Choosing a contractor

Choosing a thermal remediation contractor.

What to ask, what to compare, and where Nelson stands. Written for owners, consultants, and procurement teams who need the remedy to survive both the schedule and the regulator.

30+ years

Hydrocarbon remediation delivery

5 continents

Mobilization experience

Owner-operated

Mobile fleet, not brokered capacity

The selection problem

Most bids compare price. Few compare end state.

Two tenders for the same soil can leave very different end states. Comparing them on treatment method, verification and what remains afterwards gives a clearer picture than comparing equipment lists.

The questions below separate contractors who own plant, crews, and verification from those who broker the work onward.

Track record

Work under prime contractors and defence oversight.

Nelson has delivered thermal programs under main contractors and, on the American Samoa and Vietnam military programs, within structures overseen by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Tioga remains one of the largest inland oil-spill responses in American history.

That matters in procurement because it means the documentation, safety systems, and reporting cadence already meet the standard defence and prime-contractor programs impose.

Selection criteria

Ask every thermal remediation contractor these questions:

Do you own the plant, or are you subcontracting it?An owned mobile fleet means the schedule is yours to control. Brokered capacity means the mobilization date moves whenever a higher-paying job appears.

What throughput can you sustain, not peak?Peak tonnes per hour sells the bid. Sustained throughput on wet, variable feed delivers the closure date. Ask for both, with the feed conditions attached.

How is destruction verified, and who signs it?Continuous monitoring during the run, confirmatory soil results against the applicable criteria, and a closure package built in the regulator's format.

Can you mobilize where the site actually is?Remote, northern, island, and secured sites defeat contractors built around urban logistics. Ask where their plants have physically operated.

What is left behind when you leave?Treated soil returned as engineered fill and a closed file, or a manifest trail to a disposal site that remains a liability. This is the question that actually prices the job.

Project evidence

Evidence to check.

Tioga, North Dakota, one of the largest inland oil spills in US history1.2 million tonnes of hydrocarbon-impacted soil treated on site by mobile thermal remediation, with verified destruction efficiency and full on-site closure.

Bear Hills, Alberta, Louis Bull First Nation140,000 tonnes remediated on site. Treated material returned as engineered fill, with revegetation inside a single growing season. Named a Top 25 remediation project.

Vietnam, legacy dioxin residuesThermal treatment of legacy dioxin residues under the main contractor, one of the few programs executed at this scale in Southeast Asia.

NATO PFAS test bedSelected as a NATO PFAS test bed selection for PFAS-impacted military-base soil. Mobile high-temperature destruction sized to AFFF-driven contamination profiles.

The Hub

Military contamination map

Defence and military contaminated sites across North America, with cleanup status by jurisdiction.

Open the map

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Frequently asked

What should I look for in a thermal remediation contractor?

Owned plant rather than brokered capacity, sustained throughput figures with the feed conditions attached, verification and closure documentation in the regulator's format, demonstrated mobilization to sites like yours, and a clear statement of what remains on site after demobilization.

Does Nelson work as a subcontractor to a prime?

Yes. Nelson regularly delivers thermal treatment as a specialist subcontractor under a main contractor, including on military programs, and can also carry the full remediation scope directly.

How quickly can a mobile plant be on site?

Mobilization depends on permitting, site preparation, power and water access, and the queue for the specific plant class. It is set during the feasibility review rather than promised in advance of one.

Can Nelson respond to an RFP or tender?

Yes. Send the tender scope and site documents and Nelson will work from them directly. The environmental RFP guide sets out what a thermal remediation scope should specify to get comparable bids.

Which regulators accept this work?

Thermal destruction closure packages have been accepted under Alberta, BC, Saskatchewan, and Ontario frameworks, and under US federal and state programs. High-temperature thermal destruction is recognized as Best Available Technique under the EU Industrial Emissions Directive.

Environmental RFP guide

Capabilities, mobile fleet and process

Thermal desorption soil remediation

Soil remediation services

Projects

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