business Journal’s Top Environmental Engineering and Consulting Firms List

Los Angeles Business Journal ranks Terra-Petra as the #18 Environmental Engineering and Consulting Firm in Los Angeles County for 2018.

Terra-Petra, one of the “newer firms” on the LABJ List, has been in the environmental engineering industry for just over 20 years, with many successful projects to lean on. The company started its operations focusing on the Los Angeles market to address the local “methane concerns” that quickly became a big issue. Its in-house experts were a big part of the team that developed the local Los Angeles Methane Code.

Terra-Petra’s expertise has always involved the ability to provide exceptional solutions for methane related issues, including soil gas investigations to determine level of risk. We are adept at recommending the right mitigation strategy and designing the right mitigation system to fit the client’s needs as well as providing the necessary inspections to ensure compliance and system integrity. Over the last ten years in particular, Terra-Petra has become to be recognized as the leading expert in methane and soil gas arena. As methane experts, we’ve also become experts at below grade waterproofing and drainage, having launched our sister-company Building Waterproofing Experts in 2010.

Terra-Petra’s Management Philosophy approach is simple, says President Kevin Buchanan,  “Make every client’s life easier.” The City of Los Angeles has written a very complex Methane Code. We have found that most of our clients, as well as the members of the design and construction teams, have no experience dealing with a property affected by this code–which impacts every aspect of the project. For this reason, we take the position of being a Methane Educator as well as Methane Problem Solver.

Terra-Petra is headquartered in Downtown Los Angeles and operates satelite offices in the cities of San Francisco, Tacoma, Denver, and New York City to serve clients throughout the nation and globally.

Los Angeles Business Journal rankings are based on number of employees in L.A. County among environmental engineering and consulting firms.

Terra-Petra Environmental Engineering John Conaway PE Vietnam Vet

In Honor of our Veterans: Terra-Petra Team Members Who’ve Served

On this Veteran’s Day 2017, Terra-Petra would like to honor our own brave Veterans, John Conaway – U.S. Marine Corps,  Anthony Avina – U.S Marine Corps, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, H&S company, and Eduardo Rangel – U.S. Army, 2 time Afghanistan Veteran.

We would like to thank John, Anthony and Eduardo along with all of those who have served —and those who continue to serve— for your valiant service to defend this amazing country of ours. We truly appreciate all of your hard work and dedication.

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” –John Fitzgerald Kennedy

John Conaway, PE

Terra-Petra’s Professional Engineer (PE Civil) and Vietnam Veteran, John R. Conaway has over 40 years of experience in project supervision, development, evaluation, training, and safety. His impressive and expansive career track started when John received a draft notice in late 1965, when the military presence started to increase in Vietnam.

On July 28, 1965, during a noontime press conference, President Johnson announced that he would send 44 additional combat battalions to Vietnam increasing the U.S. military presence to 125,000 men. Monthly draft calls were doubled from 17,000 to 35,000. “I have asked the commanding general, General Westmoreland, what more he needs to meet this mounting aggression,” Johnson said. “We will meet his needs. We cannot be defeated by force of arms. We will stand in Vietnam.”  He further commented, “I do not find it easy to send the flower of our youth, our finest young men, into battle. I have spoken to you today of the divisions and the forces and the battalions and the units, but I know them all, every one. I have seen them in a thousand streets, of a hundred towns, in every state in this union-working and laughing and building, and filled with hope and life. I think I know, too, how their mothers weep and how their families sorrow.”

Instead of going into the army, as he had expected, John went into the US Marine Corps, and served from January 1966 to January 1968. He received his training at Camp Pendleton, California, and was later transferred to Camp Lejeune, NC. One of the highlights of his service was being selected to run the supply department on a 3-month “Caribbean cruise.” During the cruise, his ship broke down, allowing him to spend several weeks in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The photo,of John above was taken after during war games in November 1966 on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. He achieved the rank of sergeant in 18 months, which was a record time for getting to the rank of E-5.  Although he came close several times, John was able to avoid being sent to fight on the front lines in Vietnam, although he is still considered a Vietnam-era Vet.

John Conaway, PE, Terra-Petra Environmental Enginner

John earned a reputation for his expertise in design and inspection of methane mitigation systems and waterproofing for commercial and residential structures. John has worked with solid waste disposal, environmental engineering, managing road and facility maintenance and construction, permitting, project engineering and design in California, Nevada, and North Carolina.

Read more about John Conaway.

 

 

 

 

 

Anthony Avina, Deputy Methane Inspector

Anthony B. Avina served in the United States Marine Corps for 8 ½ years (2005-2013) with the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, H&S company. While serving in the Marine Corps, he received training as an Electro-Optical Ordinance Repairman which taught him how to repair and maintain night sights, thermal sights, missile systems, fire control systems and optical sights.

