UK's Atkins extends major U.S. industrial wastewater upgrade

• Atkins enjoyed a significant win in California with the city of Tulare's $50 million upgrade to its industrial wastewater facility, following up on an earlier contract won in December 2005.

SURREY, England, May 30, 2006 -- The Atkins and Faithful+Gould team has been awarded two further contracts with the City of Tulare in California after successfully delivering the first phase of work. This $630,000 commission will involve Atkins providing services relating to the upgrade of an industrial wastewater treatment plant. The work will include a six month pilot study of two separate treatment technologies and design review services, contract negotiation and management of the construction procurement process.

The City of Tulare prides itself as the agricultural center of California and the industrial treatment plant was built to meet the needs of the dairy processing industries in the region which include some well-known manufacturers of cheese, ice-cream and butter (Kraft, Haagen Dazs, Land-O-Lakes and Saputo Cheese). However, the enormous pressure on water resources in the region has led to tighter regulatory control and the City recently received new Waste Discharge Requirements (WRD) and a Cease and Desist (CDO) from the Regional Water Quality Control Board.

The first phase of the project to review upgrade options and select a design consultant has been completed by Atkins. The next phase will run from May 2006 through to May 2007 when the final design and specifications will be put out to bid for the construction phase, due to be completed by October 2009.

Lew Nelson, City of Tulare Director of Public Works states "Atkins applied a rigorous and systematic approach to the review of design options and the RFP to select a design consultant. Our decision to extend the contract reflects our satisfaction with the quality of the work delivered to date and the longer-term strategic thinking Atkins has introduced to the planning process"

Atkins (www.atkinsglobal.com) plans, designs and enables the delivery of complex infrastructure and buildings for clients in the public and private sectors across the world. Atkins is the largest multi-disciplinary consultancy in Europe; the largest engineering consultancy in the UK; and the fourth largest design firm in the world. It was awarded 'Ten Best Big Companies to work For 2005' by the London Sunday Times; 'Construction Consultant of the Year 2005' by Building magazine; and 'Consultant of the Year Major Firm 2005' by New Civil Engineer magazine. Atkins was ranked No. 1 for 'Best Reputation in Environmental Consultancy' as well as No. 1 for reputation in Contaminated Land, Environmental Impact Assessment/Strategic Environmental Assessment and Integrated Pollution Prevention Control (IPPC) in the Environment Business Consultancy Survey 2005.

Also see:
-- "Atkins signs major Chinese water and wastewater agreement"
-- "Atkins wins California industrial wastewater treatment project"

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