Black & Veatch Awarded Consulting Services Contract for Critical Environmental Improvement Project in South China

Shanghai, China (May 27, 2005) – Black & Veatch announced today that it has started to provide consulting services for construction management and supervision for two, 200,000 tons-per-day wastewater treatment plants and approximately 500 kilometers of trunk sewers and associated works. The projects will be built to serve Guangzhou City, located at the heart of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) and the capital of Guangdong Province which neighbors Hong Kong.

Black & Veatch is providing full construction supervision and contract management services, and will be responsible as the engineer for administering contracts using both the international FIDIC (International Federation of Consulting Engineers) and Chinese national contract terms. The assignment is expected to be performed over a period of approximately four years.

“Black & Veatch has been providing similar consultancy services to Chinese clients on a continuous basis since the mid-1980s,” said Black & Veatch Client Services Manager Yanhua Wang. “We have recently been involved in the cleanup of the Dianchi Lake in Yunnan Province, and are also currently involved in assisting with the environmental recovery of the Liao River Basin in Northeast China. We can provide our client with international best practice, the knowledge and experience we have gained from similar projects in China, and apply the best of both to the current situation in the PRD. Our familiarity with local conditions in China and using this familiarity to meet the specific needs of Chinese clients is one of our key strengths. We do this in all the projects we undertake – environmental, flood control, water supply, industrial or energy related.”

The PRD has seen rapid economic growth over the last two decades, which has come at a heavy environmental cost. Water quality in many stretches of the Pearl River is unsuitable for irrigation, aquaculture, and potential recreational uses, while also contributing to the serious pollution in the South China Sea. Guangzhou City contributes about 25 percent of the total load of wastewater generation in the PRD, which in 2000 was estimated to be at 11.5 million m3/day.

The project is being financed by the Government of China, a loan from the World Bank, and a grant from the Global Environmental Facility. The client is the Guangzhou Sewage Treatment Co. Ltd.

“With an ever improving business environment in China, we are also actively seeking opportunities to play an increased role in engineering projects and can now offer full engineer, procure and construct (EPC) services,” said Nick Townsend, B&V Water Asia Director of Client Services. “We are doing this because we believe EPC can give better value to our clients as opposed to the more traditional means of project implementation.”

About Black & Veatch
Black & Veatch Corporation is a leading global engineering, consulting and construction company specializing in infrastructure development in energy, water, information and government markets. Founded in 1915, Black & Veatch develops tailored infrastructure solutions that meet clients’ needs and provide sustainable benefits. Solutions include conceptual and preliminary engineering services, engineering design, procurement, construction, financial management, asset management, information technology, environmental, security design and consulting, and management consulting services.

B&V Water, Black & Veatch’s water business, provides innovative, technology-based solutions to utilities, governments and industries worldwide. Local project managers work with a global team of water and wastewater treatment process experts to address site-specific challenges through a broad range of consulting, study, planning, design, design-build and construction management services.

The employee-owned company has more than 90 offices worldwide. Black & Veatch is ranked on the Forbes “500 Largest Private Companies in the United States” listing for 2004. The company’s Web site address is www.bv.com.

For more information, please contact:
Corrine Smith
VP Brand Management and Communications
(913) 458-3500
corrine@bv.com

###