Creative solutions to regulatory hurdles help manufacturer get needed water resources

Client challenge

Organizations seeking groundwater to meet growth objectives can face hurdles from overlapping regulations. A specialty products manufacturer client experienced this first-hand when it sought to secure additional groundwater for three initiatives: a facility upgrade, a neighborhood park irrigation plan, and a major plant expansion. While these were three distinct projects, they all were essential to business growth, and they all faced challenging regulatory hurdles that could cause delays, higher costs, or compliance challenges. The client turned to Haley & Aldrich as their long-time trusted advisor and regulatory expert to clear the path to successfully permitting their projects.

Our approach

Haley & Aldrich helped our client achieve their strategic water resources initiatives through our deep understanding of their goals, comprehensive knowledge of the regional regulatory process, and our creative approach to overcoming obstacles.

• Facility upgrade. In collaboration with our client and the state regulator, we avoided a delayed opening for the facility upgrade by making the technical case that increased groundwater withdrawal was approvable under an obscure regulatory “grandfather” provision.
• Recreation park irrigation. A centerpiece of the park irrigation plan was a repurposed well from a former manufacturing plant that occupied the site. Haley & Aldrich modified the anticipated future use of this well to conform with capacity threshold limits of both state and federal regulatory programs, thereby completely eliminating unnecessary regulatory exposure.
• Plant expansion. To ensure sufficient water supply for the future plant expansion and address complicated overlapping regulatory requirements, we tapped into our technical knowledge and regulatory credibility to eliminate permitting.

Value delivered

• Saved our client potentially more than $500,000 in regulatory exposure, and more significantly, avoided a two-year facility opening delay by grandfathering the facility upgrade
• Saved nearly $200,000 and two years in permitting expense and time by modifying the recreation park’s irrigation system and finding an efficient route for regulatory approvals, giving the community a green, beautiful recreation facility where an industrial building once stood
• Identified the least intensive and least expensive path to regulatory approval for the plant expansion, ensuring sufficient available water volume upon opening