Sara Bals, EIT

Chief Consultant | Environmental

Sara Bals, EIT is the Chief Consultant for the Environmental Services group.  Sara has over 18 years’ experience providing consulting series for brownfields redevelopment projects, environmental due diligence services related to property acquisitions, safe use planning and implementation of engineering controls, and liable party site investigations. Sara leads SME’s Site Investigation and Remediation Discipline and helps manage SME’s U.S. EPA brownfields grant program.

Sara is responsible for writing over 25 successful U.S. EPA Brownfield Assessment/Cleanup applications totaling over $15 million dollars for Michigan and Indiana communities from 2007 through 2024. She heads SME’s Environmental Group’s quality assurance and quality control practices, which includes managing and maintaining the group’s standard operating procedures (SOPs) and associated training. She is an Environmental Professional (EP) as defined by U.S. EPA 40 CFR Part 213, Standards and Practices for All Appropriate Inquiries.  

Sara earned her B.S. from Northern Arizona University and her M.S. from the University of Notre Dame. In her free time, she spends as much time as she can with her husband and son searching for the perfect hiking trail, the best nighttime city skyline, and any reason to visit the mountains in the western U.S.