Former Waste Control Specialists President and CEO Rod Baltzer has opened a new consulting firm, and is not straying far from his specialty in low-level radioactive waste disposal.
“I haven’t Tweeted in a while, but wanted you to know I have started a consulting firm since leaving WCS,” Baltzer said in a March 2 message on Twitter. “I’m still very interested in the nuclear industry and look forward to providing creative solutions!”
Speaking this week to RadWaste Monitor, Baltzer said the message simply noted the establishment of his firm, Baltex Consulting, in January after he stepped down as Waste Management Specialists chief executive on completion of the Dallas-based company’s acquisition by private equity firm J.F. Lehman.
At the time, Baltzer said he would provide consulting services to his former employer during the ownership transition. That should continue at least into July under a six-month contract, he said.
“I’ve been with WCS in some role or capacity for approximately 20 years now, so a lot of corporate knowledge and history associated with that,” Baltzer said in a telephone interview. “So as they’ve brought in a new executive team they wanted some of that corporate knowledge and history. So I’m consulting with them.”
Noting his confidentiality agreement with WCS, Baltzer said he could not discuss details of his consulting services for the company or the process that led to the buyout. He is also consulting with other companies while he determines whether he will pursue that work or eventually return to corporate employment.
Baltex Consulting is “Providing general consulting services for companies interested in the low-level radioactive waste disposal market,” according to Baltzer’s LinkedIn profile. “Services may include strategy discussions, best practices, financial analysis and modeling, general business guidance and other areas.”
“This is one where I’ve committed to WCS to be available for that period of time, but I’m still looking to see exactly where I want to go over the next few months and what that entails. It’s a process,” Baltzer said. “It’s been a good opportunity for me to reach out and network and get some advice from people around the industry on what kind of trends are happening and what they see, and they may influence on where I might end up once all this is settled.”
Waste Control Specialists primarily operates a complex in Andrews County, Texas, for disposal of various types of hazardous waste. It is one of four active facilities licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for disposal of low-level radioactive waste.
Baltzer’s relationship with the company dates to 1998, first as an assistant controller at Contran Corp., the holding company that owned a near-total stake in Valhi Inc., which was direct owner of Waste Control Specialists. He started by providing financial advice and accounting to WCS, then came on directly as chief financial officer in 2004 before moving up to president and finally president and CEO.
Waste Control Specialists has struggled financially for years – losing more than $26 million in 2016, for example, though business appeared to be on an upswing in 2017 – and Valhi had sought to offload the business.
Rival low-level radioactive waste disposal provider EnergySolutions, of Salt Lake City, agreed in 2015 to buy the company for $367 million. But the U.S. Justice Department sued to block the merger on antitrust grounds, and a federal judge last June ruled against the deal.
A number of potentially interested buyers were rumored in the succeeding months, but never confirmed, before the Lehman deal was announced in January. Baltzer said he could not discuss who might have been in play for a buyout.
The acquisition price and other details of the Lehman deal have not been made public.
Baltzer said he was the only executive to leave Waste Control Specialists. His responsibilities appear to have been divided by the new management: Taking over as CEO and chief nuclear officer is Scott State, chief executive of NorthStar Group Services, a New York City-based nuclear decommissioning specialist acquired by Lehman in 2017; David Carlson, previously a senior vice president at Veolia, is president and chief operating officer.
Baltzer said there are a number of reasons for optimism regarding Waste Control Specialists’ future, such as a test program in which small amounts of radioactive waste from the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state are treated at a nearby Perma-Fix Environmental Services facility, with the resulting solid material deposited at the WCS site. That could lead to larger-scale tests and potentially one day treatment of some portion of Hanford’s 56 million gallons of chemical and radioactive waste.
The former CEO said he had no insight into whether WCS will restart its license application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build and operate a facility on its property for interim storage of spent fuel from U.S. commercial reactors. The company filed the application in April 2016, but a year later asked the NRC to suspend the review, citing its then-pending sale to EnergySolutions and the cost of the effort. Lehman did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.
“I really enjoyed my time at WCS. We had a great time there and I wish them well with the new owners. I think with the capital investment and other things that the new owner may make it really does set WCS nicely up for the future,” Baltzer said.
