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 RESPEC Timeline
1969 RE/SPEC Inc. Incorporated in the state of South Dakota.
1970 First business opportunities identified in the areas of water supply, pollution control studies, and feed lot operations.
1971 Proposals submitted for nuclear waste disposal studies in Kansas
1972 First contract at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) with Union Carbide Corporation. Software development began on codes for nuclear waste disposal. Contract received for tunneling project from South Dakota Department of Transportation.
1973 Nuclear waste disposal alternative studies at ORNL. Heating and Air Conditioning Simulation software developed.
1974 Contract with U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM)/University of Utah for coal bed studies in Utah. AMAX Coal rock studies. Geophysical studies to identify coal seams for El Paso Natural Gas.
1975 Contract with Sandia National Laboratories for core testing program for proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site. Rio Blanco Oil Shale Project on the Western Slope of Colorado. Alpha repository study completed for Sandia with alternative mine designs, equipment requirements, and preliminary cost estimates.
1976 Work on the nuclear waste repository for Atomic Energy of Canada, Ltd. (AECL). Performed study on in situ coal gasification in Texas. Uranium mine studies at Mariano Lake, New Mexico, for Gulf Mineral Resources.
1977 New 10,000-square-foot office/laboratory in Rushmore Business Park. In situ heater experiments began at Avery Island. Soils testing for AMAX Coal in Gillette, Wyoming. Preconceptual design studies for a nuclear waste repository in Canada. Analysis of nuclear waste repository in Sweden. Salt mine studies for the National Strategic Crude Oil Storage Program at Weeks Island, Louisiana. New rock mechanics testing machines added to laboratory.
1978 Contract for nuclear waste disposal studies transferred to Battelle Memorial Institute. Contract with Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories for research on compressed air energy storage. Creep testing machine fabricated for the rock mechanics program in Germany. Computer capabilities upgraded with terminals connected to South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (SDSM&T) and CDC Cybernet.
1979 Addition to office/laboratory facilities in Rushmore Business Park. Continued work on analysis of alternatives for nuclear waste disposal for Battelle. Rock testing and modeling for WIPP. Completed compressed air energy storage project for Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories.
1980 Significant capital funding is acquired from Department of Energy (DOE)/Battelle to increase rock mechanics testing capabilities for study of nuclear waste disposal in geologic media.
1981 New 17,000-square-foot office/laboratory facility completed to increase space for rock mechanics testing equipment. Work was focused on salt repositories for nuclear waste disposal. Proposed field experiments at Avery Island, Louisiana.
1982 Opened offices in Calgary, Alberta; Albuquerque and Carlsbad, New Mexico. Purchased Data General MV 8000 computer. Began field experiments at the WIPP site. Work began on engineering analysis, laboratory testing, and field experiments for a nuclear waste repository in a volcanic tuff formation in Nevada. Developed a large stress/large strain software program for license to the general public. Analysis of nuclear waste repository in granite for Canadian Nuclear Waste Program. Acquired an environmental consulting firm, Geochemistry and Environmental Chemistry Research Inc. (GECR), to study uranium mill tailings at 23 western United States sites.
1983 Awarded $15 million contract by Battelle for consulting on the proposed nuclear waste repository in a salt formation in Texas. Awarded contract for study of nuclear waste disposal in crystalline rocks, including coordination with foreign countries on their nuclear waste programs. Engineered backfilled barriers for WIPP. Subsidence software developed for commercial sale. Conducted research from Defense Nuclear Agency on advanced hardness silo concepts. Engineering analysis of salt cavern integrity for Ft. Saskatchewan Ethylene Storage. Financial statements audited for the first time. Brine migration studies for Richton Dome.
1984 Geochemical modeling of contaminant behavior in in situ uranium mine for Jacobs Engineering/DOE. Geochemical characterization of mine tailings for Jacobs Engine¬ering/DOE. Performance assessment for NNWSI program. Materials testing for NNWSI. Research on hydro-fracturing modeling for ORNL. Study of geothermal energy potential for Texasgulf Chemical Company. Design analysis of Avery Island for International Salt Company. Research into sedimentary rock for nuclear waster disposal for Martin Marietta Energy Systems (ORNL). Fabrication of flatjacks and borehole pressure cells for in situ testing. Surface subsidence studies for Cargill at SunGas Plant.
1985 Approved industrial revenue bonds for addition to office/laboratory building in Rapid City. Started RESPEC 401(k) Plan. Rock mechanics analysis of Michigan Basin Salt Formation for PPG Industries. Nuclear waste disposal contract transferred from Battelle to Stone & Webster Engineering Company. Primary work effort was for WIPP and NNWSI.
