Containment

The 25th International Conference on Solid Waste Technology and Management 14-17 March 2010 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The agenda has been announced and includes 160 presentations from 40 countries. Field trips are also involved in this international gathering. Learn more at the event website. Learn more here.;

The Sonoma County Agricultural Commissioner's Office has published a Best Management Practices handbook (January 2010) to provide some minimum requirements to control water quality impacts in vineyard and related agricultural operations. The guide is intended only for Sonoma County growers' use. The 30-page document includes sections on drainage, erosion control, road management, and site development. Download a free-copy (PDF 7.62 MB) to see how this California wine-growing county is tackling sediment and erosion control issues.

The Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) which is all set to be implemented in Orissa starting May has adopted a multi-pronged approach. The project, estimated at Rs 200 crore, will have various components most of which deal with coastal conservation. For a long-term solution to the problem, anti-erosion control steps had been put in place through use of geosynthetic tubes and the pratice will be in place through the project period. Learn more here.;

Treated wastewater from a leaky storage pond at a University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill (UNC) facility did reach Collins Creek, state environmental officials have said. UNC contractors dyed treated wastewater to trace its flow from the wastewater treatment pond. After detecting the leak in the liner, UNC installed a pump to redirect water into the pond. UNC contractors can then examine and repair the liner. Learn more here.;

A suspiciously low bid, a committee selecting material based solely on the criterion of lowest proposed cost, and a geomembrane product that apparently does not match the project specifications: all issues being wrestled with on an expensive water resources and agriculture project in Indonesia. (Note: this article is in Indonesian.) Learn more here.;

Combining the efforts of two industry leaders in remediation technologies promises to provide increased value to the environmental remediation industry. Tensar International Corporation (TIC) announced today that it has signed an agreement with CETCO Remediation Technologies (CETCO) granting exclusive distribution rights to the Triton® Marine Mattress System in the United States and Canada for subaqueous capping of contaminated sediments.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is holding a two-day conference 10-11 February 2010 at Drexel University in Philadelphia to explore the most environmentally safe methods to clean up and revitalize contaminated properties. The Green Cleanup Symposium will feature presentations from the nation's top thinkers on how to properly clean up abandoned or contaminated properties so that the land can be reused as a safe and sustainable community resource.

Representatives of Golder Associates and Recology recently gave technical presentations to the Humboldt Development Authority, Nevada. The presentations included a semi-technical outline as well as a conceptual design for the proposed Jungo Rd. landfill. HDPE geomembranes, geotextile filtration, liner integrity CQA, and other engineering methods were discussed. Learn more here.;

Middleboro, Massachusetts-based Middleboro Recycling exemplifies the way auto and scrap recycling yards have evolved in the last 60 years to be environmentally secured operations. At Middleboro, for example, operators use a "rack" system to keep polluting fluids out of the soil; stormwater is gathering; and a geomembrane-lined retention pond serves as a mediative point between processing of polluted liquids and stormwater collection. Learn more here.;

Two key mines in Murray Energy's coal mining operations produce up to 16 million tons each year in Ohio. The company must now find an updated way to store the slurry waste from operations, or it may need to shutter its business. State officials do not want to see the roughly 1000 miners put out of work. Though the company was rejected in 2008 in its waste site application, the new application may go through. It contains a geomembrane-lined slurry reservoir. Learn more here.;

Federal environmental officials say they believe the amount of contaminated sediment that will need to be dredged from the Hudson River will be "significantly higher" than initially expected. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has released a preliminary evaluation of last year's dredging of PCB "hot spots" north of Albany. The dredging was a test run for the far larger Phase 2 of the cleanup, which regulators want to start in 2011. Learn more here.;

In Astoria, Oregon, public works employees recently took media members on a tour of the Hypalon geomembrane floating cover atop the city's Reservoir 3. The department praised the effectiveness of the floating cover and liner system that has reduced turbidity from 35 pounds per day to 3. The concrete base, 27-foot-deep reservoir was constructed in 1919. The city now plans to liner and cover its Reservoir 2 in the same manner. Learn more here.;

The Regional Sales Manager will be responsible for managing, directing and setting key financial and non-financial objectives for their sales region. In addition, responsibilities include the management of all distributor channels within their region of responsibility for North American Green products. North American Green develops and manufactures products used to provide erosion and sediment control and promote vegetation growth after construction. To review the complete job description please go to the geosynthetica.net employment page.

