EBI News for March 12, 2025 -Clean Harbors reports growth driven by Environmental Services in 2024

EBI News for March 12, 2025 – The following news section contains the latest stories for the environmental industry. Including, Jacobs awarded cybersecurity contract with wastewater utility, acquisitions, and more!

Jacobs awarded cybersecurity contract with wastewater utility

Jacobs (Dallas) has been awarded a $13.4 million operational technology (OT) cybersecurity contract with Hampton Roads Sanitation District in Virginia. The contract encompasses cybersecurity for industrial control systems and physical infrastructure to protect wastewater treatment services for 1.9 million people in southeast Virginia and the Eastern Shore. In addition to cybersecurity assessments for more than 30 square miles of wastewater infrastructure, the contract includes design and integration of cybersecurity controls and advanced OT, cybersecurity operations monitoring and network engineering. In fiscal year 2024, Jacobs’ OT cybersecurity credentialed professionals served more than 40 water utilities across the United States.

 

Great Lakes Filters offers onsite PFAS technology 

Great Lakes Filters (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) has announced a patented electrocoagulation (EC) technology that destroys PFAS in industrial wastewater and landfill leachate streams immediately and on-site. According to Great Lakes Filters, unlike existing PFAS capture technologies which only separate or adsorb PFAS without fully eliminating them, its EC technology breaks the fluorine-carbon bond within the PFAS structure, rendering the chemicals harmless. The process also removes dissolved and suspended solids and kills pathogens and viruses while significantly lowering operational and capital expenses. The company offers the technology as a turnkey solution that includes construction, installation, and financing.

 

ESA acquires 48 North Solutions

Environmental Science Associates (ESA, San Francisco, Calif.), a firm that provides planning, design, permitting, technology, mitigation, and habitat restoration services, has acquired 48 North Solutions Inc. (Issaquah, Wash.). The six-person firm, recognized for work in marine and freshwater environments, has joined ESA’s Pacific Northwest region and will strengthen its Fish and Aquatic Sciences practice. Founded in 2013, 48 North is known for providing feasibility studies, stakeholder engagement and outreach, and permitting assistance for clients focused on restoration, renewable energy, submarine cable installation, and climate change/resilience.

 

Cadiz selects Stantec for Mojave Groundwater Bank Project

Cadiz Inc. (Los Angeles, Calif.) has entered into an agreement with Stantec (Edmonton, Canada) to oversee development and construction of the Mojave Groundwater Bank project, providing 2.5 million acre-feet of new water supply, 1 million acre-feet of underground storage capacity, and a pipeline network spanning more than 350 miles between the Colorado River and the California Aqueduct. Stantec will serve as owner’s engineer, in addition to helping select the contractor under a construction management at risk delivery model and leading the accelerated EPC management process. According to Stantec, Mojave Groundwater Bank will be the largest new water infrastructure project in the Southwest, providing affordable water supplies to communities in California and Arizona. 

 

Ulteig acquires Paradigm Environmental 

Consulting engineering company Ulteig (Minneapolis, Minn.) has acquired Paradigm Environmental, a consulting firm that specializes in watershed analysis, stormwater management, and advanced systems. With locations in San Diego, Calif., Nashville, Tenn., and Fairfax, Va., Paradigm’s interdisciplinary team includes experts in hydrology, engineering, environmental science, programming, and data analysis. “With this acquisition, Ulteig reinvents its presence in the Water Lifeline Sector with solutions focused on sustainability and resiliency,” the company stated. Founded over 80 years ago, employee-owned Ulteig operates across power, renewables, water and transportation. Environmental Financial Consulting Group served as a strategic advisor to Ulteig.

 

Clean energy enters “new chapter” ACP reports

The American Clean Power Assn. (ACP) has released Snapshot of Clean Power in 2024, a preview of its upcoming annual market report. According to ACP, the clean-energy industry deployed an unprecedented 49 GW of capacity in 2024—a 33% increase over the previous record of 37 GW set in 2023. Snapshot highlights include:

• Total clean energy capacity connected to the U.S. grid reached 313 GW.
• 93% of new energy capacity that came online in 2024 was clean energy (solar, wind, and storage). 
• At utility scale, more than 33 GW of solar capacity and more than 11 GW of energy storage were deployed.
• 46 U.S. primary component-manufacturing projects across the utility-scale wind, solar, and storage supply chains came online in 2024. 

