Wonder Lake, IL

Champion Environmental Services, Inc has been retained by the Village of Wonder Lake, Illinois to remove an aged water tower. The structure is located in a dense region of the neighborhood; as a result, we will not “drop” the tower.

The elevated water tower will be carefully dismantled. All portions of the structure will then be methodically deconstructed on the ground for recycling.

Only our most highly skilled operators, laborers, site safety supervisors, and other associated field personnel will be mobilized for this project. Extreme care must be taken to ensure insure the protection of our workers and the surrounding community.

The effort has a very tight schedule calling for one week of on-site work.

Fire Sale 2010 Part II

The insanity continues - bid results just into our office. The scope here is an extensive amount of ACM pipe and associated fittings. While 85% of the abatement is readily exposed, some selective demolition is involved to reach part of the chases. An additional quantity of ACM floor mastic rounds the project.

Despite the public nature of these bid results, I still feel it is of little value to debase a competitor by naming each company here.

$77,550
$71,100
$63,550
$58,850
$43,820
$36,641

The numbers, particularly the low bid at $36,641, reflects troubled insensibility that has polluted our industry.

An Overdue Update

As of late, it has become increasing more difficult to diligently keep people informed of all that is taking place at Champion Environmental Services, Inc.

The high season for asbestos abatement at schools and universities is starting to slow. None-the-less, there are several substantial demolition jobs that we are getting ready to facilitate.

Champion Environmental Services, Inc. was just awarded work on behalf of the Chicago Housing Authority to perform demolition and asbestos abatement at the Le Claire Court housing complex.

Demolition and asbestos abatement at the West Lawn Housing Authority in the City of Milwaukee just kicked off. Additional work is being performed throughout Milwaukee in an attempt to rid the community of blighted homes that have succumbed to economic misfortune. We are also helping to resolve buildings damaged by recent flooding in Milwaukee.

Mobilization will begin this week to demolish a city owned apartment complex in Wisconsin.

The Illinois EPA is in the process of approving our contaminated asbestos soil cleanup at the former Trinity Nursing School in Moline, Illinois. Analytical samples are being processed and we are expecting approval to move forward with demolition this week.

Champion received final air clearance for asbestos work completed at Chicago State University; the successful project finished ahead of schedule.

The Spirit of the Beast

Headline just read from the AP “Recovery in danger as firms, homebuyers cut back”. The operative work here, “recovery” is beyond inappropriate, and at best, belies significant intellect regarding the current economic malaise.

Who is feeling any sense of recovery?

Real estate offices peddling distressed properties to opportunistic buyers.

Case in point, a new home in my neighborhood that was built and sold in 2007 for $1.4 million slid into foreclosure several months ago. Out of curiosity, I hawked the estate tracking down the details to find it to market only last week for $594,000.

I spoke directly to the listing agent who stated that there were 6 legitimate standing offers before the house even hit the MLS. Now, I rarely believe a single word any real estate agent tells me (other than mine who has been a trusted advisor for over 10 years) but I was able to confirm that there were in fact more than 6 offers.

This niche industry has its own written prophecy to be recognized on an eventual upside; this market will go away one day, but what about right now?

One of the few points in the AP article I agreed with state that “ . . .new home sales fell 12.4 percent in July from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 276,600. That was the slowest pace on records dating back to 1963. Collectively, the past three months have been the worst on record for new home sales.

The weak sales mean fewer jobs in the construction industry, which normally powers economic recoveries. Each new home built creates, on average, the equivalent of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in taxes, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

The two reports are likely to stoke fears that the economy is on the verge of slipping back into a recession.” (emphasis mine)

As I stated in My August 13, 2010 post entitled Forecasting In An Era Of Information Immediacy, in part, the immediate 24/365 news cycle alone will not provide an accurate platform to hedge the market. One must empirically derive signs and signifiers to calculate business positions.

My neighborhood reflects and confirms much of the data from the news wires.

Where new home construction was so abundant - in a fully mature northwest suburb just outside of Chicago - you could not look in any direction in any quadrant without seeing orange fencing, now, only custom, contracted projects appear.

