EBI News for October 16, 2024 – Jacobs chosen for advanced water reuse facility in California
EBI News for October 16, 2024 – The following news section contains the latest stories for the environmental industry. Including, Jacobs chosen for advanced water reuse facility in California, acquisitions, and more!
Terracon acquires Metcalf Archaeological Consultants
Terracon (Olathe, Kansas), an employee-owned engineering-consulting firm, has acquired Metcalf Archaeological Consultants Inc. (Golden, Colo.), a provider of environmental planning and cultural resource management services in the Rocky Mountains and Central and Northern Great Plains. Metcalf has 72 employees and is 100% employee-owned. By joining Terracon, Metcalf will gain support regionally and nationwide while continuing to provide expertise in archaeology, architectural history, and software applications. The firms’ combined services will deliver solutions for commercial development, energy, federal, state, and tribal agencies, transportation, telecommunications, and utilities. Metcalf also brings a technology platform that includes FactorEarth Record, a collaborative data collection app developed in-house for use in cultural resource management, natural resource management, and environmental compliance.
EPA awards ICF $75M environmental support BPA
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Water has awarded a single-award blanket purchase agreement (BPA) to ICF (Reston, Va.) to provide environmental, economic, regulatory, and evaluation services to the agency’s critical water programs. The re-compete BPA has a ceiling value of $75 million and a term of five years. ICF supported EPA in establishing its first national drinking water standard for six per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), finalized in April 2024.
GEI selected to assess Michigan’s high-risk dams
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) has selected GEI Consultants (Woburn, Mass.) to screen the state’s high-risk dams. In February 2022, the state’s Dam Safety Task Force authored a report containing 86 recommendations for improving the state’s Dam Safety Program. One of those recommendations was to develop a portfolio risk assessment for all dams in Michigan’s inventory. GEI’s risk assessment study will evaluate the likelihood and consequence of failure for high and significant hazard potential dams in Michigan regulated by EGLE. “This project is a crucial step in assessing dam risks across Michigan and maximizing the benefits of limited resources available to manage these risks,” said Luke Trumble, supervisor, EGLE Dam Safety Program.
Jacobs chosen for advanced water reuse facility in California
Jacobs (Dallas) announced a 10-year contract with Soquel Creek Water District in California to operate and maintain a new advanced water purification facility. The facility, part of the District’s Pure Water Soquel program, focuses on groundwater replenishment and seawater intrusion prevention in Santa Cruz County, Calif. Using a three-step treatment process (ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet light with hydrogen peroxide), the facility will provide sustainable drinking water for the drought-stressed region. Optimizing the plant will also reduce ocean discharge by up to 25%. Under the new contract, Jacobs will use its Digital OneWater solutions to improve the plant’s performance and mitigate risk.
Chestnut Carbon announces land acquisition in Texas
Chestnut Carbon (New York, N.Y.), a developer of nature-based carbon removal credits, announced its expansion into Texas, marking the fifth state in its Chestnut Restoration Project. The acquisition brings Chestnut’s total landholdings to over 30,000 acres across the Southeastern United States as it enters its third year of planting. The expansion furthers Chestnut’s commitment to transforming unproductive land across the United States into bio-diverse native forests. Chestnut made its inaugural move into Texas with a 300-acre parcel near Nacogdoches. Chestnut is a portfolio company of Kimmeridge, an energy-focused alternative asset manager.
AtkinsRéalis appointed by United Utilities
AtkinsRéalis Group Inc. (Montreal, Canada) announced it is set to work with the UK’s largest publicly traded water company to deliver a major environmental program. United Utilities (Warrington, U.K.) has appointed three design and development partners (DDPs) in a contract worth a potential £90 million for each DDP over 11 years. AtkinsRéalis’ local delivery teams will create detailed designs for schemes across United Utilities’ water and wastewater sites, as well as bio-resource and rainwater management projects. The DDP appointments will support what United Utilities describes as the largest environmental program in the North West of England in over 100 years. United Utilities also selected Mott MacDonald and Stantec as DDPs in July.
