Pictured from left to right: Joani Hedderick, Marty Hilovsky, Joanne Pem, Jamie Singer, Krista Tomasello, Michael Liptak, Kelly Rodriguez, Marcy Taylor & Emma Kennedy

CLEVELAND, OH—December 4, 2014—EnviroScience’s (ES) Corporate Responsibility Committee was honored to be standing alongside  many exceptional organizations Tuesday night during the Medical Mutual 2014 Pillar Awards for Community Service. EnviroScience was one of thirteen companies in Northeast Ohio being recognized for its outstanding initiatives to give back to their communities.

The same week, EnviroScience made the highly regarded Weatherhead 100 list, which distinguishes the fastest growing companies in Northeast Ohio. Managed by the Council of Smaller Enterprises, this recognition is objectively determined through several growth statistics. ES was honored among professional peers at the annual Weatherhead 100 Award dinner on Thursday, December 4. It is proud to be receiving this honor for its fifth consecutive year.

EnviroScience was started in 1989 by a small group of biologists as an environmental services company in Stow, Ohio. It now has over 80 employees and is a national leader in environmental consulting and services. Despite its tremendous growth, it has still managed to keep its original, open-minded, entreprenuerial culture. ES executives encourage all employees to bring their ideas forward. This has not only contributed to the bottom line, but has also created a team atmosphere inside and outside of work.

For example, its Corporate Responsibility Committee (CRC) has a phenomenal staff participation rate at 40%. It was not a surprise that EnviroScience received the Medical Mutual SHARE Award, which is presented to a single for-profit company in the region. The award is given by Medical Mutual’s own SHARE Committee to an organization that they feel has similar ideals and exemplifies the SHARE acronym: share, help, aid, reach and educate; all of which ES’s CRC does very well.

“Our real success as an organization is measured by the legacy we leave.”  –ES Board of Directors

The CRC was formed in 2012 with the goal to “to give back to our community through our sustainability initiatives, time, labor, expertise, and of course financially by helping to fund projects and activities of particular interest to our members and employees.” With enthusiastic support from ES executives and seed money provided by the ES Board of Directors, the CRC has been able to grow and continue making a meaningful impact for the company and community.

Most of the CRC members volunteer in many different arenas and bring to the committee a unique perspective of various charities and their missions. For example, a CRC member requested a donation in 2012 for her annual Pedal to the Point in support of MS. This provoked a viseral response as the CRC came to find out two of its members had been quitely living with MS. In the last two years the ES Against MS Pedal to the Point Team has raised nearly $20,000 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. CRC member and Team Captain Brooke Harrison continues to grow the team and expects the 2015 team to have more than fifteen byciclists who will travel 150-miles across Northeast Ohio in an event called “MS Pedal to the Point.”

In another case, the CRC made $1,500 dollars in donations towards the March of Dimes after one of its employees shared that the organization helped his family with the premature birth of his daughter eleven years ago.

Another popular CRC initiative is helping build houses through Habitat for Humanity, where CRC members have contributed nearly 200 person-hours of work so far.

Although the CRC and its members continue to participate and contribute to dozens of organizations and causes, some of its more notable group initiatives include volunteer work for ACCESS Women and Chlidren’s Shelter, the Semi-annual Little Cuyahoga River Clean-Up (an ES program which has removed over 60 tons of debris from area waterways), Akron Canton Food Bank, North Coast Community Housing, the Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter and the Monk Seals Foundation. ES and the CRC has also contributed more than $80,000 in scholarship opportunites for advanced degrees. Additionally, the CRC recently established the Benjamin A. Foote Lecture Series at Kent State University as a way to honor one of its founding board member’s legacy for education in science.

Members of the ES CRC participating at their first home construction with Habitat for Humanity Summit County.

In 2013 ES became a proud member the United Nations Global Compact. The Global Compact provides a platform for companies to align their strategic planning goals with the internationally accepted 10 global principles such as human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption. Thinking globally is just one of the CRC’s objectives; others include improving science, math and technology education, women and children’s rights, the environment, health and sustainable practices.

