In the early morning hours A3E scientist Matt Larson samples a well at the MWRD.

A3 Environmental, LLC (A3E) is the 2020 award winner for groundwater monitoring at Thornton Quarry. The quarry is one of the largest aggregate quarries in the world but more importantly to Chicago infrastructure, it's the terminus for the Deep Tunnel Project. The Deep Tunnel Project is a system of tunnels built to mitigate flooding in a city which was notoriously built on a swamp. When the heavens open up, so do the floodgates, filling the Thornton Quarry with rainwater and sewage. Because these flows are directed through the Deep Tunnel Project to the Thornton Quarry, Chicago keeps sewage and rainwater from inundating its wastewater treatment plants and overflowing into Lake Michigan.

A3 Environmental Consultants job is to test the water in these 600-foot-deep wells throughout the year and after each significant rainwater event. We're looking for contaminants of all sorts, including fecal coliforms. It's through this important work that A3E is helping to keep water quality high for The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, the citizens and the environment.

You're welcome Milwaukee.

We are A3 Environmental Consultants: Clean Soil, Clean Slate.