Synergistic Energy Deliverables and Environmental Management
Cohesive Solution Lessens Environmental Impact of Energy Production
At EARTHRES we leverage our deep understanding of both the technical and environmental impacts of energy production and delivery to produce deliverables and results for our clients. At many engineering and consulting firms the services are technically-focused and executed without environmental input, or, the environmental aspects are dealt with by a separate environmentally-focused firm. EARTHRES links the environmental aspects and the engineering and design aspects into one workable deliverable using one cohesive in-house project team.
Construction Monitoring Services
Energy Services at EARTHRES provides the entire slate of pre-construction, construction, and post-construction monitoring activities for energy projects. This includes energy-related environmental services and activities as:
- Conceptual Layouts and Site/Route Selection – Decisions made in the early stages of an energy-related project related to siting, route selection, and equipment can have significant cost and schedule implications throughout the project. EARTHRES can help you understand and quantify these implications in the project’s conceptual stage, allowing you to make the best decisions for your situation.
- Permitting – Once the site and/or route is selected and the initial engineering and design is progressing, permitting takes center stage. See our Energy Facilities Permitting page for information on how EARTHRES can support your project permitting needs.
- Engineering, Equipment and Materials Selection, and Design – Once the initial engineering is largely complete and permitting is in full swing, detailed engineering, and design proceeds. Our energy facilities experience allows us to recommend or select equipment and materials that will:
- Meet permit requirements
- Minimize initial investment, operating, and maintenance costs
- Install with minimum environmental footprint and disruption
- Operate in accordance with operating permit requirements, and
- Achieve all environmental goals for the project.
Construction Quality Assurance and Inspection
Whether your project involves the construction of a cross-country pipeline or additions inside the fence of an existing facility, construction usually begins by identifying the Limits of Disturbance (LOD) and installing environmental controls.
The LOD are usually established on paper by a team consisting of pipeline and/or facility design engineers, construction experts, environmental permitting personnel, right-of-way personnel, and perhaps others. For a pipeline project this team possesses the knowledge needed to know when a pipeline construction corridor needs to be increased or decreased in width, where additional temporary workspace will be needed, e.g. at road crossings, adjacent to wetland and waterbody crossings, and where construction personnel, equipment, and material staging areas need to be established.
For a facility project, this team possesses the knowledge needed to know how large a site must be to accommodate the finished facility as well as where additional temporary workspace will be needed for equipment and material storage, and locations for permanent stormwater management basins and other environmental features. EARTHRES’ engineering, design, construction, and environmental personnel can support the project planning needed to establish the LOD on paper as well as laying out the LOD in the field.
Environmental controls are typically identified in the Erosion and Sediment Control Plan (ESCP) document. Erosion, stormwater management, sediment control, and the maintenance and reporting associated with these functions are typically significant activities on pipeline and facility construction projects. Knowing where and how to employ erosion and sediment control devices such as silt fence, super silt fence, trench breakers, silt socks, dewatering devices, straw bale diversions, temporary and permanent seed mixtures, and a host of other soil stabilization methods is critical to effective erosion and sediment control. EARTHRES’ environmental permitting & compliance team has the first-hand knowledge to develop effective erosion mitigation and sediment control procedures. Our environmental monitoring and reporting team can assist or manage these activities as required by your specific ESCP permit(s).
Either full service or specific components, EARTHRES can prepare the ESCP document on the project’s front end, and oversee the installation of the environmental controls to ensure as-designed performance. See our Energy Facilities Oil & Gas Construction Engineering Support & Inspection page for information on how EARTHRES can support your project’s needs.
Ongoing Operation and Maintenance
As construction winds down and the new project transfers from commissioning to operation, the operating permit requirements move to the forefront. There may also be post-construction requirements in the construction permits that need to be satisfied to achieve full, unrestricted operation. For example, exhaust emissions testing, sound level surveys, and wetland replacement requirements may all be part of the environmental permits to allow construction. EARTHRES is here to assist with executing these and other follow-up tests and inspections. Additionally, EARTHRES provides ongoing, day-to-day on-site field environmental services such as stormwater sampling, analysis, and release recommendations, wetland delineation and monitoring, erosion and sediment control monitoring and reporting, and a host of other active construction and restoration site environmental services.
Upstream, Midstream, or Downstream. Conventional or Unconventional production. Regulated or Unregulated. EARTHRES works across the environmental spectrum in all of these operating arenas. Let us put our diversity of experience and approach to work for your energy environmental services needs.
