EBI

CH2M HILL (Denver, CO) and EKO Asset Management Partners (New York, NY), an investment and advisory services firm specializing in environmental markets, have formed a partnership to jointly pursue the development of infrastructure projects that create positive environmental impacts. The partnership, called Green Path Partners, will seek to “harness the power of innovative finance, natural systems, and creative design to deliver more adaptive and resilient infrastructure with a variety of long-term benefits to communities and the environment,” the companies said in a release. “Green Path Partners combines EKO’s track record of innovative finance, as well as its access to investors, policy makers, and other key stakeholders, together with CH2M HILL’s expertise in project delivery, engineering, risk management, and sustainability,” said Elisa Speranza, president of CH2M HILL’s Operations Management Business Group and the firm’s executive sponsor for sustainability. “In so doing, Green Path Partners is able to close the gap between designing and building infrastructure that is resilient, adaptive, and sustainable, and delivering measurable environmental and social benefits to communities worldwide.” (Denver, CO) and EKO Asset Management Partners (New York, NY), an investment and advisory services firm specializing in environmental markets, have formed a partnership to jointly pursue the development of infrastructure projects that create positive environmental impacts. The partnership, called Green Path Partners, will seek to “harness the power of innovative finance, natural systems, and creative design to deliver more adaptive and resilient infrastructure with a variety of long-term benefits to communities and the environment,” the companies said in a release. “Green Path Partners combines EKO’s track record of innovative finance, as well as its access to investors, policy makers, and other key stakeholders, together with CH2M HILL’s expertise in project delivery, engineering, risk management, and sustainability,” said Elisa Speranza, president of CH2M HILL’s Operations Management Business Group and the firm’s executive sponsor for sustainability. “In so doing, Green Path Partners is able to close the gap between designing and building infrastructure that is resilient, adaptive, and sustainable, and delivering measurable environmental and social benefits to communities worldwide.”

Battelle National, Inc. (Columbus, OH) has received a $76 million contract from the U.S. Army to provide technical support for the chemical weapons destruction activities at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant in Richmond, Kentucky. Under the five-year contract, Battelle’s Demilitarization Business Unit will provide science and technology, air monitoring, and analytical laboratory services supporting activities at the plant during the final phases of its construction and readiness preparation. The company has a staff of 150 people at the facility, operating around the clock. Battelle has been supporting the Army’s chemical weapons destruction program at other facilities around the country, including facilities in Alabama, Colorado, Maryland, and Utah. The only remaining stockpiles of chemical weapons in the U.S. inventory are located at the Blue Grass facility and at the Pueblo Chemical Army Depot in Colorado.

Water treatment technology developer Aquatech (Canonsburg, PA) announced that it has acquired Fluid Recovery Services (FRS; Creekside, PA), operator of central, satellite, and mobile facilities for providing water management services to the oil and gas industry in Pennsylvania. FRS itself was the product of a merger between Pennsylvania Brine Treatment (PBT) and Hart Resource Technologies (HRT), which together had a 25-year-plus history of providing water management services to the industry. Aquatech said that the acquisition of FRS will immediately expand its own regional water management network from three to five central facilities located in Franklin, Josephine, Creekside, Rouseville, and Tioga—essentially establishing an “end to end” network for oil and gas companies operating in the Marcellus and Utica shale regions.

R3 Fusion Inc. (Troy, NY) has received a contract from Hydro Recovery LP (Blossburg, PA) to install its SPaCeR technology for the recovery and reuse of produced water generated by hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” for gas production in the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania. Installation of the SPaCeR system will take place at Hydro Recovery’s Blossburg fracking fluid production facility in late May, and the unit is expected to be operational in early June. The system will convert produced and flowback brine into water that will be reused in fracking operations. The contract followed successful demonstrations of the SPaCeR technology for Hydro Recovery in Midland, Texas, and then in Blossburg during the fourth quarter of 2012. “By offering this unprecedented solution to what has become a major environmental concern, one of the largest domestic energy resources can now be accessible with minimal negative environmental impact,” said Rick Winter, a director of R3 Fusion.

E-Waste Systems, Inc. (EWSI; London, U.K.), a firm aggressively pursuing the roll-up of companies engaged in the responsible disposal of discarded electronic products, or “e-waste,” announced that it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Surf Investments Ltd. (Irvine, CA). Surf is a California-registered e-waste collection and mobile computing specialist, operating a center for the return, repair, and resale of electronic products made by major OEM manufacturers like Hewlett Packard and Toshiba. “This acquisition extends our eWaste brand and sets our West Coast operating foundation,” said Martin Nielson, CEO of EWSI. “The California market is a top priority for EWSI, and this acquisition will push our eWaste brand deeper and the local presence allows greater efficiencies for our revenue acceleration initiative.”