Joel Van Ornum - President

Following the interruption of my doctoral studies in synthetic organic chemistry by the Viet Nam conflict, I took a job at Rocket Research Corporation to develop puncture sealants for automobile tires in the mid 1970’s. The polymer chemistry work led to my being promoted to project manager of a large energy survey of all industry in the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. In working for the governors of these three states in developing alternative energy resources through waste heat recovery and cogeneration of electricity, a whole new way of looking at our world had begun. We were no longer living in a world of abundant resources so now we needed to start utilizing our by-products, including waste energy. Several new projects resulted from these energy surveys.

The project that has defined my life began in 1980. It was in the production of chitin, chitosan, and glucosamine from waste crab and shrimp shells. It began by meeting Lee Johnson, who had developed several patents in the field of chitin and chitosan, and who later became my partner, mentor and friend. The challenge was to raise the capital to build a manufacturing plant in the United States, which we did. The next challenge was to build markets for this interesting polymer, which turned out to be much more difficult than we ever could have imagined. We had original patents on the use of chitosan as a flocculent in water treatment. However, it was not for another 30 years from the issue of the original patent that the market for this application actually developed. In an effort to raise funding and market presence we sold our company to a Norwegian business. When they lost interest we started a new company called Vanson which we sold to Dupont/ConAgra. When Dupont/ConAgra lost interest, we bought Vanson back in 1995 and finally started to make money. In an attempt to vertically integrate the company, we purchased East Point Seafoods in 1997. We still lacked the necessary capital to grow the business and so brought in outside investors in the late 90’s to support the growth. But in 2000, I was forced to sell my interest in Vanson due to health issues, but kept the East Point Seafoods business and plant.

During these development years, we introduced a chitosan based clarifier for the pool and spa market, wound healing bandages for the 3M company, wine clarification kits for England, odor free sponges for 3M, a trademarked dietary supplement ingredient called Liposan, a pulp and paper wet strength additive, a phosphate remover for the pool and spa business, a flocculent for the water treatment industry, and developed seed coatings and foliar sprays for agriculture. We also built processing plants in several countries for the manufacture of chitosan. We had produced an interesting polymer, but finding commercial applications has taken many years and lots of investment.

In 2006, as Dungeness Development Associates Inc. we introduced ChitoVan to the construction stormwater treatment industry in the state of Washington. The product was in such demand that we accepted an offer to sell this part of our business to Clear Water Compliance Services in 2007. But with the downturn in the economy, Dungeness Development repurchased the business in 2009 and renamed it Dungeness Environmental. Currently we are developing new innovative technologies to solve water quality problems across the globe. Stay in touch for coming developments for trace metals removal.

I have been married to my wife Diane for 43 years, we have 3 grown sons and have lived in Kirkland, Washington since 1973. I have restored over 30 diesel Mercedes in the past 10 years for use by people who have limited budgets. I also restored a 1953 45 ft Chris Craft which is shown regularly through the Classic Yacht Association. In addition, I am a cofounder of the Agros Foundation which has developed land and villages in Central America for the very poor, have served on the Bellevue Christian School Board for 9 years, have been President of the Board of Alta Vista College and am currently Vice President of Council for the Seattle First Christian Reformed Church. I believe that life is all about relationships and caring for one another, in community. This has been an exciting adventure and it just continues to get better.

Chris Palczewski - Polymer Chemist

Nothing fascinates me more than chemistry. Even during the single-digit age bracket, I was curious about chemical reactions and reagents. After several years of doing analytical work in the area of trace metals during my early twenties, I decided to pursue higher education in order to learn more about my field and shape my knowledge base. I obtained a Master of Science from the University of Washington in organic chemistry. This supplemented my undergraduate work in biochemistry and chemistry perfectly. By 1997, I was working with chitosan in a variety of applications. The best part about my job is working as a researcher to support existing and developing products. Connecting my work to the “real world” where people are routinely employing BMPs using our products is amazing. I get to interact with customers, and other researchers experimenting with our product. I work with a team of experts, each of whom I have enormous respect for. At Dungeness Environmental, I enjoy every day because I truly have what I consider to be a dream job within the scientific field I love the most – chemistry!

John Mandelin, CPSWQ - Chemist, Field Technician

After earning a B.S. is chemistry from the University of Washington in 2005, I was offered a job at Clear Water Compliance Services as a water treatment technician. Drawing on my mechanical and chemical background I quickly learned the art of water treatment and was often called upon to solve challenging treatment issues. While at Clear Water and Cascade EcoSolutions, I had the opportunity to manage new and exciting water purification projects. At Dungeness, I am fortunate to be working with some of the most innovative and respectable individuals in water treatment. I am very proud of what we do to protect the environment and enjoy teaching others how they can reach their water quality goals.

Most of my free time is spent outdoors, either trail running through the Cascades, training for long distance races near Seattle or backpacking.

E. Lee Johnson - Consultant

Lee has played a key role in the worldwide development of chitin and chitosan technology since the mid-1960's. He has worked on numerous groundbreaking chitin and chitosan patents and has had his work published in several scientific journals. Some of his most notable U.S. patents for which he is inventor include:

• Method for Treating an Aqueous Medium with Chitosan and Derivatives of Chitin to Remove an Impurity - issued 1970
• Process for the Demineralization of Crustacea Shells and the Like - issued 1978
• Process for the Recovery of Chemicals form the Shells of Crustacea - issued 1980
• Process for Manufacture of Chitosan - issued 1980

Lee and his team developed the chitin and chitosan manufacturing process at Food Chemical Research Laboratories and in the early 1970's built the first chitosan pilot-plant in Redmond, WA. In 1982, working with Joel, Lee oversaw the construction of the first chitosan production facility in the U.S. which operated successfully for nearly 30 years. Lee continues to work with chitosan in the medical field and consults with Dungeness Environmental on a regular basis.