Tony Sperling is the President and Chief Engineer at Sperling Hansen Associates. He has ten years of specialized landfill engineering design, operation, closure and leachate management experience, gained mostly in British Columbia. As well, Tony has accumulated over 20 years of diversified geotechnical experience at open pit mines and large dam sites throughout B.C. and Canada's Arctic. His Masters and Ph.D. research detailed slope stability and open pit design at Equity Silver Mines and Highland Valley Copper in British Columbia. Since earning his Doctorate Degree in Geotechnical Engineering in 1990 from the University of British Columbia, Tony has successfully applied his geotechnical and design experience gained in the mining industry to the practical design of landfill sites.

As a landfill design specialist, Dr. Sperling has concentrated on providing state-of-the-art engineering services relating to the design, operation, monitoring and closure at municipal landfills. He has completed over 300 geotechnical assessments, design and operations plans and closure plans for more than sixty landfills, including both large municipal sites such as the Vancouver Landfill in Burns Bog and the Hartland Landfill in Victoria as well as numerous small rural sites in the Thompson Nicola Regional District, the Regional District of Bulkley Nechako, the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen and the Regional District of Kitimat Stikine. Flagship projects have included the design of the Hartland Landfill PVC Closure system, the Whistler Landfill Expansion Lining , and a leachate collection system and slopes and landfill expansion for the Bailey Road Landfill in Chilliwack.

Dr. Sperling is also very active in disseminating the art of landfill engineering in B.C. He has taught several SWANA accredited courses on landfill operations as well as several invited courses on groundwater issues to the MoELP waste managers throughout B.C. As well, he has developed and taught two courses on landfill engineering at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

Highlights of Tony's innovative engineering approach include:

• Introduction of cell-by-cell development plans and progressive closure strategies.
• Application of the U.S. EPA HELP model to the analysis of leachate generation.
• Introduction of reusable daily tarp covers.
• Design of low cost hydraulic trap leachate collection systems (e.g. Hartland Landfill, Hope Landfill).