State officials served UNC-Chapel Hill with a notice of violation after treated wastewater at its animal holding facility in western Orange County leaked into a creek feeding Jordan Lake. The December spill came from a leak in the liner of a storage pond where treated wastewater is stored before being sprayed on the site. Learn more here.;

Decisions need to be made soon regarding the Pumpback Well System (PWS) Evaluation Project now underway at the Anaconda Mine cleanup site in Yerington, Nevada. The EPA-approved a one-year shutdown of the PWS in March 2009. The site uses three evaporation ponds: a 3.5-million-gallon clay-lined pond; a 5-million-gallon HDPE-lined pond; and a 10-million-gallon HDPE-lined pond. Learn more here.;

A 20 January 2010 editorial in the New York Times takes a quick look at the issue of coal ash usage and disposal in the United States. The editor is critical of wholesale classification of coal ash as hazardous waste and of the Obama administration and the Envrionmental Protection Agency for not yet releasing proposals. Also, the editor is keen to point out that problems of coal ash in landfills relate more to poorly designed of constructed sites; and that new regulations could help improve landfills and coal ash facilities without ruining the responsible recycling market. Learn more here.;

The Regional Sales Manager will be responsible for managing, directing and setting key financial and non-financial objectives for their sales region. In addition, responsibilities include the management of all distributor channels within their region of responsibility for North American Green products. North American Green develops and manufactures products used to provide erosion and sediment control and promote vegetation growth after construction. To review the complete job description please go to the geosynthetica.net employment page.

Ignorance about the details of a key standard for ground engineering could lead to on-site disputes when it becomes effective in April 2010, NCE reports. A lack of training among smaller consultants and a general lack of awareness of the details of Eurocode 7 (EC7) and supporting documents such as execution standards are behind the fears. Learn more here.;

Huesker inc., a leading manufacturer and global supplier of geogrids, geotextiles and specialty geocomposites, has updated its website. The revised website features comprehensive information on Huesker's full product line with an option to view specifics offered from key global offices, such as Germany, the United States, Brazil, Spain, and more. Also of note are significant download resources, including product properties, application photos, installation guidelines, publications and case studies. Whether you’re looking for information regarding geosynthetics in green roofs, roads and railways, landfills, canals, or many other applications, Huesker’s new website is an information-packed resource that's worth a visit. Learn more here.;

The Times of India reports that India's Orissa coastline is to receive about Rs 227 (USD $50 million) of 1200 alotted for construction projects. One of the target zones is in Puri. However, officials would like a 2008-approved geosynthetic erosion-control seawall to be finished first before this new round of funding, which includes World Bank support, is implemented. The seawall was to have been constructed by January 2009 but the process has stalled. Learn more here.;

Alabama produces about 1.6 percent of the waste in the United States; but the state accepts close to 7.5 percent of the nation's garbage. In addition to having the country's largest landfill, it also is approving more and more "super-sized" landfills capable of accepting waste from multiple states. For example, Baldwin County's Magnolia Landfill is permitted to accept 350 tons of waste a day, several facilities in the state can accept between 5,000 and 15,000 tons a day. The Mobile Press-Register reports. Learn more here.;

Contractors are breaking ground on the long-awaited fourth bore of the Caldecott Tunnel, a three-year project to relieve traffic congestion in the Oakland, California area. After multiple small tunnel stretches are excavated and reinforced, crews will finish the walls and ceiling by installing a geosynthetic liner to capture drainage water and then add a thick concrete layer reinforced with rebar. Learn more here.;

The International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) Peru Chapter will hold a Peruvian national congress on geosynthetics. Geosperu 2010 is the second national conference on geosynthetics in Peru. The event will include lectures, discussions, short courses and a keynote lecture from Dr. J.P. Giroud. The majority of the event will be in Spanish. Learn more here.;

Native American reservations have been sites of great extremes--extreme poverty juxtaposed with highly successful casinos; great opportunities for utilizing natural resources for wealth juxtaposed with what is too-often considerable pollution and an inability to fully remediate sites. One reservation is turning to solar power as a source for a new tribal economy. It's an impressive scheme, and it just may be an inspiration for more green designs, such as the use of exposed geomembrane caps with thin-film photovoltaics embedded in the surface. Learn more here.;

Brandon Sears, writing for the Richmond Register (Kentucky), has published a piece on "timely tips for farmers." Among them is "Consider preparing a feeding area with gravel over geotextile fabric." Agreed. Learn more here.;