Ray Schaefer, P.G. Curriculum Vitae

SENIOR MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATE

Houston Office
Direct: 713-254-6636
Email: RS@i2mconsulting.com

Education

Kent State University, Kent, Ohio – 06/72 B.S. Geology, specialties – Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology

Akron University, Akron, Ohio – 09/74 – 1976 Post graduate studies M.S. Civil Engineering, (Akron University), with M.S. Engineering Geology & Hydrogeology, (Kent State University)
M.S. Thesis: The Behavioral Characteristics of Selected Northeastern Clays When Subjected to a Liquid Industrial Waste, presented at the Proceedings of the First Annual Conference of Applied Research and Practice on Municipal and Industrial Waste, September 10-13, 1978, Madison, WI

Professional Licenses / Certifications / Registrations

Registered Professional Geologist (#4781) – Texas
Accredited Texas Mediator, University of Houston, A. A. White Dispute Resolution Institute

Professional Experience

Intergraph Corporation, Process, Power & Marine – Executive Consultant 09/14 – 08/15
Recruited to join Intergraph to support software installation and client management in the energy and chemical manufacturing sectors. Enhanced sales efforts for engineering software to C-level by creating Business Case Toolbox for plant-site engineering managers to quantify their need in business terms thus increasing Intergraph’s value-base and positioning as business partner.

Blue Marble Risk Solutions, LP – Vice President & COO 01/10 – 09/14
Invited to join Blue Marble to redirect the company’s focus from capital project resolution and litigation support in the oil/gas industry to project and portfolio risk and project/program management. Provided consulting to clients and managed the consultants who performed those services. Services added within the new structure expanded the business by 75% through addition of business process and organizational design, project planning, execution, and risk management services.

Representative projects:

Organization Redesign
Offshore Gulf of Mexico E&P operator: Participated, coordinated and led a risk mitigation program supporting client staff in upgrading organizational structure, policy and operating procedures. New regulations required all offshore operators to meet specific requirements to ensure continued operations of multi-billion dollars of capital assets. Under a tight deadline worked with client teams to define needs and create: 1) new organizational structure, 2) accurate operating procedure documents, and 3) change management implementation plan with training material to build employee acceptance and commitment to change. The effort produced several hundreds of pages of procedural and policy materials and training aids under a tight deadline and penalty of stopping operations. ;

Professional Consulting firm: Engaged to assist owner with hostile take-back of $5,000,000 revenue company avoiding certain dissolution and bankruptcy. Provided company turnaround support to owner and Interim CEO with stabilizing the turbulent company to prepare for rebuilding functionality and profitability. Provided communication and messaging to employees supporting fluid change, organizational and compensation structure, upgraded policies and procedures, and peer review for acquisition candidates.

Greenfield Refinery Development
Engaged by an entrepreneurial team to provide project management, scheduling, and procurement support during the front-end design phase for a $250,000,000 greenfield refinery. Facilitated and worked with client team members to create the Project Management and Execution Plan documents, led the procurement effort for choosing Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) Company, and facilitated project review meetings to productive conclusions, when in stall-points. Work efforts enabled the project to advance by: 1) congealing the independently-operating team members, 2) formalizing project organization and its transition to an operating organization, 3) formalizing team member communication with defined accountabilities, roles and responsibilities, 4) formalizing business decision-making process within the new governance structure.

Refinery Construction Audit
Engaged by a Fortune 10 company to conduct an audit at the completion of the detailed design for a $200,000,000 expansion to identify unknown project execution risks. Wrote the company audit process documents enabling uniform process for evaluation / gap analysis, then upgraded content specific to the client situation. Areas evaluated included: contracts, project planning, resourcing, scheduling, cost control, change management, engineering, construction, health & safety programs, operational assurance, quality control, risk management program and information/document management. Audit results prompted numerous changes to successfully advance the project.

Chemical Plant Expansion
Engaged as Executive Coach by Fortune 10 chemical company to support a new internal capital project team on a $25,000,000 line expansion. The owner required extensive coaching to produce a viable project schedule and work breakdown structure to understand proper sequencing of work in order to meet schedule, budget, quality and progress through the stage gate process.

Strategic Environmental Leadership Consulting – Owner 08/99 – 01/10
Founded niche-market consulting firm specializing in business, project and operations risk-management, management systems analysis, people and process alignment, and conflict resolution through mediation.

Representative projects:

Pipeline Operations Risk Mitigation
Contract risk: Conducted contract assessment of 89 vendors. Identified that each vendor held multiple contracts governing spill response and cleanup for a 16,000-mile pipeline and terminal system, creating tremendous business risk to the owner. Designed and reorganized vendor procurement and management process through: 1) leveraging resources, 2) consolidating and unifying contract terms and conditions, 3) creating new client organization to support contract management and work authorization.