‘This dramatic acceleration reflects the industry’s extraordinary momentum: After taking more than 40 years to build the first 200 GW of utility-scale clean power capacity, it took just three years to build an additional 100 GW (2022-2024),” ACP reported.

 

Aqua Strategies joins Hazen and Sawyer

Hazen and Sawyer (New York, N.Y.) announced that water resources firm Aqua Strategies (Austin, Texas) has joined the firm. Aqua Strategies’ staff of 10 has joined Hazen’s growing Water Resources practice. New team members bring expertise in hydrology, hydraulics, water quality and sediment modeling, permitting, drought and climate change modeling, and water availability modeling and planning. Aqua Strategies’ experience in international water resources consulting also complements Hazen’s recent expansions into the UK, Canada, and other countries.

 

Whitewater Management acquires Orion Water 

Whitewater Management (Calgary, Alberta), a fluid management company founded in 2010, announced the purchase of Orion Water Solutions (Austin, Texas), a provider of advanced wastewater treatment. The acquisition strategically positions Whitewater and its production chemical company Catalyst Production Services for continued growth while enhancing their ability to provide sophisticated water treatment solutions across a range of industries. “By integrating Orion’s advanced dissolved air flotation (DAF), chlorine dioxide and biological wastewater treatment technologies, we will unlock new opportunities across multiple sectors, including oil & gas, mining, and municipal infrastructure. This is an exciting milestone that will help us continue our trajectory of sustained growth,” said Rod Stearn, president and CEO at Whitewater.

 

Global offshore wind poised to add landmark 19GW in 2025

The global offshore wind industry is poised for a rebound in 2025, with capacity additions expected to reach 19 gigawatts (GW) and sector-wide expenditure projected to hit $80 billion, according to Rystad Energy. This recovery follows a slowdown at the end of last year, when new installations dropped to approximately 8 GW — 2 GW lower than the year prior. A record wave of lease auctions is driving the resurgence, with the world’s largest offshore wind market, Mainland China, accounting for 65% of new capacity. With this increase, total additions will exceed the previous peak in 2021 by about 1 GW, surpassing the 7.7 GW added in 2024, 10.2 GW in 2023 and 9.3 GW in 2022.

 

Europe’s digital water market forecast to double

Europe’s digital water solutions market, the world’s largest in the sector, is on track to double in size from $13.7 billion in 2024 to $27.2 billion by 2033, according to a new report from Bluefield Research. An estimated 8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) will drive a cumulative $196 billion in spending from 2024 to 2033, highlighting European utilities’ increasing adoption of digital technologies to manage water infrastructure more efficiently. The business case for digital water solutions in Europe has strengthened due to rising energy prices and increasing pressure on water utilities to reduce operational costs, with funding initiatives from regional entities like the EU and the European Investment Bank also boosting adoption.

 

Waste and recycling operators face increase in battery fires

The 8th Annual Report on Reported Waste & Recycling Facility Fires in the U.S. & Canada documents a 19% increase in reported fires compared to the previous year, “underscoring the need for continued vigilance and improved fire prevention strategies.” The leading cause of fires was lithium-ion batteries, although they only accounted for about half of fire incidents with the rest due to traditional hazards like pressurized tanks, accelerants, and explosives. Fires caused an estimated $2.5 billion in damages and significant disruptions to waste and recycling operations. The report serves as a guide for implementing best practices, technologies and strategies in fire prevention and response. It also addresses the Vape Effect as smokers transition to disposable vapes, which are not easily recycled because they are classified as both a biohazard and a hazardous material.

 

Sea turtles returned to wild in Florida

After about a week of recovering from frigid temperatures that hit much of the Florida panhandle in late January, around 1,000 sea turtles rescued from cold waters have been returned to their habitat in St. Joseph Bay off the panhandle of Florida. Led by U.S. Geological Survey, it was one of the largest turtle rescues in Florida history. Sea turtles are cold-blooded and can become “cold stunned” when water temperatures drop below 50 degrees, rendering them unable to swim or keep their heads above the water, leading to drowning or the inability to fend off predators. Rescued turtles were transported to Gulf World Marine Institute where they were rehabilitated until water temperatures returned to safe levels.

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