Public servant positions have been eliminated and hiring frozen. The community chest is an empty box. Nearly every million and multi-million property is either for sale, in foreclosure, or tepidly holding out. A heavy surplus of existing homes go unsold and rentable apartments are in short supply as those who would once rent and save to purchase are now just staying put. Retail space is full with few empty spaces, but foot traffic is minimal. Several large office suite complexes are entirely empty – thankfully, they are well maintained as the only indication that all is not well is huge empty parking lots behind the buildings. A large townhouse project started 7 months ago has only one sold unit, the infrastructure of streets/sewers/lights await.

Something Wicked This Way Comes. And laughter will not save us.

Champion Awarded FAA Contract

Champion Environmental Services, Inc. has been awarded a project by the Federal Aviation Administration to perform asbestos abatement at two Wisconsin airports.

Champion has extensive experience with governmental entities having executed contracts with the Department of Energy, Veterans Administration, and General Services Administration.

Small Project In Pewaukee, Wisconsin

Champion Environmental Services, Inc. will begin mobilizing a small crew at the former Lakeview Lanes bowling alley in Pewaukee, WI.

The 15,000 square foot building is being demolished on behalf of the neighboring parish. The church will use the land to expand facilities. Champion will finish operations in about one week.

Fire Sale 2010

I have often voiced my frustration over companies who are bidding work at below cost. Ill qualified firms who are awarded basement priced contracts in turn cut corners, provide inferior quality/customer service, and at times, illegally dispose of demolition debris – or worse, illegally dispose hazardous materials.

Both public and private entities have little incentive to care when they gawk at the bottom line. Economic ambiguity allows clients to “take advantage” – the advantage often translates into an ethical (cafeteria style) mode of operation as they choose what to be concerned about.

Below is a news item that was placed on my desk by a coworker. I wish those quoted in the article could be more forthright concerning the circumstances. The truth would be a powerful morality pageant or perhaps akin to the musings of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm – an ominous lesson for those clients who forsake professionals in favor industry bastardization.

Essentially, Champion Environmental Services, Inc. was retained to demolish a building which was environmentally abated by another company. Prior to mobilization, the EPA alerted our company that soil had become contaminated with asbestos. What initially started out as a few skid steer loads of material quickly materialized into a massive undertaking which has yet to be fully resolved.

The article uses the phrase “unauthorized work” to characterize the essence of the hindrance. I would characterize the situation as one of deliberate deception

Keep in mind, at one time, the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale actually designated “idiot” as a definable unit attributable to people.

Again, this article is by Dustin Lemmon of the “Quad- City Times”.

Demolition nears for Moline building

Once the last of the asbestos is removed from Moline’s old nursing school dormitory, it shouldn’t be long before the building is brought down.

But exactly when the asbestos removal will be complete is up to the weather.
Maggie Carson, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, which has been overseeing the asbestos cleanup, said the contractor is scheduled to resume work Monday, but rain could delay the work that is left at the seven-story building on 6th Street, south of 5th Avenue.

Joe Slavens, president of Northwest Bank and Trust, which is responsible for the demolition, said some contaminated soil has to be removed and then the EPA will conduct a soil test to determine if the land meets its standards.

“The problem has been rain in terms of delaying activity,” Slavens said. “You have to have a certain number of dry days. When it rains, you have to wait until it dries.”

Slavens said the bank already has contracted a company for the demolition work and will be ready to go as soon as the EPA agrees the work can proceed.

“The bank has been ready to write checks to the contractor for a month,” he said. “I know people in the neighborhood have been disappointed it hasn’t come down.”
The bank will need a demolition permit from the city, but that is expected to come quickly.

“It will be very quick,” Moline City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher said of securing the permit. “It’s ready to go. We can’t do anything until the EPA releases the building.”

The asbestos removal has been a lengthy process. Slavens said the building already passed an air sample test, which is the usual standard for the EPA’s asbestos testing, but there was some unauthorized work done at the site previously that required the soil tests and a higher standard.

Steinbrecher said the ground needs to be cleared so once the building is brought down, either with a wrecking ball or other construction equipment, the rubble can be left on the bluff.

“If the EPA will clear the building of asbestos, the rubble can be crushed and left on the site with top soil coverage,” he said.

Once the site is cleared, the city will take ownership of the property and seek a developer for a housing development with 80 residential units, Steinbrecher said, adding the homes will not be built on the area where the rubble is left.
Carson would not give an estimate for how much longer the asbestos cleanup will take.

Dustin Lemmon of the “Quad- City Times”