EBI News for September 10, 2025 – Jacobs and Dragos collaborate on cybersecurity
EBI News for September 10, 2025 – The following news section contains the latest stories for the environmental industry. Including, Jacobs and Dragos collaborate on cybersecurity, acquisitions, and more!
LaBella acquires Environmental Assessment & Remediations
LaBella Associates (Rochester, N.Y.), an international architecture, engineering, environmental and planning firm, announced the acquisition of Environmental Assessment & Remediations (EAR, Suffolk County, N.Y.), a hydrologic and environmental consultancy. The acquisition expands LaBella’s presence on Long Island and strengthens its environmental capabilities—particularly in the brownfield and commercial real estate sectors. Since 1986, EAR has built a reputation for highly technical environmental services to a diverse client base, ranging from site investigation, drilling, and injection to remediation system design and installation, analytical reporting, and operations and maintenance. All 34 EAR employees will join LaBella.
AECOM to provide services for microreactor deployment
AECOM (Dallas) has been selected by NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (New York, N.Y.) to provide engineering, environmental, and regulatory services to support the construction permit application for the KRONOS MMR, a next-generation microreactor designed to provide clean, resilient energy at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Initial activities include technical feasibility studies, environmental assessments, permitting and licensing support, and coordination with regulatory agencies. The project is expected to serve as a national demonstration of microreactor deployment on a university campus, offering a model for future applications across academic, commercial, and defense sectors.
Environ Energy expands national footprint
Sustainable energy solutions firm Environ Energy (New York, N.Y.) announced the acquisition of CSD Energy Advisors (Houston), an energy management and advisory firm. The deal brings nearly 1,000 new clients to Environ, including Fortune 500 companies and three of the largest industrial energy consumers in Texas. CSD Energy Advisors specializes in energy procurement, demand response, and energy storage. This marks Environ’s eighth acquisition in five years and its second in 2025 backed by private equity partner 424 Capital. Environ Energy acquired energy advisory firm Rapid Power Management in May.
Jacobs and Dragos collaborate on cybersecurity
Jacobs (Dallas) and industrial cybersecurity firm Dragos (Hanover, Md.) are working together to help protect small and medium-sized water utilities in the United States from cyber threats. Jacobs will deploy Dragos’ industrial cybersecurity platform alongside its own consulting services to help utilities improve their defenses against increasingly sophisticated attacks. The effort is focused on utilities that often lack the budget or in-house expertise to address vulnerabilities in their operational technology systems. The initiative leverages Dragos’ Community Defense Program, which offers no-cost software and services to water and electric utilities with annual revenues under $100 million. The collaboration comes as federal agencies raise concerns about vulnerabilities in the water sector.
TRC acquires Strategic Energy Group
TRC Companies Inc. (Windsor, Conn.) acquired Strategic Energy Group (SEG, Portland, Ore.), a specialist in strategic energy management. SEG has implemented customized energy management solutions at more than 1,000 commercial sites and factories in North America and brings a strong roster of clients to TRC. “Strategic Energy Group empowers utilities and businesses to capitalize on energy efficiency as a source of competitive advantage,” said Christopher Vincze, TRC’s chairman and CEO. “SEG delivers measurable savings, eliminates tons of CO2 in lifetime emissions, and helps companies build a culture of long-term sustainable performance.”
ERM to develop low-carbon roadmap for fertilizer industry
ERM (London, UK) has been commissioned by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Fertilizer Assn. to develop a low-carbon roadmap for the global potash and phosphate fertilizer industry. With support from Systemiq (London, UK), the roadmap will help suppliers of potash and phosphate fertilizers to support food security while managing impact on local environments and global emissions. The roadmap has direct relevance for EBRD countries – including Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Jordan – where phosphate and potash industries are central to growth and employment.
Moleaer and Xylem partner on nanobubble technology
Nanobubble technology firm Moleaer (Hawthorne, Calif.) announced a partnership with Xylem Inc. (Washington, D.C.) to scale its patented technology for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants worldwide. The partnership includes a global distribution agreement and a strategic investment in Moleaer. This follows successful deployments at wastewater treatment facilities, including the Maple Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Greer, S.C., where Moleaer’s technology significantly decreased the need for settling aid and defoaming chemicals. This resulted in significant savings in chemical costs, improved plant performance, and stronger compliance with discharge permits without infrastructure upgrades or major operational changes. “What we saw at Greer, and at other wastewater treatment plants that have adopted Moleaer’s nanobubble generators, makes nanobubble technology one of the most compelling innovations in water treatment today,” said Xylem Vice President Scott Holzborn.
Coastal wetlands generate $90 million annually for Virginia communities
A new study led by William & Mary’s Batten School and Virginia Institute of Marine Science shows that tidal marshes, including both natural wetlands and man-made living shorelines, generate approximately $90 million annually in economic value for communities across Virginia’s Middle Peninsula. Published in the journal Nature-Based Solutions, the study combined ecological data, spatial modeling, economic valuation and stakeholder surveys to assess current and projected benefits of marsh ecosystems. Economic valuations from the study were used to develop an online Shoreline Benefit Estimation Tool (SHORE-BET) to estimate the economic benefits of marshes and living shoreline projects.
