September 22 2011
Nobis has begun the operations and maintenance portion of its EPA contract to clean up groundwater contamination at the Silresim Chemical Superfund Site in Lowell, Mass.
Local leaders, including U.S. Representative, Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.), who was instrumental in securing American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for the program, and EPA’s Deputy Regional Administrator Ira Leighton, met at the site on Aug. 15 to recognize the completion of the electrical resistance heating (ERH) system that Nobis designed and installed to treat the site’s contaminated groundwater. “This is hitting the accelerator and it is an innovative technology, “Leighton said in a Lowell Sun interview. “This is a big deal.”
Initially, environmental experts estimated it would take centuries to reduce the groundwater contamination at the 4.5-acre site, but with the installation and operation of the ERH system, contamination will be substantially reduced in less than one year, according to Boyd Allen, Nobis’ project manager.
The innovative technology heats groundwater to the boiling point, creating steam that is collected through a series of vacuum points. The captured vapors, carrying the ground contaminants, are condensed and incinerated on site, Allen said.
The Silresim site is situated close to major transportation routes and may be highly considered for future redevelopment, according to Nannu Nobis, CEO of Nobis Engineering. Nobis transformed the nearby former Davis & Sargent Lumber Company Brownfield site into their Massachusetts office and Lowell’s first LEED Gold certified building.
Nobis was awarded the Silresim Chemical Superfund project as a task order under their current EPA Remedial Action Contract.