Containment

Waste Management of Hawaii has completed the first of three phases repairs at the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill, but the landfill remains only partially open. The company reported that it has repaired the eastern side of cell E6, which was damaged by a January 13 storm. Also damaged in that storm was a point at which the liner edge meets the gulch wall. Falling rock was to blame. Learn more here.;

Ohio's Environmental Protection Agency is dealing with three fires in landfill waste. The most recent was discovered in August 2009 in the Rumpke landfill north of Cincinnati in Hamilton County. Another was found in 2006 in Stark County. A third fire is suspected at a facility in Columbiana County. $4 million in closure bonds have been issued to counter that third site. The sudden rise in these events in Ohio has troubled the agency, as there are not established, guaranteed approaches to extinguishing these fires. Prevention is the best medicine, and that requires a better understanding and monitoring of the waste stream. Learn more here.;

By Robert Koerner - With literally thousands of old landfills scattering the worldwide landscape, their upgrading (via lateral and vertical expansions) to an engineered landfill is clearly possible to...

The West Bank levee authority in Louisiana has joined other levee authorities in urging the Army Corps of Engineers to reconsider its proposal to armor levees with erosion control materials (e.g., geotextiles) and grass to protect from erosion during storm surges. The currently proposed materials would have to be removed when the levees are raised in five years, said a levee-authority commissioner. State levee officials have proposed placing temporary concrete barriers on the levees instead. The Corps has opposed that proposal, which it said would increase the levees' height above the requirements set by Congress. Learn more here.;

CETCO Lining Technologies has announced the official release of three new product lines in its GCL portfolio. The names of the new product lines are InterLoK, Resistex and Continuum. Each product features a unique engineered clay technology designed by the research and development team at CETCO to enhance the permeability and/or chemical resistance. InterLoK, Resistex, and Continuum GCLs are now available in the U.S. with an expected release in Europe later this year.

The revitalization of blighted properties in several Montana communities received a big boost today as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded $1.9 million in brownfields cleanup grants for projects across the state. EPA announced that the Great Northern Development Corporation will receive $1.5 million to clean sites contaminated by hazardous substances and petroleum in a 15-county area of eastern Montana. In addition, Lewis and Clark County will receive $400,000 for projects to remove contaminated soils and protect groundwater at several candidate properties, include a former foundry, a metal ore mill site and a post-and-pole facility.

When Brawler Industries closed its four locations in the United States, its assets were bought up by various geosynthetics entities. The one location we hadn’t heard about was what...

CETCO Oilfield Services has announced that it is set to expand its presence in the growing market of Libya. The country is moving towards doubling its output of oil to 3 million barrels per day. Investment in Libya's oil and gas industry has increased 64% over the past few years. CETCO Oilfield Services is a sister division of CETCO Lining Technologies, which provides geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs), geomembranes and other geosynthetic materials and expertise. Learn more here.;

The Shaw Group Inc. today announced it has been awarded a five-year Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity Multiple Award Construction Contract by the U.S. Department of Defense for construction services at Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) installations throughout California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado. Shaw is one of eight contractors selected to compete on task orders under this contract for design, construction, supervision, equipment, materials, labor and delivery of facilities, including outdoor shooting and combat training ranges. These facilities require construction of canals and channels, dams and embankments, landfill and erosion control, irrigation and landscaping, as well as recreational fields and parks.

The Asia Mining Congress 2009 is offering a complimentary seat at the congress's Sustainability Awards dinner with all registrations placed through 11 November 2008. This critical mining conference--the fifth in the series--will feature more than 100 speakers. It takes place in Singapore from 23-27 March 2009. Learn more here.;

Geo-Frontiers 2011 brings together the North American Geosynthetics Society (NAGS), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Geo-Institute (GI) and the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI). It will be held 13-16 March 2011 in Dallas, Texas. The Call for Abstracts has been issued. Current tracks include Soil/Rock Mechanics and Modeling; Geotechnical Testing and Site Characterization; Foundations and Ground Improvement; Slopes, Embankments, and Earth Retaining Structures; Geosynthetics; Geoenvironmental Engineering; Geo-Hazards (Earthquakes, Landslides, Erosions, Others); Transportation Materials and Pavements; and Other Geotechnical Related Issues. Abstracts due: 8 March 2011. Learn more here.;

In its latest financial results, Concrete Canvas Ltd has revealed another record year of growth for the South Wales-based manufacturer. Its international presence for its primary “concrete on a...

