Our company owes its existence to Ron Krieg, who, in the 1980s, began to devote himself to developing and patenting soil freezing applications for the containment of such dangerous contaminates as radioactive waste. In 1997, his technology development company, RKK, Ltd., took the lead in forming SoilFreeze to develop the versatility and mobility for which SoilFreeze is now known for in the civil construction market. The company’s early years of operation were built on Mr. Krieg’s extensive construction experience for Bechtel Corporation and on the loyalty of people whom he had come to know in the industry.

Led by Krieg, RKK, Ltd. received the rights to eight U.S. patents, seven of which relate to the use of frozen soil for containment, isolation, mobilization, removal and/or remediation of hazardous or radioactive materials in the earth. RKK, Ltd. was also granted patents in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Greece, India, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, and Taiwan.

RKK, Ltd. obtained or had exclusive rights to the following U.S. Patents:

• #4,860,544-CRYOCELL (issued Aug. 29, 1989, 84 claims)
• #4,974,425-CRYOCELL (issued Dec. 4, 1990, 24 claims) C.I.P.
• #5,050,386-ISOCELL (issued Sept. 24, 1991, 24 claims) C.I.P.
• #5,324,137-CRYOSWEEP (issued June 28, 1994, 35 claims)
• #5,507,149-CRYOCELL (issued Apr. 16, 1996, 19 claims)
• #5,551,799-CRYOSWEEP (issued Sept. 3, 1996, 32 claims) C.I.P.
• #5,667,339-CRYOSWEEP-2 (issued Sept. 16, 1997, 35 claims)
• #5,146,987-Method and Apparatus for Controlling the Flow of Crude Oil from the Earth (issued Sept 15, 1992, 5 claims)

CRYOCELL®, the most widely tested patent, deals with the complete, reversible isolation of a volume of contaminated soil from surrounding soils and groundwater and was successfully tested under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. The results…

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency -Frozen soil barriers are “environmentally benign” and have significant advantages over “conventional containment systems using steel, concrete, slurry walls, or grout curtains” and offer “extremely low maintenance costs, allowing continued use for extended periods”). EPA Site Technology Program, (7^th edition, p. 202).

Department of Energy (DOE)- “Frozen soil can eliminate groundwater flow paths” and “the potential is great” (Scientific Ecology Group, Inc. for Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Document STD-R-00-01, February 1995).