Monitoring Waste From a Safe Distance

ENR Magazine

Walnut Creek, Calif., 7 August 2000 — Locus Technologies announced June 26 that its Environment Information Management System has finished a testing period and is now being offered as a Web-based application.

Locus provides consulting, engineering and construction management services to help solve design and construction problems associated with hazardous materials handling and other waste management tasks.

The company’s EIMS system manages the large amounts of sampling, analytical, and geotechnical data that is typically collected during the investigation and cleanup of contaminated waste sites.

The system can be used to plan and schedule sampling events, input field data, upload electronic data from analytical laboratories, produce downloadable reports and files, perform statistical and trend analysis, and create and display plots and other graphics. It also is capable of sophisticated numerical modeling for surface water, groundwater and air and contaminant migration.

“We have a very comprehensive Website where we manage all information associated with contaminated sites,” says Neno Duplancic, Locus president and CEO. “We not only manage it but also provide a means to interpret the data and use automated systems that are plugged into the same Website to control treatment itself. We can press the buttons on the screen and turn on the pumps all over the world.”

Duplancic says the software can “eliminate the need for somebody to sit in a pickup truck and go to the site to change a filter or turn on a pump.”

By Tom Sawyer

Locus Technologies awarded groundwater contract at Singer-Friden Site in San Leandro, Calif.

WALNUT CREEK, Calif., 24 May 2000 — Locus Technologies (Locus) today announced that they were awarded a contract for construction of the groundwater treatment system for the Singer-Friden site in San Leandro, CA.

The contract was awarded by URS Corporation of San Francisco, California, who designed the project under contract to the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). The construction work to be performed by Locus is the final part of the clean up of solvents in the groundwater underneath the Singer-Friden site. These actions being taken were outlined in the Remedial Action Plan approved for the site in 1995. Locus’s scope of work includes completing the groundwater extraction well system, installing conveyance piping, constructing a fully automated groundwater treatment plant designed for remote operation, and startup and shakedown services.

“This is obviously an important win for us,” said Neno Duplancic, President and CEO of Locus Technologies. “It demonstrates our competitiveness and ability to provide the full range of services that are required for cleaning up contaminated groundwater. We are happy that our experience constructing advanced automated groundwater treatment
systems has allowed us to compete successfully for this major project at the DTSC-Singer-Friden site.” With this award, Locus reinforces its position as the nation’s leading provider of groundwater services. Locus is a pioneer in the use of Internet technologies to automate groundwater treatment and information management through their LocusFocusTM web portal.

Project execution will come jointly from Locus Technologies’ offices in Mountain View and Walnut Creek, California. The contract requires construction to be completed within 60 days. Construction is to begin immediately.

Locus Technologies awarded groundwater implementation at three Philips Semiconductors sites in Silicon Valley, CA

WALNUT CREEK, Calif., 7 July 1999 — Locus Technologies (Locus) today announced that they were awarded a contract for groundwater remediation and operation and maintenance services at three Philips Semiconductors sites in Silicon Valley, CA.

The three sites include Arques (on-site and off-site), Evelyn, and Kifer. Each site has a California Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) Cleanup and Abatement Order and a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Locus’s scope of work includes management of the groundwater program, operation, maintenance, monitoring, and optimization of extraction and treatment systems, information management, automation, permitting, groundwater elevation monitoring and sampling, and regulatory agency reporting.

“This is obviously an important win for us,” said Neno Duplancic, President and CEO of Locus Technologies. “It demonstrates our competitiveness and ability to provide Philips Semiconductors with a single source for managing their groundwater programs in the Silicon Valley. We are happy that our approach to groundwater operation and maintenance, VOC experience in the Silicon Valley, and Internet-based automation solutions will help lower the overall cost of the Philips Semiconductors groundwater program.” With this award, Locus reinforces its position as the largest groundwater consultant and remediation company in the Silicon Valley. (The San Jose Business Journal, March 19, 1999).

Project execution will come primarily from Locus Technologies’ office in Mountain View, California. The term of the contract is one year with two optional renewal years. The project started in June 1999.

Locus Technologies announces formation of Automation and Environmental Information Management groups and staff additions

WALNUT CREEK, Calif., 29 June 1999 — Locus Technologies announced today formation of Automation and Data Management Groups. Both groups will employ Internet based technologies to manage and control vast amounts of data generated at the company’s client sites.

Locus also announced the appointment of Steven McEvoy, P.E., to the position of Director, Automation Group, and Gregory Buckle, Ph.D., to the position of Director, Data Management, both newly created positions.

McEvoy, 33, has been with the company since its inception and has led the development of the company’s state-of-the-art automation technology for control and management of environmental treatment systems via the Internet. The technology is currently employed to control groundwater treatment systems for Locus’s clients, including Schlumberger, FMC, and Union Pacific Railroad. McEvoy holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Alberta. McEvoy will head Locus’s Automation Group, a team of experienced electrical, mechanical, and computer science engineers, including Dr. Robert Campbell, who also joins the company this week from the General Electric Company. Campbell holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and an M.S. degree from the University of Alberta. He will be managing the development of a second generation browser-based project archival database.

Buckle, 48, will head Locus’s data management systems and brings to Locus more than 20 years of experience in the environmental industry, specializing in surface and groundwater hydrology, including 9 years in environmental database management. Most recently, Buckle was the lead developer and designer of the IT Group’s environmental data management system. He holds a Ph.D. in biology from Kansas University, an M.S. in civil engineering from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a B.A. from Stanford University. Buckle will be responsible for development and operation of Locus’s Internet-based Environmental Information Management (EIMTM) system.

“Locus is aggressively moving downstream from site cleanups to management and control of large amounts of data that are generated by the environmental industry, using Internet based technologies. The company has a head-start on Internet technology and plans to capitalize on this position in a fragmented environmental industry information management market. Ultimately, Locus plans to commercialize these technologies,” said Dr. Neno Duplancic, President and Chief Executive Officer of Locus. “Greg and Steve’s experiences as a leaders in environmental data management, automation, and control technologies will ensure our success in this rapidly growing field,” Duplancic added.

Locus Technologies awarded remediation system installation at Union Pacific Railroad Yard in Tracy, CA.

WALNUT CREEK, Calif., 5 May 1999 — Locus Technologies today announced that they were awarded a contract for groundwater remediation system installation at Union Pacific Railroad’s yard in Tracy, CA.

The remediation project will be managed in four phases: (1) construction of the infiltration trench, (2) construction of the extraction wells, (3) installation of the treatment system, and (4) system automation. As a leader in the field of groundwater treatment and automation, Locus will apply the most advanced techniques for installation of mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, and control systems.

Locus Technologies is thrilled to have the opportunity to install an advanced automated groundwater treatment system at UPRR’s Tracy Yard. This is the third in a series of UPRR groundwater treatment system automation projects awarded to Locus Technologies in recent months. “It clearly demonstrates that Locus’s state-of-the-art Internet-based automation technology, when coupled with system installation, provides significant reduction of the overall cost for groundwater remediation projects. We are pleased that we can transfer those savings to UPRR,” said Mr. Neno Duplancic, President of Locus Technologies.