Containment

LyondellBasell Industries has announced a project to cease the production of polypropylene (PP) at Terni, Italy. The company has started the employee consultation process regarding a project to permanently shut down the unit. LyondellBasell said that PP production activities in Italy will be focused on the company’s world-scale sites at Ferrara and Brindisi. The Terni plant has a nameplate capacity of 255 KT per year. In conjunction with the shutdown project, LyondellBasell has started consultation with representatives of the employees to determine the appropriate path forward for the employees at the site. The plant currently has approximately 120 permanent employees. Learn more here.;

The Netherlands-based LyondellBasell Industries, one of the giant’s of the chemical and resin manufacturing industry, has announced that it will lay off more than 3,000 employees and 2,000 contractors companywide. Roughly 20 offices and 10 manufacturing plants will be closed as well. Read more.

I-CORP INTERNATIONAL's Ian Peggs served as an instructor at the 12th TRI-CORP Liner Integrity Survey and Assessment (LISA) course at the TRI/Environmental campus 23-24 March 2009. He reports that 12 attendees, including one from Chile, took part. The two-day event featured a classroom day and a hands-on, field training day with three test cells on site. Interested attended can then go for the next phase of certification, which involves a one-day field audit during a production geoelectric survey followed by a 90 minute written test. The next course will probably be scheduled for the Fall of 2009. Note: the course can be taken on the road: it has been presented in Albany, NY, at GSE in Houston, and in the Philippines. Read more.

In late 2009, the formation of an American Biogas Council was debated to promote this rapidly growing (and still significantly under-utilized) industry. The Council has since been formed. It facilitates networking with stakeholders involved in the successful development and operation of anaerobic digestion facilities. Additionally, they provide members with outreach and educational materials, as well as news updates related to regulations and policies at the federal and state level, funding/grant opportunities, and project developments. More information is available on the American Biogas Council website. Learn more here.;

The Missouri River continues to threaten Midwestern states, and residents and the Army Corps of Engineers are working together to shore up or build levees. Corps officials have informed residents that they will be unleashing water from five dams to ease pressure on these reservoirs -- at a rate twice that of previous record releases. This will mean the river will rise in several areas and will top at least 11 levees. Learn more here.;

From the arrival of the Romans to the Saxons and Normans clashing upon the shore, and from the Spanish Armada to Napolean and two World Wars, England has a...

Two of the largest waste management firms in the United States, Republic Services and Allied Waste Management, are in merger talks, Thomson Financial reports. The potential deal might see Republic purchasing Allied but using Allied's name for all operations and using a Phoenix headquarters. The $7 billion deal has sent both stocks lower on the news. Learn more here.;

Though Concrete Canvas opened a unique demo park near Moscow in Russia in 2016, it wasn’t until mid-way through this year that the company officially announced it. The site,...

In the opening column to the International Geosynthetics Society's IGS News (Volume 29, Issue 2), IGS President Jorge Zornberg notes, "The conferences of the IGS have played a remarkable...

The ongoing, rapid development of South and Central American infrastructure and the heavy concern with sustainability and energy innovation throughout the Americas will be key topics when engineers, contractors, regulators and other construction professionals gather in Lima, Peru for the GeoAmericas 2012 conference and exhibition. To be held May 1-4, GeoAmericas 2012 marks the Second Pan-American Geosynthetics Conference and Exhibition and will take place under the auspices of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS). The exhibitor space has sold out for the event, and many attendees are now turning attention not just to the strong technical sessions planned for the event but the exceptional short and long courses that have been announced. Featuring expert and internationally renowned instructors, these courses will provide an in-depth look at some of the hottest topics in geosynthetics and current engineering design.

ASTM International Committee D35 on Geosynthetics has announced a work item for geosynthetic clay liners. The work item, WK32756 ("Standard Test Method for Determining the Internal and Interface Shear Resistance of Geosynthetic Clay Liner by the Direct Shear Method") is a work item revision to existing standard D6243-09. This work involves the addition of an appendix to provide the user with guidelines of what test parameters are required to be specified to obtain the intended shear result. Learn more here.;

WK28660, "Standard Test Method for Swell Index of Clay Mineral Component of Geosynthetic Clay Liners," is a work item revision to existing standard D5890-06. It will be discussed more fully during the D35 Committee Week meeting in St. Louis, Missouri 8-11 June 2010. Learn more here.;

ST. PAUL, Minn. - 10 September 2013 - The Stormwater Equipment Manufacturers Association (SWEMA) is currently participating in the Water Environment Federation's (WEF) Stormwater Testing and Evaluation for Products and Practices (STEPP)...

