Gibbs is widely-known as an industry speaker and author of  ‘Another Day in Paradise’

By: HazMat Staff
October 19, 2012 2012-10-19

First Response Environmental is pleased to announce that they have brought Mitchell Gibbs out of retirement from his notable career in Environmental Emergency Services.

Gibbs, widely-known as an industry speaker and as the author of Another Day in Paradise, has joined First Response Environmental as Director and will be responsible for its Ontario and U.S. operations.  “Gibbs’ first task was to assist the parent company with recovery efforts in Pensacola Florida and Louisiana,” First Response Environmental wrote in a statement about Gibbs’ hiring. “Mitchell will be stationed in the main office in Hamilton and will share his time between the Ottawa location and the U.S. base in Atlanta, Georgia.”

At the end of 2009, Gibbs retired as the National Director of Emergency Services for TEAM HAZCO a division of HAZCO Environmental.

Gibbs started in the environmental business in 1980. After gaining skills at various companies he founded the well-respected and industry trendsetting TEAM-1 Environmental Services. In early 2008 he sold his company to HAZCO Environmental, a division of CCS. After 18 months at HAZCO, he resigned as the Director.

With the same crew from the past, along with additional new state-of-the-art equipment, First Response Environmental says Gibbs looks forward to serving the needs of clients going forward.

Gibbs is best known for his industry-leading tactics and his complement of high-tech gear. He designed and constructed the industry’s only CBRNE Response Unit and his two mobile decontamination trailers. Police and fire departments across Ontario would often turn to Gibbs for rapid response to various issues that affected life, health and the environment.

One career highlight includes the infamous Plastimet fire where Gibbs was onsite from 12 minutes after the fire started. He put in over 6,000 hours until the site was completely remediated.

First Response Environmental (formerly TEAM-1 Environmental Management) provides complete environmental services on an emergency basis 24/7/365. Fulltime trained, equipped and certified high-angle and confined space technicians along with NFPA HazMat technicians provide all of the necessary skills to safely mitigate any incident.