CEO Letter
Dear Friends,
Welcome to Layne Christensen’s first Sustainability Report. For more than a century, Layne has been in the sustainability business — we just never considered calling it that. We are a company that brings water to the world and provides communities with the critical infrastructure they need to run effectively. We are a company that contributes to the United States’ domestic fuel supply. And, we are a company that conducts projects all over the world, contributing to the livelihood of the local individuals we hire and providing access to important natural resources that support global industries. Today, as our stakeholders seek to better understand what we do and how we do it, we’re pleased to tell our story.
With this report, we want to share the ways in which we practice sustainability every day at Layne Christensen. We also want to explore areas where we have an opportunity to improve our performance. Fundamentally, Layne Christensen delivers products and services that help support the world’s greatest sustainability challenges — from water resources to energy to minerals for economic development and more. We use advanced technology to locate and produce water, energy and minerals. This report enables us to not only discuss the ways in which we are a solution provider, but to consider how we might more strategically integrate sustainability into our organizational objectives.
As we contemplate the global sustainability issues affecting businesses across industries and sectors, Layne Christensen sees opportunity from both a business and operational perspective. Although climate change has dominated the sustainability conversation in recent years, we know that water is emerging as one of — if not the — most pressing global sustainability challenge. With nearly half the world’s population expected to be living in areas of high water stress by 2030,1 Layne Christensen’s expertise in water resource identification, development and treatment positions us as a key solution provider. We see opportunities to improve our own water footprint to ensure that, similar to our client approach, we are making thoughtful and sustainable decisions about Layne’s water impacts.
Because we are a field-oriented, geographically diverse company with massive equipment moving around the world, Layne Christensen has strong incentives to continually improve energy efficiency and as a result, our carbon footprint. Our energy consumption represents both an economic and environmental impact that we strive to manage through efficiency projects, including a new anti-idling policy in 2010, and investigation of alternative fuel sources.
From an energy solution standpoint, we are poised to support the broader development of a clean energy future. As a natural gas producer, we see the long-term environmental and economic benefits that natural gas presents as a cleaner alternative to other hydrocarbon fuels. Developing energy safely and in the most responsible manner is paramount to our operations, and we take seriously the dialogue that has emerged recently concerning the process of hydraulic fracturing. As it relates to wastewater associated with hydraulic fracturing, Layne is positioned, once again, as a service provider that, through our recent Intevras acquisition and expertise in wastewater treatment technology, can offer sustainable solutions to this growing sector.
A major source of pride at Layne Christensen includes the high standards to which we hold ourselves across Layne’s global footprint. Our sustainability as an organization is inherently linked to our ability to operate safely, and we make safety training a priority for all employees. Even in the most challenging regions of the world, we remained focused on running safe, responsible projects that support growth in both developed and emerging economies. One of the greatest sustainability risks we face as an organization relates to the economic prosperity of the people we employ when projects are interrupted by social or political unrest. At times, the sociopolitical environment makes it difficult to do business in a way that is consistent with our ethical standards. Last year, Layne Christensen self-reported to U.S. federal authorities on potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act while operating in certain African countries. While we are in the process of conducting an internal investigation, we took this as an opportunity to improve our policies, procedures and training related to doing business around the globe.
Over the next year, our intention is to more fully explore the issues related to sustainability and develop a strategy that considers both the opportunities and risks associated with Layne Christensen’s environmental, social and economic impacts. We want to better understand the forces driving our key customer markets so that Layne can appropriately position or enhance our products and services to meet their sustainability needs. We also intend to continue to operate as an effective, responsible partner. Where opportunities exist to improve our water or energy footprint, we will identify appropriate efficiency or reduction targets. When our expertise is needed to solve major challenges — as it was in 2010 with the Chilean miner rescue — we will be there. As a business that has grown, evolved and survived for more than a century, we understand sustainability. Our history is built upon it, and our future depends on it.
Sincerely,
Andrew B. Schmitt