Expert environmental permitting

For more than 30 years, RETTEW has integrated environmental permitting with habitat preservation, stream and wetland restoration, dam removals, and comprehensive environmental assessments. Our expertise spans the entire project lifecycle—from initial permitting through implementation and compliance monitoring—serving a diverse range of clients, including oil and gas companies, transportation agencies, land developers, and watershed groups.

Renewal and restoration

As you prepare for your project, our highly respected experts evaluate the natural landscape for threatened and endangered species, streams, wetlands, and other potential environmental constraints, helping you anticipate and address concerns before they become issues. RETTEW’s multidisciplinary team includes geologists, hydrogeologists, environmental scientists, soil scientists, biologists, and ecologists who assess environmental conditions and determine optimal solutions for managing risk, addressing environmental liability, achieving regulatory compliance, and enhancing the natural environment.

RETTEW’s permitting specialists maintain strong relationships with regulatory authorities, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), and various state and municipal agencies in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. We stay ahead of evolving regulations and policies, preparing you for future requirements while making certain your current needs are met. Our established relationships with these agencies help your project move forward quickly, even when unavoidable encroachments to wetlands and waterbodies present challenges. Our reputation, experience, and role as a trusted advisor even enable us to provide third-party reviews for field and office work.

RETTEW has the best engineering and environmental staff in the state. Throughout design and permitting, we hit deadlines and completed work in [only] eight months.
– Rob Hivner, energy client

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Environmental services in practice:

Various watershed groups and Trout Unlimited chapters with a vision for restoring and improving their local watersheds have partnered with RETTEW to turn their vision into reality. RETTEW has assisted numerous organizations in preparing their watershed restoration plans and has helped them secure funding for plan design, permitting, and implementation. We assist with contractor selection and construction oversight, final reporting, grant fund administration, and even facilitating tours and workshops.

When an oil and gas company needed to transfer water from an impoundment to their pad during a time-constrained planning process, they knew to reach out to the experts at RETTEW. In addition to a short timeline, an extra challenge was determining how to transport the water – pipe it or truck it. Trucking the water would be very costly, and the roads in rural areas could be damaged and become unsafe. Normally, such a project would take a minimum of 90 days. Our experts quickly studied the routes, reviewed previous wetland studies, examined traffic patterns, and developed a new solution. We wrote and submitted the permit, which was approved in just over two weeks without comment from DEP. Our client met their time window, saved 2 million dollars, and there was no damage to local roads.

When an old bridge over an old stream bed near a mining community needed repair, one client called RETTEW to assist with the permitting and reconstruction process. Instead of simply repairing the bridge, our expert team took a step back to review the big picture. Working with the Bureau of Mine Reclamation and other agencies, we discovered the original stream had been permanently diverted for mining purposes. So, we advised the client to remove the bridge and fill the area. Since the area was no longer under the state’s jurisdiction, it didn’t require permitting. Years of experience taught us what the more sustainable solution would be – and provided cost savings to the taxpayer as well.

One client contacted RETTEW when faced with the need to remove a dam to restore the natural flow of a stream while also preserving a piece of our Founding Fathers’ history. Located near Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, the Woolen Mill dam on Virginia’s Rivanna River—reportedly designed by Jefferson’s nephew—once powered a functioning mill but had deteriorated into a safety hazard and was impeding natural water flow. After collaborating with local historical societies and river conservation groups, RETTEW’s environmental experts created a breach in the dam, preserving the historical significance while releasing the stream’s natural flow. Today, the dam’s remnants remain a local landmark.

Leading the way

It’s not enough to participate in change; at RETTEW, we lead it. From watershed improvements to agricultural impact mitigation and acid mine drainage remediation, we even pioneered the development of Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Implementation Plans in Pennsylvania to combat stream pollutants. This important work has helped watersheds become eligible for grant funding, with numerous state and federal agencies approving grants based on our plans.

At RETTEW, we become part of your project’s strategic team. Because of our broad knowledge and experience, we will provide you with realistic expectations of cost, time, potential pitfalls, and hurdles. We map it out, so your budget and planning process are accurate and on target. If an idea isn’t feasible, we’ll collaborate to create a viable vision built on proactive thinking and cost efficiency. With every project, we help mitigate and navigate challenges, guiding your initiatives successfully across the finish line.

Our Environmental Specialties:

  • Applied Ecology Studies
  • Dam Removals
  • Emergency Permitting
  • Environmental Impact Statements (EIS)
  • Environmental Permitting and Compliance
  • Federal, State, and Local Permitting and Coordination
  • Fluvial Geomorphology (FGM)
  • Plant Surveys
  • Stream and Wetland Encroachment Permitting
  • Stream Restoration, Design, and Permitting
  • Threatened and Endangered Species Survey and Coordination
  • Wetland Delineation and Mitigation