Located in the heart of the Missouri Ozarks, the Ozark Underground Laboratory is a small consulting firm which has been in full-time operation since 1973. It is independently owned and operated by Thomas J. and Catherine L. Aley. At the present time, the Ozark Underground Laboratory has eight full-time employees.

The Ozark Underground Laboratory owns and utilizes approximately 1,800 square feet of office space, 625 square feet of analytical laboratory space, and 2,000 square feet of storage space. A major activity of the Ozark Underground Laboratory is groundwater tracing studies utilizing fluorescent tracer dyes; this work requires the analytical laboratory space and much of the storage space.

Work by the Ozark Underground Laboratory is focused primarily on land and water use issues in karst and fractured rock landscapes. Emphasis is placed on interactions between surface activities and resulting subsurface impacts. The laboratory has conducted this type of work in about 35 U.S. states and in Australia, Barbados, Canada, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Peru.

The Laboratory has conducted numerous investigations and projects for various federal agencies; these have included the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and the Corps of Engineers. In addition, the Laboratory has conducted work for numerous state, municipal, corporate, and private clients.