Parsons to lead PFAS treatment for National Guard
Parsons Corporation (Chantilly, Va.) has been selected by the National Guard Bureau to manage the operation and maintenance of a PFAS groundwater treatment system at Burlington Air National Guard Base in Vermont. The two-year task order is new work for the company. Parsons will optimize the existing granular activated carbon treatment system by utilizing the company’s Water Treatability Lab in Syracuse, N.Y. The company has completed nearly 2,000 PFAS investigations and designed and installed 7,000 PFAS point-of-entry treatment systems, in addition to building full-scale water treatment plants to remove PFAS from drinking water and wastewater.
Masdar accelerates U.S. renewables expansion
Masdar (Abu Dhabi), the United Arab Emirates’ clean energy company, announced the acquisition of a 50% stake in Terra-Gen Power Holdings II LLC (San Diego, Calif.), a large independent renewable energy producer, from Energy Capital Partners. The deal cements Masdar’s position in the United States. Before Terra-Gen, Masdar’s U.S. portfolio of utility scale wind, solar and storage assets had a generating capacity of more than 1.4GW. Terra-Gen’s gross operating portfolio currently comprises 3.8GW of wind, solar and battery storage projects, including 5.1GWh of energy storage facilities across 30 renewable power sites throughout the United States, predominantly in California and Texas.
SC&A awarded EPA contracts topping $100M
SC&A Inc. (Arlington, Va.) announced receiving several significant EPA Office of Water contracts to help small and disadvantaged communities, including Tribal communities, identify and address lead, PFAS, and other emerging contaminants in drinking water. SC&A will support the inventorying of lead service lines and provide technical assistance to identify water challenges; develop plans; build technical, managerial, and financial capacity; and develop application materials to access water infrastructure funding. An employee-owned small business, SC&A has provided environmental program services to federal agencies since 1981.
New USGS tools aid mine restoration
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has released a web mapping application, data catalog, and informational report to help resource managers with mine lands assessment and restoration. “As worldwide demand for critical minerals rises, so does mining activity and mine land abundance. Managers of these mine lands need more reliable information to make science-based decisions about how to restore and reclaim these landscapes,” USGS stated. The three complementary products provide tools to assess and track mining activity, monitor mine land conditions, and plan restoration and reclamation projects.
Republic Services launches Circularity Index
Waste management company Republic Services (Phoenix, Ariz.) has launched a Circularity Index to help businesses improve their sustainable practices. The no-cost online tool assesses and benchmarks current initiatives versus industry peers and provides a roadmap to achieve circularity goals. The Index places companies on a five-point maturity curve, from Novice to Expert, across three categories: Commitment, Execution and Recovery—the degree to which circularity programs are achieving waste minimization, diversion, material reuse and recycling. Republic Services polled 1,200 sustainability leaders in 10 U.S. industries to rate their organization on 21 aspects of circularity and found 87% of companies plan to invest more in circular initiatives over the next two years but most lack expertise, tools and prioritization.
BrightNight closes $440M strategic investment
BrightNight (West Palm Beach, Fla.), a renewable power producer, announced the closing of a $440-million strategic equity investment from Goldman Sachs Alternatives. This investment, together with existing capital commitments from institutional investors, is expected to fully fund BrightNight’s five-year business plan and advance the execution of its 31-gigawatt renewable power project portfolio, which includes solar, energy storage, and hybrid solutions.
Langan acquires Robert Stephen Consulting
Langan Engineering & Environmental Services (Parsippany, N.J.) announced the acquisition of Robert Stephen Consulting (RSC, San Ramon, Calif.), a specialist in integrated workplace management systems and geographic information system solutions. Founded in 2000, RSC provides management systems for real estate portfolio management and facilities optimization. The company’s client base includes Fortune 500 corporations, state and local government, healthcare, education, energy, and manufacturing. Founded in 1970, Langan employs 1,700 professionals and has 43 offices throughout the United States.
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