Operation risk: Examined the third-party damage prevention program ($45,000,000 operating budget) for a 16,000-mile pipeline. Identified and streamlined work and inspection practices. Developed change management plan and implementation schedule. Reallocated $10,000,000 in budget and resources to most critical program activities while protecting asset security, public safety and environmental sustainability.

US Army Chemical Weapons Stockpile Program Operations efficiency
This DOD runaway project was over budget by +$13,000,000,000 and four (4) years over schedule. Engaged to conduct a schedule-budget risk analysis to identify execution risk and mitigation initiatives to regain control. Identified operations improvement opportunities in contract form, language, and management, engineering design, construction process, environmental permitting, technology R&D, pilot testing and processing operations. Changes made from this work enabled the program to regain control.

Elder–care Condominium Bankruptcy Management
Appointed by US Bankruptcy Court to lead two Special Creditor Committees to protect $8,000,000 resident owner property value and all resident health care operations. Regularly presided over and facilitated business and informational meetings with +200 emotionally charged and highly concerned stakeholders. Led negotiations between community and Trustee bringing order, direction and closure to chaotic and emotional situation.

Offshore Gulf of Mexico E&P Operator Supply Chain
Subcontracted by Resources Global Professionals. Engaged to support GOM Procurement Management initiative to achieve 10-25% cost savings and increase company leverage to vendors. Analyzed spend, cost drivers and purchasing habits of operating assets, identified leveraging opportunities, developed integration plans for cross-functional management and achieved cost savings in desired range.

Power Generation M&A Support Supply Chain
Subcontracted by Resources Global Professionals. Engaged to support Procurement Management initiative to achieve 10% savings for one spend category of $26,000,000 / year. Analyzed vendor invoices, associated work and related spend, contracts and purchasing habits. Identified cost savings and led contract negotiations to exceed goal.

Arthur Andersen – Senior Manager 12/96 – 07/99
Invited to join the Economic and Financial Consulting Division to provide single point accountability to clients, mentoring staff and leading business improvement consulting and project portfolio / project risk management expertise to energy, petrochemical and waste management industries.

Representative projects:

Fortune 10 Petroleum Marketing Company Cost driver
Engaged to examine the division’s business processes and related operating expenditures. Developed and implemented alternative contracting, operating, organizational, and accounting procedures to create +$100,000,000 in cost savings.

Fortune 5 Chemical Company Insurance cost recovery
Recouped +$150,000,000 in claims from General Liability Insurance carrier. Developed operation and remedial scenarios and related Monte Carlo cost models supporting settlement discussions.

Fortune 100 Waste Management Company SH&E Management System
Reduced Sarbanes Oxley Act business risks and penalties to Board of Directors and Management with gap analysis. Facilitated and led meetings between client and consultant teams to create improved policies and business practices filling gaps to assure operations were compliant with law.

Fortune 10 Manufacturing Company defense of Superfund Demand Order
Reduced a $140,000,000 USEPA demand to $50,000,000. Prepared and presented arguments supporting client’s defense and provided foundation for business-based settlement.

DuPont Company 12/80 – 06/96

DuPont Company – Houston, TX – Business Manager 03/93 – 06/96
Recruited and promoted to direct +$800,000,000 project portfolio and +200 professional support staff comprised of capital construction, toxic tort and product liability lawsuits, construction lawsuits, cost sharing allocations and operating agreements with venture partners.

Representative projects:

Lead negotiator. Devalued Superfund claims. Prepared for and negotiated cost-share allocation for 9 joint-several responsibility sites (4 of which are on NPL), – Saved out-of-pocket expenses totaling millions of dollars by challenging and presenting alternative allocation formula using factors such as, toxicity, volume and operator participation,

Saved estimated $100,000,000 in cost associated with site investigation and cleanup on a Charleston, SC Superfund site.

Saved $1,000,000 per year in annual remediation operating expenses, forecasted for a 10-year period. Developed a cost allocation model for remedial cleanup based on operating practices at a Lake Charles, LA chemical plant; used the model as basis for a negotiated settlement with the current owner; wrote operating agreements and funding mechanisms for future cleanup operations.

Directed, prepared and/or challenged Superfund site work from planning through remediation at over 25 NPL sites to achieve cost-effective investigations and RODs

Saved PRPs an estimated $80,000,000 in remedial costs at Pensacola, FL after developing strategy and program to challenge ROD of one Operating Unit, and winning USEPA agreement

Saved PRPs millions of dollars in remedial construction at Bridge City, TX when challenging site engineer and remedial contractor and redirecting their work.

