Locus Introduces Software to Automate NPDES Discharge Monitoring Reporting

Companies can use Locus’ cloud-based EIM software to streamline their DMR process, reduce costs, and mitigate risk

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., 20 May 2013 — In response to industry and customer demands to streamline Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) reporting under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program, Locus Technologies (Locus), the leader in cloud-based environmental compliance and information management software, has expanded its award-winning Environmental Information Management (EIM) software to automate the generation of DMR reports.

Locus’ EIM DMR solves the problem of expensive, labor-intensive manual report generation by completely automating the process. The NPDES requires that permit holders report self-monitored pollution results with a DMR. These reports are often due monthly, and collecting and reporting information such as analytical chemistry of pollutants, flow velocity, total maximum daily load, and other parameters make generating DMRs a time-consuming process. For companies that have to report on 100 or 1,000 facilities, manually producing a DMR also becomes a major operational expense.

Thanks to Locus’ new software offering, once arranged in EIM, companies can generate DMRs within minutes in the approved formats, using validated data. Companies can set up EIM for all permitted facilities and realize immediate cost and time savings during each reporting period. Relevant data are directly uploaded to the system, reviewed and validated, then reported in the proper formats.

“NPDES DMR reporting and other water-quality management issues represent a potentially huge area of risk and cost for businesses. Automating generation, quality control, and submittal of DMRs should be part of the environmental strategy of any organization, just like reducing one’s water or energy usage already is,” said Mr. Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus. “Leaders who establish water-quality transparency for their companies before others do, and who formulate specific and measurable targets with respect to water footprint reduction, can turn this into a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Locus software can help them carve out those increased operational efficiencies.”

Locus’ SaaS EIM enables companies to manage and organize all their water-quality data on a larger and more comprehensive scale using cloud-based computing and storage, replacing spreadsheets and the local, homegrown databases typically used to generate DMRs. Locus’ innovative enterprise software model also employs mashups—applications that integrate data or functionality from multiple sources or technologies—offering the potential to completely revolutionize the way a corporation manages its water data.

Over the last 15 years, Locus has focused on water-quality issues; the company has built a world-class team of experts with deep domain knowledge in the field. Locus’ EIM is successfully deployed at thousands of sites worldwide and contains organized water quality information at hundreds of thousands of locations. The DMR software complements Locus’ existing suite of cloud-based software.

Locus Technologies celebrates its 16th Anniversary

On 11 April 1997, what had been a dream of mine for many years finally came to fruition: Locus Technologies officially opened its doors. The company was founded with the mission to use strong scientific principles and domain experience to help customers minimize their environmental liability. Officially starting as a consulting-based company, we soon after began directing our focus toward environmental information management software, as the future need for these tools became more and more apparent.

This realization, which turned out to be ahead of the curve forecasting, led to Locus’ flagship product, EIM, being launched in 1999. This web-based SaaS application for managing analytical data was a first for the environmental industry. Soon after its release EIM was already handling millions of analytical records for hundreds of sites worldwide.

In 2001 ePortal was born; the comprehensive Cloud-based platform built to manage all forms of environmental data, whether it be air, water, energy, compliance, or sustainability information. Since that day ePortal has been continuously evolving and improving, and we at Locus have been building up our domain expertise with each new customer, and each new requirement or goal that our software helps them reach.

From the beginning, the main goal at Locus was to thrive in this industry by successfully adapting to change. I am happy to report that for the past 16 years Locus has consistently accomplished this, and therefore managed to remain an innovator in the field of environmental information management. As the company enters its seventeenth year of operation, I would like to share a few brief highlights of its recent accomplishments.

Locus has received the Environmental Business Journal’s award for Information Technology in the environmental and energy industry for seven years in a row; opened up an office in Asheville, NC specifically for GIS R&D and later turned it into an EIM product management center; became both SOC 1 (SSAE-16) and SOC 2 certified to be able to assure both existing and potential customers that we have the proper controls in place to manage their data securely; and continued to expand our customer base with some of the largest companies in industries such as food, agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and the DOE.

Over the last decade many others have grown interested about, and attempted to break into this space; most of which are no longer around. While our products and individual applications have changed, our idea and vision has not. We have stayed the course that earned us contracts with many Fortune 100 companies. We intend to continue on the same path going forward.

