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Daily Sparks Tribune
Business Friday
Friday, February 6, 2009
Restoring nature’s color is a rocky business
By Jessica Garcia

A state that contains four of the fastest growing cities in the nation is bound to throw up a little dust. Until lately, the only combatant to dust pollution was one of our most precious resources: water. Enter Soil-Tech, a Las Vegas-based company established in 1990 with a goal to fight dust and Nevada’s water conservation problem. With extensive knowledge of climate and soil conditions, Soil-Tech is a recognized industry leader with state and local municipalities. Soil-Tech has mainstreamed and developed an assortment of environmentally friendly products that mitigate dust pollution, control erosion and use less water than traditional watering techniques.

Jerry Stanley, president and founder of Soil-Tech, states, “We’ve developed products that improve the quality of life for our residents. We feel like we’re doing our part to help save the environment by conserving water, our most valuable resource.” Soil-Tech provides its services to such high-profile developments as Summerlin, Anthem, Lake Las Vegas, and MacDonald Highlands in Southern Nevada. Soil-Tech has also worked on NDOT sites at the I-215 Beltway and the Spaghetti Bowl.

A division of Southern Nevada Hydroseeding Co., Soil-Tech is on the move with its recent expansion into the Reno marketplace and establishment of a Reno office. “We have been wanting to expand our business into Northern Nevada for quite some time now,” Stanley said. “There was a need for our services in Northern Nevada and we had several requests to service the area.” The company has recently completed work in the Sommerset Development and the Roland D. Milton School in Reno.

Dust Control

Dust control has always been an issue for Nevadans, and because of the state’s rapid growth, construction work is done around the clock. “The dust problem is really two-fold,” stated Bryan Vellinga, general manager for Soil-Tech. “Large amounts of dust particles contaminate the air, causing health problems for our residents, especially among seniors and children, and creating [an] unsightly brown cloud. Additionally, millions of gallons of water are used to try and control the dust. Now you’ve created a new problem in trying to solve the original problem.” A typical construction site can use up to 150,000 gallons of water a day/ Soil-Tech’s products can reduce that water usage up to 90 percent.

An example of a dust control agent Soil-Tech utilizes is Chlor-Tex™, a road binder. Chlor-Tex™ attracts moisture from the ground and atmosphere and retains it in the soil, creating a very compact and stable surface. A construction company that waters an average 2-mile long dirt road for dust control six days per week will use nearly 1.5 million gallons of water every month. Treatment of that same two-mile long road with an advanced dust control product, such as Chlor-Tex™, requires only 23,600 gallons of water over a one-month period. “We’re talking about saving more than a million gallons of our most valued natural resource in just one month of applications,” stated Vellinga. That two-mile long road is only one of several hundred construction sites at any given time within Nevada.

Many times construction companies water the soil for dust control because they are not aware of the alternatives. If a dust control agent were used for every construction site instead of relying on water only, the amount of water conserved would be staggering. In addition, Chlor-Tex™ is also the company’s most affordable product. Plas-Tex™, developed by Stanley, is used for erosion control and soil stabilization. It creates a cementatious matting that lasts more than three years, making it perfect for long-term stabilization. Plas-Tex™ is the firm’s best-selling product due to its remarkable longevity and value.

Color Mitigation

Color mitigation is a relatively new technology and Soil-Tech is helping pioneer the way. The company utilizes color mitigation to restore the natural desert varnish to rock formations that have been scarred by heavy equipment. “It took millions of years for the desert to produce its natural array of color, but it can be destroyed in a matter of days,” said Stanley. “In the past, these areas were disturbed and nothing was done to restore the natural beauty. But now, residents don’t want to look at the eyesore of scarred hillsides – they want to bring back the area’s splendor.”

Soil-Tech uses a product called Permeon™ Simulated Desert Varnish, for color mitigation. “Permeon™ is one of the most innovative technologies available in environmental restoration. It accelerates oxidation and restores the rock’s natural color,” said Stanley. Rich MacDonald of MacDonald properties stated, “Permeon™ is an integral part of our efforts to create an aesthetically pleasing transition into the surrounding natural environment.” Soil-Tech recently completed work on MacDonald Highlands’ exclusive golf course and Permeon™ is the specified product for all future hillside mitigation work.

For color mitigation on soil, the company employs ACT (advanced coloration technologies). ACT is a dual purpose product that stabilizes disturbed soils in addition to restoring the natural colors of the surrounding desert floor. Chris Foley of the Howard Hughes Corporation stated, “ACT not only stabilized our stockpiles, but also blended them into the surrounding environment, eliminating an ‘eyesore’ that was seen for miles.”

Awareness

According to Stanley, Soil-Tech’s biggest obstacle is the fact that a considerable number of developers and contractors are not aware of the company’s products and services. He believes if more people in the industry were aware of the alternatives and their benefits, they would turn to Soil-Tech instead of the traditional water trucks for all dust control needs.

“All of our products are environmentally-friendly, and they are designed to help preserve the environment. Additionally, they are more cost-efficient than most traditional methods. Our dust control agents typically use 80 to 90 percent less water than straight watering, which is a big issue for Nevada residents,” stated Stanley.