Since 2012, the CRC has been honored to support these exceptional organizations and causes in various ways with their time, talent and treasure:

• ACCESS Women and Children’s Shelter
• MS and Pedal to the Point
• Threatened and Endangered Species
• Partners for Clean Streams
• Cerebral Palsy
• Springtime of Hope
• Haven of Rest
• Get the Lead Out
• Polar Express
• The Free Clinic of Greater Cleveland
• Semi-Annual Little Cuyahoga River Clean-up
• Local Schools: Science Programs and Mobile Field Trips
• Paws and Prayers Pet Rescue
• Special Olympics
• Stow Kiwanis Club
• Fishery Habitats
• Polar Bear Jump
• Monk Seals Foundation
• North Coast Community Housing
• Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank
• Children’s Miracle Network
• Improved sustainability efforts within ES
• Stow Historical Society
• Cancer Research
• Habitat for Humanity
• Autism
• March of Dimes

Congratulations to the ES Corporate Responsibility Committee! Their exemplary leadership in giving back proves that corporations can have a powerful impact on the face of business while also helping to support members of our local community.

(From left to right) Task Order Leader Jamie Krejsa, Task Order Coordinator Jamie Singer, and Task Order Coordinator Nicole Jordan will oversee logistics support, training, and field sampling.

October 23, 2014

EnviroScience, Inc. (ES) and Great Lakes Environmental Center, Inc. (GLEC) are teaming up to aid the U.S. EPA in evaluating the nation’s coastal conditions in contracts valued at over $2.5 million. Both companies will provide support with training, sampling, supplies, and laboratory rebatching for the 2015 National Coastal Condition Assessment (NCCA).

The NCCA is a nationwide survey that is evaluated every 5 years. It is designed to catalogue and track the ecological health of our marine and Great Lake coasts through indicators such as water chemistry, fish, sediment, algae, and bacteria. The analytical results of these sampling events can be a catalyst for coastal monitoring and assessment programs to protect and improve U.S. water quality and standards.

Task Order 21: 2015 NCCA Logistics Support & Training

The logistical support and training for Task Order 21 (TO21) is already underway and is valued at around $1 million. GLEC’s training experience combined with ES’s expertise in managing large scale events (such as the 2013-2014 NRSA), budgets, and contract deliverables makes a perfect team for managing TO21. TO21 will be closely monitored by a few key personnel:

• Task Order Leader Jamie Krejsa will oversee main objectives and manage budgetary and administrative performance.
• Alternate Task Order Leader Marty Hilovsky will act as a stand-in for the Task Order Leader as needed.
• QA Officer Rhonda Mendel will oversee data collection and compliance with NCCA procedures.
• Task Order Coordinator Jamie Singer will oversee training, Assistance Visit schedules, shipments, ordering of materials, budgets, and deliverables.
• Alternate Task Order Coordinator Nicole Jordan will provide additional support to the Task Order Coordinator as needed, as well as provide budgetary monitoring.

Task Order 20: 2015 NCCA Field Sampling

Task Order 20 (TO20) will start in January 2015 and is valued at around $1.5 million. The work includes seven field sampling teams, as many as 434 sampling events, and will span across Washington, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Rhode Island, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Some sampling tasks include, but are not limited to, water quality sampling, benthic macroinvertebrate sampling, sediment sampling, and fish collection. These samples are collected according to EPA protocol and will be analyzed and compared to the probabilistic study of the NARS programs. TO20 will be managed by a few key personnel:

• Task Order Leader Jamie Krejsa will oversee all Contractor Field Sampling Teams.
• Task Order Coordinator Nicole Jordan will provide logistical support and help oversee progress and compliance with NCCA procedures.
• Dave Czayka, Nick Schell, Paul Anderson, and Kyle Borrowman will be Field Crew Leaders and trainers for the NCCA sampling efforts.
• ES QA Officer Rhonda Mendel will oversee progress, compliance, QA activities, and help resolve any issues that arise.
• Project QA Advisor Marty Hilovsky will help the QA Officer oversee progress, compliance, and internal audits, and act as Alternate Task Order Leader if needed.
• Health & Safety Officer Tim Willaman will monitor health & safety training and compliance.

EnviroScience has a long history of managing large-scale sampling events over multiple regions. Our attention to protocols, budgets, and rigorous health and safety measures continue to set ES apart from competitors. These two contracts will provide a platform for ES staff to highlight their strengths and talents. Congratulations to Jamie Krejsa, Nicole Jordan, Jamie Singer, Marty Hilovsky, and all of those who helped draft this winning proposal. Your hard work is a perfect example of the ambition, professionalism, and excellence that represents EnviroScience!

EnviroScience’s Julie Bingham was recognized by the Young Professional Network of the Greater Akron Chamber for her excellent leadership and positive impact on the Greater Akron Region. Julie and 29 other young local professionals between the ages 25-39 were recognized as trailblazers in their industries and role models for their ongoing community service.