Locus’ success has always been made possible thanks to its diversely talented, results-driven team and each member’s commitment to breakthrough environmental technologies. At Locus, our passion is fueled by the challenge of developing the best system available to assist our customers with their information management needs. Even sixteen years after the company’s inception, we are hard at work every day to continuously improve our offerings and help our customers simplify the management of their environmental information.

Fracking’s Role in Reducing CO2 Emissions

There’s no doubt that hydraulic fracking has become a popular term today, but have you heard of cracking? I am referring to the drop in carbon emissions partly made possible by the cheaper fuel source brought forth by fracking. In fact, American CO2 emissions have fallen nearly 13 percent since 2007, which makes President Obama’s promise to cut these emissions by 17 percent between 2005 and 2020 possibly obtainable without enacting a major new legislation like cap-and-trade.

While certain regulations and tax break incentives have helped make this reduction possible, the main driving force is economics. Not only have Americans been encouraged to drive less and purchase vehicles with better fuel economy due to high prices, but power companies have also been making the switch from coal to natural gas, a cleaner and cheaper fuel. These actions have resulted in the drop in CO2 emissions, and it’s doubtful that they will change too severely in the near future. Or to put it simply, market forces have taken care of CO2—for now.

However, while cutting greenhouse gas emissions is a positive, it may come with a high price to pay if water quality around fracking sites is not properly monitored and managed. Many concerns have already arisen about chemicals and methane potentially leaking from wells and contaminating water supplies and air. If we don’t monitor aquifers around fracking sites and end up contaminating them, all gains on reduced emissions could quickly be lost as water treatment is expensive, requires a large amount of energy, and takes a long time, which again translates into more carbon emissions.

It is important for companies to take responsibility for their fracking sites, so that the decrease in CO2 emissions and the protection of our water resources may occur simultaneously. In order to ensure that water quality is preserved, a sufficient amount of monitoring needs to happen at a reasonable frequency. Aquifer and surface water samples must be collected and analyzed for probable contaminants. Locus offers the industry leading water quality management software, EIM, to assist companies that face this challenge. EIM is a Cloud-based data management system that supports all management and workflow processes necessary to better determine water quality, so that cracking may be accomplished safely.

The Environmental and Sustainability Big Data Era is Here

Move over ‘social media’ and ‘apps’, there’s a new buzzword in town. And it’s beginning to roll off the tips of the tongues of techies just like ‘green’ does for environmental professionals. They call it ‘big data’.

Big data refers to the massive amount of data compiled over time that becomes difficult to manage and analyze due to its size. When you think about all the environmental and sustainability information that’s being collected nowadays- analytical data, emissions data, geology, water quality, toxic waste data, hazardous materials, health and safety data, exposure data, as well as videos, photos, activity logs, and social media posts – when does it become too much? Because of the enormous quantity of environmental data, we begin the difficult task of looking for useful information, like searching for a needle in a haystack, and we often end up never finding it. We are witnessing a huge data explosion happening in our industry and few companies are ready to deal with the data avalanches heading their way.

Peter Thiel, co-founder of Palantir, the California start-up working to transform how information is analyzed, has an insightful take on this topic. “Most of ‘big data’ is a fraud, because it is really ‘dumb data,’” he says. “For the most part, we would need something like artificial intelligence to turn the ‘dumb data’ into ‘smart data,’ and the reality is that we are still pretty far from developing that sort of artificial intelligence.”

The unavoidable truth is that all this information can become a problem, and can easily overwhelm those dealing with it- to the point where the information’s value is completely overlooked. However, while technology is far from handling this perfectly, it can still arise to the challenge of placing big data on a sensible diet. By sensible, I mean breaking down the fat into healthier, more digestible chunks. This functionality helps to cure headaches and quells the instinct to immediately sweep big data under the rug. So, how can this much-needed level of sensibility be reached in the environmental and sustainability industry?

Enter: the Cloud. Web-based, user-friendly platforms have the capability to store large amounts of data while also dissecting and organizing it into more manageable and comprehensible bits of information. Locus Cloud was developed specifically as a big data management platform for the environmental and sustainability industry. It gives large corporations dealing with big data the ability to pull essential facts and intelligence out of the depths of information overload and turn it into actionable information that not only helps with compliance and reporting, but also stands to significantly lower the company’s operating cost.