During his service he went on numerous training exercises across the United States from Yakima, WA, Boise, ID and, Fort Knox, Kentucky. He deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan in 2009-2010 for a tour of service overseas where he conducted internal/external base security and his job as an Electro-Optical Ordinance Repairman conducting preventive maintenance and repairs on the battalions’ vehicles.

Anthony Avina, Terra-Petra Deputy Methane Inspector

Sergeant Anthony Avina, US Marine Corps

By the end of his service he attained the rank of Sergeant and was running the day-to-day operations for the Instrument and Optics shop, and was responsible for the training and welfare of eight Marines.

Within his term of service, he received the following awards: Presidential Unit Citation, Navy Unit Commendation, Selected Marine Corps Reserve Ribbon 2nd Award, National Defense Ribbon, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terror Ribbon, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Armed Forces Reserve Medal and, NATO ISAF Medal.

Anthony Avina,

 

Eduardo Rangel, Deputy Methane Inspector

In 2007, SPC Eduardo Rangel received a wartime award for valor and heroism from the US Army for “exceptional veterans day spotlight terra-petrameritorious service while deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. SPC Rangel’s personal courage and commitment to mission accomplishment in a combat zone, under the most extreme circumstances, greatly contributed to the success of Operation Enduring Freedom. SPC Rangel’s performance reflects great credit upon him, combined task force fury, combined Joint Task Force-82 and the United States Central Command.”

Eduard’s superiors highlighted the fact that he exhibited “courage under fire” in Shavak Afghanistan, and in the Paktia, Poli-alarm, and Logar provinces of Afghanistan while conducting combat patrols. He laid down heavy suppressive fire for his platoon members engaging the enemy. As the enemy attacked several times via well-organized ambushes, SPC Rangel remained calm while taking commands and calling out enemy distance and description. He participated in over 100 combat mounted and dismounted patrol missions in these Paktia, Poli-alarm, and Logar provinces of Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom VIII. His tireless efforts, knowledge, and willingness to give resulted in accomplishment of all of his assigned missions covering thousands of miles of rugged terrain throughout all three provinces.

The second citation was awarded to Eduardo in 2010 for “meritorious service as a combat engineer while assigned to Eduardo Rangel - Terra-Petra Deputy Methane Barrier InspectorAlpha Company, 508th Special Troops Battalion from 04 March 2006 to 01, November 2010.” The citation goes on to state: “SPC Rangel’s technical and tactical competence, combined with his dedication to duty set the example for others to follow. His attention to detail and selfless service inspired every paratrooper to achieve success.  His performance reflects great credit upon himself, Alpha Company, 508th Special Troops Battalion, The 82nd Airborne Division, and the United States Army.

One of the achievements highlighted in the award document outlines how Specialist Rangel was deployed to West Point NY where he was assisted in the training of over 120 Cadets in Demolitions and Urban Breaching Techniques. He was also a part of two deployments to the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Polk, LA. During the JRTC deployment, he was key to his Platoon’s ability to conduct Route Clearance and Sanitation Operations. He mentored and instructed the Platoon on numerous techniques, tactics and procedures–often citing personal experiences.

 

Eduardo Rangel, U.S. Army, 2 time Afghanistan Veteran

The Terra-Petra Waterproofing Division will be an Exhibitor at the RCI International Convention and Trade Show in Houston in March

Terra-Petra Waterproofing Division to exhibit at 2018 RCI Convention in Houston

The Terra-Petra Waterproofing Division will be an Exhibitor at the RCI International Convention and Trade Show in Houston in March, 2018. Meet the team at BOOTH 334 March 22-27.

RCI, Inc. is an international association of building envelope consultants. Members specialize in design, investigation, repair, and management of roofing, exterior wall, and waterproofing systems.
##

California Commercial Real Estate Unchanged Following Election – Read Survey

The introduction to this survey is provided by John M. Tipton Partner, Real Estate Department Allen Matkins:

Allen Matkins and UCLA Anderson Forecast have partnered to create a Commercial Real Estate Survey and Index to better predict future California commercial rental and vacancy rates. This tool surveys supply-side participants – commercial developers and financiers of commercial development – for insights into their markets. The Survey and the resulting Index provide a measure of the commercial real estate supply-side participants’ view of current and future conditions. Since participants make investment actions based upon these views, it provides a leading indicator of changing supply conditions.

Allen Matkins sponsored this Survey to provide value to the industry. Partnered with UCLA Anderson Forecast, the leading independent economic forecast of both the U.S. and California economies for over 65 years, they have tapped the knowledge of the leading developers and financiers of real estate development in California to provide the best, clear-sighted forecast of the California commercial real estate industry.

Read they Survey and Index here.

Watch the video below (click to open to a new window):

LA Unified School District Awards Terra-Petra Certification of Small Business Enterprise (SBE)

LA Unified School District Awards Terra-Petra Certification of Small Business Enterprise (SBE)

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) issued Terra-Petra an SBE certificate effective October 26, 2016.

