Arcadis U.S. Inc, a leading global design and consultancy organization for natural and built assets, recently announced its selection to perform environmental and remediation services for the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Huntsville District. Arcadis is one of nine firms to be selected as part of an $800 million shared capacity framework contract.

During the contract’s five-year performance period, companies will compete for projects under a competitive bidding process. The scope of services under the framework includes the removal, transport and disposal of Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) containing Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) from fire suppression systems. PFAS are a widely used group of chemicals that do not break down in the environment and are therefore difficult to treat. Arcadis will be employing innovative techniques including creating an AFFF foam transition digital tool to collect, organize and report data gathered by field personnel during foam transition activities, as well as replacing firefighting foams with equivalent substances that do not contain PFAS.

These AFFF support services will be delivered at various U.S. Department of Defense commands and installations and other federal agencies located across the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, the U.S. territories and outlying areas.

Tom Rose, Federal Sector Leader for Arcadis, said: “We’re honored to provide long-term clients like USACE with our proven solutions and leading technical expertise that not only address and limit the environmental impacts of PFAS, but also support global efforts around sustainability.”

Frank Goossensen, Global Resilience Growth Leader for Arcadis, added: "PFAS and other emerging contaminants are a big issue around the globe and, as we grow our understanding of their impact on the environment, we are also making huge strides in learning how to contain or treat them so as to minimize future harm. Rapidly evolving regulations make this an increasingly important issue and I'm pleased that, by working with clients such as USACE, we can apply our technical innovation to tackle one of the biggest remediation challenges of today."