Remediation

Environmental remediation is complex. Every environmentally impacted site is different, so your site remediation approach must uniquely address your legacy site issues or recent incidents.

We bring clarity and certainty by developing solutions that address your site’s unique conditions and objectives. Our focus is on providing remediation investigation, characterization, design, execution and site closure that is cohesive and comprehensive. As a multidisciplinary engineering firm, we provide remediation solutions for projects from the small and simple to the large and complex.

Our Progressive Remediation Strategies (PROGRESS) approach applies next-generation technologies and practices to the remediation of complex contaminated sites. PROGRESS addresses the inherent uncertainties of remediation — including unseen subsurface conditions — by emphasizing the site geologic model and quantification of subsurface processes that drive remediation performance. The PROGRESS approach delivers focused, cost-effective remedies that produce predictable results.

Our site remediation capabilities range from construction-intensive facility decommissioning and demolition and former manufactured gas plant (MGP) site remediation to passive in situ groundwater remediation and monitored natural attenuation. We are industry leaders in vapor intrusion characterization and mitigation, risk assessment, and regulatory negotiation and provide environmental emergency response services to address the most challenging, high-risk incidents.

Our team also has extensive experience assisting power generation utilities with the environmental aspects of coal combustion residuals (CCR) management, including hydrogeologic site investigations, groundwater monitoring, modeling and analysis, and corrective action and evaluation. Our experience also includes comprehensive services for the study, permitting, design and construction of utility waste landfills, including facility life evaluations, disposal alternatives, ash utilization and ash handling.

Building a Strong Foundation for Your Remediation Plan

We begin with the end in mind for seamless regulatory risk management, cost savings and expedited site closure. Your objectives guide us in evaluating risk and cost/benefit and developing strategies for regulatory negotiations and site management. Depending your objectives and risk profile, we can respond aggressively or consider passive, low-cost remedies as preferred alternatives to costly remedial actions.

Unforeseen costs are a common challenge facing remediation programs. We incorporate your business priorities into every stage of the remediation process and leverage our extensive engineering and estimating resources to accurately project costs. With our PROGRESS approach to complex site remediation, our technical teams focus on the site conditions and processes that pose the greatest uncertainty and cost risk, dramatically improving the cost-efficiency and certainty of the chosen solution. When necessary, we implement probabilistic cost forecasting to yield a more complete picture of the estimated cost range, as well as evaluate the likelihood of exceeding a particular cost point. We apply this robust tool to help clarify the uncertainty inherent in environmental remediation, boosting your budget confidence.

Evaluating the Path Forward

Our PROGRESS approach delivers focused remediation solutions that leverage the unique characteristics of your site, aiming to reduce uncertainty, deliver lower risk and cost, and support precise, predictable results. Key components of our process include:

• Site investigation and characterization. We leverage existing site data and the latest investigation technologies to focus the site characterization approach and optimize data collection. This helps satisfy regulatory requirements, support effective remedy selection and optimize return on investment. We achieve balance by targeting investigation efforts using a superior conceptual site model (CSM), contaminant-specific direct sensing technologies, and physical and geophysical techniques.
• Feasibility evaluations. A robust evaluation of remedial technologies and strategies helps identify the solutions that are implementable, effective and economical for your site. This evaluation follows the site investigation and calibration of the CSM, and it provides increased certainty when planning remediation and forecasting costs.
• Risk assessments. Critical to the cost and outcome of your remediation project, our risk assessments shed light on strategies that protect human health and ecological receptors while minimizing remediation obligations and costs. Our work — including Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA); Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); and state-defined risk assessments, ecological surveys and environmental assessments — is nationally recognized for withstanding scrutiny from regulatory agencies. We leverage our strong relationships and reputation to support your negotiating position.
• Regulatory negotiation and consulting. We help you navigate the regulatory process should a potentially responsible party (PRP) be identified. Our professionals develop strategies that can result in a more favorable outcome, potentially averting a lengthy, complex and costly process. We assist with practical steps that manage your risk profile and help you avoid common mistakes.

Executing & Evolving Remediation Solutions

Our consulting, environmental engineering and geology, environmental construction, and remediation services are fully integrated and can be implemented through your preferred project delivery method: engineer-procure-construct (EPC)/design-build; design-bid-build; owner’s engineer; construction management; or program management.

Throughout the course of your site remediation project, we deliver ongoing services that address your specific needs, including:

• Remedy execution and construction. Successfully implementing your remediation project necessitates a design and construction team that fosters innovative solutions amid complex site conditions, persistent contaminants and challenging regulatory climates — while maintaining an unwavering focus on safety. We are your integrated, single source of responsibility, from planning and permitting through site restoration and closure.
• System optimization and remedy transition. Over time, remediation systems operate at varying degrees of efficiency. New technologies may be more effective than a solution that had been ideal at the time of installation. Remediation sites can often be candidates for cost-saving optimization strategies or transition to more passive remedies. This can reduce costs and result in a safer, more sustainable remedy that expedites site closure. We provide in-depth analysis of system performance, evaluate performance-impeding subsurface conditions, and develop measures that can maximize contaminant removal and reduce costs.