Methuen Construction, Plaistow, N.H., which debuts this year on the Top 200 list at No. 103, is used to tackling upgrades of aging New England water and wastewater facilities so owners can meet new supply and treatment demands and avoid federal penalties.
But its work on the $74-million Peirce Island sewage treatment plant upgrade in Portsmouth, N.H., had an added dimension. That city’s largest public works project was on a Revolutionary War-era fortification site that challenged the firm to install modern technology and larger capacity on an island site with limited access and adjacent historic preservation under way.
Ahead for Methuen is the $51-million Pittsfield, Mass., wastewater plant upgrade required to meet EPA nutrient discharge mandates for the at-risk Housatonic River and a $51 million improvement program at Vernon, Conn.’s water pollution control facility.
Methuen Executive Vice President Wayne Symonds says its environmental market is “stable,” with numerous facilities across the region built following the 1972 Clean Water Act that are in need of improvements to remain in step with federal requirements.
But he adds “states and communities just don’t have the resources to undertake large projects alone.”
Symonds says self-performing civil, concrete and other major facets has given Metheun a competitive advantage, and may enable the company to vie for targeted opportunities outside New England as part of a 10-year plan to more than double its current $120-million total revenue.
Also active the federal and industrial sectors, Methuen’s portfolio includes power and waste-to-energy projects.
Click here to read more about the ENR 2019 Top 200 Environmental Firms and their $57-billion marketplace