Select Case Studies: Competitive Bidding & Fixed Price Contract Facilitation – Environmental Cleanup Services
Major Oil Retail Facility — $300,000 Savings
EXCALIBUR implemented its Best Investment Decision (B.I.D.) process for an Owner / Operator (O/O) who had received a remediation cost estimate approaching $1MM for the cleanup of a petroleum plume impacting the Ohio River. During scoping, EXCALIBUR found incumbent’s proposed remedial approach insufficient with high likelihood of extended O&M / costs and possible remedy failure. EXCALIBUR’s solicitation package SOW addressed the environmental problem comprehensively, incorporating proven remedial technologies applicable to the site conditions. The performance-based remediation to closure solicitation package produced several viable bids with the O/O selecting a $570,000 to closure bid, resulting in a ~$300K cost savings.
Illegal Hazardous Waste Dump – $600,000 Cost Savings
Serving as a senior technical Advisor to a PRP committee, Excalibur’s B.I.D. evaluation process uncovered numerous proposed redundancies, excessive engineering, and unnecessary storm water management and security features, unjustified contingencies in the incumbent’s bid. Working with the client, Excalibur coordinated with the incumbent contractor and competitive construction vendors to re-submit a joint revised proposal that accounting for the many pitfalls and unnecessary exaggerations which came in $600,000 under the previous bid.
Leaking UST Site — $500,000 Savings
When developing the solicitation package under the B.I.D. process for this UST release site, EXCALIBUR discovered a costly technical flaw in the incumbent’s Remedial Action Plan (RAP). It specified the wrong air emissions technology (GAC) to recover the large 20,000 lbs of volatile mass that the remediation system was expected to (and did) remove from the spill site in just the first 3 months of operation. Fortunately, EXCALIBUR caught & addressed the incumbent’s mistake by specifying the appropriate, more cost effective air emission technology (catalytic oxidation) in the solicitation package SOW. EXCALIBUR’s B.I.D. approach was credited with avoiding potential explosive vapor hazards and remedial downtime changing out air treatment equipment while saving nearly $500,000 by competitively securing a best value remediation contractor.
Regional Oil Company Retail Fuel Facility – $550,000 cost reduction
The cleanup program for this site entered EXCALIBUR’s B.I.D. process soon after the O/O was informed by the incumbent remediator “….the project life cycle cost to obtain site closure will be not less than $750,000…” However, in completing its technical evaluation to formulate the solicitation package SOW, EXCALIBUR found that the remediator had overestimated the necessary period of active remediation and remediation costs. EXCALIBUR re-formulated the bid solicitation package to reduce the O&M timeframe to half of what had originally been overestimated while adding a period of post-remedial care. The winning cleanup bid was $200,000, less than a third of the incumbent’s life cycle cost estimate.
Hazardous Waste Landfill – Saving $1.6MM
EXCALIBUR’s B.I.D. system found excesses & streamlined processes to reduce costs at a hazardous waste landfill Superfund site. EXCALIBUR discovered costly long-term O&M requirements without numerical endpoints. Additionally, EXCALIBUR found the leachate collection/ treatment system had been substantially overdesigned with redundant treatment equipment and hydraulic capacity 100x the need! Armed with results of its human health risk assessment, groundwater fate & transport analyses and engineering review, EXCALIBUR successfully petitioned the USEPA & state EPA to idle the system. Then EXCALIBUR competitively bid all decommissioning, monitoring, reporting, site security & maintenance work, realizing an annual $80,000 cost reduction ($1.6MM over 20 years).
Supply & Equipment Commercial Business — $250,000 Savings
The O/O of this commercial establishment had received a vague, poorly described work scope and cost estimate from its contractor that reportedly would completely address the groundwater VOC contaminant plume for $0.5MM. The magnitude of projected costs and scoping concerns led O/O to engage EXCALIBUR to execute the B.I.D. process designed to develop a full understanding of the O/O’s business objectives and streamlined performance-based cleanup-to-closure competitive bid package. EXCALIBUR completed all aspects of the B.I.D. process from coordinating / leading the on-site pre-bid conference, responding to bidder questions, team-reviewing / scoring bids, explaining findings to client committee, notifying the winning bidder and facilitating contracting. The successful bidder’s “to closure” bid was under $250,000, one-half of the incumbent contractor’s price.