Environmental Services

Successful projects require proper management control systems to assure that tasks are completed in a safe, cost effective, and timely manner.

Experience is important. Our principal members have conducted over 200+ investigations and remedial actions involving soil, water, and air media throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Brownfields has merged a wealth of experience and skill into a company that has earned a distinguished reputation as a trusted consulting firm.

Health and safety is priority number one for Brownfields. We recognize that our employees are our most valuable assets and make every effort to provide them with the skills, knowledge, and equipment necessary to protect them on the job. Our commitment to safety is the way we do business.

The expectation of our management and our clients is that we operate in a manner that protects our project team, property, and reputation as well as the assets of our clients. Whether they involve harm to people or the environment, damage to property, or loss of a process, accidents are costly and can have a significant impact on our employees, subcontractors, clients and public image, as well as project cost and schedule.

Brownfields has a comprehensive health and safety program which has been developed to meet or exceed federal and state OSHA requirements as well as other applicable regulatory standards.

Site Investigation

Brownfields excels in conducting cost-effective and defensible site characterizations utilizing both intrusive and non-intrusive investigative techniques. Our experience spans a wide variety of atmospheric, aqueous, and geologic media at a substantial array of industrial, commercial and government properties.

Brownfields has conducted numerous site investigations, ranging from individual pre-acquisition assessments to complex multimedia characterizations at large industrial complexes. Regardless of the project size, Brownfields assembles the appropriate project team and characterization protocols to efficiently and cost-effectively collect, analyze, and interpret a representative data set. Brownfields provides an effective conceptual plan which encompasses a client’s business interests and site end use consideration.

Our emphasis is to determine the client’s goals at the very outset, so our focus and strategy reflects their issues. These may be schedule, price, managing the risk of off-site migration, or a myriad of other concerns.

Preliminary Assessment / Site Investigation
Remedial Investigations and Feasibility Studies
Resource Evaluations
Real Property Services / Due Diligence
Litigation Support
Risk Management and Site Rankings for Clients with Multiple Sites/Limited Funds
UST Removal/Closure
UST Fund Reimbursement
Monitoring Programs
Geophysical Studies
Soil and Groundwater Sampling

Remediation

Brownfields has developed an innovative approach to identifying and implementing the most efficient and appropriate remedial solutions. This approach focuses on satisfying our clients’ overall business objectives while accommodating the unique hydrogeologic environment of each site. In addition to providing appropriate and cost-effective remedial solutions, Brownfields acts as a technical advocate for our clients in negotiating practicalremedial goals and cleanup levels. This focus on closing the gap between practical and overly protective remedial standards has saved our clients millions of dollars on cleanup projects.

On complex and multi-site projects, Brownfields works with many clients to establish and implement consistent characterization and remediation strategies, resulting in lower overall levels of effort, while accomplishing multiple objectives. Key elements of this strategy include simplifying overall program management, prioritizing projects and negotiating universal remediation goals, managing subcontractors, and helping clients reduce the overall number and effort of contractors and consultants involved in a project.

Treatability Studies
Innovative Technology Selection and Design
Removal and Interim Action
Regulatory Negotiation
Remedial Design
Risk Assessments
Remedial Systems, Operation and Maintenance
Remedial System Installation
Cost Allocation / Cost Recovery
Community Relation

Brownfields has provided design-build remedial services on a number of industrial, commercial, and municipal projects, including RCRA corrective action sites, brownfields and voluntary cleanup program sites, and underground storage tank (UST) sites. Our experience in the application of risk-based methods, depth of recognized scientific expertise, skills with a range of remediation methods, and in-house remedial construction expertise allows Brownfields to rise above the competition.

