It is in the design phase that our extensive experience, technological know-how and engineering capabilities are factored in to provide a customized and cost-efficient solution. The design phase can best be seen as a decision process that simultaneously takes into account three types of information:

• Remedial objectives
• Feasibility and cost-effectiveness of different technologies
• Site-specific issues that must be addressed

Remedial Objectives
To design an optimal solution, we need to fully understand the remedial objectives that are pursued. A host of questions, such as the following, will need to be addressed:

• Are the clean-up criteria generic or can they be risk-based/negotiated?
• What is the project timeframe?
• What is the allocated budget?
• What is the future intended use of the site?
• Is the focus on mitigation/liability reduction or total elimination of liability?

Once we have gained a comprehensive understanding of a site, and the remedial objectives have been established, the next step is to determine the feasibility of various treatment technologies.

Technology Selection
By providing our clients with cost-efficient solutions, Biogenie has acquired significant experience and capabilities to rapidly assess the feasibility of a wide-range of remedial technologies and solutions, including our proprietary biological treatment technologies.

To assess the applicability of our own biological treatment technologies, a treatability study is essential. It is performed in our laboratories. The study results will determine to what extent our proprietary technologies can be cost-effectively applied on a given site. Since the study results are highly indicative of what will be achieved on a full-scale level, they are a key element in our ability to provide a performance guarantee.

With the treatability study results on hand, and following evaluation of complementary technologies we can determine which technologies will be required to provide the most cost-efficient remedial solution. These could be our proprietary biological treatment technologies, excavation and landfill, thermal treatment, "pump and treat", etc. or a combination thereof.

Strategic Management of the Site
In our view, a remedial solution is much more than a combination of technologies. The way in which some site-specific issues are dealt with may significantly impact the overall project cost as well as the technology selection process itself. Optimal management of the following issues is critical:

• Excavation
• Groundwater
• Free-phase product
• Debris/Waste
• Landscaping

Addressing the technology selection process together with the management of the site-specific issues is key to designing a truly customized and cost-effective site remediation solution.

Biogenie not only designs solutions, but one of our strengths is our ability to implement them on a fixed-price basis.