Verdant Energi and Environment LLC
Evergreen, United States

With the abundance of readily available data at our fingertips and powerful analytical methods, the challenge for today's environmental and engineering consulting firms is the development and application of novel solutions to our clients' problems. It doesn't matter if the problem is as small as residential slope failure or as large as a municipal landfill closure- these problems are best addressed with a combination of today's state of the art tools and sound experience.

Verdant Energi and Environment LLC was formed to do just that.

In 2002, after a number of years in enviromental and engineering consulting, Stuart and Linda Edwards, the founders of VE&E, broke away from traditional career paths to explore new opportunites in their fields. This has evolved into a boutique practice where the focus is on adding value to each client's project.

VE&E provides a range of environmental consulting services including:

• CERCLA Litigation Support
• Karst groundwater monitoring studies
• Environmental and Health and Safety Audits and Corporate Action Plan preparation for the IFC, World Bank Group
• Environmental Impact Assessments in accordance with EU and Croatian environmental regulations.
• Analyses of subsurface contamination and feasibility design
• Evaluations of environmental aspects of offshore gas field development (N. Adriatic)
• Evaluation of environmental aspects of ferrochrome slag mining and processing (Dalmatia)

 

VE&E's geotechnical experience ranges from private resident slope stability investigations and remedial design to municipal landfill design.  This work has included the application of GIS to various geotechnical projects. A sample of VE&E's experience includes:

• Assisted counsel in the resolution of a liability claim relating to the failure of a highway embankment in West Virginia.
• Slope failure investigation and remediation design for several private residences Hamilton County, Ohio, including the preparation of county Earthwork Permit applications.
• Geotechnical explorations for various bridge foundations in Ohio and Kentucky as a consultant to an Ohio-based engineering company.
• Geotechnical investigations for various proposed sewer projects in Ohio as a consultant to an Ohio-based engineering company.
• Municipal landfill design and closure design for several facilities in Croatia.
• Provision of civil engineering services for the development of the new Mariscina regional landfill (Croatia).

VE&E maintains authorization for engineering practice in Ohio and Kentucky, while Mr. Edwards is licensed in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

The use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has revolutionized how businesses analyze data today, and its use in environmental and engineering consulting is no exception. To provide VE&E's client with rapid and comprehensive analysis, VE&E has integrated GIS into its practice. Below are a few examples of VE&E's GIS integration.

Superfund Site - Residential Subdivision Contamination Investigation. VE&E was retained for geo-environmental litigation support by legal cousel representing homeowners of the affected subdivision from contamination (primarly lead) from a former skeet shooting range. GIS was used to analyze data from AutoCAD drawings, environmental sample locations and actual analytical results, historic aerial photographs and maps showing former shooting pads and bunkers. GRASS allowed these data to be superimposed and helped depict locations of illegal burial areas and the extent of lead contamination in the subdivision.Contamination Investigation of Pharmaceutical Plant Site near Zagreb, Croatia. VE&E was retained by Ecoina, d.o.o. of Zagreb to provide environmental consulting services in their contamination investigation. It was determined through several years of groundwater monitoring that groundwater has been impacted by operations at the plant. The movement of these contaminants (including ethylene dichloride and chloroform) was visually displayed and analyzed using GRASS GIS.Preliminary Desktop Study of Copper Reserves (Middle East location) Readily available mineral data for the area was mostly in the form of historic maps contained in literature, satellite photography and Russian topographic maps, all of which were manipulated and evaluated using GRASS GIS.