Overview
Climate change presents several significant threats to “business as usual” for both public and private sector operations. Changes to the hydrologic cycle caused by extreme weather, drought, coastal and inland flooding, and wildfires are increasing. Ongoing climate change phenomena and changes in short- and long-term weather patterns are impacting hazardous waste sites, water resources, and electrical grids, potentially undermining the long-term objective of protecting human health and the environment.
For these reasons, preparations for the challenges posed by climate change are taking on greater urgency. HGL has over 35 years of experience investigating, modeling, designing, and implementing protective remedies to clean up hazardous waste sites for beneficial reuse, as well as modeling groundwater for water resource optimization. HGL’s experts develop solutions that address the physical characteristics of sites, focusing on sustainable and resilient alternatives and beneficial outcomes for surrounding communities.
HGL places climate change considerations —including Vulnerability Assessment, Mitigation, and Adaptation—at the heart of its planning, design, and construction services and focuses on building Resiliency into every stage of a project. Whether forecasting risk, building optimized strategies to accelerate recovery, or implementing energy- and cost-efficient solutions, HGL is at the forefront in meeting critical environmental challenges.
U.S. Government Emphasis on
Addressing Climate Change
EPA’s Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation is working with other federal agencies to implement the Office of Land and Emergency Management’s June 2014 Climate Change Adaptation Implementation Plan. Further, Executive Order 14008, dated January 27, 2021, issued by President Biden states the following:
It is the policy of my Administration to organize and deploy the full capacity of its agencies to combat the climate crisis to implement a Government-wide approach that reduces climate pollution in every sector of the economy; increases resilience to the impacts of climate change; protects public health; conserves our lands, waters, and biodiversity…; especially through innovation, commercialization, and deployment of clean energy technologies and infrastructure.
HGL has specialized capabilities in the following service areas to address the challenges posed by climate change:
