Hector Del Real, president of One Earth Environmental, Inc. is
used to cleaning up after people. It’s what he does for a living.
But these aren’t your ordinary spills, the kind that are easy to
wipe up with a paper towel.
Hector Del Real, president of One Earth Environmental, Inc. is used to cleaning up after people. It’s what he does for a living. But these aren’t your ordinary spills, the kind that are easy to wipe up with a paper towel.
One Earth Environmental, which has been in business since 1994, cleans up everything from industrial spills to illegal drug labs, in addition to helping companies comply with the numerous government regulations regarding hazardous materials.
“What we do is provide services to industries, agencies, municipalities and the private sector,” Del Real said. “When people here wanted this type of service, they’d often use out-of-the-area companies. My primary goal was to provide an service for folks in the San Benito County area. It was mutually beneficial for both.”
It was also, as Del Real put it, a heck of a risk.
“I had a wife, two kids, a mortgage, car payment and very little in the bank. I worked out of my garage and only had a small pick-up to drive in the beginning,” he said. “I sought advice from local successful business people. Fernando Gonzalez told me that in order to be successful, I needed to surround myself with successful business people, with positive professional attitudes. So I did. These people encouraged me and reassured me when things got tough. I followed a lot of their recommendations and advice. They were a big help.”
When the business got too big for one person to handle, Del Real called on Ruben Chavez to join the company as vice-president. For six months both men worked without pay as they built the company. Eventually their hard work paid off and One Earth Environmental, Inc. found itself gaining recognition as a hazardous waste and regulatory management company.
Its services include compliance, inventory, classification, analyst services, waste minimization, transportation, lab packing, waste disposal and treatment, underground storage tank removal, facility closures, document preparation and management and 24-hour emergency response services.
“Sometimes we’re not the most popular people around,” Chavez said. “Getting our clients to follow the rules and regulations set up by local, state and federal governmental agencies is hard. We don’t make the rules. Following these regulations can be expensive, but it’s even more expensive for our customers when they don’t.”
One Earth Environmental services almost any entity that generates hazardous waste. In recent years, that’s included the decline in Silicon Valley businesses.
“There is a certain protocol to follow before a high-tech company can close down, making it safe for the next company to move in. Each owner/operator has to comply with these regulations,” Del Real said. “They have to hire certified, licensed, insured companies like ours to remove contaminants on-site. We very seldom come across severe soil or water problems.”
The name of the business comes from its ecology-mindedness.
“We follow a flow chart of waste process and try to recycle as much as we can. This is ecologically beneficial to the earth. That’s why we named our company One Earth – we only have one earth,” Del Real said. “Only as a last alternative do we dispose of materials at a landfill, and that’s only after a neutralization is done. Unfortunately, not everything can be recycled, burned or treated.”
Working with hazardous waste can be deadly, and safety is a major concern.
“We’ve done some really scary stuff,” Del Real said. “I’ve done everything from crawling through sewers to working with the space shuttle. We work with the most high-tech to the most prehistoric materials. Sometimes we’re with a project from the beginning, when the problem is identified, to the end, when it’s solved. We experience something new almost every day, which keeps the job interesting.”
Regular business hours are Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. For regular business questions, call 637-8509. For 24-hour emergency response service, call 902-5786.