Not only does Julie manage massive restoration projects, but she also likes jumping in and getting her hands dirty when on the construction site. This hands-on, proactive approach is engraved in her persona. Julie strongly believes in reevaluation, avoiding complacency, and striving for improvement in every aspect of life.

Julie grew up in Columbus and settled in northeast Ohio after graduating from Hiram College. At Hiram, she gained an appreciation for biology and fisheries. Her passion has since shifted towards changing the environment to support the natural biology of ecosystems. Every day she looks forward to solving problems and designing and implementing improvements in the landscape to reverse mismanagement and legacy impacts. Her most rewarding professional accomplishment to date was being involved with the dam removals and restoration of the Cuyahoga River in 2013.

Julie is actively involved in EnviroScience’s Corporate Responsibility Team. She also promotes, organizes, and participates in many stream clean-ups each year and helps educate young professionals and students about restoration through various programs.

Julie has been with EnviroScience since 1998. We can’t thank her enough for her hard work and exemplary leadership. Congratulations, Julie!

A recent article in the Daily Herald titled “After Toledo water scare, states ask EPA for help,” by John Seewer describes a state of emergency in Toledo, Ohio that left over 400,000 people without safe drinking water and environmental regulators advocating for stricter accountability for water quality.

The culprit that caused the water pollution was microcystin, a toxin produced by harmful algal blooms (HABs). Toxic algae outbreaks are an increasingly prevalent nation-wide issue. Preventing algal blooms not only calls for consistent water quality standards, but also a need for ongoing management strategies for rivers and lakes. Addressing only the symptoms of harmful algal blooms and not the cause is costly. Many cities such as Waco Texas are dealing with harmful algal blooms after the fact by building treatment plants that cost upwards of $50 million.

Read the full article here.

New EPA guidelines set to come out next year will provide drinking water advisories and testing methods for treatment plants and states regarding microcystin and other toxins.

EnviroScience consists of experts who work with individuals, companies, municipalities, states, and the government to maintain high quality water standards and prevent disasters like the Toledo water scare.

EnviroScience can provide specialized, comprehensive services for water testing, including a range of algal identification services and analysis for HAB toxins like microcystin, cylindrospermopsin, saxitoxin and anatoxin.

Check out a few of our many water services:

• Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Sampling and Toxin Testing Services
• Algae and Diatom Community Analysis
• Whole Effluent Toxicity (Bioassay) Testing
• Water Quality Monitoring
• Lake Diagnostic and Comprehensive Lake Management Services

Expert help is a phone call away for municipalities and industry in need of NPDES Permitting and Compliance support.  ES recent hires Phil Rhodes, P.E. and Paul Anderson, a Senior Aquatic Field Biologist, have each spent more than 30 years working for the Ohio EPA, Northeast Division of Surface Water and have seen their share of mishaps that could have been prevented with the right knowledge.

“We’ve seen it hundreds of times;” concedes Rhodes, a former Site Inspector, NPDES Permit Writer and Permit to Install Applications Processor, “customers that could have saved themselves headaches and thousands [of dollars] in fines had they had the correct plan in place.” Phil has the unique perspective and expertise to quickly identify regulatory needs important to the EPA and can suggest remediation options to clients.

Paul Anderson, an Aquatic Biologist, uses his extensive experience conducting water quality surveys and in NPDES permit development to interpret numerical limits based on chemical and biological water quality data and Total Maximum Daily Load reports.  ” Many times the data collected from the water body receiving NPDES discharges provides supporting evidence that certain permit limits will be ineffective,” says Anderson. Correct interpretation of the data allows us to develop pollution control strategies that will help to identify the most effective solutions.”

Both Paul and Phil can save clients time and money by submitting applications that are complete and accurate the first time. They can also identify potential issues before they are flagged by the EPA, and recommend low cost solutions to meet clients’ compliance needs.

Their experience with industry in direct discharge and storm water permitting issues can assist your company in the following areas:

Individual NPDES permitting support

• NPDES Permit Applications for both individual and general permits
• Preparation of Anti-degradation Applications
• Pre-audit inspections to evaluate compliance with applicable regulations
• Representation concerning NPDES permitting issues with Ohio EPA

Industrial Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP)

• Determining if your company is regulated by the MSGP
• Storm water Permit applications.
• Storm water Pollution Prevention  Plan (SWPPP) preparation
• Training on the permit requirements
• MSGP compliance issues

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today finalized standards to protect billions of fish and other aquatic life drawn each year into cooling water systems at large power plants and factories. This final rule is required by the Clean Water Act to address site-specific challenges, and establishes a common sense framework, putting a premium on public input and flexibility for facilities to comply.