The company’s SBE status lausdcertificationofsbeis recognized for NAICS codes:

541620 & 541330 through October 2018.

To maintain a valid SBE Certificate after three years with LAUSD, Terra-Petra must also renew its self-certification with LAUSD or register with the Small Business Administration before the SBE certification expiration date referenced expires.

Letter of approval.

Terra-Petra attends Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite®

Terra-Petra Environmental Engineering, once again, joined up with the ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CONFERENCE AT YOSEMITE® -October 20-23 at the Tenaya Lodge (“The Gateway to Yosemite”). The conference is nationally recognized as the largest and most prestigious gathering in California of leaders in environmental, land use, and natural resources law. Here are a few of the highlights.

Left to right: The Great Expo Hall of Tenaya Lodge! Terra-Petra exhibition meeting table; Gorgeous view from the Lodge; The crowd waits to hear Senator Barbara Boxer; Terra-Petra's Justin Conaway and Kevin Buchanan, on their way out to Fresno Dome; Working up to the top of the Dome and the beautiful view from above; Justin takes a tumble down, but rest assured he is doing fine. Terra-Petra's team had a fantasic time and as always, The Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite was an exceptional event for educational and networking opportunities within the environmental engineering and law industries. 

Detec Systems Training for the Terra-Petra Team

Certified ELD Field Testing Crew, from left to right: Diego Saucedo, Project Coordinator Andrew Alvarran, Anthony Avina, Alvaro Arellano, Director of Field Operations Daniel Valdez and Chad Herrick of Detect Systems.

Certified ELD Field Testing Crew, left to right: Diego Saucedo, Project Coordinator Andrew Alvarran, Anthony Avina, Alvaro Arellano, Director of Field Operations Daniel Valdez and Chad Herrick of Detect Systems.

Detec Systems visited Terra-Petra’s Los Angeles office this week to conduct a comprehensive education and training session to promote their innovative product line of leak detection technologies. Detec provides leading-edge technology in the field of electronic leak detection (ELD), by way of membrane integrity testing and scanning, and automated structure monitoring. The training session included a classroom like session followed by field training on a jobsite.

detec-system-training12

The Terra-Petra Waterproofing Division is certified to conduct ELD testing throughout Southern California for numerous types of fluid-applied waterproofing and roofing systems in compliance with ASTM 7877-14. This includes any thermoplastic roofing system, any asphalt based waterproofing, traffic coatings, hot and cold fluid applied membranes and some bentonite systems (as long as they have thermoplastic reinforcement).

Terra-Petra employs the use of the Detec Systems Roof Membrane Integrity Scanner (RMIS) to accurately identify breaches in new and existing membrane systems. Many contractors are using a 24-48 hour flood test to check for breaches in these types of waterproofing assemblies. While this method can identify water leaks, it is time consuming and less cost effective. The benefits of the RMIS technology is that breaches and other imperfections can be identified, repaired and re-tested the same day, saving valuable time, resources and money for any project.

Please contact us for a quote.

Terra-Petra Inspector Anthony Avina being trained to perform ELD Testing on vertical surface.

Terra-Petra Inspector Anthony Avina being trained to perform ELD Testing on vertical surface.

 

ELD Testing at penthouse pool using the Detec RIMS System

ELD Testing at penthouse pool using the Detec RMIS System

See more photos here.

Successful Oil Well Re-Abandonment Work in Santa Fe Springs

Terra-Petra Oil Well Abandonment The end of August 2016 marked the commencement of Terra-Petra’s re-abandonment of a single oil and gas well located on a client’s property in Santa Fe Springs, California.

Terra-Petra managed all of the oil well permitting matters associated with an unspecified redevelopment of the site since March of this year — consulting with the property owner and negotiating with the Division of Oil Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) on all oil well related compliance matters in an attempt to bring the site up to current standards so that it can be redeveloped.

Terra-Petra provided a full turn-key approach to address the oil well compliance matters upon submitting the Construction Site Plan Review, wrote the well reabandonment program, filed for and received the Permit to Conduct Well Operations and currently in the process of re-abandoning the well. The well re-abandonment work typically consists of drilling out all existing cement plugs within the well all the way to depth.

Oil well re-abandonment

Once the well is cleaned out new “isolation plugs” consisting of cement are installed at varying depths to seal off different oil and gas producing zones including the upper hydrocarbon zone as well as the base of fresh water.

The cementing operations are completed with a final cement plug from 25’-35’ deep to the surface.  A steel plate is tack welded to the exterior steel casing and the last 5 digits of the API number are welded to it.

The well then must be surveyed prior to burying with latitude and longitude in a specific DOGGR approved format. Terra-Petra is anticipating a completion date of September 23, 2016. Please contact Terra-Petra for any of your oil well related needs. 

Terra-Petra Oil Well Abandonment

oil well re-abandonment

1 2 3 4 5 7