EBI News for August 04, 2021- Energy Cloud Eradicates Airborne COVID-19 On First Pass
EBI News for August 04, 2021- The following news section contains the latest stories for the environmental industry. Including, Energy Cloud eradicates airborne COVID-19 on first pass, acquisitions, and more!
Water industry survey shows a record level of optimism
For the ninth straight year, the water sector’s two most pressing challenges remain aging infrastructure and financing for capital improvements, according to the American Water Works Assn.’s (AWWA) State of the Water Industry 2021. “Long-term water supply availability” ranked third, while “emergency preparedness” made the biggest leap in this year’s top challenges, up from No. 8 last year to No. 4 in the 2021 report. Survey respondents also indicated that PFOA/PFOS was the top regulatory concern for the second consecutive year, with lead and copper second, up from No. 7 last year. Resilience within the water sector generally was underscored by a record level of optimism, with AWWA noting that despite the pandemic and extreme weather events, survey participants on average rated the overall health of the water industry at 5.24 on a scale of 1 (not sound) to 7 (very sound), the most optimistic in the 17 years of the survey.
Tetra Tech reports record third-quarter 2021 results
Tetra Tech Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.) reported revenue in the third quarter ended June 27, 2021, of $802 million, up 13% year-over-year. Net revenue was an all-time high for any quarter at $638 million, up 14% from last year. In an earnings call, Tetra Tech’s Chairman and CEO Dan Batrack noted strong double-digit revenue growth in both U.S. state and local and international businesses. State and local net revenue were up organically 31% year-over-year, driven by growth in municipal water and disaster response programs. U.S. federal net revenue was up 7% year-over-year, while international net revenue was up 26%, driven by water, environment, and sustainable infrastructure services. U.S. commercial net revenue was down about 2% from the prior year due to slower recovery in discretionary environmental work for industrial clients, although regulatory-driven programs were stable. Tetra Tech also announced acquiring Hoare Lea in the United Kingdom, a sustainable engineering design firm founded in 1862 and has more than 900 employees. Hoare Lea joins the firm’s High-Performance Buildings Group.
UES adds growth capital to fuel nationwide expansion
Universal Engineering Sciences (UES, Orlando, Fla.), a national company specializing in geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing, building code compliance, threshold inspections, and environmental consulting, announced that BDT Capital Partners is making a significant strategic investment. BDT will become the majority shareholder of UES, joining existing shareholders Palm Beach Capital, company founders, and the management team. Chairman of UES Michael Burke, former AECOM chair and CEO, will continue to serve in his current role. “The geotechnical engineering, construction materials, and environmental services industries are highly fragmented, and I see a great deal of opportunity to identify and partner with strong, well-run businesses who will expand our portfolio and our geographic footprint,” said Burke. UES was founded in 1964 and has made several acquisitions in recent years.
AECOM awarded third consecutive remediation contract from USACE
AECOM (Los Angeles, Calif.) has been selected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Baltimore District to continue providing nationwide environmental remediation services through the MAMMS III contract. The multiple-award contract, with a shared program ceiling of $240 million, includes five base years and up to two additional option years. AECOM has supported the District’s environmental remediation programs for more than 26 years. Under the new contract, AECOM and its specialty subcontractors will continue to provide a wide range of environmental services.
Tetra Tech wins $49M resilience and biodiversity contract
Tetra Tech Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.) has been awarded a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) contract to promote biodiversity conservation and climate-resilient, low emission development in West Africa. The four-year single-award contract is valued at $49 million. Through the USAID West Africa Biodiversity and Low Emissions Development Activity, Tetra Tech will strengthen the capacity of national and regional networks and institutions to combat wildlife trafficking, reduce deforestation and biodiversity loss, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
Energy Cloud eradicates airborne COVID-19 on first pass
Energy Cloud (San Diego, Calif.) has announced Hummingbird EQ, an air purification system that captures and deactivates at least 99.5% of airborne COVID-19 virus on the first pass. Hummingbird EQ with Air Vaccine technology was independently tested by epidemiologists and engineers assembled by Black & Veatch (B&V), with funding provided in partnership with B&V’s IgniteX COVID-19 Response Accelerator. Hummingbird EQ can be scaled to any size heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system or used as a stand-alone unit in all types of commercial and residential settings. Testing included infectious aerosolized virus samples that were more than 3,000 times the average infectious dose.