During the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Royal Ten Cate, which was held on Thursday 8 April 2010, the dividend for the 2009 financial year was declared at EUR 0.60(2008: EUR 0.85) per ordinary share of EUR 2.50 par value. The dividend is to be paid in cash, or at the shareholder's option in ordinary shares charged to the share premium reserve. The value of the stock dividend will surpass the value of the cash dividend by 0 to 3%.

Whales (bubbles above the water level) in a lined wastewater pond are usually caused by leaking water that cannot be removed, which in turn generates methane that also cannot be removed. Minimize leakage through the liner (there will inevitably be some), provide a functioning leakage removal (monitoring) system, and a functioning gas venting system. A nonwoven geotextile alone under the geomembrane is not sufficient to do this.

In recent large-scale channel testing by the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials' National Transportation Product Evaluation Program (AASHTO-NTPEP), North American Green's new ShoreMax® Soft Revetment Scour Protection Mat pushed turf reinforcement mat (TRM) performance to a new level. As one of the newest additions to Tensar's North American Green erosion control line, the ShoreMax® Mat delivered unprecedented unvegetated results in NTPEP's ASTM channel testing, withstanding shear stresses up to 8.6 lbs/ft2 and velocities exceeding 19 ft/sec. Tested with a Vmax3® P550 TRM underlayment, the completely unvegetated ShoreMax system actually exceeded the level of performance provided by many fully vegetated TRMs.

When gas gets under a geomembrane, operations-impairing bubbles can form. A number of reasons may be responsible, such as installation damage, poor seaming, or a lack of appropriate construction quality assurance (CQA) measures like liner integrity surveys. These bubbles are commonly referred to as "whales," and they can impact wastewater facilities, manure lagoons, ponds and other lined installations. As this photo demonstrates, even 6 in. (150 mm) thick concrete slabs are insufficient ballast to prevent whales due to trapped air and rising groundwater under a geomembrane liner. Read more.

By David Cao - Solmax Reflective Geomembrane is manufactured using the state-of-the-art tri-layered co-extrusion technology. Its consistent reflective skin layer is homogeneously produced from premium resin with pure white...

Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major highway that runs north-south from Laredo, Texas all the way up to Duluth, Minnesota (more than 1,550 miles). A seven-mile stretch of I-35...

An oil and gas industry group on Monday withdrew its objection to a rule that requires drilling pad pit liners to be disposed in certified landfill sites. The industry will instead shift its focus to working with local governments to find ways to get landfills certified so they can accept pit liners, said Stan Dempsey, president of the Colorado Petroleum Association. Learn more here.;

Dennes Bergado writes on the forthcoming symposium "Geotechnical Engineering, Ground Improvement and Geosynthetics for Sustainable Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change including Global Warming." A list of speakers has been released and is contained in Dr. Bergado's write up. Of note, more than 30 technical speakers will be part of the event. They are coming to the conference from more than 15 countries. Also, a comprehensive technical exhibition will accompany the discussions. The symposium takes place 2-3 December 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand.

South Africa holds much of the world's unmined uranium load. The country has done very well in mining of other precious metals and minerals, and it now seeks to become a cradle to grave uranium processor. From mining to conversion to burial of spent fuel rods, South Africa hopes to become the Saudi Arabia of energy. 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.;

For three decades, the Stauffer Chemical facility in Tarpon Springs, Florida manufactured and processed an array of hazardous and radioactive materials. The site was closed in 1981 but slag piles have remained. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that it anticipates beginning cleanup of the 130-acre site in early to mid 2009. Two geosynthetic-capped mounds will be constructed, one on 18.5 acres and the other on 29 acres. Learn more here.;

Conventional scour protections for off-shore installations are difficult to install and secure. Currents complicate foundations, creating a situation in which the installation will not be stable in the long term. Deep foundations are prohibitively expensive. In the growing wind farm sector, the large, heavy turbines must be protected against the erosive effects normal and sudden, strong, storm-induced currents. A durable and effective alternative has been found for securing these off-shore turbines: NAUE Soft Rock®.