The American Society of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) invites students to submit papers on topics related to dam and levee safety, including engineering, geology, hydrology, hydraulics, environmental and agricultural sciences, design, construction, risk, hazard mitigation, emergency management, floods, floodplain management, case studies, security, policy issues and more. Winners will present their papers at Dam Safety 2010, ASDSO's Annual National Conference, to be held in Seattle, 19-23 September 2010. Learn more.

SKZ's 2nd International Conference on Geosynthetics Middle East is being held in Dubai, UAE, 10-11 November 2009 with geomembrane and geogrid technologies guiding most of the discussions. A special one-day seminar will follow on November 12 on HDPE liner issues. Ian Peggs of I-CORP has sent along a write-up from day one of the conference. Read his synopsis of the presentations and companies present at the event, and see images from this region of ever-increasing importance to the geosynthetics field.

Over at SprayFoam.com, Dudley J. Primeaux has posted a column in memory of Tom Davis, a polyurea pioneer. His work included spray-applied liners, geotextiles, secondary containment applications on large and commodity scales, and much more. Learn more here.;

Levees in the New Orleans area are being decertified at the moment. Faced with an estimated need of $100 billion to properly fix the region's levee system and prevent another disaster such as the failures that occurred during 2004's Hurricane Katrina. Decertification will affect zoning and property issues. The US Army Corp of Engineers has made repair proposals, but those plans are contingent upon significant funding increases necessary to take on responsibility for the larger system and correct it. Learn more here.;

Australia has been the center of a great deal of activity in geotechnical and geosynthetics-related events over the past few years. The Australian Chapter of the International Geosynthetics Society...

GSE Holding, Inc. ("GSE") today announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 7,000,000 shares of common stock at a public offering price of $9.00 per share. All of the shares in the offering are being sold by GSE. GSE has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,050,000 shares at the initial public offering price to cover over-allotments, if any. The shares are expected to begin trading tomorrow, February 10, 2012, on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "GSE", and the offering is expected to close on February 15, 2012.

SIBUR contracted acquisition of 50% share in the charter capital of BIAKSPLEN LLC, one of the largest Russian manufacturers of biaxially oriented polypropylene film (BOPP). BIAKSPLEN's production facilities include three plants located in Nizhny Novgorod, Kursk and Moscow Regions. The aggregate capacity of BIAKSPLEN product lines is 87 kta. In 2008 BIAKSPLEN consolidated sales reached RUR 3.9 billion. Read more about this acquisition.

The Association of Producers of Geosynthetic Materials (APGM) is a non-commercial organization founded in 2008 with the goal of defending the interests of manufacturers of geosynthetic materials. APGM unites enterprises producing various types of geosynthetics (road geonets, geogrids, geotextiles, geomembrances, and so on), enterprises producing specialized equipment, research organizations, and retail companies. Recently, APGM conducted a seminar on road design with geosynthetics through Techtextil Russia. Learn more at APGM's English-language page. Learn more here.;

The Layfield Group of Companies has announced the formation of a new business unit: Engineered Membranes & Films (EMF). The move is part of a major capital expansion project at Layfield which includes a new state-of-the-art wide width geomembrane extrusion line. The new line will provide an additional 23 million pounds (10.5 million kilograms) of geomembrane capacity in various widths and thicknesses.

SKZ, with scientific committee support from Cemagref and the Geosynthetic Institute (GSI), announces the 3rd International Symposium on Geosynthetic Clay Liners, to be held at the Fortress Marienberg in Würzburg, Germany 15-16 September 2010. Abstract and papers for oral or poster presentations are invited on the following topics: Application / case studies (Landfills, Canals, Reservoirs / Dams, Transportation Infrastructure) • Durability / Lifetime • Laboratory testing • Performance (Cation exchange, Desiccation, Experience from excavation • Regulations / Approvals. Abstracts must be submitted via e-mail to: gbr-c2k10@skz.de no later than 30 September 2009.

The International Erosion Control Association 2018 Conference and Exhibition (IECA 2018) is will take place 11 – 14 February 2018 in Long Beach, California. This annual event is one...

John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods Inc., and John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods of the Carolinas Inc., based in Atlanta, Ga., have agreed to pay a $350,000 civil penalty to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Water Act, the Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. The companies have also agreed to implement company-wide storm water compliance programs at their construction sites that go beyond current regulatory requirements. EPA estimates that the agreement will keep approximately 37 million pounds of sediment from polluting the nation's waterways each year.

An old, unlined dump in Washington County, Minnesota, will be dug out and lined and the waste reburied as part of a $27 million remediation plan. The site accepted waste in the late '60s and early '70s, including legal industrial waste containing PFBA chemicals. These chemicals are now polluting groundwater. The expensive correction is testament to the importance of modern lining systems and design techniques. Learn more here.;