Stantec partners with Pacific Clean Fuels
Stantec (Edmonton, Canada) is partnering with Pacific Clean Fuels, a subsidiary of capital equipment company The Papé Group (Eugene, Ore.), to develop hydrogen fueling throughout California. Stantec will deliver a comprehensive suite of services, including early-stage planning, permitting, and detailed design and engineering. The partnership will leverage Stantec’s proprietary ZEVDecide technology to identify optimal locations for developing hydrogen infrastructure. ZEVDecide helps support the adoption of zero emission vehicles (ZEV) by simplifying infrastructure integration, from optimizing EV charging infrastructure to modeling fleets and designing facilities. Pacific Clean Fuels’ core mission is building the infrastructure essential for zero-emission vehicles, with a focus on California.
Ardurra acquires J.R. Wauford & Company
Civil engineering firm Ardurra Group Inc. (Miami, Fla.) has acquired the water and wastewater engineering specialist J.R. Wauford & Company, Consulting Engineers Inc. (Nashville, Tenn.). The acquisition strengthens Ardurra’s reach across Tennessee and the surrounding region. Founded in 1956, J.R. Wauford is known for planning, consulting, design, and construction services across all phases of water and wastewater systems. With additional offices in Jackson and Maryville, the firm has nearly 70 years of experience serving municipalities and utilities. Morrissey Goodale initiated the transaction and advised Ardurra.
GZA expands construction expertise with Siefert Associates
GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc. (Norwood, Mass.), a firm providing geotechnical, environmental, ecological, water, and construction management services, has purchased assets of Siefert Associates LLC (Watertown, Conn.), a national construction-engineering firm with offices in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. Siefert Associates’ employees have become employees of GZA. Founded in 2000, Siefert Associates has grown into a leading construction-engineering firm in the New York City area and further afield. “Siefert Associates’ portfolio strongly complements GZA’s existing Contractor Services practice” and creates new opportunities “to even better serve our Contractor clients and the infrastructure market,” GZA CEO Patrick Sheehan said. GZA is an employee-owned firm with more than 800 professionals in 35 offices across the United States.
EA awarded New Mexico uranium mine reclamation contract
EA (Hunt Valley, Md.) has been selected for a four-year, $6.5 million professional services contract under New Mexico’s Abandoned Uranium Mine Reclamation Program. The contract is administered by the New Mexico Environmental Department. EA will lead environmental site assessment, cleanup, and closure of the abandoned Schmitt Decline Uranium Mine near Milan, N.M.—the first abandoned mine to move forward under the state’s new program. “EA leveraged its hard rock mine reclamation experience to lead one of the initial three uranium mine reclamation projects under the new contract,” said Jay Snyder, vice president at EA. “We are honored to be among the firms selected to implement this important work.” New Mexico is home to hundreds of abandoned uranium mines.
MIT takes recycle-first approach to batteries
Researchers at MIT have developed a new kind of self-assembling EV battery material that quickly breaks apart when submerged in a simple organic liquid, according to MIT News. In a paper published in Nature Chemistry, the research team showed the new material can work as the electrolyte in a functioning, solid-state battery cell and then revert back to its original molecular components in minutes. For the new electrolyte material, the researchers turned to a class of molecules that self-assemble in water, named aramid amphiphiles, whose chemical structures and stability mimic Kevlar. The approach offers an alternative to shredding batteries into a mixed, hard-to-recycle mass. Instead, because the electrolyte serves as the battery’s connecting layer, when the new material returns to its original molecular form, the entire battery disassembles to accelerate the recycling process.
Solar and storage dominate power additions
According to the Solar Energy Industries Assn. (SEIA), the U.S. solar industry installed nearly 18 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity in the first half of 2025, accounting for 82% of all new power added to the grid in the first six months of the Trump Administration. However, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and recent actions targeting solar have significantly reduced deployment forecasts, SEIA reported. The low-case forecast in U.S. Solar Market Insight Q3 2025 by SEIA and Wood Mackenzie warns that these policies put the United States at risk of losing 44 GW of solar deployment by 2030, an 18% decline. Comparing this forecast to pre-HR1 forecasts, the U.S. is at risk of losing a total of 55 GW of solar deployment by 2030, a 21% decline.
Marstel-Day named to Inc. 5000
Marstel-Day (Fredericksburg, Va.) announced that it has been named on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies in the United States. For firms providing environmental services with over $10 million in annual revenue, Marstel-Day ranked No. 15, and was in the top five for firms providing environmental planning and sustainability services. Marstel-Day was recognized for strong growth over the past three years of just over 100%, due entirely to organic growth resulting from new contract awards with the Department of Defense and Department of Interior. Key growth areas included ecosystem restoration, coastal resilience, NEPA, cultural resources, master planning, encroachment, asset management, and landscape conservation planning services. In April 2025, Marstel-Day received a Business Achievement award for growth from Environmental Business Journal.
Walsh and Carollo support water treatment plant expansion
The City of Edmond, Okla., in partnership with The Walsh Group (Chicago, Ill.) and Carollo Engineers (Walnut Creek, Calif.), is expanding the Arcadia Lake Water Treatment Plant. Originally built in the 1980s, the plant currently delivers 12 million gallons of water per day but will be expanded to treat up to 50 million gallons daily. One of the project’s notable features is a new granular activated carbon (GAC) filter building designed to enhance water quality and help remove contaminants like PFAS. Additional upgrades include a high-lift pump station equipped with 15 pumps and capacity for future expansion, as well as a dedicated recycle pump station to enhance operational efficiency. Construction began in 2022 and is scheduled for completion in 2026.
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