Case Study 1

PBT Acquisitions, an affiliate of Environmental Operations, Inc. (EOI), purchased the former auto reclamation facility in Fairmont City, Illinois, acquiring all land, environmental liabilities and assets to facilitate closure through state regulatory agencies. The previous facility operators had improperly disposed of material in two onsite landfills. Due to its deep and trusted relationship with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), EOI negotiated an innovative and productive plan to address the environmental legacy issues associated with their landfills. 

EOI and its affiliate plan to re-process the materials from the older, unlined landfills using state-of-the-art equipment that will reduce the amount of material buried onsite and recover and return approximately 400,000 tons of metals into production. The remaining material will be placed into the newer permitted landfill, removing an environmental issue and satisfying the Illinois EPA.

Case Study 2

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) chose to relocate from South St. Louis, Missouri, to approximately 100 acres of mixed-use residential, commercial and industrial property near North St. Louis. While keeping the jobs in St. Louis is of vital importance to the city, presenting the NGA with a clean, construction-ready site is an expensive and formidable challenge on many levels. The city has engaged Environmental Operations, Inc. (EOI) to assist with this challenge.

Initially, EOI generated applications for the Brownfields Voluntary Cleanup Program (BVCP) and the Missouri Department of Economic Development’s (DED) Brownfield Tax Credit program, state programs that provide agency oversight of and fund the environmental cleanup. EOI also generated the risk management plan for BVCP, provided regulatory reporting and reimbursement requests for the DED tax credits and continues coordination with these agencies as needed.

EOI provided project management and oversight of the overall site remediation, abatement and demolition, including:

• Completion of numerous Asbestos, Lead and Phase II Assessments
• Preparation of bid documents
• Coordination with State and Federal partners (including MDNR, Region 7 EPA, USACE, USAF, Department of Defense, NGA)
• Coordination with local partners and community outreach
• Preparation of closure documentation
• Obtained Certificate of Completion

Case Study 3

Turning a negative into a positive in Madison County began in 2018 when Environmental Operations Inc’s (EOI) client (Environmental Risk Transfer (ERT)), took the title of Madison Mine from Anschutz Mining Corp, indemnifying the seller. The mine occupies approximately 1,800 acres in rural southeastern Missouri, in an area known as the “lead belt” in Madison County. 

Opened just as Missouri was becoming a state in 1820, the mine operated for about 150 years. In 1989 the site was declared a Superfund site by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), meaning an extensive effort would be needed for long-term sustainable and productive reuse.

In clearing the site, the tailings—mining refuse from a facility that had been mothballed for about 45 years—were found to contain cobalt and other minerals that can be sold. The mineral deposits in the tailings were enough to entice EOI to de-risk the site for their client, paving the way into a green economic opportunity. EOI assisted ERT in designing a comprehensive risk transfer program structured so that ERT would assume the financial risk for cost overruns arising from known conditions, as well as unexpected costs incurred because of unforeseen conditions. This arrangement indemnified the developer and was the mechanism that allowed the project to move forward.

ERT executed a consent order with the EPA initiating the extensive remediation efforts currently underway to restore the site and reduce the environmental risk. These efforts include beneficial reuse (i.e., processing tailings) and extensive capping of the site. EOI is working closely with the EPA and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to guide the remediation activities.