EBJ Business Achiever of the Week: RMT

This week we recognize RMT, Inc. (Madison, WI), winner of a 2009 Business Achievement award in the remediation technology category for the development of a new technology to address the ongoing human health and environmental risks from sediment contaminated by manufactured gas plants (MGPs)—a problem that has been misunderstood and difficult to remedy in scores of water bodies. RMT diagnosed the mechanisms that cause coal tar buried in sediments to migrate into overlying water. Understanding gas bubble migration from biodegrading organic material, which is typical in many sediments, was a key to developing a solution to stop coal tar exposure. RMT’s NAPL Trapping Cap is designed to permanently control tar migration from sediment by redirecting migrating tar to a controlled accumulation area, where the tar is trapped while the gas is vented to the atmosphere. According to the company, this system eliminates exposure to human and ecological receptors of tar; vastly reduces human health risks; reduces costs by creating a targeted remediation area; and alleviates short- and long-term risk via permanent migration control. RMT designed and built a full-scale application of the NAPL Trapping Cap remedy—the first of its kind, according to the company—on the Penobscot River in Maine, a site that posed extreme engineering challenges.For a full list of EBJ’s 2009 Business Achievement Award winners, please visit  www.ebiresearch.com/2009_EBJ_Awards. EBJ will begin accepting nominations for 2010 Business Achievement Awards in October.