CHATHAM, NJ September 3, 2004 -- Environmental science and engineering consultant BEM Systems, Inc. (BEM) has opened a new office in Florida, located near Palm Beach International Airport at 1601 Belvedere Road in West Palm Beach. The new office, BEM’s fourth in the state, will offer the full range of the firm’s water resource planning, environmental restoration, and other professional services, with particular emphasis on the firm’s work with the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) under the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Program (CERP). The office will be managed by Senior Program Manager Patricia Strayer, P.E., who joined BEM Systems earlier this year after managing water resources and ecosystem restoration projects for SFWMD since 1990.

SFWMD has responsibility for water resources and environmental protection over a 17,930-square-mile region that extends from the Kissimmee River to Florida Bay and includes large agricultural tracts, water conservation areas, and several fast-growing urban areas as well as the unique and seriously endangered Everglades ecosystem. In order to revitalize the ecosystem and restore, protect, and preserve the water resources of central and southern Florida, SFWMD developed the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, described as the world’s largest ecosystem restoration, in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of the Interior, and other federal, state, tribal, and local agencies. CERP comprises 68 major components, grouped into over 40 projects, whose completion will require an estimated 36 years and $7.8 billion, half to be paid by the federal government.

Since 2001, BEM Systems has been contracted to provide a wide range of water quality monitoring, ecological restoration, hydraulic modeling, remote-sensing, and other scientific and engineering services for the Everglades restoration program. "These assignments involve BEM in one of the most important ecosystem restoration projects ever undertaken," said BEM President and CEO Mark Nardolillo. "They also provide significant opportunities to develop advanced technical solutions and modeling tools for dealing with a number of complex environmental issues."

Along with CERP, BEM is involved in crucial water resource projects throughout the state of Florida. One of BEM’s current water resource management projects with SFWMD focuses on protecting Florida’s springs. The project involves determining flows to the springs and modeling the transport of dissolved materials through southern Florida’s extraordinarily complex karst terrain, a topography riddled with fractures, collapsed features, and sinkholes.

Another high-priority research project will focus on the large-scale ecology and management of cattails and other invasive plant species and the reestablishment of normal ecological succession and recovery. "The technologies developed for use in this challenging environment will be very useful in other areas throughout the world where local authorities are facing very severe natural resource, water supply, and water infrastructure issues," said Ms. Strayer.

About BEM Systems
Founded in 1991, BEM Systems, Inc. is a full-service, employee-owned, multidisciplinary environmental consulting firm, ranked No. 181 on ENR’s 2004 list of top U.S. environmental firms. Headquartered in Chatham, N.J., with offices in Florida, Arizona, New Mexico, Missouri, and Fairfax and Newport News, Virginia, BEM’s environmental engineers and scientists provide a full range of environmental compliance, cleanup, prevention, and risk management services for public- and private-sector clients nationwide. The company has been active in Florida since 1996, when it established an Orlando office to work on environmental and water resources projects at Cape Canaveral. BEM currently has Florida offices in Orlando, Miami Lakes, Pensacola, and Cape Canaveral. For further information, please contact Director Sharon Stecker at 908-598-2600 or by email at sstecker@bemsys.com. For further information about BEM, please visit our website at www.bemsys.com.

About the Everglades Restoration
Extensive information about the Everglades restoration program is available at the official CERP website, www.evergladesplan.org. A related site, "The Living Everglades" (http://glades.sfwmd.gov), contains a vast amount of historic and scientific information and data about the Florida Everglades for teachers and students as well as scientists and interested citizens.





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