ShoreView joins the management team and founding family as the major shareholders of SWS following the owners' interest in identifying a financial sponsor to support the Company's continued growth. "We are excited to work with ShoreView and its team in order to pursue strategic acquisitions, establish new service center locations, expand existing services, and offer new services," said SWS President Jim Weber, Jr. "ShoreView's exceptional investment track record and capital base will be invaluable to SWS as we evaluate our numerous growth alternatives."

"We have had an interest in the environmental services industry for some time and feel fortunate to partner with Jim and his team," said ShoreView Principal Brett Habstritt. "SWS has a leading reputation in environmental emergency response and disaster recovery and offers tremendous industrial and planned remediation services to its blue chip customer base." 

The SWS corporate office recently moved to a new location. Shifting from Panama City Beach into Panama City, the new office location provides more space, a new polished atmosphere, and plenty of parking. Some of the other great features include a copy and assembly room, board/conference room, break room, guest waiting area, and lots of windows. The new address is 2211 St. Andrews Blvd, Panama City, FL 32405. The former location at 1619 Moylan Road will remain the Service Center where responses, equipment and personnel will continue to deploy from.

Proceeds of $3,000 from the Jim Weber Sr. Memorial Golf Tournament (which unfortunately was canceled due to inclement weather) held prior to the Clean Gulf Conference, was donated to the ALS Therapy Development Foundation. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks motor neurons in the brain (upper motor neurons) and spinal cord (lower motor neurons). If you would like to help the cause with a donation, please contact Kelli Shonter at (617) 441-7256 or kshonter@als.net. You can view their website at www.als.net.

In mid September, as designated OSRO for Tyndall Air Force Base, SWS led a "Spill Drill" at Bonita Bay to simulate an environmental event in the Pearl Bayou area of Northern Florida. The planned scenario was based on a simulated incident involving a fuel tank overfill near the drone boat storage area. The scenario approximated 200 gallons of fuel leaking into the water and a small number of wildlife being coated in the incident. The drill focused on multiple factors of a response including boom deployment, plume containment, plume deflection, protection of sensitive areas and wildlife protection, among others. In addition to SWS and the 325th Civil Engineering Squadron, the National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program was also on scene. The drill was used to meet requirements for environmental plans and spill reporting as part of the PREP, a format Tyndall AFB uses for compliance with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Environmental Protection Agency.

SWS is pleased to announce a recently executed technical services contract between SWS and Tampa Electric Company (TECO). SWS has entered into a yearly agreement with TECO as their primary OSRO in providing emergency spill response for their facilities in central Florida. Services will include oil mitigation recovery & disposal, hazardous waste response, tabletop exercises and equipment deployment drills. SWS currently maintains similar contracts with other utilities including Progress Energy of Florida, Inc., Gulf Power Company and Georgia Power Company. TECO is a tax-paying investor-owned electric utility serving about 2,000 square miles, including Hillsborough County and parts of Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties with a total population over one million. Tampa Electric has three steam-generating plants, one Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC), one diesel-generating plant, and four combustion-turbine units to serve its customers.

For an unprecedented second year in a row, SWS has received a contractor of the year award from CSX Transportation. As an active contractor for over six years and proud member of the Emergency Response Preferred Provider Program with CSX Transportation, SWS was recently honored with the "Performance Quality Award" for emergency response services in 2002. Several key factors are considered for the award including project performance, an overall attention to safety and auditing performed by CSX. SWS is extremely proud to be recognized with this award for the second year in a row and would like to thank all its employees for the hard work and dedication which made it possible once again.