Conoco – Houston, TX – Senior Director 07/90 – 03/93
Recruited and promoted to expand and manage a group to +$650,000,000 budget focused on company-wide programs including: acquisition and divestiture due-diligence, cost allocation on shared transactions in joint venture, litigation settlement, technical and operational reviews regarding compliance with environmental regulations.

Saved $1,800,000 in reoccurring operating expense by reassigning management responsibilities and supporting management practices as a result of self-driven business risk audit of corporate SH&E functions.
Conducted SH&E audits in all operating segments, identified improvements, mitigation programs eliminating operational risks.

DuPont Company – Beaumont, TX – Senior Consultant 01/85 – 07/90
Project Director over 10 chemical plants.

Chartered to create a new internally focused consulting organization to support RCRA and CERCLA compliance programs at 10 major DuPont Plant sites in U.S. Gulf Coast (covering TX, LA, AL plants).
Provided business justification to management and technical competence to clients enabling group expansion and increased span of control.
Hired and managed 10 professional employees and +100 outsourced engineers with $300,000,000 operating budget. Setting vision, developing and managing SH&E permit and compliance consulting and laboratory groups.

DuPont Company – Wilmington, DE – Tech Services Engineer 12/80 – 01/85
Program Manager over 12 chemical plants, including DOE’s Savannah River Plant.

Guided site management in asset upgrade / expansion and environmental projects including RCRA compliance and CERCLA response support.
Developed and implemented leveraged resource plan to simultaneously support 12 large chemical manufacturing facilities and +$5,000,000 projects per plant. Budget responsibility of $60,000,000 and management oversight of +100 professional consultants.
Set new operating precedent for group, raised performance expectations for clients by providing faster and more cost-effective regulatory compliance services

PETRA, Inc. – Tulsa, OK – Project Manager 07/78 – 06/80
Recruited to join as Project Manager / Senior Engineering Hydrogeologist leading multidiscipline teams to develop coal strip mines, hazardous waste landfills, and investigate contaminated groundwater. Responsible for profitable and on-time delivery of engineering designs, development plans, and operating permit acquisitions. Examples:

Designed + 30 strip mines including blasting and mining sequences soil management, sediment control, and reclamation programs in OK, AK, KY. Wrote permit packages and negotiated permit terms with governmental agencies, enabling employment of hundreds of people and millions of dollars in company revenues.
Led one of the first PCB pollution investigations in the US. Proved the accused company was not responsible saving them multi-millions of dollars in environmental and personal damage claims.

Williams Brothers Engineering Co – Tulsa, OK – Sr. Scientist 04/78 – 07/78
Recruited to lead multidiscipline teams to develop coal strip mines and support the permit process in Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas.

Developed coal reserve estimates and the mining, blasting and reclamation plans necessary for safe and environmentally sustainable life-cycle.
Negotiated operating permit terms with governmental agencies enabling gainful employment of hundreds of people and millions of dollars in revenues.

State of Ohio, EPA – Twinsburg, OH – The District Geologist 1973 – 1978
Founded and led the waste site evaluation and approval program for proposed and operating hazardous and sanitary waste disposal sites in NE Ohio.

Evaluated +20 strip mines as proposed hazardous and/or sanitary waste disposal sites considering geological setting and civil engineering design factors for environmentally secure disposal
Evaluated +20 operating hazardous and/or sanitary waste disposal sites for proper design and operating procedures to assure they were environmentally secure
Recommended actions to modify waste site engineering plans to improve drainage control, slope stability, artificial liner construction
Designed and supervised recovery systems for spills and other leaks from disposal sites and accidental discharges
Led public meetings and facilitated discussions, sometimes contentious, between site owners, neighboring public and Governmental officials during the required public comment period of permit approval process
Qualified as Expert Witness in the Ohio Court of Law and provided testimony regarding ground water contamination by waste disposal facilities and manufacturing operations
Co-developed with central staff, the multidiscipline work processes for permit application review and acceptance

Geauga County Sanitary Engineer – Chardon, OH – Planner and Surveyor 1972 – 1973
Planned the $200,000,000 countywide sewerage system integrating existing package plants into the new infrastructure. Provided tactical design and stage-gated development to minimize capital investment and maximize the ROI.

Selected Speaking Engagements / Publications, by topic

Training Courses

Business Case Fundamentals for Remediation Decision-making – Two-day Seminar, March 2005
Fundamental of Project Management: High-level Overview of Project Management – Half-day Seminar, December 2004
Fundamental of Project Management: Overview of Project Controls – Half-day Seminar, December 2004
Cost-base Business Decision-making for Non-financial Environmental Managers, Co-Author with training team, Training in Application of Business Concepts & Analytical Tools for Remediation Management, Arthur Andersen Continuing Education, 1997.

