EBI News for December 26, 2024 – EA wins USACE remediation contract
EBI News for December 26, 2024 – The following news section contains the latest stories for the environmental industry. Including, EA wins USACE remediation contract, acquisitions, and more!
Battery startup Lyten secures $650M in EXIM support
Lyten (San Jose, Calif.), a supermaterial applications company and manufacturer of lithium-sulfur batteries, announced receiving multiple Letters of Interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) in support of a funding package of up to $650 million. Financing would be used to scale Lyten’s factories in San Leandro and Reno, Nev. “We are thrilled to work with EXIM as a financial partner to scale U.S. lithium-sulfur manufacturing to meet rapidly growing global customer demand,” said Dan Cook, Lyten’s co-founder and CEO. “The San Leandro and Reno factories will make the U.S. the world’s leading manufacturer and exporter of lithium-sulfur batteries.”
EA wins USACE remediation contract
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers–Baltimore District has awarded EA Engineering, Science, and Technology Inc. PBC (Hunt Valley, Md.) an Optimized Remediation Contract for services at Joint Base Cape Cod. The contract has an anticipated value of $48 million over a 10-year term. Support for the U.S. Air Force will include design and expansion of pump and treat remedial systems for PFAS, operations and maintenance of treatment facilities, maintenance of wind turbines, performance optimization and long-term management, and achieving site-specific objectives at 16 Installation Restoration Program sites and one Military Munitions Response Program site. Joint Base Cape Cod was added to the Superfund National Priorities List at the end of the 1980s. Remedies include multiple groundwater treatment systems supported by wind turbines that offset 100% of the electrical power required.
Jacobs to advance N2O emissions research in the water sector
Jacobs (Dallas) is leading a new research project funded by The Water Research Foundation on mitigation of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from water resource recovery facilities. In collaboration with 25 partner water and wastewater utilities and Princeton University, Jacobs announced it would deliver an industry-first N2O monitoring project, including a project database and decision support tool providing utilities with an improved understanding of N2O risks and mitigation measures. Direct process emissions of N2O and methane produced during wastewater treatment can account for up to 75% of greenhouse gas emissions reported by water and wastewater utilities.
LaBella Associates acquires Earth Dimensions
LaBella Associates DPC (Rochester, N.Y.), an international architecture, engineering, environmental, and planning firm, announced the acquisition of Earth Dimensions Inc. (EDI, Elma, N.Y.), a drilling and ecological services firm founded in 1977 with roots in Western New York. This strategic acquisition will integrate EDI into LaBella Associates’ growing environmental services portfolio, enhancing LaBella’s services in remediation, drilling, ecological services and eco-construction, including invasive species control and habitat restoration along the Niagara River corridor and Great Lakes shorelines. In tandem with the acquisition, LaBella is investing in a new 10,000-square-foot environmental construction hub in the Village of Lancaster, N.Y.
GKY joins True Environmental
GKY & Associates (Chantilly, Va.), a specialist in innovative water resources engineering, policy and planning, and environmental science, has joined True Environmental Inc. (New York, N.Y.). In business for over 45 years, GKY helps clients protect their communities from flooding and water pollution, improve efficiency, reduce costs, and navigate government processes for faster approvals. Backed by Halle Capital, True Environmental is a platform company that collaborates with founder- and employee-owned environmental consulting and engineering firms to provide capital and management support for growth and ownership transitions.
Bowman leads engineering and design for 64-MW solar installation
Bowman Consulting Group Ltd. (Reston, Va.) has been selected by J. Ranck Electric Inc. (JRE, Mt. Pleasant, Mich.) to lead the re-mobilization of a 64-MW direct current solar project in Southeast Michigan. This expansion will enhance the substation’s capacity to support additional solar power generation, integrating new photovoltaic capacity alongside existing wind power infrastructure. “This project marks significant steps forward both in our energy services practice and in our partnership with J. Ranck Electric,” said Dan Swayze, chief operating officer of Bowman.
Pathway’s first facility charts path to carbon-negative flights
Pathway Energy (Houston), a developer of ultra carbon-negative fuel projects, has debuted as a wholly owned subsidiary of Nexus Holdings (Greenville, S.C.), announcing the first in a series of commercial-scale sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) facilities. According to Nexus, the project, based in Port Arthur, Texas, will be one of the largest decarbonization projects globally, positioning Pathway Energy as a leader in the decarbonization of global aviation. Pathway Energy will leverage sustainable biomass feedstock and access to geological storage to sequester carbon and produce ultra carbon-negative SAF. Pathway Energy also announced a strategic partnership with biomass feedstock provider Drax Global.
RWE reaches 10-GW of clean generation assets in U.S.
Global energy company RWE (Austin, Texas) announced a significant growth milestone in the United States after hitting 10 gigawatts (GW) of installed generation capacity of onshore wind, solar and energy storage. The company owns and operates more than 170 facilities in 24 states, including 4.3 GW of solar, 5.2 GW of onshore wind and 0.5 GW of battery storage. Additionally, RWE has more than 4 GW of clean energy projects under construction in the country.
EPA adds Upper Columbia River site to Superfund List
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has added the Upper Columbia River Site in northeast Washington to the Superfund National Priorities List. EPA has determined that soil at the site is contaminated with lead and arsenic and poses an unacceptable risk to residents. Additionally, sediments in the river are contaminated with metals, including zinc, copper, cadmium, selenium, lead and mercury, posing a risk to wildlife. The primary source of contamination is the Teck Metals smelting facility in Trail, British Columbia. With the Upper Columbia River site finally on the Superfund List, EPA can now more comprehensively address long public health and environmental risks posed by over 100 years of mining-related pollution,” said Casey Sixkiller, regional administrator of EPA’s Region 10 office in Seattle.
WWF documents 234 new species in Greater Mekong
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has published a report describing 234 newly discovered species in the Greater Mekong region. The report documents the work of hundreds of scientists who discovered 173 species of vascular plants, 26 reptiles, 17 amphibians, 15 fish and three mammals in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam. This brings the total number of vascular plants and vertebrate animals described in the region since 1997 to 3,623. Highlights include a bright orange crocodile newt, a soft furred hedgehog with sharp fangs, a new genus of dragon lizard, and a ginger species that has a root that smells like mango. These new species “demonstrate that the region is still a fertile ground for scientific exploration and a hotspot of species diversity. But they also remind us of what we stand to lose if unsustainable development activities continue,” WWF reported. “Many species are likely to go extinct before they are even discovered.”
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