FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 19, 2005

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David Ehrenfest Steinglass, Managing Director (301) 951-6122
Eugene Krichevsky, Vice President (301) 951-6122
Brian Maney, Director, Corporate Communications (301) 951-6122

CLEANING UP WITH SOIL SAFE

By Linda Corman

Soil Safe Holdings, Inc., an environmental services company involved in the treatment, disposal and reuse of lightly contaminated soil, was founded by Walter Kennell in 1989 in Columbia, MD. Now over 16 years later, the company operates three facilities in addition to its headquarters and serves an extensive customer base of over 300, including general contractors, excavators, environmental consultants and oil companies in the Mid-Atlantic region and, through the acquisition of the TPS Technologies, Inc., in the greater Los Angeles metro area.

In a September 16, 2005 transaction, Soil Safe was acquired by American Capital Strategies, Ltd. (Nasdaq: ACAS) in a One Stop Buyout™. American Capital provided a $147 million financing package consisting of a revolving credit facility, senior term loan, senior and junior subordinated debt and convertible preferred equity. The transaction also included Soil Safe's purchase of real estate in Brandywine, MD and Soil Safe's acquisition of the California-based assets of TPS, the leading provider of thermal desorption treatment services in southern California.

Soil Safe serves real estate, infrastructure development, and industrial customers in the Mid-Atlantic states. The company takes soil contaminated with low levels of non-hazardous hydrocarbons, like oil and fuels, and, through a process called solidification, turns the soil into a safe, useable product. The product is then used either to fill one of the company's two sites or by third parties for building roads, brownfield development or as fill material.

"Soil Safe is one of two major providers treating soil contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons and is the only one with the ability to cost-effectively serve the Washington, D.C. area," said Mark Smith, President and CEO of Soil Safe. "The company has leading market share in the treatment of petroleum contaminated soil in the regions served by its Maryland and New Jersey facilities. TPS is one of the leading providers of soil remediation and recycling services in southern California."

TPS provides Soil Safe with a strong foothold in not only a key geographic area but also in a vitally important new competency, TPS's thermal desorption process. Thermal desorption involves removing contaminants by heating and can thoroughly treat soil with even higher levels of petroleum contaminants. Major oil refineries, widely spread former and existing oil fields, and presence of manufactured gas plants provide a strong treatment and recycling market in southern California. Through TPS, Soil Safe possesses strategic proximity to this market, and offers full-service treatment and recycling services for petroleum contaminated soil.

Soil Safe has joined American Capital's portfolio of more than 130 middle-market companies in a wide range of industries. Since 1997, American Capital has invested approximately $6 billion in these companies. For more information about American Capital's portfolio click here.

Soil Safe is an outstanding competitor in the multi-billion dollar market for the treatment, disposal and reuse of contaminated soil, dredge and other materials normally found on brownfield sites. Demand for Soil Safe's services is expected to grow strongly because of massive and growing brownfield development for which one of the greatest costs is the treatment of contaminated soil and the acquisition of fill. These redevelopment efforts are in turn being driven by a scarcity of undeveloped land, a profusion of old industrial sites, accumulating incentives for redevelopment including tax incentives, public sector financial assistance, and limited liability for purchasers of brownfield sites. Also driving this development is increased public and private investment in infrastructure projects including federal funds recently allocated for highways, bridges, and railroads.

Demand is also expected to increase because of ever more stringent environmental protection regulations regarding what constitutes uncontaminated soil. Finally, Soil Safe's services are becoming increasingly competitive as the availability of landfill sites shrinks and tipping fees escalate.

The company looks forward to further broadening its range of services as it has done through the acquisition of TPS. It also anticipates geographic expansion, building on the TPS acquisition and seeking additional acquisitions in areas where brownfield concentration and development activities are high. It is also exploring additional potential sites for expansion in the Mid-Atlantic region.

In an industry where barriers to entry are high due to the difficulty of obtaining required permits, of procuring sites - especially those sufficiently proximate to potential customers-and the considerable cost of developing sites, Soil Safe is in a prime position to clean up.