Recognizing Member Excellence
The ESAA Industry Awards is an annual awards program that recognizes member excellence in the areas of environmental innovation. The program is open to all ESAA member organizations with the winners announced and awarded each year at the RemTech Symposium held in October.
Industry Awards 2025
2025 Category – Environmental Project of the Year
The Environmental Project of the Year Award recognizes a company’s innovation and execution of an ongoing or completed environmental project. The award will recognize a company’s project in the areas of Remediation, Reclamation, Decommissioning, Monitoring, Water, Air, Wildlife, Brownfields, etc. No matter the size and scope of the project, the key metrics for judging include innovation, effectiveness, and positive environmental outcomes.
- All ESAA member organizations are eligible to participate in the ESAA Industry Awards Program.
- Applicants must be an ESAA member in good standing at the time the award recipients are announced.
Applicant Screening Process
- Any application that is deemed to be incomplete or ineligible will not move forward.
- The Awards Selection Committee will review complete and eligible applications.
NOTE: (1) ESAA reserves the right to withhold awards if submissions do not meet the criteria (2) ESAA’s project manager may contact applicants with follow-up questions on behalf of the judging committee as needed.
Any questions can be directed to ciezki@esaa.org.
To submit a nomination please complete the following form: INDUSTRY AWARD
**Nomination Dead Line August 22nd, 2025**
2024 Winners
2024 Environmental Project of the Year
FARO MINE REMEDIATION PROJECT
Parsons
The Faro Mine Remediation project is one of the most complex abandoned mine clean-up projects in Canada and was established to prevent the contamination of nearby land and water from the former mining operation. The site is in the asserted Traditional Territory of the Kaska Nation, with Ross River being most affected and close St. Indigenous community to the site.
Why was this project so unique? The remote location. Which is 200 km from Whitehorse, the harsh weather conditions, and sheer scale of the project required a sizable, multi-disciplinary team to effectively implement innovative solutions to protect the environment and human health and safety.
The Faro Mine site consists of several areas of interest including open pits, waste rock dumps, a tailings storage facility, water management, and buildings and infrastructure.
The Faro PIT, with a storage capacity of approximately 100 million cubic metres, is used to store contaminated water collected from across the site which allows seasonal water treatment to occur. The waste rock dumps are acid generating, which mobilizes metal contaminants that can subsequently find their way into the aquatic environment. The tailings facility includes four dams holding back over 57 million tonnes of tailings which are also highly reactive and releasing metals into the surrounding environment.
Parsons has completed several urgent works including: a new Water Treatment Plant to increase capacity; construction of a seepage collection system to reduce iron loading to the Rose Creek; and the realignment of the North Fork Rose Creek to ensure clean water is diverted away from a significant source of zinc contamination.
Parsons will soon be awarding a contract for the construction of a Permanent Water Treatment Plant which is intended to operate for decades to come. This will be one of the largest infrastructure projects ever undertaken in the Yukon and will significantly reduce the risk of any future unplanned contaminated water discharge.
The Faro Mine Project not only received the Yukon Regional Business Sustainability Award, BUT more importantly, the Indigenous people whose lives were so negatively affected by the faro mine, can finally begin to experience healing, while benefiting from the remediation and closure of the site.
Congratulations Parsons!
2023 Winners
2023 Environmental Project of the Year
Roadside naturalization pilot project
Earthmaster Enviromental Strategies Inc.
The pilot project’s goal was to develop alternative landscaping to enhance the function of public land along the roadways in Calgary. The purpose of the three-year pilot project was to replace the existing manicured turfgrass with a mixture of native seeds suitable for restoring a native terrestrial ecosystem and increasing species diversity and supporting the pollinator population.
Why was this project so unique? The project was unique because the goal was to fundamentally change how the city of Calgary approached landscaping within the municipality. In year 1, the site was dominated by the annual flower cover crop with beautiful colors resulting in an immediate significant increase in the bee population.
In years 2 and 3, the planned succession of annuals to more permanent perennial species was underway with the result of a balanced meadow-like appearance composed of wildflowers and native grasses which restored 1% of the city’s open space.
This project was a successful collaboration between Earthmaster, the City of Calgary, the University of Calgary, and ISL Engineering and involved regular engagement with neighbouring residents and schools.
Earthmaster was successful in replacing the manicured turfgrass with a mixture of 14 species of annual and perennial wildflowers and 10 species of native grass which went from providing little benefit to pollinators to significantly increasing the pollinator population.
