Containment

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management will hold an informational meeting and a public hearing Wednesday on Arcelor Mittal’s proposal to open a new solid waste landfill at its Burns Harbor plant. The landfill would consist of about 75 acres and would accept wastewater treatment plant sludge, blast furnace filter cake, basic oxygen furnace filter cake/sludge, coke oven dust, coal, coke, grinding sludge, rubble debris, and burnt lime. Learn more here.;

In May 2014, Brawler Industries acquired In-Line Plastics, LC. The move extended Brawler's geomembrane manufacturing and fabrication abilities, joining In-Line's large Houston facility with the acquiring company's plant...

The 7th Asian Regional Conference on Geosynthetics, GeoAsia 7, has proactively moved its dates from March to 22 – 26 November 2021. Conference chair, Prof. Chiwan Wayne Hsieh, posted...

The Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee has given its blessing to a $34.97 billion spending bill for 2011. The Senate proposal exceeds this year's funding by $1.5 billion, with most of the extra funds going to maintain the nation's nuclear weapons systems and to fund nonproliferation programs; the Army Corps of Engineers would get $5.3 billion, and Interior water projects would receive $1.13 billion. Learn more here.;

The Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) approved the state’s first Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) “green” projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. For example, a $2 million streambank stabilization and erosion control project along the Illinois River and Eucha/Spavinaw Creek watersheds. Learn more here.;

The International Geosynthetics Society's (IGS) Technical Committee on Barrier Systems (TC-B) has launched a project Taskforce "Regulations" to gather an international database and resource detailing the regulations influencing the selection and utilisation of geomembranes and geosynthetic clay liners in all aspects of engineering and construction. This specific task is part of the TCB terms of references for the period 2010-2014. Your insights into the regulations that impact your state/province and national/regional interaction are strongly encouraged. Read more.

The World Bank Group has announced that it has thrown open the doors to its statistical databases and is challenging the global community to use the data to create new applications and solutions to help poor people in the developing world. Recognizing that transparency and accountability are essential to development, the World Bank Group is now providing free, open, and easy access to its comprehensive set of data on living standards around the globe -- some 2,000 indicators, including hundreds that go back 50 years. The data will be available in Arabic, French and Spanish in addition to English.

When the Investing in African Mining Indaba conference convenes in Cape Town, South Africa 8 – 11 February 2016, geosynthetics manufacturer and engineering services provider HUESKER will be on...

A Carlsbad, New Mexico landfill has received a $1.3 million fine from the New Mexico Environment Department for accepting improper waste. The facility, which attempted to ban NMED staff from inspection, has accepted (and failed to properly cover) asbestos and hazardous waste, in violation of its permit. Learn more here.;

Though the current global economic slowdown is cause for concern, it is giving country's pause to discover the environmental degradation of so many boom years. In India, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has been studying the Meghalaya region and the degradation it has suffered due to poor mining controls. The Times of India reports. Learn more here.;

A proposed copper mine in the Yukon is meeting with stiff environmental opposition. The many-years spike in copper prices has made the $150 million, 8-year-life mine attractive to the company seeking to build. But environmental groups are asking for examples of how heap leaching and liners react overtime in cold climates. Manfacturers and engineers with experience should consider adding your knowledge to the discussion. Learn more here.;

Additional information on the A&L Landfill problem in Lisbon, Ohio. Learn more here.;

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has extended the compliance date for all facilities and established a new compliance date for farms subject to the oil Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) regulations. This final rule is part of EPA's multi-phased strategy to address concerns with the SPCC regulation. Specifically, this SPCC rule amendment extends the dates by which the owner or operator of an SPCC regulated facility or farm must prepare or amend and implement an SPCC plan to 10 November 2010.

The March 2011 Geosynthetic Institute conference (GRI-24) included an intriguing presentation from Profs. Hsuan and Olson regarding the role of geomembranes in algae production. The two investigated the potential interaction between geosynthetic technologies (e.g., geomembrane tubes, covers and floating bags) and this fast-growing sector for biomass energy. They also identified how waste streams from municipal solid waste landfills may potentially be used as feedstocks to cultivate algae for the production of biodiesel. Learn more here.;

CISEC, Inc. will be presenting its inspector training modules and administering its nationwide certification examination through the Federal Highway Administration's Local and Tribal Technical Assistance Programs (LTAP/TTAP). The 58 LTAP/TTAP centers can now provide inspectors, designers, and regulatory agency personnel more opportunities to receive training in CISEC, Inc.'s professional sediment and erosion control inspector program and, if qualified, sit for the CISEC nationwide certification examination. Read more in the release.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is recognizing eight landfill methane capture projects for their innovation in generating renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The winners include one of the largest landfill gas (LFG) to liquefied natural gas facilities in the world, located in Livermore, California. Read more about the awards and see a list of the winners.

TRI/Environmental will host another CQA Week that offers essential education in these areas during the week of 2 November 2009 at its Austin, Texas campus. Activities will include both classroom and field study (in on-site test pits) of liner integrity surveys--also known as, leak location--with electrical resistivity testing; two days of QA/QC short courses on geosynthetic installation and use of compact clay and geosynthetic clay liners; and the CQA Certification Exam from the Geosynthetic Institute's (GSI) CQA Inspectors Certification Program. Learn more about it here.

Geosynthetica maintains an employment opportunities page for the geosynthetics industry. For information on posting your company's open positions, contact Elizabeth Peggs at Elizabeth@geosynthetica.net, +1 561 655 2060, or email Chris Kelsey at chris@geosynthetica.net. We encourage interested candidates to contact directly the companies posting on the Employment Page. Currently, two jobs are posted.

KEY POINTS GSE has secured Debtor-in-Possession (DIP) financing. This is the USD $45 million pledged by investors to ensure normalized business during the Chapter 11 process. Investors have purchased all $172...

The next phase of Biosphere 2 is about to begin. In this next step, the innovative research site in Arizona will enclose soil slopes and investigate how vegetation, topography and other factors affect rainwater's journey through a watershed. One of the tools being studied and used to help make the facility sustainable is solar cells adhered to geosynthetics. Learn more here.;

ACE Geosynthetics has taken home the top prize in the Geosynthetic Projects category of the 2009 International Achievement Awards (IAA). The winning entries in the IAA competition were announced during IFAI Expo, the annual conference of the Industrial Fabrics Association International's (IFAI). ACE's winning project comes from a complex road and slope repair in Taiwan. Two other geosynthetic awards were given, each of which went to last year's Excellence Award winner: TenCate Geosynthetics. See photographs of the winning projects. Learn more here.;

After 40+ years of geosynthetic materials performance consulting work, Dr. Ian D. Peggs has made a strategic decision to close I-CORP INTERNATIONAL, Inc. for the foreseeable future and to...

TenCate Geosynthetics’ has announced some organizational changes for 2009: Wally Moore will relocate to Austria as Managing Director of TenCate Geosynthetics Europe; Lee Bryan will be promoted to President of TenCate Geosynthetics North America; and John Henderson will become Senior Vice President, responsible for all sales and marketing activities at the North American office. Congratulations are due to all three for their years of accomplishments for TenCate. We look forward to working with them in their new capacities. Learn more here.;

"When asked what voltage setting was used to perform spark testing on a pipe penetration weld the operator said “Dunno, I just turned it to the max as stated in the instructions”! This is just the right way to miss leaks, as happened..." Ian Peggs of I-CORP INTERNATIONAL takes a look at what is occurring during spark testing.

The Canadian Geotechnical Society’s annual conference was to be held in Calgary this September, but the local organizing committee made the decision to reschedule the in-person GeoCalgary for 2022....