Industry Leaders

Jeff Faust is Synagro’s environmental compliance director. He has more than 35 years of experience in biosolids and residuals management. During his career, he has permitted land application sites and storage facilities for land application projects, prepared numerous regulatory reports, performed QA/QC reviews on federal, state and local regulatory reports, and commented on federal and state regulations. He has also developed and implemented standard operating procedures and compliance calendars to ensure compliance with federal, state and local regulations. He has conducted numerous environmental compliance audits and developed and implemented biosolids/residuals environmental compliance and monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting programs.

Jeff holds bachelor’s degrees in Soil Science, Watershed Management and Natural Resource Management from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point.  

Mike Myers is Synagro’s director of Sales and Operation Planning. In this role, Mike has national responsibility for all dredging, digester cleaning and dewatering operations. He evaluates equipment and technology, reviews bids and proposals, trains special project teams, establishes corporate guidelines for special projects, and oversees construction of mobile dewatering units as well as installation of permanent, on-site dewatering facilities. His unique, industry-leading knowledge and presence at all startup operations is key to Synagro’s excellence in consistently delivering great outcomes for our customers. Mike has had this leadership role at Synagro for 20 years. Prior to Synagro, Mike worked at Whiteford Environmental in their water and wastewater group, where he rose to become the manager of the Special Projects Department. In this role, he was responsible for site surveys, project assessments, bidding and fiscal responsibility for all Special Projects contracts.

Mike is a Nutrient Management Consultant, State of Maryland. He has a Confined Space Certification, Instructor Level, and he attended the Carnegie School of Management. He is a member of the Water Environment Federation.

Kazem Oskoui, Ph.D., is Synagro’s vice president of Technology. He has more than four decades of experience in wastewater engineering, design and innovation, as well as resource recovery and reuse technologies including bioreactors, biodigesters and waste-to-energy. Kazem’s extensive career provides unique approaches to each client’s water and wastewater treatment, resource recovery and energy challenges.

Kazem has published more than 50 articles, book chapters and technical publications including 11 scientific papers in peer-reviewed and refereed journals. His research interests span from agricultural systems engineering and management and the interaction of agriculture and the environment to terrestrial ecological modeling, artificial intelligence decision aid development, and environmental remediation and water and wastewater recovery and reuse.

Kazem holds a doctorate and master’s degree in Agricultural and Environmental Engineering from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and a First Certificate in English Literature and Language from the University of Cambridge in England. He was a lecturer at the Universities of Aberdeen and  Edinburgh in Scotland, and is an adjunct research associate at the University of Minnesota. He was also a senior scientist/engineer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Kazem innovated a modular universal wastewater treatment system which amongst other contaminants, removes contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as Forever Chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and endocrine disruptors.

Craig Geyer is area plant director in our West region. In this role, he oversees our four composting operations in the region, Arizona Soils, CVC, Nursey Products and SKIC, in addition to managing services operations in Arizona. Craig also serves as a consultant to the leaders of our other compost facilities, constantly improving their performance. He joined Synagro in 2002 as operations manager of our biosolids projects in Arizona. In 2005, he added responsibility for managing our Arizona Soils facility, giving him more than 14 years of experience in municipal biosolids composting. Prior to joining Synagro, Craig spent a dozen years in construction management and superintendent roles.

John Uzupis is our technical services director for the Mid-Atlantic region. He has overall responsibility for directing land base management for biosolids, food, water treatment and pulp and paper residuals, and for regulatory compliance for beneficial reuse of residual products with federal, state and local agencies. John has been with the company since 1996. Because of his deep subject matter expertise and recognized industry leadership, he was chosen as a member of the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s Phosphorus Management Tool Transition Advisory Committee. This committee makes recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture on strategies to more effectively implement the Phosphorus Management Tool, a procedure developed by the University of Maryland that uses characteristics of soils landforms and management practices to identify the potential risk of phosphorus losses from land to water. This is an initiative vital to improving the health of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Prior to joining Synagro, John worked for a decade with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources in permitting and enforcement. During his tenure there, he was noted for streamlining the bond release process and permitting the first biosolids reclamation project in the region.

John holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Resource Management from Pennsylvania State University. He is a Certified Nutrient Management Specialist in the State of Pennsylvania. John is also President of the Mid-Atlantic Biosolids Association (MABA) and a Board member of the Virginia Biosolids Council.

Layne Baroldi is our vice president of Technical Services and Government Affairs. He coordinates with municipal representatives, consultants, lobbyists, and professional trade associations to promote environmentally responsible biosolids legislation and regulation at the local, state, and federal level. He also manages the company’s 40-person Technical Services group, which is responsible for providing efficient and compliant end use options for our clients’ biosolids through land permitting, development of nutrient management plans and obtaining all requisite regulatory approvals for land application operations. Prior to joining Synagro, Layne spent 22 years with the Orange County Sanitation District, where he managed the District’s biosolids management and air quality programs. He previously served as Councilman and Mayor of the City of La Habra Heights, California. 

Layne holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California in Biological Sciences and is a Juris Doctor from the Western State College of Law. He is a member of several national and state clean water organizations He is also an often-published member, and featured speaker on various topics, for the Water Environmental Federation.   

Andrew Bosinger is Synagro’s vice president of Strategic Accounts and Partnerships. He has more than 25 years of experience in the design and implementation of public-private partnerships for municipal biosolids and organic residuals management. Andrew’s career has been dedicated to working with public utilities across North America to put in place sustainable, cost effective, reliable biosolids processing and management solutions. He is an industry leader in helping utilities evaluate biosolids management alternatives and developing project approaches that meet long-term sustainability and cost goals. As an example, Andrew was invited by the City Council of Austin, Texas to participate as a key stakeholder in a work group for development of policies dealing with organics, biosolids, solid waste, and recycling activities. He has led the company’s efforts on several key wins, including the development of Synagro’s first Canadian project in Hamilton, Ontario, renewal of our partnership with the Waterbury, Cnnecticut regional incinerator contract, and the successful pursuit of the design-build-operate delivery of a new biosolids drying facility for the City of Fort Worth, Texas. During his tenure with Synagro, Andrew has developed projects creating approximately $1 billion in business backlog.

Andrew holds a bachelor’s degree in Resource Economics from the University of New Hampshire and has continuing education at the Loyola University, Chicago, Graduate School of Business. He is a member of the Water Environment Federation and a member of the Biosolids Committee of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies.

John “JP” Pugliaresi is Synagro’s West Region sales director. He is responsible for providing strategic guidance to our municipal and industrial customers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington to develop both facility- and services-based, environmentally sustainable, solutions for their biosolids management needs. He has more than 30 years of experience in this field. His areas of expertise include finance and accounting, operations management, and sales. As part of his duties with Synagro, JP has prepared applications for changes in refuse collection and disposal rates for the City and County of San Francisco and implemented operations performance-monitoring programs. In a previous role with the company, JP was responsible for the development of operations and maintenance for all Synagro projects throughout the West Region. Prior to Synagro, JP served in a series of environmental services roles of increasing responsibility with Norcal Solid Waste Systems, USA Waste Services and Waste Management.

JP has a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of California, Berkeley.