Success Speaks
Pulp & Paper Manufacturing Company Site Management Program
Challenge: A former wood treating facility hired an international consulting firm, who generated 200 tons of hazardous waste as part of a corrective action on the property. The client had to pay a large tax assessed by the State when the waste was disposed. EarthCon was hired to provide Site Management Program (SMP) services for the facility’s portfolio. These tasks included the management of a wide range of site portfolio issues to help the client stay in compliance, manage risks and allocate appropriate environmental reserve funds.
Approach: During the course of EarthCon’s Site Manager’s project review, he identified opportunities for savings in the State’s hazardous waste tax code. Additional research paid off when he discovered an exemption that afforded significant tax savings. After notifying the Department of Revenue personnel of the applicability of the exemption, the client’s consultant and the disposal firm who collected the taxes on behalf of the state were also informed.
Business Solution: EarthCon’s review helped the client immediately recover more than $8,000 in taxes that were mistakenly assessed. We implemented steps to help the client receive additional future tax reductions, estimated at an average annual savings of $5,000 to $10,000 over the course of the following five years.
International Manufacturing Company Site Management Program (SMP) Case Study
Challenge: A project manager for a large, international manufacturing company was seeking a means to reduce their management burden across a portfolio of closed landfill sites. Having overseen the management of these sites for several years, the client felt that all the cost savings had been captured by their current consultants, but decided to try EarthCon’s Site Services approach.
Business Solution: EarthCon transitioned the sites from multiple consultants and delivered nearly $60,000 in reduced annual costs during the first year under the SMP, with more savings opportunities still being evaluated and implemented. The client was delighted with EarthCon’s results and expressed that their expectations were exceeded. The program gave them more time to deal with higher priority matters now that their legacy sites were under a comprehensive management program that produced real savings and maintained compliance.
Forest Products Company SMP Case Study
Challenge: The client was seeking a way to reduce the reserves and management commitments he was carrying for a portfolio of sites. The most important criterion in his selection process was the ability to reduce the costs of managing these sites while maintaining compliance. His portfolio included closed industrial waste landfills, active and closed wood treating facilities, an active resin manufacturing plant and an active paper mill. The sites had a variety of soil and groundwater contamination issues. There were state and Federal agency requirements for long-term monitoring, reporting and inspections under hazardous waste, solid waste, and petroleum-release remediation regulations. In addition, a number of sites had remediation systems in place using a range of treatment technologies.
Business Solution: For the past nine years, EarthCon has been managing these sites, and every year the cumulative costs have decreased while handling all site requirements at times including scope increases. During 2010, the client’s project costs were reduced by $201,000 (10.16%). In 2009, EarthCon’s Site Management Program reduced the client’s costs by $195,000 (9.57%).
Wood Treating Facilities SMP Case Study
Challenge: A multi-national company was concerned about increasing costs of operations and maintenance and vendor relationships at several routine remediation sites. Faced with budget cutbacks and staff overload, the company turned to EarthCon for help to identify and implement savings in management, reporting and O&M costs. At the same time, focus was needed to maintain continued compliance and optimize the long-term effectiveness of remedial systems at two (2) active and four (4) closed wood preserving facilities. Complicating matters, five (5) of the six (6) sites had antiquated groundwater remediation systems dating back to the 1980s.
Business Solution: EarthCon’s Site Management Program provided a number of short- and long-term business solutions, resulting in a cumulative cost savings of $7.4 million within seven (7) years. Some of these initiatives included permit reviews that led to reductions in sampling and analytical requirements, while meeting compliance requirements; successful negotiations with regulatory agencies and reducing vendor and supplier costs by uncovering volume discount opportunities. All of which were eagerly embraced by our client.
Public Sector Agency Remediation Services Program
Challenge: A government agency was tasked to find a remedial solution for an orphan site with highly contaminated soil and groundwater. The pressing issue was the site location, a rural area of the state that did not have access to three-phase power. The client turned to EarthCon based on its reputation to design a cost-effective treatment system on limited power that could meet stringent cleanup standards.
Business Solution: Within the client’s 90-day timeframe, EarthCon designed a system specifically for the site’s geology utilizing custom made components that ran on single phase power. The design/build system was completed in EarthCon’s facility. The plans were reviewed by the regulators and met scope of work and install date requirements. The projected cleanup timeframe was 18 to 24 months. Based upon the cleanup results in the first six months, a 15% reduction in overall costs is projected versus traditional methods.
