Real estate slump ripples into environmental work.

Jacobs Engineering retains its No. 1 position atop List

Many environmental firms, particularly those dependent on asbestos removal work, have been feeling the pinch of the Southern California real estate recession, according to this week's List.

Of the 50 top environmental firms, ranked by the number of employees working in L.A. County, 14 have reduced staff since the last time The List was compiled in Nov. 1992. Only three reported increasing work force size in the last three months.

The rest of the companies on this week's ranking either stayed the same size or are newcomers to The List.

Two of the top environmental firms from last year's List -- No. 5-ranked Brand Remediation Services Inc. and No. 7-ranked Barsotti's Inc. -- both of which specialize in asbestos abatement, have disappeared from The List this year.

The Carson office of the Westchester, Ill.-based Brand Remediation laid off most of its 350 employees after it was bought by Methuen, Mass.-based NSC Corp., said Rick Davidson, operations manager for NSC's new L.A. County office. The sale will be final in May and NSC's new L.A. County office will probably relocate from Carson to downtown Los Angeles, Davidson said.

The asbestos industry is downsizing because commercial building owners are not spending as much money on asbestos removal, Davidson said.

Barsotti's, which had 285 employees and was No. 7 on last year's List, has laid off more than 100 employees, said Beth Hansel, business development coordinator for the Santa Fe Springs-based company. About 150 employees work there now, Hansel said.

"We do about 80 percent or 90 percent asbestos removal work," Hansel said. "The market is very depressed and extra competitive."

Lack of asbestos abatement work was the reason National Abatement Corp. cut its work force from 130 to 85, said Carl Zimmerman, vice president of operations for the downtown L.A.-based company. National Abatement is No. 28 on this week's List, down from its ranking of No. 19 last year.

Zimmerman said the asbestos abatement recession is tied to the soft commercial real estate market. When office building occupancy rates decline, so does the amount of asbestos abatement work, he said.

Other companies on this week's List which reported large L.A. County staff decreases include No. 15-ranked Professional Service Industries, which dropped 99 employees, and No. 19-ranked P.W. Stephens Contractors Inc., which cut 130 workers.

New to The List is No. 8-ranked Kinetics Technology International, a firm which does nitrogen oxide and sulfur abatement and oil recycling for the Southland's biggest refineries.

KTI has been hiring more staff and is busy helping oil companies develop a new, cleaner gasoline to comply with a new state regulation as well as aiding refineries in cutting air emissions to comply with new federal and local air standards, said Randy Kessler, manager of sales for the San Dimas-based firm.

This week's List, unlike previous rankings of environmental firms, provides companywide work force figures for firms. Many national firms, like No. 1-ranked Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., employ most of its work force away from its headquarters.

Jacobs, for example, has only 740 of its 15,000 employees at its Pasadena headquarters.