Our History

The roots of Intera Engineering Ltd. can be traced back to the late 1970's and early 1980's when Dick Jackson, Ken Raven, John Pickens, Gerry Grisak, and John Avis worked and studied together variously at the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Waterloo, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited in Deep River, Ontario (see photo, credit: Alan Morgan), and the National Hydrology Research Institute (NHRI) of Environment Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. In 1982, Gerry Grisak and John Pickens left NHRI to start Geologic Testing Consultants, or GTC, which can be viewed as the earliest ancestor company of Intera Engineering Ltd. John Avis joined GTC soon after its inception. This was a period of intense interest in the deep geological disposal of radioactive waste, and through their research and project work (NHRI was involved in hydrogeological research of the Chalk River Laboratories, and GTC was involved in the hydraulic testing of the boreholes at NAGRA in Switzerland) these individuals were involved in the development of some of the earliest science recognizing the particular effects of fractures on groundwater flow and contaminant transport.

By the late 1980's Ken Raven and Dick Jackson had left NHRI to join INTERA, which had in the meantime acquired GTC. INTERA was formed in 1974 as a combination of INTERCOMP Resource Development Engineering of Houston, Texas and ERA Sciences of Calgary. By that time, the firm was already a leader in the geoscience of deep geological repositories for radioactive waste, and had, under contract to the United States Geological Survey, developed the first groundwater code to couple flow, energy transport, and contaminant transport in three dimensions, accounting for density and viscosity effects (SWIFT II). Ken Raven remained with John Avis in Ottawa, where he led geological and hydrogeological studies supporting Ontario Hydro’s concept of disposal of radioactive waste in or below sedimentary rock sequences in Ontario. Dick Jackson, John Pickens and Gerry Grisak moved to Austin, Texas.

During the 1990's, demand for environmental services increased, and our professionals became involved in assessment and remediation of contaminated sites. In Ottawa, operating as Raven Beck Environmental Ltd. (RBEL), our expertise in fractured bedrock hydrogeology and modelling set us apart from the competition, and we secured high-profile projects involving contamination of bedrock aquifers by dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs, e.g., chlorinated solvents). Our involvement in radioactive waste management continued, as we carried out performance assessment of proposed low-level radioactive waste management facilities at Deep River and Port Hope, Ontario for the federal Ministerial Siting Task Force. We also continued development of sophisticated modelling pre- and post-processing (mView) and hydraulic test analysis (nSights) software. nSights was developed for Sandia National Laboratories to support Waste Isolation Pilot Plant program activities, while mView was developed to support numeric modelling activities for the design and licensing of U.S. Department of Energy's proposed high-level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain. In 1995, INTERA, including RBEL, was acquired by Duke Engineering & Services (DE&S). Intera Engineering Ltd. was established in its present form in 2002, following an employee buyout of the Canadian operations of the Geosciences Business Unit of DE&S. INTERA Inc. was similarly re-established in the U.S.

Starting in the late 1990's, and intensifying following the Walkerton Tragedy (in which at least 7 died and 1500 became ill as a result of the contamination of the water supply of Walkerton, Ontario, by E. coli bacteria in May 2000), Intera turned our hydrogeological characterization and modelling expertise toward regional groundwater flow systems and the protection of water resources. Contaminated sites work continues to be important to Intera, although the emphasis has now shifted toward site-specific risk assessment, and Brownfields redevelopment.

A new chapter in Intera’s history began in 2005, when we won the first of a series of contracts with Ontario Power Generation and Nuclear Waste Management Organization to develop and carry out the geoscientific site characterization program for a deep geologic repository (DGR) for low and intermediate level radioactive wastes at the Bruce site. The field work involves drilling, geophysical logging, hydraulic testing, borehole instrumentation, pressure measurement, and geochemical sampling of boreholes up to one kilometer deep through the full thickness of the sedimentary rock sequence of Southern Ontario. As part of a multi-disciplinary team carrying out the Post Closure Safety Assessment, we are performing detailed groundwater, gas and contaminant transport numeric modelling to predict the performance of the Bruce DGR over a 1 million year period.

Today, we continue to focus on four key service areas: environmental, civil and mining, water resources, and radioactive waste management. Intera’s unique background in environmental and contaminant geology and hydrogeology, and our tradition of quantitative problem solving and software development puts us in a great position to tackle the problems of the future.

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Our History

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