It’s time for today’s environmental, health, safety, and sustainability professionals to capitalize on the benefits that big data present. Stop quivering with intimidation, stand up and look your big data square in the eye, and wring it like a wet towel, squeezing out all the value that you possibly can.

Locus Adds New Functionality to Generate AREOR Data Summary Tables in its EIM Software

Locus’ Nuclear Customers can Easily Meet Regulatory Compliance with EIM

SAN FRANCISCO, 25 February 2013 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the industry leader in Cloud-computing enterprise software for environmental, energy, air, water, and compliance management, has added brand new functionality to its flagship EIM product that gives customers the ability to easily generate the Annual Radiological Environmental Operating Report (AREOR) Data Summary Tables.

Any organization that has a Radiological Environmental Monitoring Program (REMP) must submit this report on an annual basis. The AREOR is highly analytical and requires specific groupings and summary statistics in order for an organization to meet regulatory compliance. Typically, generating these AREOR annual data summary tables are a tedious and time-intensive process.

Locus recognized this reporting difficulty after speaking with one of its customers, PG&E’s Diablo Canyon Power Plant. After listening to the current challenge and PG&E’s suggestions, the importance of building the AREOR data summary tables as a formatted report and making it available to all of EIM’s nuclear customer databases was apparent. Now, what used to take multiple weeks to complete is condensed down to a few hours.

“REMP professionals who create their site’s AREOR know how long it takes to generate data summary tables. Every year I spent around one to two weeks manipulating data in Excel spreadsheets creating these sampling matrix data tables for my AREOR,” said Martin Wright, Senior RP Engineer at Diablo Canyon. “With Locus EIM formatted reports, each sampling matrix data summary table is now generated in one to two seconds, with just a few clicks. The initial one time setup of the formatted templates took me about two hours to understand and actually setup in EIM. Once the templates are in place in EIM, I simply change the date ranges when generating the annual summary tables for my report. This feature will save 40 to 80 hours of workload for me each year.”

“Locus has a strong presence in the nuclear industry, and after hearing about the difficulties that our customers were experiencing when completing AREOR data summary tables, we knew it was necessary to make the AREOR tables an off-the-shelf formatted report within EIM,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus. “This is a good example of when ‘wisdom of the crowd’ helps to advance knowledge and streamline otherwise tedious, but necessary processes. With a great idea from one customer—all EIM customers will benefit almost instantly and reduce their operating cost in years to come. That is the real power of a web-based system with a rolling upgrade model. We are grateful to PG&E for working with us and sharing their knowledge and experience in promoting the industry’s state-of-the-art technology.”

 

EPA Researches Possible Impacts of Hydrofracking on Drinking Water

Thanks to advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies, the U.S. now has access to immense reserves of natural gas. While the proper development of this resource offers numerous benefits for our country, it has also become clear that as the use of hydrofracking has gone up, so has the concern about its possible health and environmental impacts, particularly on drinking water.

I recently came across the report that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released in December 2012 in response to this concern, Study of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing on Drinking Water Resources. Its purpose is to determine and examine the possible impacts of hydrofracking on our drinking water, and to identify what exactly causes these impacts.

The EPA’s research set out to answer questions that focus on the five stages of the hydrofracking water cycle: water acquisition, chemical mixing, well injection, flowback and produced water, and wastewater treatment and waste disposal. The report describes the progress made as of September 2012 on 18 research projects, and covers research activities such as laboratory studies, toxicity assessments, and case studies.

With drinking water being at the top of the list of precious resources, this is yet another reminder that hydrofracking must be engaged in responsibly, and that it is important for energy companies to be transparent in the management of their data. For that reason, Locus has developed a special functionality within its award-winning SaaS application EIM to help upstream divisions of oil and gas companies better manage and account for their data associated with hydrofracking.

Locus Technologies Wins Environmental Business Journal’s 2012 Business Achievement: Information Technology Award

Environmental Business Journal is proud to announce its 15th annual business achievement awards. Our 2012 winners succeeded in a relatively difficult business climate, so we salute the dedication and commitment of the companies awarded.