1986 Closed RESPEC, Ltd. and GECR. Decision analysis support for repository site selection for Martin Marietta Energy Systems. Software development for U.S. White Sands Missile Range. Developed and maintained SPEEDI database for Sandia.
1987 Completed addition to office/laboratory in Rapid City. Acquired Digital Equipment VAX 8300 computer for the Rapid City Office. Superconducting Supercollider proposal developed for the state of South Dakota for submittal to the Department of Energy. Performed sedimentary rock studies for nuclear waste disposal for Martin Marietta Energy Systems. First major commercial salt project at Barbers Hill Salt Dome. Sandia contracts with RESPEC for information technologies services in the areas of database management, VAX 11/785 software, WIPP data reduction, database translators, and computer support of the STAR facility. Nuclear Waste Policy Act passed by U.S. Congress limiting nuclear waste disposal option to Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
1988 National Science Foundation awards RESPEC an SBIR contract for structural zooming research. RESPEC has contract for analysis of exploratory shaft at NNWSI. Implementation of field experiments at WIPP. Data reduction and software support for WIPP. Software conversion from IBM systems to VAX for Sandia. Consulting and modeling of injection wells for IMC in Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, Canada. Thermal analysis of salt caverns for Electrical Power Research Institute.
1989 Albuquerque office moves to Pine Tree Plaza on I-40 and Indian School Road. Analysis of the sealing of fractured rock formations and the modeling of thermodynamic stability of nuclear waste disposal at STRIPA, Sweden. Development of stressmeter for measuring dynamic bridge stresses for the U.S. Department of Transportation. Development of software and testing of soils for resilient modulus tests for the South Dakota Department of Transportation. Programming and analysis for Sandia’s Weapons Program Research effort. Special thin-walled cylinder tests to measure creep on salt specimens from WIPP. Development of interactive graphical analysis software for ARCO Gas and Oil Company. Transfer salt test data to Dow Chemical Company.
1990 Materials testing equipment purchased from the Department of Energy. RESPEC continues repository program consulting for DOE-Chicago. Gas Research contract awarded to the University of Oklahoma and RESPEC for the Gas Research Institute.
1991 Numerical analysis for Yucca Mountain project and WIPP. Salt mechanics studies for commercial clients. Information Technologies Division begins database design, development, and implementation for Sandia.
1992 Employees have 100 percent ownership of RESPEC with leveraged buyout of the founders and formation of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).
1993 RESPEC initiates structural integrity study of Mount Rushmore. IT support services contracts are awarded to RESPEC for technical support of Intel and Los Alamos National Laboratories.
1994 Contract for rock mechanics support at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Network administration and database design at Sandia.
1995 Brownfield remediation and hydrocarbon contamination projects. WIPP seals and performance assessment. Potash and salt mining projects for commercial companies.
1996 Research & Development (R&D) 100 award for ATM encryption. WIPP compliance submittal to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
1997 Geoprobe? added to environmental capabilities. Support to WIPP for compliance certification application. RESPEC achieves Microsoft Partner status. Sandia desktop support contract awarded to RESPEC.
1998 Sandia awards RESPEC Personnel Meritorious Achievement for contributions to WIPP Certification. Federal Energy Technology Center awards RESPEC contract for research in salt mechanics.
1999 RESPEC personnel receive Rock Mechanics Award in Applied Research. Sandia names RESPEC a strategic partner, one of ten firms out of 7,000 vendors with this status. IMC and RESPEC form a strategic alliance.
2000 National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) awards contract to RESPEC for research on gas storage caverns. Sandia scientific software development contract awarded to RESPEC.
2001 RESPEC develops White Sands Missile Range Tunnels for Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). Assisted SDSM&T in proposal for a National Underground Science Laboratory (NUSL) at the Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota. Strategic alliance formed with a Cisco Solutions Partner.
2002 RESPEC became a Microsoft Gold Partner certified in E-Commerce; strategic alliance with PB Energy Storage Services (PB ESS) leads to significant gas storage cavern work. Successful design/build project for hydrocarbon remediation of soils in Wyoming.
2003 RESPEC and PB ESS awarded contract for a gas storage cavern in China. RESPEC on winning team for renewal of SPR contract. RESPEC awarded GSA Federal Schedule corporate contract for engineering, environmental, and information technology services. State of New Mexico awards general information technology support contracts to RESPEC.
2004 RESPEC awarded information technologies professional services contract by Sandia National Laboratories. Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota awards environmental assessment.
 

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