EBJ Business Achiever of the Week: ERRG

Hats off this week to Engineering/Remediation Resources Group, Inc. (ERRG; (Martinez, CA), winner of a 2012 Business Achievement Award in the remediation project merit category for its work in restoring an abandoned copper mine in the remote Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. At the site, waste rock was leaching sulfuric acid, arsenic, lead, cadmium, copper, and zinc into nearby creeks for 100 years. The Blue Ledge Mine Remediation was a large, complex environmental project where access, terrain, and logistics created significant challenges. The project, performed for the U.S. Forest Service, included removing 65,000 cubic yards of waste rock, encapsulating it in a geomembrane-lined repository, reclaiming the 22 acres of disturbed areas, installing erosion control measures, replacing topsoil, and restoring native vegetation with over 15,000 native plants that were grown in an off-site nursery. A unique aspect of the project involved the use of three Spider excavators to crawl up the steep slope of the mountainside. The tailings were pulled down to where they could be handled with larger earth-moving equipment. Reinforced slope stability fabric was installed, and sediment and pH treatment basins were constructed. In addition, road access was not available to three of the four waste rock areas, so ERRG constructed approximately one mile of roads through rugged terrain to provide access to the areas.For a full list of EBJ’s 2012 Business Achievement Award winners, please visit https://ebionline.org/2012-ebj-business-achievement-awards. EBJ will begin accepting nominations for 2012 Business Achievement Awards in October.