An estimated 2.1 billion fish, crabs, and shrimp are killed annually by being pinned against cooling water intake structures (impingement) or being drawn into cooling water systems and affected by heat, chemicals, or physical stress (entrainment). To protect threatened and endangered species and critical habitat, the expertise of the Fish & Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service is available to inform decisions about control technologies at individual facilities.

“EPA is making it clear that if you have cooling water intakes you have to look at the impact on aquatic life in local waterways and take steps to minimize that impact,” said Nancy Stoner, acting Assistant Administrator for Water at EPA.

The final rule establishes requirements under the Clean Water Act for all existing power generating facilities and existing manufacturing and industrial facilities that withdraw more than 2 million gallons per day of water from waters of the U.S. and use at least 25 percent of the water they withdraw exclusively for cooling purposes. This rule covers roughly 1,065 existing facilities –521 of these facilities are factories, and the other 544 are power plants. The technologies required under the rule are well-understood, have been in use for several decades, and are in use at over 40 percent of facilities.

The national requirements, which will be implemented through National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, are applicable to the location, design, construction, and capacity of cooling water intake structures at these facilities and are based on the best technology available for minimizing environmental impact. The rule establishes a strong baseline level of protection and then allows additional safeguards for aquatic life to be developed through site-specific analysis, an approach that ensures the best technology available is used. It puts implementation analysis in the hands of the permit writers so requirements can be tailored to the particular facility.

There are three components to the final regulation.
• Existing facilities that withdraw at least 25 percent of their water from an adjacent waterbody exclusively for cooling purposes and have a design intake flow of greater than 2 million gallons per day are required to reduce fish impingement. To ensure flexibility, the owner or operator of the facility will be able to choose one of seven options for meeting best technology available requirements for reducing impingement.
• Facilities that withdraw very large amounts of water – at least 125 million gallons per day – are required to conduct studies to help the permitting authority determine what site-specific entrainment mortality controls, if any, will be required. This process will include public input.
• New units at an existing facility that are built to increase the generating capacity of the facility are be required to reduce the intake flow to a level similar to a closed cycle, recirculation system. Closed cycle systems are the most effective at reducing entrainment. This can be done by incorporating a closed-cycle system into the design of the new unit, or by making other design changes equivalent to the reductions associated with closed-cycle cooling.

More information: http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/lawsguidance/cwa/316b/

EnviroScience restoration scientist, Julie Bingham, traveled to Capitol Hill on December 3 and 4^th as an invited guest of the Ohio Environmental Council and Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition of the National Parks Conservation Association.  Julie met with Representative David Joyce as well as staff of Representatives Bob Gibbs, Marcy Kaptur, and Tim Ryan.  On the other side of the hill, Julie met with staff of Senator Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman’s office to discuss the positive impacts that Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding has had on our region.  Julie was specifically highlighting the successes of RiverWorks’ recent Euclid Creek Lacustrine Restoration project as an example of ecological restoration, positive economic benefits and how the funding was instrumental in creating lasting partnerships and leveraging local resources.

Saving America’s Most Endangered Animals by WKSU’s Jeff St. Clair

The eastern U.S. has more freshwater mussel species than anywhere else in the world, and more than half of them are facing extinction

Ohio is the last home of one of the rarest animals in the world. It’s a formerly widespread freshwater mussel called the purple cat’s paw. Only about 20 of the mollusks are known to exist.

In this week’s Exploradio, WKSU’s Jeff  St.Clair examines a species on the brink and how protecting it could help save Ohio’s waterways.

A species last stand
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Angela Boyer is wearing a thick wet-suit, but she still goes heavy on the bug spray as mosquitoes swarm around us on an isolated stretch of Killbuck Creek in Coshocton County.

Boyer’s here to try and save one of the most endangered animals on the planet; it’s called the purple cat’s paw. She holds one in her hand. The size, shape, and bumps sort of look like cat toes, but inside the golf-ball-sized bumpy brown shell, the mother-of-pearl interior glistens with a luminous purple.

A wire cage sitting nearby in the water contains all the known living purple cat’s paws, each bearing a bright ID number painted on its shell.