Surface & Groundwater Hydrogeology

Brownfields’ team of expert engineers and hydrogeologists use a goal-oriented approach and state-of-the art surface and groundwater modeling technologies to deliver innovative hydrogeologic solutions. Our technicalapproach creates avenues of negotiation for RCRA, CERCLA and other regulated clients. Our tactics for successful hydrogeologic investigation and site conceptualization of the subsurface are essential to facility siting, permitting, remediation, due diligence, water supply and other regulatory compliance programs.

Brownfields’ hydrogeologists have extensive experience with data collection, evaluation, interpretation methodologies and site conceptualization; numerical and analytical modeling techniques; and clear and concise presentation and document preparation. Our accurate and defensible hydrogeologic investigations are often stand-alone studies or form the critical investigative foundation for our cost-effective and innovative permitting and remediation approaches.

Surface Water Studies
Water Resource Investigation
Contaminant Flow and Transport
Wetlands Investigation
Groundwater Modeling
Water Reuse and Aquifer Recharge
Contaminant Modeling
Watershed Studies

Regulatory Compliance and Permitting

Brownfields has extensive experience in planning and implementing strategies resulting in rapid regulatory acceptance at low cost. We use our detailed understanding of the regulatory framework and compliance requirements to prepare federal, state, and local permit applications covering hazardous substances, water and wastewater, solid wastes, and air emissions. Permitting and compliance issues can be complex and expensive; however, Brownfields experienced staff has assisted clients in developing flexible yet effective compliant strategies.

Brownfields is particularly adept at formulating productive partnering relationships with our clients and regulatory agencies to positively affect the compliance and permitting processes. The benefits of this proactive partnership include streamlining the permitting process and substantially reducing administrative fees and fines associated with noncompliance events. In addition, Brownfields has developed approaches to assist our clients in responding to the environmental requirements of the new All Appropriate Inquiry rule, and other newly adopted laws, rules and regulations.

Compliance Assessments and Audits
Environmental Siting
Due Diligence and Transactional Services (Phase I / II ESAs)
Health and Safety
Environmental Permitting
NPDES / SWPPP / TRI
Air Quality
EIA/EIS
SPCC

Solid Waste Management

The challenges of managing solid waste are as diverse as the complexity of the subsurface conditions and compounded by the range of economic, political, and regulatory concerns. Brownfields has worked at acquiring the complete range of knowledge and skills necessary to meet these challenges. We provide full-service environmental engineering and consulting work on solid waste management projects for clients in the private, public, and governmental sectors. Due to the depth of Brownfields scientific and technical expertise, we are able to negotiate with regulators in a spirit of mutual respect, achieving optimum benefits for clients under environmental guidelines. Our capabilities range from initial facility planning and siting activities through concept design, preparation of construction plans and specifications, permitting, and construction observation and certification, as well as ongoing operational consultation. Areas of expertise include Landfill Design and Construction; Remediation and Closure; Recycling, Composting and Transfer Stations; and Management and Planning.

Landfill Permitting
Leachate Treatment
Landfill Gas Recovery and Reuse
Site Investigation and Feasibility Studies
Post-Closure Monitoring
Regulatory Interface
Integrated Waste Management Plans
Vendor Procurement
Community Relations
Remedial Design
Groundwater Studies

Acquisition and Divestiture of Environmentally Impacted Property

Environmentally impacted properties have traditionally been avoided by real estate developers because of real or perceived legal liabilities associated with them. But state-level environmental reforms, in conjunction with a more flexible federal regulatory environment, are reducing environmental liability for industry and negating the fear of future cleanup liability, thereby encouraging redevelopment of environmentally impacted properties. Brownfields property acquisition and divestiture team has extensive experience in plant closure, regulatory agency negotiation, and construction management. This experience translates into cost-effective approaches to property redevelopment.

Brownfields remediation and decommissioning experience with contaminated industrial properties provides unique opportunities to build equity in contaminated real estate through cleanup and redevelopment. With encouragement from state and federal regulatory agencies to renew brownfield sites, environmentally impacted properties can now be successfully redeveloped, turning non-performing assets into successful investment opportunities.