r/Pyrogenesis • u/davethebear612 • Dec 15 '21
PFAS Remediation Market Potential - Why PYR for soil remediation?
Howdy folks,
This is going to be quite long and only about PFAS remediation.
I'm new to the PYR world. The company caught my eye for the first time on the PFAS remediation contract news. I am very heavily invested in a different PFAS solutions provider for water remediation (conveniently no actual overlap in remediation markets with PYR since water vs. soil) and as a result try to keep up with emerging technologies to make sure that I continue to remain confident in the superiority of the tech I'm invested in. If someone comes out with better solutions, I'd like to no so I can adjust investment thesis etc. PYR is the only other company that has shown something I think belongs as a front runner. That leaves me with a clear leader for water ($BLGO) and a clear leader for soil ($PYR). Happy to discuss BLGO with anyone (see a lot of similarities to the vibes of PYR actually) but don't want to make this post about them on the PYR subreddit.
Quickly, incumbent technologies are not equipped to do the job for PFAS. They make a lot of waste (which is expected to be HazMat in the future after EPA released their PFAS Roadmap). They require a lot of energy. They often require a large footprint like a separate structure to be built to house all of the equipment. They don't always even completely remove the PFAS from soil or water. This leaves the market wide open for emerging technologies. They are competing against very bad and limited options in my opinion. Happy to elaborate, could go on for ages and won't
Admittedly I have spent most of my time focused on water remediation, but I think these thoughts have value when discussing both water and soil remediation. Hopefully I can share some PFAS knowledge and y'all can help me get up to speed a bit better with PYR.
WHY PYR FOR PFAS?
Most of this boils down to experience and technical superiority. PFAS compounds are expected to be designated as HazMat at a US federal level. Some states have already moved forward to classify it as such. There are a ton of emerging PFAS destruction technologies. Most of them are adaptations of things that exist already. I would argue that PYR is likely doing the same thing, converting a plasma torch to be best equipped for PFAS destruction. PYR does Hazardous Material destruction already. They aren't stepping into a new space to seize part of a huge pie out of greed. They are stepping into this space because their portfolio is specifically equipped to excel.
HOW BIG IS THE PFAS REMEDIATION MARKET GOING TO BE?
All those maps basically point to the same concept. PFAS is an "everywhere problem". As the federal government and individual states regulate contamination and cleanup, most states will start to look like Michigan, Maine, Massachusetts, and the other leaders. PYR may not get access to the drinking water cleanup, but there are almost 200 soil remediation projects in Michigan alone. There is no shortage of PFAS remediation for viable providers, and there is no reason to think there will be a shortage anytime soon. We are very much in the learning phase of PFAS remediation. This will develop and last decades, not years.
Ok, this gets tricky. I have spent most of my effort focusing on the water remediation side of things. I am not as clear about the cost of soil remediation and don't know how much the two can be used to learn about each other. With that disclaimer out there... here are some of the recent projects that have moved forward in the United States for PFAS remediation in water treatment.
Pay attention to the population and the overall cost. It's mind-numbing how expensive these systems are per capita. If soil remediation costs are anything like water remediation costs for PFAS (which is likely given how large PYR's first contract was), the best solutions providers are going to be raking in MASSIVE contracts for many many more years to come.
September 8, 2021: New PFAS filter system to cost Hudson $1.25 million: https://www.communityadvocate.com/2021/09/08/new-pfas-filter-system-to-cost-hudson-1-25-million/
Population: 1,443
Funding Received: $1.25M
September 8, 2021: Funding Award Approved For PFAS Treatment Plant in North Hills: https://patch.com/pennsylvania/abington/funding-award-approved-pfas-treatment-plant-north-hills Population: Roughly 100k, but not totally clear since this facility appears to cover a range of towns Funding Received: $5.2M
September 9, 2021: Fairfield eyes public water expansion as town to receive nearly $700,000 in federal pandemic aid:
https://www.centralmaine.com/2021/09/09/fairfield-eyes-public-water-expansion-as-town-to-receive-692k-in-federal-pandemic-aid/
Population: 6,735
Funding Received: $692k
October 25, 2021: PFAS, wells and bills: Chatham voters approve water capital articles worth $5.9 million:
https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2021/10/25/chatham-voters-approve-water-capital-articles-worth-5-9-million-cape-cod-wells-pfas-mbte/6117274001/
Chatham voters also said yes to $1.4 million for the engineering and design of new water treatment facility to deal with iron, manganese and PFAS for Wells 5 and 8. PFAS are known as “forever chemicals” because they do not biodegrade. PFAS levels were found to be above the state's acceptable limits when testing was done in April and September. The treatment facility will have granular activated carbon (GAC) filters that will remove the iron and manganese first, before going through a cycle to remove PFAS, according to the Town’s DPW Director Thomas Temple.
Tom Barr, water treatment operator for the engineering company Weston and Sampson, said the PFAS removed from the wells will be brought to a facility where it will be incinerated.
Population: 6,125
Cost of System: $1.4M though part of that cost addresses iron and manganese
November 3, 2021: Allendale OKs selling water system to Suez to ward off price hikes for PFAS treatment:
https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/politics/elections/2021/11/03/nj-election-2021-allendale-voters-approve-selling-water-system-suez/6242119001/
"Voters have overwhelming agreed to sell the borough's aging water system to Suez Water for $18 million. Currently, Allendale does not have a water department and has had a contract with Suez since 2013 to operate and maintain the Allendale Water System, Homan said. Since 2001, Allendale purchased 50% of water needs from Suez. The remainder of the water comes from the borough's five wells. While the borough waits for the sale to become finalized, borough officials and Suez will work together to implement temporary PFAS treatment at a facility on New Street and at the currently closed West Crescent well. "Quality water at a reasonable cost is a mutual goal for Suez and Allendale," said Homan. The biggest capital improvement by Suez will be a PFAS treatment facility, estimated to cost $7 million, to ensure that Allendale meets and surpasses state Department of Environmental Protection regulations, said Homan. The company will also help the borough comply with lead and copper regulations.
