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Cardno UAS platform Vapor 55 mounted with LiDAR, Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), GPS and gamma sensor, used to assess abandoned uranium mines. / Cardno
Uranium time Global infrastructure and environmental services firm poised to introduce patent-pending workflow process to $1B market in remediation of abandoned Navajo uranium mines.
By RICHARD MASSEY Managing Editor
in place, a series of RFPs will be issued on a rolling basis and across a range of jobs, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Poised to bring shape and substance to the unprec- edented cleanup is Cardno Inc. (#35 Hot Firm for 2014), a global infrastructure and environmental services firm with a patent-pending process tailor- made for the difficult task of assessing an impaired site. In April, Cardno Inc. filed a patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for use in the unmanned aerial systems industry. The patent ap- plication is directed to several inventions including a remote sensing workflow process using drones and specialized sensors to assess contamination at abandoned uranium mines. The system, essentially a one-stop shop that en- tails surveying, high-res photography, LiDAR, and gamma sensing – all administered from a military- grade drone – would safely allow for unprecedented
A billion-dollar market in the remediation of abandoned uranium mines is about to open up in the Navajo Nation, thanks to an historic settle- ment by the U.S. Department of Justice in its case against oil and gas giant Kerr-McGee Corp. “Our patent application covers the concept and the work flow. Our patent application includes claims on the process itself. This is more than merely a device patent.” The settlement, reached in 2014 with Kerr-Mc- Gee’s parent company, Anadarko Petroleum Corp., affects 49 of Kerr-McGee’s Cold War-era mines dot- ting Navajo lands, which straddle the borders of Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. With the funding
Jason Kack, West Business Unit Manager of Cardno’s Geospatial Services Area
THE ZWEIG LETTER June 13
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