EBI News for May 07, 2025 – Stantec to design largest PFAS treatment system in American Northwest
EBI News for May 07, 2025 – The following news section contains the latest stories for the environmental industry. Including, Stantec to design largest PFAS treatment system in American Northwest, acquisitions, and more!
AECOM acquires Allen Gordon of Scotland
AECOM (Dallas) has acquired Allen Gordon LLP (Perth, Scotland), a provider of technical design and advisory services to the water and energy sectors in the U.K. and Ireland (UK&I). The Allen Gordon team will enhance AECOM’s positioning ahead of investment expected to total more than £250 billion over the next decade in the water and energy markets across the region. Founded in 1971, Allen Gordon brings established relationships with water utilities and renewable energy clients. “We have a stated goal of doubling our water business globally over the next five years, and the addition of the Allen Gordon team strengthens our offering in one of the fastest growing markets in the world,” said Beverley Stinson, chief executive of AECOM’s global water business.
Stantec to design largest PFAS treatment system in American Northwest
Stantec (Edmonton, Canada) announced that it has been selected by the City of Vancouver, Wash. to design a treatment system to remove PFAS from a high-volume water station with the goal of providing cleaner, more reliable drinking water. Stantec will also provide engineering services during construction for the treatment facility at Vancouver’s Water Station 4, one of the first stations in Vancouver’s water supply that will treat water for PFAS. When complete, this PFAS filter system will treat up to 12.2 million gallons per day, making it the largest PFAS project in the Northwestern United States in treatment capability, according to Stantec. Industry research cited by Stantec estimates that PFAS treatment could cost water utilities around $40 billion.
New tool detects nano- and microplastics
McGill University reported that researchers have developed a cost-effective, high-throughput technology for detecting nanoplastics and microplastics in the environment. These pervasive particles pose health and environmental risks, yet detecting them at the nanoscale has been difficult. The 3D-printed HoLDI-MS test platform overcomes the limitations of traditional mass spectrometry by enabling direct analysis of samples without requiring complex sample preparation. Researchers say it also will work for detection of waterborne plastic particles. HoLDI-MS stands for hollow-laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry. “Until now, there have been no established universal protocols for nanoplastic detection within the complex environment,” said chemistry professor Parisa Ariya, who led the study. “With HoLDI, we provide a method that is effective, quantitative, highly accurate and affordable, making it accessible to researchers worldwide.” The study was published in Nature’s Communications Chemistry.
TRC acquires Rampart
TRC Companies Inc. (Natick, Mass.) has acquired Rampart, a land rights acquisition company (Baton Rouge, La.). Rampart provides comprehensive right-of-way, permitting, and land services to utility, oil and gas, renewable energy, and public works companies in the Southern and Mid-Atlantic regions. Rampart also brings long-standing relationships with key clients in the energy and infrastructure sector. “Rampart is poised for significant growth in the utility, renewables, and pipeline sector driven by rising demand for power and support from Federal and State clean energy policies,” said Christopher Vincze, chairman and CEO of TRC. “With this acquisition, we are well positioned to capitalize on additional investment in the power and energy markets.”
VHB expands coastal engineering with two acquisitions
In a strategic move to expand coastal engineering, VHB (Watertown, Mass.) has joined forces with two firms: Waterway Surveys & Engineering (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Harbor Engineering (Barrington, R.I.). The strengthened team is positioned for new development projects, shore protection, and aging coastal infrastructure improvements. Founded in 1977, Waterway is a surveying, engineering, and environmental consulting firm specializing in marine environments. The firm’s 20 professionals cover hydrographic surveying, sediment investigations, dredging engineering and permitting, as well as beach nourishment and dune construction. Harbor’s track record in navigating channel improvements and marina and waterfront commercial development will bolster VHB’s ocean and waterfront engineering capabilities. VHB has more than 30 offices along the East Coast.
Brown and Caldwell partners with WUCA
Water Utility Climate Alliance (WUCA), a coalition of 12 of the nation’s largest water providers, has awarded $75,000 in funding to Brown and Caldwell (Walnut Creek, Calif.) to provide utilities with practical design guidance on how to build more climate-resilient water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure. Brown and Caldwell is providing an in-kind contribution of $244,000, bringing together planning, engineering, and design teams to support the project. Final guidance, which will be published in early 2026, will provide a matrix of projects, climate threats and adaptive measures for utilities to incorporate into their own engineering design work.
Jacobs wins O&M role at largest water recycling system in SoCal
Jacobs (Dallas) announced that the company has been awarded a five-year contract by the West Basin Municipal Water District to provide operations and maintenance (O&M) services for the Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility and its four other facilities, which comprise the largest water recycling operation of its kind in the United States. The Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility produces 40 million gallons per day and is the only treatment facility that produces five types of recycled water—for irrigation, cooling towers, seawater intrusion barriers, groundwater recharge, and low and high pressure boiler feeds. Jacobs will apply its Digital OneWater suite, in addition to Intelligent O&M, to optimize chemical and power consumption while improving sustainability and operational efficiencies
Pennoni acquires MV Engineering
Pennoni (Philadelphia, Pa.), a multidisciplinary engineering firm, announced the purchase of engineering consultancy MV Engineering LLC (Cape May Court House, N.J.). The strategic acquisition enhances Pennoni’s capabilities in site planning, wastewater management, and waterfront development while expanding its presence in southern New Jersey. Founded in 1980, MV Engineering’s portfolio includes projects such as sewer, water and stormwater drainage design, regulatory permitting services and soils testing. MV Engineering will operate as a division of Pennoni, and staff will move into Pennoni’s Cape May Court House office.
Record 597 GW of solar installed worldwide in 2024
According to a new report from SolarPower Europe (Munich, Germany), the world installed a record 597 GW of solar power in 2024 – a 33% surge over 2023. After crossing the milestone of 2 terawatts (TW) total solar in late 2024, the annual report predicts the world could install 1 TW of solar per year by the end of the decade. While solar power continues to grow globally, its distribution remains highly concentrated and uneven. In 2024, China added 329 GW of solar capacity, accounting for 55% of global installations. India more than doubled its installations in 2024, adding 30.7 GW of new solar in 2024 compared to 12.5 GW in 2023. To meet India’s ambitious national renewable installation target of 500 GW by 2030, the country aims to add another 200 GW of solar within the next five years. Other regions contributed steady albeit less significant growth, with the Americas and Europe growing by 40% and 15%, respectively.
U.S. solar prospects tempered by policy uncertainty
“Bright skies are ahead for U.S. solar,” with average annual installations surpassing 40 GWdc through 2035, according to Wood Mackenzie, which forecasts the U.S. solar industry will add about 502 GWdc of capacity to the market in the next 10 years. However, policy uncertainty could significantly impact these projections. Speaking at Wood Mackenzie’s Solar and Energy Storage Summit, Sylvia Leyva Martinez, principal analyst of North America utility-scale solar, said: “Our forecasts show a potential 24% upside in the high scenario and a 25% downside in the low scenario compared to our base case. The future of the Inflation Reduction Act and other policy measures will play a key role in project materialization, and many things can change during this uncertain policy environment.”
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