THE CHALLENGE: A leaking underground xylene solvent storage tank in the US caused extensive soil and groundwater contamination. The contamination led to a legal settlement between the seller of the property and the buyer. The seller agreed to take responsibility for clean-up. After spending $2 million on investigation and initial clean-up, the initial consultant requested an additional $1.9 million for continued clean-up efforts, prompting the seller to ask ARCADIS for a second opinion. 

THE APPROACH: ARCADIS proposed implementing a superior remediation approach and achieving regulatory closure for a guaranteed fixed price of $1.4 million — a $500,000 savings off the previous consultant's non-guaranteed estimate. 

THE RESULT: The project is nearing completion with an 85% reduction in average xylene concentrations in groundwater, the removal of free product, and the bioremediation of several tons of xylene solvent in the soil.