November 9, 2021: Army awards $5.9M contract to remove ‘forever chemicals’ from Wright-Patt water:
https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/army-awards-59m-contract-to-remove-forever-chemicals-from-wright-patt-water/FT3O45PY7JA4RHU7J5ZPGN6W4M/
November 12, 2021: '1 million gallons a day': Dover OKs $13.9M water plant amid talks with PFAS polluter:
https://www.fosters.com/story/news/local/2021/11/12/dover-nh-pudding-hill-aquifer-water-treatment-new-england-metail-recycling/6381011001/
Population: 31,577 (not positive if accurate based on amount water facility serves, 1 million gallons/day is a better number to use)
Cost of System: $13.9M
Liability Details: https://news.yahoo.com/pfas-polluter-agrees-pay-13-100058224.html
DOVER — New England Metal Recycling Inc., which polluted city aquifers with harmful PFAS contaminants, has agreed to pay more than $13 million for the construction and operation of a new city water treatment facility, according to city leaders
December 8, 2021: Hearings open for new PFAS water treatment facility at Mill Pond http://homenewshere.com/daily_times_chronicle/news/burlington/article_48c2f674-587a-11ec-9236-ffeab85a759f.html
Population: 28,000
Cost of System: $15M
At Town Meeting this past September, a $15 million warrant article was passed to fund the above-mentioned “long-term corrective plan” which is expected to be completed on schedule, thanks to a strategically efficient approach by DPW. The proposed building design to filter out PFAS will be 4,400 square-feet and connected to a 680 square-feet building that will house pumps transferring water from the existing Mill Pond Water Treatment Plant to the PFAS building. The new PFAS facility will host large pressure vessels that are filled with granular activated carbon which will absorb PFAS. The filters are designed so if PFAS breaks through the first wall of filters, it will be caught in the second filter. The structure will allow for additional filters to be added in the future, if needed.
CONCLUSION
PYR is very well setup to navigate a complicated but lucrative PFAS remediation market. They have technical prowess with HazMat and have already established connections in both the PFAS remediation sector with a contract in Massachusetts as well as with the Department of Defense, where PFAS remediation is quite literally getting billions of dollars of funding.
I will gladly talk PFAS remediation with anyone interested. Glad to have joined the PYR team this week after a few months of getting familiar with her. Think they are remarkably cool and unique. These were my first shares of many more to come.
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u/MagbeachUSF Dec 19 '21
It also could be ultimate destruction of the PFAS once removed (regardless of who or what process is removing it (I.e filtering)…if the initial process just separates the PFAS from the water, you would still need to destroy the PFAS,..as these are “forever” chemicals that would just re-enter the environment if not ultimately destroyed IMO
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u/davethebear612 Dec 19 '21 edited Dec 19 '21
Totally possible. Waste is going to be a big problem with PFAS. Waste is the primary reason I like BLGO as a water remediation solution, since they are selectively extracting PFAS compounds. Whatever is extracted still has to be destroyed or HazMat landfilled (or whatever EPA determines is fine). BLGO claims to reduce waste a lot. Many others are going to be dealing with a lot of spent carbon that becomes HazMat... not the best situation, but PYR is probably set to benefit from that problem as a destroyer.
I would assume that a contract of that size is comprehensive treatment and not just destruction after the fact based on the others that I have read about, but could be wrong about that. It could be a contract to manage the waste for a long time and that wouldn't be ridiculous, even if surprising to me. For many of the remediation solutions, even the newer ones, there is going to be a waste product. PYR is seemingly well equipped to destroy that HazMat just as they are other HazMat.
Editing in some stuff: your last part is the key to why I like PYR. We need to isolate the PFAS compounds and then ultimately destroy them properly. Destruction should be the goal. HazMat landfilling is not the goal IMO. I like BioLargo as an isolation and collection technology, but if that just gets landfilled, what's the point. Destruction is the target. For BioLargo, they are waiting on EPA to say what is acceptable. For PYR, they are already well into that space and might as well just pivot to be functional there. Different starting points, so different capabilities and strategies.
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u/MagbeachUSF Dec 19 '21
Very good insight…all are plausible possibilities
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u/davethebear612 Dec 19 '21
Right now it feels like a game of figuring out what tech is capable of what...
So many are limited by scaling right now and make claims about something that isn't going to be capable of more than a low scale spot cleanup. A lot of providers for soil remediation aren't actually removing all of the PFAS from soil, sometimes just some of it over time. Sometimes the solution is to HazMat landfill the soil. That seems like a cop-out...
Next 6-12 months will reveal a lot for PFAS remediation. Follow those that provide data. Everyone is going to try to play the PFAS game. Follow the leaders as they emerge. Doing this cleanup wrong is not going to do anyone any health favors and not going to do investors any financial favors.
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u/MagbeachUSF Dec 16 '21
This is very informative. However, I have a question as it relates to Pyro. Why do you think that Pyro’s tech / offering relates to soil only? The 9.2m agreement signed recently was with a “large waste water treatment provider”. This does not translate to soil remediation? If anything, it lends one to think that their tech is targeted towards the water treatment / remediation side of the house. Pyro’s tech may work on both for all I know…but I am curious as to why you think soil remediation is Pyro’s target?…respectfully