Jacobs Completes Thermal Cleanup in Area 1 of Michigan Velsicol Superfund Site

DALLAS, Jan. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Jacobs (NYSE:JEC) completed in-situ thermal treatment in Area 1 of the Velsicol Superfund Site in November, removing nearly 60,000 pounds of contaminants from the one-acre treatment zone in St. Louis, Michigan.

Due to this successful delivery – which included removing chlorinated solvents, specialty chemicals, oils and petroleum products by heating both the soil and groundwater within the zone to 212° Fahrenheit – the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded the company a $25 million follow-on project to install subsurface components and operate the thermal treatment system across the three acres of Area 2.

"We are proud to support the EPA and the local community with the clean-up of this complex site," said Jacobs Global Environmental Solutions Senior Vice President/General Manager Jan Walstrom. "The work on Area 2 will continue to build on our shared successes with the safe delivery of innovative remediation design, construction and operations."    

The Velsicol Chemical Corp. (formerly Michigan Chemical Corp.) produced various chemical compounds and products at its 54-acre main plant from 1936 to 1978, including the fire retardant polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and the pesticide, DDT.

Jacobs has worked with the EPA since 1999 on the clean-up strategy, design and implementation at the Velsicol Superfund site – including constructing dewatering cells in the Pine River bordering the main plant site and excavating and safely disposing more than 750,000 tons of DDT-contaminated sediment. Additionally, Jacobs completed the residential soil clean-up in adjacent neighborhoods, consisting of 111 properties where crews excavated and disposed of over 40,000 tons of contaminated soil; and on the previous Area 1 contract, the company used thermal oxidizer, acid-gas scrubber and activated carbon technologies to safely clean vapors and destroy contaminants that were captured during the thermal treatment process.

Jacobs leads the global professional services sector delivering solutions for a more connected, sustainable world. With $15 billion in fiscal 2018 revenue and a talent force of more than 80,000, Jacobs provides a full spectrum of services including scientific, technical, professional and construction- and program-management for business, industrial, commercial, government and infrastructure sectors. For more information, visit www.jacobs.com, and connect with Jacobs on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Statements made in this release that are not based on historical fact are forward-looking statements. We base these forward-looking statements on management's current estimates and expectations as well as currently available competitive, financial and economic data. Forward-looking statements, however, are inherently uncertain. There are a variety of factors that could cause business results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements. For a description of some of the factors which may occur that could cause actual results to differ from our forward-looking statements please refer to our Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 28, 2018, and in particular the discussions contained under Items 1 - Business, 1A - Risk Factors, 3 - Legal Proceedings, and 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statements made herein.

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SOURCE Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.