Millions of years of evolution and specialization have come down to this, as Boyer counts eight females and 11 males, the sole survivors of its kind.  This is a remnant population of a once widespread species. Boyer says there’s something special about this location, “and they’ve been able to survive here when we didn’t even know they were here.”

Outfitted with snorkels and wet suits, Boyer and two other malacologistsm, or mussel specialists, Greg Zimmerman and Steve Ahlstedt — steadily crawl along the creek, inspecting each crevice for the last of the elusive cat’s paws.

The rebirth of an extinct species
Mussel expert Michael Hoggarth teaches biology at Otterbein College near Columbus. Back in 1991, in the nearby Walhonding River, he found the first purple cat’s paw shell seen in Ohio since the Civil War.

“We thought it was an extinct thing and we found it!” he says.

But three years of searching for living animals came up dry until a random trip up Killbuck Creek led Hoggarth to a tiny population of purple cat’s paws clinging to life. Hoggarth says the fact that we have 20 animals of a species that we thought was extinct is good reason for hope. A captive breeding program is underway, but he laments, “We’re not out of the woods yet.”

Hoggarth says the eastern U.S. is a hotbed of mussel diversity, home to more species than anywhere else in the world. But two centuries of damming rivers, exploitation and pollution have sent dozens of the 300 mussel species here to extinction. More than half of the remaining species are threatened.

The once mighty mussel industry
Freshwater mussels used to be big business. Native Americans and settlers ate them. Mountains of discarded shells lined the banks of the Ohio River 100 years ago. Each was punched with holes that became pearl buttons.

In 1905, producers sold more than 130 million mussel-shell pearl buttons.  But soon the mussel population crashed, and finally plastic replaced pearl-shell.

More recently, $50 million-a-year’s worth of freshwater mussels were ground into seeds to supply Asia’s cultured pearl industry.
Enforcing the endangered species act
Greg Zimmerman is vice president of EnviroScience in Stow. He uses heavy diving equipment to find and move rare mussels before work can begin on expensive construction projects. He says the Endangered Species Act, “can stop a bridge in its tracks; it can stop a … billion-dollar project in its tracks.”

That’s because nearly all bridge projects in the U.S. now require a mussel survey.Zimmerman says about one-in-10 involves relocating threatened species.

But that, he says, also helps preserve Ohio’s waterways because clean streams are needed as stable habitats when relocating threatened populations.

He says ultimately, “the state should want to get these things off the list so they don’t have to do so many mussel surveys.”
For the love of mussels
Meanwhile, back at Killbuck Creek, Zimmerman, Boyer and malacologist Steve Ahlstedt are still searching for more purple cat’s paws. Ahlstedt says larger mussels in Ohio can live 80 years or more, filtering the river and telling scientists like Ahlstedt how healthy the system is. He says, “there’s no better monitor out there.”

Ahlstedt says his passion for mussels hasn’t faded in nearly half a century of study. He says even recent federal funding cuts won’t stop him and fellow mussel lovers from spending hours face down in Ohio streams searching for hidden treasure.

Most of his and Zimmerman’s time spent searching for the purple cat’s paw is unpaid. He notes that they’re volunteering to, “try to save a species.”

Attempts at captive breeding of the purple cat’s paw have had mixed results. The 20 adults left will spend the winter, and hopefully breed, in Killbuck Creek. Scientists will return in the spring to continue efforts to bring them back from the brink.

v:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}

Normal 0 false false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; mso-ascii- mso-ascii-theme- mso-hansi- mso-hansi-theme-}

Stow, Ohio.  EnviroScience, Inc. (ES) is pleased to announce that the main office on 3781 Darrow Road will be moving into our new headquarters on 5070 Stow Road Friday, June 14^th through Monday, June 17^th, 2013.  The 20,000sf, newly re-purposed building complex is situated on approximately 15 acres and features greatly expanded facilities for personnel offices, meetings and communications, equipment, and laboratory testing.  We are excited about what this new facility will mean for not only our employees, but our clients in terms of increased efficiency and collaboration.  EnviroScience’s previous location had run out of space to conduct large training workshops for clients, or even assemble more than a fraction of its employees or managers in one room.  The new facility has four conference rooms with video-conference capability and a large multipurpose lab / assembly room. 

A few key items you need to know about the EnviroScience move:

1. 2.3.a.Toxicity Laboratory deliveries still need to be sent to the old address at 3781 Darrow Road, Stow OH 44224 until further notice while the lab transitions to the new building.