Cascade's Quarterly Newsletter

Pathways Newsletter

Welcome to Pathways, your quarterly newsletter!

As environmental professionals, you’re constantly adapting to new site challenges. In this issue of Pathways, we highlight real-world solutions driven by experience, innovation, and collaboration. From navigating the complexities of PFAS remediation to deploying cutting-edge technologies like Pathfinder™ and high resolution site characterization (HRSC), this edition offers practical insights you can use on your next project.

You’ll also find a case study that shows how strategic injection planning improves long-term outcomes, a spotlight on our new PFAS resource hub, and a sustainability update that highlights the impact of our field teams across the country.

New Report, Real Impact: See What Sustainability Looks Like at Cascade

If you’re looking for real-world examples of how environmental services companies are making measurable progress toward sustainability goals, the 2024 Cascade Sustainability Report delivers. Inside, you’ll find insights on reducing GHG emissions, modernizing field operations, strengthening workforce development, and building resilient supply chains—all backed by data and grounded in field experience. From environmental impact to employee well-being, this report shows how meaningful change happens on the ground. Download the full report to explore these strategies.

Download Now >>

PFAS Remediation Starts Here

PFAS contamination is one of the most complex and urgent environmental challenges we face today. With tightening regulations and increasing pressure to act, environmental professionals need more than just the latest technologies—they need proven strategies, field-tested solutions, and reliable data to guide them.

Our new PFAS resource hub brings together Cascade’s full range of PFAS site investigation and remediation capabilities, including advanced drilling protocols, HRSC tools like WaterlooAPS™, and treatment approaches such as high temperature thermal and ColloidalChem™ sequestration. Whether you're in the early stages of investigation or exploring long-term containment strategies, you'll find expert guidance and practical resources to help you move forward.

Access PFAS Resource Hub >>

Optimizing Injection Strategies with High Resolution Site Characterization

At a chlorinated solvent site in California, a confidential client partnered with Cascade to overcome subsurface complexity and improve remediation outcomes. Using HRSC tools—including Cone Penetrometer Testing (CPT) and Membrane Interface Probe (MIP)—Cascade gathered detailed vertical and lateral data that revealed key variations in lithology and contaminant distribution.

Download the project details on how HRSC can significantly increase the effectiveness and sustainability of in situ remediation.

Download Your Copy >>

Optimizing Injection Strategies with High Resolution Site Characterization

Ask the Expert

Do you have a question for our team? Ask it here>>

What are the key factors that determine the success of an ISS project?

In my experience, the success of an in situ stabilization (ISS) project comes down to one core principle: you must produce a well-mixed, homogeneously treated material. Everything else—mixing equipment, reagents, even the site conditions—feeds into that.

Understanding your site’s lithology and contaminant profile is essential. Your reagent selection and mix design are based on these and should always be tailored to the performance criteria you're trying to meet—typically strength, leachability, and permeability. A solid treatability study in the lab, followed by pilot testing in the field, helps verify that your mix design will work under real-world conditions.

The mixing method itself, whether auger-based or excavator-based, should be chosen based on depth, debris and obstructions, and cost-effectiveness. I always caution folks not to fixate on the equipment type. What matters is whether that equipment can deliver the consistent, uniform mixing needed to meet your project goals.

Finally, be realistic about cure times and performance development. Strength and leachability metrics stabilize fairly quickly, but permeability may take longer. Waiting a bit beyond the arbitrary 28-day mark is often worth it if it means achieving regulatory targets without unnecessary rework.

At the end of the day, ISS is a powerful tool—but like any tool, its success depends on how well you understand its capabilities and limitations. Get the fundamentals right, and ISS can deliver long-term, reliable results.

Dr. Paul Lear, Senior Technical Director at Cascade

Learn More>>

Technology Spotlight: Solving Complex Injection Challenges with Pathfinder™

When it comes to in situ remediation, delivering amendments consistently and efficiently across multiple injection points can pose real challenges—especially as project scopes expand and treatment designs grow more nuanced. Field teams often contend with variables such as changing flow dynamics, site heterogeneity, and the need to ensure uniform distribution across all injection intervals.

Enter Pathfinder™—Cascade’s first-of-its-kind automated injection manifold system. Developed to enhance control, repeatability, and data transparency in multi-point injection programs, Pathfinder dynamically regulates flow and pressure at each injection point, reducing the risk of daylighting and helping to meet design specifications with precision. Whether you're working with ColloidalChem™, emulsified products, or other amendment types, Pathfinder supports reliable subsurface distribution—backed by real-time data logging of injection rates, volumes, pressures, and site conditions.

Pathfinder isn’t just about automation—it’s about enabling smarter, more defensible injection strategies that empower field teams to focus on performance, not manual adjustments. It’s one more way Cascade is helping clients bring consistency and confidence to complex remediation projects

Learn More >>

PFAS in the News

Drilling Basics: Foundations for Environmental and Geotechnical Success

This three-part webinar series will provide you with a solid foundation in drilling methods, project management, and problem-solving techniques. We'll cover a wide range of topics, from understanding drilling techniques and selecting the right equipment to navigating challenging site conditions and ensuring safety and compliance.

Site Remediation: From Design to Field Success Webinar Series

Achieving reliable remediation outcomes requires more than just good planning - it requires precise data, strategic design, and the ability to adapt to on-site challenges. In this 3-part webinar series, our experts will take you step-by-step through the entire process of in situ injection, from high-resolution data collection to real-world troubleshooting.

Stop by to see us at the following events:

Washington State Brownfields Conference – Yakima, WA – 05.20.2025
International In-Situ Thermal Treatment (i2t2) Symposium 2025 – Banff, Canada – 05.21.2025
I.CON East – Jersey City, NJ – 06.04.2025
AIPG Michigan Section Environmental Risk Management Workshop – Roscommon, MI – 06.11.2025
Battelle Bioremediation Symposium – Boston, MA – 06.23.2025
Brownfields 2025 – Chicago, IL – 08.05.2025

Tell Us

We understand that quality is essential to your success. Your feedback at the end of each project helps us refine and improve our services to meet your expectations every time. Click on the link below to quickly submit a Qcard for your latest project, and help us continue to deliver the results you deserve.

Submit A Qcard >>