Environmental Business Management

Information and Document Management for Sustainability, July, 2014
Reducing Your EHSS Project’s Cost, Schedule & Risk While Improving Management’s Expectations, Co-Presented with Katherine Molly, 6th Annual Environmental Challenges & Innovations TAEP Conference, October, 2012.
Decision Making and Risk Management for Managers, Co-Presented with Chris Johnson, UHY Advisors, 6th Annual Environmental Challenges & Innovations TAEP Conference, October 2012.
Averting Business Risk through Stakeholder Engagement, December 2005
ISO 14001 and EMS – Business and Profit Drivers, August 2003
Managing the SEC in the Context of Remediation Portfolio Management, August 2005
Derivative Action places Board Members on Alert, September 2003
Managing Organizational and Project Risks, April 2002
Summary – SEC Environmental Accrual Requirements, April, 2000
Monte Carlo Environmental Reserve Models, February, 2000
Business Risk – Forecasting Environmental Reserves / Accruals, October, 1999
Environmental, Health & Safety Business Risks, September, 1999
Environmental Business Risk Management, Texas A&M University Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center, October 22, 1998.
Corporate Real Estate Asset and Environmental Risk Management Co-Author with Jim Gaines, Arthur Andersen Continuing Education, August 21, 1997.
Securing Corporate Management Support and Funding for Compliance Programs, Schaefer, Raymond G., The 5th Corporate Counsel Institute, November 14-15, 1994

Superfund

Resolving Superfund Cost Recovery Disputes Outside the Courtroom Co-Author with Robert Dahlquist and Ann MacNaughton in Environmental Dispute Resolution: An Anthology of Practical Solutions, The American Bar Association Section on Environment, Energy & Resources, July, 2002.
Early days of Superfund site activity – Summary of agency administrative goals/requirements, June 2001

Environmental

Hazardous Materials – Disposal of Hazardous Waste, Schaefer, Raymond G., in Industrial Hygiene Training for DuPont division and plant management, February 25, 1982
Environmental Excellence, Schaefer, Raymond G., at Society of Petroleum Engineers Distinguished Lecture Series, April 6-8, 1992
Pollution Prevention: a Challenge for all!, Schaefer, Raymond G., in Proceedings of the Conoco Environmental Technology Forum on Environmental Excellence Technology’s Role, October 1-4, 1991
Impacts of Subsurface Regulatory Requirements – Industry Perspective, Schaefer, Raymond G., at Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Symposium sponsored by Texas Water Pollution Association, January 31, 1990
The Groundwater HOW Manual, Schaefer, Raymond G. editor, DuPont / Conoco internal publication, 1990.
RCRA Facility Assessments – Visual Site Inspections, Schaefer, Raymond G., at DuPont Corporate Environmental Coordinator’s Conference, February 3, 1988
SWMU’s not Smoos!, Schaefer, Raymond G., at DuPont Gulf Coast Environmental Coordinator’s Conference, November 2-4, 1987
RCRA Corrective Action / Continuing Release Decision Tree, Schaefer Raymond G., Louisiana Chemical Association Environmental & Health Committee, September 3, 1987
Liquid Releases to the Groundwater – Groundwater Contamination, Cleanup and Disposal, Schaefer, Raymond G., in Emergency Planning Training for DuPont division and plant management, May 14, 1981 and May 30, 1984
The Behavioral Characteristics of Selected Northeastern Clays When Subjected to a Liquid Industrial Waste, Schaefer, Raymond G., Proceedings of the First Annual Conference of Applied Research and Practice on Municipal and Industrial Waste, September 10-13, 1978, Madison, WS

Project Management

Understanding Risk Management, May, 2014
How we work: Understanding Project Execution, April, 2014
When Capital Projects Go Awry Co-Presented with Katherine Molly, B2B CFO Webinar, June, 2010.
Setting up a Superfund Site Project Management Office, July 2003
R-A-C-I: Team Member Assignment System, November 2002
Consultant 360 Feedback, November 2002
Construction Risk Management: Primer – Contracts / Project Delivery System for Capital Projects, July 2002
Cash Flow Risk Management with Earned Value Analysis, March, 2000
Environmental Project Development and Management, Schaefer, Raymond G., at DuPont Corporate Environmental Coordinator’s Conference, October 3-5, 1989

Undifferentiated Formal Representation

Project and business-risk management methodologies, for Arthur Andersen
Impacts of environmental issues on business performance, for Arthur Andersen
Diverse environmental management topics to Texas Chemical Council, Louisiana Chemical Association, and The Texas Legislature, for DuPont.

Continuing Education