This project not only won industry project of the year with ESAA but also played a huge part in the city of Calgary receiving the Bee City designation from bee city Canada. All while restoring vibrant colors and beauty back to our roadways.
Congratulations Earthmaster!
The ESAA Lifetime Achievement Award - 2024
2024 ESAA Lifetime Achievement Award winner
Stacy Thygesen
Stacy Thygesen is a mentor, a trusted advisor, a committed ESAA volunteer, and small business owner.
With nearly 25 years experience in the environmental industry, she has worked at (and is now Principal of) her family-owned decommissioning company. She is a recognized leader in decommissioning and, along with her husband, has built their company into an industry leader.
Stacy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Canadian Government and Politics from the University of Alberta and a Petroleum Land Administration Certificate from SAIT.
Stacy began her involvement with ESAA in 2004 when JSK Consulting became a member of the association. Since the very beginning, Stacy has actively supported, and participated in, ESAA events. In 2017, Stacy was elected to the ESAA Board of Directors, and in 2019, she began a three-year term as President.
Stacy served as President during a particularly challenging time for ESAA and the industry. Her leadership and support helped guide ESAA through COVID, making the organization even stronger as it emerged from the global crisis. Stacy was instrumental, along with Darren Cherniak, in securing a spot for ESAA on the Alberta Government’s SRP Advisory Committee. Her advocacy for the industry resulted in increased remediation and reclamation work.
Stacy is approachable, has time for everyone, and always has a smile on her face. In her spare time, she is an active supporter of the Project Forest initiative, a volunteer at the Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre, a director at Large for the Red Deer Minor Basketball Association, and the Program Committee Co-Chair for the 2025 CLRA Conference.
Congratulations Stacy!
The ESAA Lifetime Achievement Award - 2023
2023 ESAA Lifetime Achievement Award winner
Rhonda Rudnitski
Rhonda Rudnitski is a mentor, a committed ESAA volunteer, and a respected professional throughout the industry.
With nearly 30 years of environmental industry experience, she has worked for industry leaders including waste management, Newalta and Tervita. She currently serves as the vice president of environment, social and governance for secure and is known industry-wide as the go-to person for hazardous, non-hazardous and oilfield waste. She has been instrumental in working with the provincial government on behalf of industry to update and develop regulations, and she has been a mentor to many young professionals entering the industry over the past few decades.
She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the university of Alberta, an occupational health and safety certificate from Ryerson university, and is a registered professional engineer.
Rhonda Rudnitksi began her involvement with ESAA in 2002 when she developed and taught the non-hazardous waste classification course as part of ESAA’s environment business course series.
In 2003, Rhonda joined the ESAA board of directors and in 2005, became the first female president of ESAA. she served as president until 2007, when her term expired. even though Rhonda’s time on the ESAA board was completed, she continues to show up every year at RemTech to lend a helping hand and a giant smile to all those registering.
In her spare time, you will most likely find Rhonda globetrotting, somewhere off the beaten path, exploring and learning.
Congratulations Rhonda!
2019 Winners
The winner of the Environmental Industry Award is Husky Energy!
The winner of the Community Service Award is Waterline Resources!
The ESAA Lifetime Achievement Award - 2019
In 2019, ESAA introduced a new award, ‘The ESAA Lifetime Achievement Award” . It is awarded to an individual who has made far-reaching and long-lasting contributions to both the environment industry and ESAA over their career. The award is presented at the discretion of the Board and via recommendations from ESAA Management.
Presidenta2019 ESAA Lifetime Achievement Award winner
Gord Nelson
Gord Nelson graduated from the University of Regina in 1982 with a B.Sc. in Chemistry. He started his career in the environment industry working for Environment Canada as a Project Chemist working on trace organics. In 1985, he joined the newly formed Alberta based laboratory ETL as their second employee before becoming an owner in 1990. Gord helped grow ETL to over 500 employees before it was purchased by ALS Laboratories in 2006. He worked through the transition period with ALS Laboratories before moving to Osprey Scientific to provide his expertise. In 2009, Gord joined AGAT Laboratories and held a number of leadership positions including President, COO and CEO.
During his time at AGAT, he served as a member of the ESAA Board of Directors, holding the position of treasurer for four of those years. Gord was instrumental in guiding ESAA through tough financial times ensuring the Association could remain a strong voice for the industry and its members. Gord’s significant impact on both the environment industry and ESAA is undeniable.
In his spare time – when not cheering for the Saskatchewan Roughriders or watching Marvel movies- is spent with his dog Harvey or enjoying a glass of wine with his wife Roxanne.