Locus Technologies Receives 2012 EBJ Business Achievement Award

Environmental Business Journal Recognizes Locus for Growth and Innovation for the Seventh Time

San Francisco, Calif., 21 January 2013 — Locus Technologies (Locus) announced today that Environmental Business Journal® (EBJ) granted the company the award for Information Technology in the environmental and energy industry for the record-breaking seventh time.

Locus is one of 50 companies EBJ has honored for revenue growth, acquisitions, innovative project designs, technology applications, new practice areas, social contributions, and industry leadership in 2012. Locus was recognized for continuing to enhance its position in the energy, sustainability, and compliance software markets by growing its Fortune 100 and Department of Energy (DOE) customer lists, and also pursuing and achieving essential certifications and reports.

In 2012, Locus had its best year yet in terms of expanding its software offerings and diversifying its customer base across many new industries. Locus added two of the three world’s largest chemical companies to its list of customers this year, and also one of the largest companies in the agribusiness industry, expanding Locus’ impressive penetration in the food and biotech industries. Locus also welcomed two DOE research laboratories to its list of customers, and signed a contract with the Honolulu Board of Water Supply that opened the door to water quality management for water utilities.  In the private sector Locus signed numerous new customers including Kelly-Moore Paint Company, Jack Engle & Co. and the University of Texas at El Paso.

Other notable accomplishments for 2012 include a 100 percent renewal rate for Locus’ carbon verification services administered under the California AB 32 program, and several Locus staff members being certified as carbon offset verifiers by the California Air Resources Board. In order to assure its growing list of customers that they can trust Locus with their data, Locus pursued and obtained Service Organization Controls reports, both SOC 1 (SSAE 16) and SOC 2. Locus also became an approved contractor with the federal General Services Administration (GSA) for a range of services, and was recognized by Verdantix, one of the top industry analysts, as one of 12 leading environmental management software suppliers globally.

“In what is widely regarded as a stable market, a number of companies exceeded the norms of low single-digit growth with double-digit growth or ambitious ventures into new practice areas or technology development,” said Grant Ferrier, president of Environmental Business International Inc. (EBI, San Diego), publisher of Environmental Business Journal. “Locus continues to influence the industry with its forward-thinking product set and eye for customer needs.”

“We are very proud to be selected for the seventh time for the prestigious EBJ Information Technology award in environmental business,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus. “I believe our success is due to our cutting edge technology that has been tested in the Cloud longer than any other in our space, the domain knowledge of our team, and their dedication to the company’s mission to organize environmental, sustainability, energy and related compliance information in a single integrated enterprise software offered via the Cloud. I thank and congratulate the entire Locus team, and our customers who entrusted Locus to put their data in the Cloud, for making this award possible.”

The Environmental Business Journal is a business research publication that provides high-value strategic business intelligence to the environmental industry. The 2012 EBJ awards will be presented at a special ceremony at the Environmental Industry Summit XI in Coronado, Calif., March 6-8, 2013. The Environmental Industry Summit is an annual three-day event hosted by EBI Inc.

New Rules for Hydrofracking Proposed: This Time in California

Going along with the same theme from my last post, new rules have been proposed for hydrofracking, but this time in California. Governor Jerry Brown’s administration released these draft regulations that would require energy companies, for the first time ever, to disclose what chemicals they are releasing into the ground during the fracking process. These companies would also have to reveal the locations of their wells where this process is occurring.

These proposed regulations have arose because energy companies are looking into tapping the state’s Monterey shale, which runs from Northern California to Los Angeles and contains approximately 15 billion barrels of oil- making it the largest shale formation in the continental U.S.

A recent conclusion was drawn from a Bloomberg News study that in their disclosure reports, companies nationwide withheld one out of every five chemicals they used in fracking. Perhaps this is why nine other states have deemed these new rules appropriate, and why California is proposing them as well.

Under these new rules, companies would be required to disclose chemicals 60 days after completing fracking. They would also have to test their wells before fracking to ensure that leaks don’t occur, and provide the results of those tests to regulators before starting to drill.

With regulations around fracking steadily increasing, transparency has never been more essential for energy companies. By using SaaS based Locus EIM software to better organize, validate, and report all of the data and information involved with fracking, companies would be able to prove that when fracking is engaged in, it is engaged in safely. Locus’ EIM has already been proven to assist companies in showing that obtaining these valuable fossil fuels while remaining environmentally responsible is an attainable feat.