Envirocon’s President Pete Joy was featured in Environmental Business Journal’s Environmental Industry Outlook 2026—a go-to resource for leaders shaping the future of our industry. In the interview, Pete shares perspective on Envirocon’s growing remediation work in the mining sector and how increasing liability concerns and risk management priorities are driving demand across the market. His insights highlight the evolving landscape of environmental remediation and the important role Envirocon plays in helping clients navigate complex challenges.
Envirocon remediation work picks up in 2026 in industrial and mining sectors as liability and risk drive the market
Envirocon Inc. was established in 1988 to service the growing environmental market, Envirocon is a nationwide provider of environmental remediation, ecological restoration, and industrial decommissioning and demolition services. Envirocon delivers safe, high quality solutions to both private and government clients, including the DOE, DOD, EPA and Army Corp. Envirocon is a privately held, organically grown environmental remediation and construction contractor within The Washington Group of companies, headquartered in Missoula, Montana, building on Washington Companies’ heavy construction resources and equipment base.
Peter Joy, CEO: Starting with Envirocon in 1989, Peter literally grew up in the environmental industry. Working in the field on a large variety of interesting and complex projects, prepared him for his current senior executive role.
EBJ: How has business been so far in 2026 and what external factors have played into your business planning and strategy in Q2 2026?
Joy: After a slower 2025, Q1 2026 proceeded at a pace ahead of plan in both projects and bidding opportunities. However, delays in taking projects from award to the field, driven in part by permit requirements and approvals, have resulted in us focusing on additional 2026 book to-burn opportunities as existing projects pushing into 2027.
EBJ: With the current phase of increased geopolitical conflict and ongoing wars how does this affect the environmental work you do, and specifically anything done for the Department of Defense related to remediation and existing long-term contracts for cleanup and base conversion or closure?
Joy: No direct effect on our business beyond inflationary pressures. We are currently not performing much DoD work, and we haven’t seen any impact on DoD opportunities within our market segment.
EBJ: How would you rank which have been the largest or recently most impactful drivers of your work as federal ‘de-regulatory’ transition evolves?
Joy: The recent impactful drivers are:
- Private sector investment to minimize future liabilities;
- Private sector investment to minimize future exposure to climate risk;
- Private sector investment to anticipate future environmental compliance costs.
A separate impact appears to be a lack of sufficient, qualified federal employees or lack of clarity on priorities (or both) to keep pace with procurement and administrative activities to maintain procurement schedules/field activity.
EBJ: How have you managed pricing strategy or contract mechanisms, and any resulting rate increases over the last few years as inflation, wage increases and personnel retention pressures have increased?
Joy: Risk sharing with clients and propose/provide value added alternates to offset price increases.
EBJ: How has your implementation of an artificial intelligence strategy or deployment on selective projects impacted how you charge on time & materials projects or how you expect to bid projects or negotiate master service agreement projects in the future?
Joy: Our implementation of AI is limited as most of our work is fixed price. We use MS Copilot enterprise wide as a tool to research and navigate market trends, stay abreast of disruptive technologies and creative contracting approaches.
EBJ: What have you found to be the most useful, productive or impactful application of AI platforms, first for you personally and second for your company or your team?
Joy: Developing individual agents to streamline data management. We are currently evaluating a “very focused” AI platforms for a specific division of the company. We have serious and valid concerns about the security of our clients and our enterprise regarding confidentiality and intellectual property.
EBJ: While the consensus is that the data center market remains the most promising market in terms of growth prospects in the next couple of years, some advance the theory that the market is a bit of a ‘bubble’. What is your opinion on sustainability and durability of the data center market in the near and short-term?
Joy: The market is in a heavy “hype” cycle and hasn’t reached a sustainable or durable model yet. We expect the market to level off and even decline until the sustainable model is reached.
EBJ: How has the market demand for remediation contracting for PFAS contamination evolved over the past few years, and what areas has Envirocon focused on in solutions, regions and clients?
Joy: We have seen a noticeable increase in PFAS-related opportunities and demand; however, PFAS contamination currently represents only a small portion of our overall opportunity pipeline. To date, government entities appear to be the primary organizations actively addressing PFAS concerns. Most commercial clients remain in a “wait-and-see” position unless regulatory requirements or specific directives necessitate action. This may also reflect the fact that groundwater treatment represents a smaller segment of our business, and we infrequently work with municipal water treatment agencies or utilities.
EBJ: Please review the EBJ Outlook Survey result summary tables and make some observations that occur to you on market rankings, forecast, long-term energy scenarios, rates, etc.
Joy: Labor Price Increases: Our unit price increases kept pace with our cost increases over 2023-2025.
Geographic Trends: Our growth prospects match the survey trends with the exception of Pacific Northwest moving to the #3 slot.
MAGA Markets: Industrial Growth & Mining is our biggest opportunity for growth followed by Environmental Remediation, Brownfields & Liability-Driven Work. We do see the Data Center trend in the market and with our E&C partners, but we are currently not active in the space.
EBJ: What was your original inspiration to get into the industry in the first place, and what circumstances led to you taking on a senior management role?
Joy: My original inspiration to get into the industry came from wanting to be part of work that creates a visible, lasting impact. I was drawn to the combination of problem-solving, teamwork, and the opportunity to contribute to projects that improve communities and the environment. Early in my career, I enjoyed being in the field, learning the operational side of the business, and seeing firsthand how strong planning, safety, and execution can make a real difference in project success.
As my career progressed, I naturally became more involved in leading teams, mentoring others, and helping solve larger operational challenges. Those experiences showed me that I enjoyed not only the technical and project side of the work, but also helping build successful teams and processes. The progression into a senior management role came through a combination of experience, opportunities to lead increasingly complex projects, and a desire to help shape the long-term direction and culture of organizations that I was lucky enough to be part of. It has been rewarding to contribute at a broader level while still staying connected to the people and projects that drive the industry forward.