Environmental Sector Weathers Downturn With Influx of Dollars

Availability of stimulus, municipal funds bolsters market

By Bruce Buckley
This article originally appeared on enr.com

...treatment plants and convey it to Lake Mead through an outfall for deepwater discharge. To take advantage of a 400-ft drop in elevation between the plant and Lake Mead, B&V is designing a small hydroelectric plant that will generate up to 16 MW of electricity from effluent used as a power source.

Black & Veatch also is working with the Philadelphia Water Dept. on a strategic energy plan to develop opportunities for micro hydropower, biogas and solar photovoltaic installations at three of its water-treatment plants. Robert Bailey, president of the water business group at CH2M-Hill, Englewood, Colo., also sees demand for sustainable solutions from its clients.

“Utilities are more sensitive, and facilities need to be designed more efficiently in anticipation of the impacts of carbon legislation and climate change,” he says. “The emphasis on renewable energy in the stimulus package is already accelerating how utilities think about those issues.”

As part of a water-management plan it is developing for the Lower Colorado River Authority in San Antonio, Texas, CH2MHill is modeling the potential impacts of climate change scenarios and how they would affect future operations.

CH2M Hill is also working with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, examining greenhouse-gas emissions at its facilities and developing a conceptual carbon-sequestration plan. Measuring the six gases covered by the Kyoto Protocols, the company prepared an inventory for all MMSD facilities and evaluated carbon credits for the Greenseams Program, a flood management program that involves purchasing undeveloped, privately owned land in areas expected to experience major growth over the next 20 years. The plan calls for the land to remain undeveloped.

Environmental Cleanup

While water projects continue to roll out, designers see a mixed bag of opportunities in areas of cleanup and compliance. The economic downturn has significantly reduced demand among private-sector clients; owners and developers have shelved plans for new facilities, say John Mogge, senior vice president in CH2M Hill’s environmental services business group. “We don’t see redevelopment of brown fields these days,” he says.

Federally funded cleanup projects have received a big boost from the ARRA recovery package. The Dept of Energy received $6 billion for existing nuclear cleanup projects. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has another $700 million for Superfund cleanup work.

Nearly $2 billion in funding will go to the Hanford site in Washington state, including $1.3 billion for CH2M Hill’s Central Plateau remediation work. CH2M Hill was awarded a five year contract with a five-year option in June 2008 to lead the $4.5-billion Central Plateau project. San Francisco-based Bechtel and URS are among other major companies involved in Hanford work.

CH2M Hill continues to receive funding for Superfund work, including a $110-million contract awarded in October 2008 for cleanup of the Iron Mountain Mine site in Redding, Calif. The project also was granted additional ARRA funding of $15 million to $25 million to speed the cleanup.

“The whole nature of this market is a little bit insulated and less impacted [than] traditional sectors,” Mogge says. “The requirements for these cleanups are pretty definitive and timely. They need timely solutions. These cleanups, whether it is for air, water or earth, have to proceed. This isn’t a fad or a trend or something unique to a particular administration.”

The Top 25 In sewerage and solid waste
Rank*	Firm
1	CH2M HILL
2	MWH Global
3	AECOM Technology Corp.
4	CDM
5	Black & Veatch
6	URS Corp.
7	HDR
8	Jacobs
9	Malcolm Pirnie Inc.
10	Brown and Caldwell
11	Tetra Tech Inc.
12	Louis Berger Group
13	Carollo Engineers PC
14	SCS Engineers
15	Hazen and Sawyer PC
16	The PBSJ Corp.
17	Stantec Inc.
18	Hatch Mott MacDonald
19	AMEC
20	Parsons
21	Jordan, Jones & Goulding
22	DLZ Corp.
23	Kennedy/Jenks Consultants
24	GeoSyntec Consultants
25	Woodard & Curran
*Based on 2008 design revenue from sewerage and solid waste as reported in enr’s survey of leading contractors and design firms.

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