While most of us are trying to do our part to be good stewards of the natural environment, it's important to remember that there is an industry out there not necessarily on the same page with us. No, not the coal industry... not the oil and gas industry... the environmental services industry.
A prominent corporate member of this industry is a company called Ecology and Environment, Inc., based in Lancaster, New York. Back in 2013, the company was outed for paying dues to the Independent Oil and Gas Association (IOGA) for the membership of one of E&E's employees. IOGA is a pro-fracking trade group. When the link came to light, E&E terminated the relationship with IOGA.
In 2017, the company won a billion-dollar contract from the EPA to provide “professional services” in all 10 EPA regions of the country. More specifically, the contract assigned services to various Superfund sites, performing fieldwork and analytical support, treatability studies, remedial investigations, feasibility studies, and engineering evaluations / cost analyses.
Despite this, the company has reportedly been struggling financially. Last week E&E received a notice from Nasdaq that it was no longer in compliance for listing on the exchange for failing to file its quarterly report for the period ending in January of this year. It's not the first report the company has missed, and it has until May 13 to file its delinquent reports to regain Nasdaq compliance.
According to a news source in Buffalo, New York, “The publicly traded company has not filed its annual report, due last July, or its first quarter report, due in October, because it has determined that E&E has determined it actually does not have a controlling interest in a segment that has long been included in its earnings. The company has said in filings it is working to amend previous reports and complete the ones that are due.” The company employs 400 people in the US and 700 worldwide.
One of E&E's principal lobbyists, Ryan Matthews, is the former Deputy Secretary of Regulatory Programs in Florida's Department of Environmental Protection.
