EQ was recently awarded two 2010 Environmental Business Journal Business Achievement Awards. In the “Mergers and Acquisitions” category, EQ won an Honorable Mention for its acquisition of four new facilities in 2010. In May, EQ acquired Envirite, including all waste treatment, transportation, service and recycling operations at its three facilities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. These three locations are now known as EQ Ohio, EQ Illinois, and EQ Pennsylvania. The acquisition added approximately 100 employees to the EQ staff and $30 million dollars in revenue. In August, EQ acquired a hazardous waste management facility from A Clean Environment (ACE; Tulsa, OK). This facility is now known as EQ Oklahoma. The purchase of the ACE facility added approximately 15 employees and $5 million dollars in revenue to the company. This acquisition continues EQ’s expansion and presence in the western United States. The growth that the company experienced over the year brings EQ to a total of 25 treatment, disposal, and recycling facilities in the U.S., employing over 800 people.
In the “Project Merit” category, EQ was recognized for its role in the cleanup of the Enbridge Pipeline spill in Marshall, Michigan – described as the worst oil spill in Michigan’s history. On July 26, 2010, a million gallons of crude oil were released from the Enbridge Pipeline into a creek and flowed 2.5 miles to the Kalamazoo River. The spill was finally stopped and contained 38 miles downstream. EQ began working with a team of contractors on the response and cleanup, an effort that involved 450 people and 225 pieces of equipment, including vacuum trucks, frac tanks, oil skimmers, roll-off equipment, and 25 boats, all working around the clock. The EQ team had primary responsibility for the pipeline site and cleanup zones along the creek, where the majority of the contamination occurred. EQ’s facilities received loads around the clock, amounting to 12,000 cubic yards of crude oil-impacted hazardous waste debris. EQ also managed deliveries amounting to 30 to 40 roll-off boxes per day to a local non-hazardous waste landfill.
The awards will be presented at the Environmental Industry Summit on March 9, 2011 in San Diego.