Case Studies

A Day in the Life of ERC: From Landfill Corrective Action, Stream Restoratio, and Vault Cleaning

ERC Services is based in Columbus, Ohio. We were created to serve the environmental and civil contracting industry centered around soil and water quality. We work in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, and Western Pennsylvania. Our team has decades of experience offering the best project estimating, field execution, and project management to allow for on-time and on-budget, safe results.

Mulch Dye Emergency Spill Cleanup

Environmental Remediation Contractors Emergency crews were at it again. Cleaning up the earth in an Emergency situation. Do oil and water mix in the natural environment? Of course not.

Akron-Canton Airport Wilderness Center – ERC

In 2017 Environmental Remediation Contractor (ERC) was hired by the Akron-Canton Airport to install a meandering stream adjacent to an existing stream. Once we excavated and shaped the new meandering stre,am the soil from the excavation was used to fill in the existing stream after we tied them together. We installed various in-stream structures; rock vanes, step pools, log sills, log vanes, root wads, and j-hooks. Next, we seeded and usedan erosion control blanket and jute matting to stabilize the banks. After seeding, we planted various trees, shrubs, bare roots, and live stakes throughout the stream corridor and in the adjacent floodplain. Check out this recent drone footage of how the site looks today. Big thanks to our friends at EDG for the UAV drone footage!

Decontamination Services ERC

Coming back to the new normal with COVID-19, decontamination is essential. Environmental Remediation Contractor (ERC) is now decontaminating workplaces, public spaces, and job sites.

Soil Mixing – ERC

We were hired as the General Contractor for this project to treat organic contaminants found in the soil via in-situ chemical oxidation (ISCO). To achieve this, ERC excavated and stockpiled 2′ of overburdened soils from the treatment area, then utilized a 336- sized excavator with a mounted transverse mixing head attachment to perform in-situ soil mixing on an approximately 9,900 square feet area to depths 8-10 feet below ground surface. We combined the reagent with water in poly tanks and then applied the soil amendment during the soil mixing operations with a metered pump to control application quantities. We took extra precautions while working below the overhead lines and around the power poles on site. We left the site to naturally solidify over the winter. ERC was asked to mix soil. This is the footage from that.

Stream Restoration Project – ERC

ERC assisted with a Stream Restoration Project on the East Fork of the Licking River. Here is a timelapse video Stream Restoration project.

The ERC Family

Columbus, Ohio – Illegal dumping and Homeless camp removal
• Containerize trash & debris
• Propane cylinders removal & disposal

ERC – A Decent Day’s Work

Max gives us a good look into a day on the job with ERC. Happy Digging, Max!

Underground Coal Gob Fire – ERC

ERC was tasked with cleaning up a coal gob fire in Jackson County, Ohio. Here is some footage from that job. Flames we shooting up from 100′ below ground. The smell of sulfur was thick in the air. We just drained a 100 million gallon lake and the earth pulled away from the side and let air get to the old underground fire.

ERC Buckeye Lake Stream Restoration

Fairfield County | Licking River Watershed | Inland Eastern Ohio
The Buckeye Lake State Park Brooks Park project will reduce nutrients and pollutants entering Buckeye Lake via Murphy’s Run through the creation of new wetlands at Brooks Park in Ohio. The H@Ohio project will accomplish this goal through habitat improvement along Murphy’s Run and establishing connectivity with an off-channel wetland. Stream habitat improvements and the creation of wetlands will lead to increased ecological function including nutrient, sediment, and pollutant removal.
Project size: 1.5 Linear Acres
Partner: ODNR Division of Parks & WatercraftStream restoration is one of our many specialties. Here’s what we do to restore streams in an effective and responsible way.

