CREW Member Spotlight:  Julie Kilgore, President of Wasatch Environmental Inc. and CREW Utah Board of Directors Member

Featured in this photo is Julie Kilgore, President of Wasatch Environmental Inc. and Georgina Dannatt, VP Environmental Risk Manager with Bank of the West at the 2023 EBA Annual Conference.

The Legacy Award’s First-Ever Recipient, Julie Kilgore 

The EBA (Environmental Bankers Association) gave out two Legacy Awards for the first time this year, making CREW Utah’s own Julie Kilgore one of the very first recipients. Julie received this award for her nationwide work and advocacy for Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessments. Julie engages lenders and consultants in the EBA in the ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) standards development process. Julie sat on the EBA Board of Governors and continues to serve the CRE community with her experience and expertise in providing environmental risk management services to lenders and borrowers.

About the EBA

In 1980, the CERCLA (the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act), otherwise known as Superfund, was enacted by Congress. This legislation quickly led to lenders being found liable for the EPA’s response costs on big superfund cleanups. With risk aversion in mind, the EBA was formed to assist the lending community in evaluating and protecting themselves from environmental liabilities, and to promote the exchange of environmental risk management and sustainable development lending information.  

  Why Environmental Risk Management Remains Important for CRE

If your roof is leaking, you are aware of the problem - it is visible. However, if you have a release from an underground storage tank, there is no visibility, and no documentation of the problem. It is a ghost risk.  

Even today, our CRE borrowers and clients enter into transactions with a lack of knowledge on the potential consequences of not considering the environmental risks of the property. Additionally, lenders continue to not heed caution and get sued for environmental liabilities, leaving a lender vulnerable to potential property asset losses and liabilities.

The numbers justify the caution. In a recent study presented at the EBA, out of 1800 sites nationwide that underwent Phase 2 Environmental Test Assessments, approximately 70% of the time contamination is found.