Western Dredging Association (WEDA) honours GEI and Brennan with Environmental Excellence Award

Awards celebrate projects accomplished in an efficient manner that meet internationally recognized environmental goals.

SAN DIEGO, CA (July 15, 2025) — WEDA has honored GEI Consultants, Inc. and its subcontractor, J.F. Brennan Company, Inc. (Brennan), with an Environmental Excellence Award for the Third Ward Milwaukee River remediation project. GEI and Brennan accepted the award at WEDA’s World Dredging Congress and Expo in San Diego, California.

The project was recognized in the Environmental-Based, Remediation-Focused category. Award winning projects in this category are driven by remediation or beneficial use and restoration in and around the aquatic environment.

GEI and Brennan removed approximately 44,000 cubic yards of impacted sediment from a 0.6-mile section of the Milwaukee River Estuary Area of Concern in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The project treated and safely discharged 110 million gallons of water back to Lake Michigan under an individual Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) permit without a single violation of permit limitations and requirements. Other environmental achievements of the project include:

• Capped 6,500 cubic yards of inaccessible contaminated sediments near utilities and infrastructure
• Avoided more than 5,000 truck trips (105,000 truck miles) by utilizing the Milwaukee Jones Island Dredge Material Disposal Facility, reducing transportation costs and carbon emissions
• Regenerated more than 200,000 pounds of spent granular activated carbon instead of disposing of it.

“Completion of this sediment remediation project takes us closer to the goal of delisting the Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern and improving the environment for future generations,” said Joe Caryl, GEI’s Senior Vice President of Construction Services. “The project was successful because of meticulous pre-planning in the design and permitting phase, early community outreach, consistent stakeholder engagement among many agencies/private entities, and the creation of a partnership model with the project delivery team.”

“Outstanding teamwork, seamless collaboration, and a shared commitment to safety by the GEI and Brennan teams drove the successful completion of this project,” said Brennan Project Manager Nathan Wyrowski. “Our strong partnership enabled us to turn a challenging project into a meaningful achievement that benefits both the environment and the community.”

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About GEI: GEI Consultants, Inc. is a consulting engineering firm and member of GISI Consulting Group that delivers professional services that improve our world’s built environment. With more than 1,500 staff and 59 offices in North America, GEI is a leader in providing multi-disciplined engineering and environmental services to a range of private and public sector clients, both domestically and abroad.

As a member of the employee-owned GISI family of companies, we foster personal relationships with our clients and support our staff in a partnership model, which is underpinned by continuous learning and sharing of knowledge. We retain proven, recognized experts and attract the best minds to deliver to our clients a refreshing blend of technical expertise, collaborative spirit, and innovation that is rare in our profession. We engineer solutions in five primary end markets: Water Resources, Energy, Buildings, Infrastructure, and Industrial. For more information on GEI, please visit www.geiconsultants.com.

About J.F. Brennan Company
J.F. Brennan Company, Inc. (Brennan) is a fourth-generation, family-owned marine construction firm specializing in environmental remediation, dam construction, commercial dive, harbor management, and submarine cable services. Working closely with public and private owners of water-based infrastructure since 1919, Brennan operates nationwide throughout coastal and inland waterways. For more information on J.F. Brennan Company, Inc., please visit www.jfbrennan.com.