Black & Veatch awarded funding to advance direct air capture technology
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Black & Veatch (B&V, Overland Park, Kan.) $2.5 million to participate in an R&D project aimed at advancing direct air capture (DAC) technology. DAC technology can extract CO2 directly from the atmosphere, but current carbon removal operations are costly and energy-intensive. B&V will develop an initial engineering design of a DAC system to capture 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the atmosphere per year. Currently, no system has this level of capacity. The company will serve as the prime contractor and leverage Global Thermostat’s (New York, N.Y.) DAC technology, helping prepare it for global commercial adoption for CO2 sequestration and utilization.
Polypropylene recycler builds cluster facility
PureCycle Technologies Inc. (Orland, Fla.) has reached an agreement with The Augusta Economic Development Authority to build its first U.S. cluster facility to produce ultra-pure recycled polypropylene (rPP) from waste polypropylene (PP). The 200-acre location in Augusta Corporate Park will create over 80 manufacturing jobs with an initial $440 million investment to primarily fund three lines of 130 million pounds of capacity during Phase 1 of the project. PureCycle uses proprietary technology licensed from The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) to recycle waste PP into ultra-pure recycled-PP for a range of applications.
Mott MacDonald welcomes Pacific Groundwater
Mott MacDonald (Croydon, U.K.) has acquired Pacific Groundwater Group (PGG, Seattle, Wash.), a company that specializes in hydrogeology, groundwater/surface water interactions, modeling, soil, sediment, water chemistry, and regulatory strategy. “The acquisition will allow PGG and Mott MacDonald to broaden their skills and client base to gain a larger share of the market throughout North America,” Mott MacDonald stated in a press release. PGG serves private clients as well as many counties and cities throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Drake Environmental joins Raba Kistner
Raba Kistner Inc. (San Antonia, Texas) has announced that Drake Environmental LLC (College Station, Texas) will become part of its environmental division. Established in 2014 and with additional offices in Austin and Houston, Drake Environmental focuses on environmental construction and compliance. The firm will help to expand Raba Kistner’s environmental services in the Southeast, Central, and North Texas marketplaces and bolster construction phase services by bringing additional expertise in erosion control and stormwater management during the construction phase of projects. “As we continue to invest in our environmental and compliance capabilities, the new affiliation will support multiple components of Raba Kistner’s strategic growth plan,” said Joe Irizarry, CMO and senior vice president of Raba Kistner.
Sun Capital acquires Environmental Infrastructure Solutions
An affiliate of Sun Capital Partners has acquired Environmental Infrastructure Solutions (EIS, Fort Worth, Texas), a provider of environmental and infrastructure services including abatement, decontamination, and remediation, from O2 Investment Partners. Founded in 2018 via the combination of five environmental services firms and with more than 750 employees and 24 offices, EIS serves over 1,400 customers across the United States. “EIS has built itself into an industry leader in environmental services, which has continued to grow in importance as organizations increase their focus on ESG,” said Marc Leder, co-CEO of Sun Capital.
Clearwell brings together Alpha EMC and HydroSpec
Clearwell Group has announced a partnership with Alpha EMC (Winter Springs, Fla.) and HydroSpec (Ball Ground, Ga.) to “create the largest full-scope environmental services company in the southeastern United States.” Alpha EMC and HydroSpec provide erosion control, best management practices, and other environmental services for residential, commercial, and government construction projects. Additional services, including stormwater inspection, compliance, quality assurance, and energy and safety audit work, will continue to be provided through an expanded strategic partnership with Path Light Pro (Winter Springs, Fla.).
PHASE acquires Atlantic Environmental
PHASE Associates LLC (Livingston, N.J.), a provider of environmental health and safety (EHS) services, has acquired Atlantic Environmental Inc. (Dover, N.J.), an EHS consulting firm. Former owner of Atlantic Environmental Robert E. Sheriff, now retired, was “highly respected in the fields of environmental control, indoor air quality, and industrial hygiene.” The acquisition is in line with PHASE’s strategy to expand EHS service offerings and extend its geographic reach in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and beyond.
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