Dry Run Stream Daylighting of a 90″ Stormwater pipe ERC

The City of Columbus Department of Recreation and Parks selected the Design/Build team of ERC/EMH&T to Daylight 1500′ of Dry Run, a tributary to the Scioto River in Columbus’s Hill Top community.
The project involved the demolition of a 90″ RCP storm sewer and adjacent flood relief channel constructed in 2000, and excavation of over 45,000 CY of material to construct a new bankfull channel. ERC implemented a stream bypass pumping system for the dry-weather flow.
The project was funded by a Clean Ohio Conservation Fund Grant, and reduced erosion to neighboring properties and railroad.
Instream features included riffle/pool structures throughout, integrated rock vanes, woody debris, and stabilized banks. A series of step-pools through a steeper portion of the stream reach incorporates structural elements to stabilize and preserve the restoration components.

McCammon Creek Ecological Restoration ERC

The ERC/B&N team was selected by Preservation Parks of Delaware County to realign two unnamed tributaries to Alum Creek and stabilize McCammon Creek eroding streambanks.

The project, which constructed two new stream reaches at 500′ and 1600′, including the establishment of a new floodplain throughout the park and features an in-stream educational component for future park programming. Abandoned stream reaches were turned into additional wetlands.
Natural stream features log steps, cascades and j-hooks, riffles, and cross vanes. The vegetation enhancements included native wetland, upland, and riparian species as well as various seed mixes. Planting was enhanced with the transplanting of 30 onsite trees.
ERC was able to harvest stream substrate from the abandoned channels for use in the new stream alignments. This, and some adjacent grading for a future parking area, allowed the team to maximize restoration dollars and increase the value provided to Preservation Parks.
The project will improve instream habitat conditions by restoring riffles and pools while improving fish and macroinvertebrate communities such as dragonflies, mayflies, etc. When completed, this project will reduce the silt and sediment, and other non-point pollutant loads into McCammon Creek and Alum Creek.

Illegal Dumping Cleanup ERC

Columbus, Ohio – Illegal dumping and Homeless camp removal
• Containerize trash & debris
• Propane cylinders removal & disposal
• Household hazardous waste removal and disposal
• Cleanup & disposal of illegal dumping
• Clearing & grubbing for visibility
• Erosion Control
• Preventative maintenance
• Site restoration
When it was all said and done there were 38 roll-off boxes that went off-site for disposal. This included shopping carts, propane cylinders, household hazardous waste removal & disposal plus the cleanup and disposal from illegal dumping.

Prairie Oaks Metropark ERC

Client: Columbus & Franklin County Metro Parks
Design Engineer: Burgess & Niple
ERC was hired by the Columbus & Franklin County Metro Parks to restore approximately 75 acres of wetland habitat within a 150- year-old farm field. This project included the installation of sediment & erosion controls followed by an extensive search of the agricultural field for subsurface tile drainage.

This was followed by the abandonment of the existing tile network. Once complete earthwork began including berm & micro-pool construction, soil excavation, stockpiling, replacement, compaction & grading. ERC then installed a field drain & storm sewer piping along with catch basins. The newly restored wetland now helps protect and filter groundwater & has helped bring wildlife back to the area.

Tait Station Dam Removal ERC

Client: Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) Design Engineer: Cardno The Tait Station Low Head Dam located in the Great Miami River in downtown Dayton, Ohio was constructed in 1935 to supply cooling water as part of a coal-fired electric generating power plant (Tait Station). To increase recreational use, riverfront revitalization, and eco-tourism ERC was hired to remove the 83-year-old dam which was constructed of reinforced concrete with flashboards.
It was 569 feet long & 30 feet wide and consisted of four different sections. After constructing a temporary causeway ERC removed & dewatered 20,000 CY of sediment followed by the demolition and debris removal of the low head dam.
A constructed riffle was then installed followed by grading and the establishment of the river banks & inner-channel benches. The site was restored with seeding and planting of the disturbed areas.

Underground Storage Tank Removal ERC

We started this as one simple underground storage tank (UST) pull that turned into 5 abandoned tanks. This site is near Fifth Ave. and Cleveland Ave. in Columbus, Ohio. We backfilled and compacted the site to engineering specifications. Rogue Fitness is the end-user for a new competition tournament stage.