Containment

A $735,000 Hennepin County (Minnesota) grant was used to remove contaminants this fall and to reconstruct the steeply sloping Goose Lake shoreline. Geotextiles were used to stabilize the bank. The work was in response to the excavation and removal of about 3,200 tons of debris and contaminated soil discovered during roadwork along Goose Lake in the Elm Creek Park Reserve. The site contained, they found, an old dump. Learn more here.;

More than 100 road and drainage projects throughout unincorporated St. Tammany Parish are scheduled for next year using money from the parish's 2-cent sales tax. The parish's budget for 2010 provides for $17.5 million in capital improvements, including $10 million for individual road and drainage projects in each of the 14 council districts. Learn more here.;

The New Mexico Environment Department reports that two-thirds of the state's 150 dairies are contaminating groundwater with excess nitrogen from cattle excrement. Learn more here.;

This week the Erosion Control Technology Council (ECTC) is meeting in Daytona Beach, Florida. ECTC promotes the use of erosion control mats and blankets through industry leadership and education in the hope of making a broad contribution to the science of erosion control and environmental preservation. Learn more here.;

CSX Transportation is seeking permission to place caps over contaminants from the old Creosote Works that settled in the West Pascagoula River and Bayou Pierre in Gautier, according to company officials and the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources. The proposed cap will include layers of reactive core mat, silty sand isolation area, non-woven geotextile and poorly graded stone. The cap would be overlaid with a veneer of fine sand and indigenous wetland vegetation within the intertidal zone to mitigate the seven-tenths acre of tidal fringe wetlands that would be affected. Learn more here.;

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued guidance to help federal agencies minimize the impact of federal development projects on nearby water bodies. The guidance is being issued in response to a change in law and an Executive Order signed by President Obama, which calls upon all federal agencies to lead by example to address a wide range of environmental issues, including stormwater runoff.

Russian polymer producer Sibur Holding has ventured downstream into film manufacturing with its agreement to buy a stake in a leading national supplier of biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) films. Read more in Plastics and Rubber World (PRW.com). Learn more here.;

The December 2009 issue of NAUE News is an important issue, for after 12 years of publication the newsletter has been given a fresh new design loaded with even more article content. This issue contains a rather diverse range of applications, from water storage for ski resorts to landfill capping; noise protection to road reinforcement; and so much more. These articles take readers around the world: Bali's first modern landfill, the Montana Department of Transportation's geogrid reinforcement study, a Polish paper company's waste management, and so forth. Keep up with the latest in NAUE News (PDF).

Waterproof Membranes 2010, the 4th international industry conference organised by AMI, will take place at the Maritim Hotel in Cologne, Germany on 30 November-2nd December 2010. The focus is on roofing membranes and geomembranes. On the first evening there is a welcome cocktail reception and registration, followed by a 2-day programme of expert presentations. A small specialist exhibition runs alongside the conference. Abstracts are invited through 28 May 2010. Learn more here.;

Tobolsk-Polymer LCC and the Italian company Tecnimont S.p.A. have concluded an Engineering Procurement and Construction Contract (EPC-contract) for a propane dehydration unit with the capacity of 510 thousand tons of propylene per year in Tobolsk.

Vnesheconombank (State Corporation "Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs"), the Russian petrochemical company SIBUR, the Italian export credit insurance agency SACE S.p.A, and the Italian construction and engineering company Technimont S.p.A today announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for co-operation in the implementation and financing of the project to construct polypropylene production facilities in Tobolsk (Russia, Tyumen Region). The cost of the project to create a complex with an annual capacity of 500,000 tonnes is estimated at 2 billion US dollars.

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, Virginia has issued its Environmental Preservation Awards. Among those recognized at a recent ceremony was John Zuiker of the Department of Building and Development. He was named the Erosion and Sediment Control Engineer of the Year. We wish him congratulations on his achievement. Learn more here.;

Pitchcare magazine delivers a short note on the lined Walton Heath Golf Club reservoir in Portlaoise County, Ireland. Irriplan specified the geomembrane used. More details are forthcoming. Learn more here.;

Fort Knox in mid-November poured its first gold dore' bar produced from the recently completed valley heap leach facility, a project that will help add at least five years onto the life of mine. Crews completed the in-heap storage pond, placed liner for stage one of the heap leach, constructed a spillway and laid piping before mine crews began stacking gold-bearing crushed rock this fall. Learn more here.;

The Preserve on Rathbun Lake, a state park course in Moravia, Iowa, has been selected as the runner-up in the final judging for the "U.S. Courses" category of Golf Inc.'s 2009 Development of the Year Awards. In addition to assisting with repairs to flood-damaged areas on the course, Judd Duininck, a principal in Duininck Golf, noted that the construction team improved the fledgling layout's erosion control. The company's experience working in states like California, Minnesota and others with stringent erosion control standards enabled it to keep the Honey Creek State Park project in compliance with Iowa DNR regulations. Learn more here.;

Venice 2010--the 3rd International Symposium on Energy from Biomass and Waste--will be held 8-11 November 2010 in Venice, Italy. It is organized by the International Waste Working Group (IWWG). Key theme incluce anaerobic digestion; renewable fuel (handling and storage); refuse-derived fuel (RDF); experiences and new developments (e.g., case studies); climate change; and much more. Abstracts due: 31 March 2010. Learn more here.;

The 4th World BioEnergy conference will be held 25-27 May 2010 in Jönköping, Sweden. Abstracts are sought through 10 January 2010 with notification to authors in early February and final papers due in April. Key topics that crossover with geo-engineering include, but are not limited to, waste-to-energy; opportunities and management of energy crops, agricultural residues and by-products; biofuels for transport - biogas, bioethanol and biodiesel; and policies. Learn more in the conference's first call (PDF). Learn more here.;

David Suits, the Executive Director of the North American Geosynthetics Society (NAGS), has written to say that NAGS has extra copies of the Geo-Frontiers 2005 proceedings on CD. He's offering these proceedings for just $25 while supplies last. (Link to the order form below.) Geo-Frontiers 2005 was the first joint conference between ASCE's Geo-Institute, NAGS, and IFAI. These same entities are now teaming up to hold Geo-Frontiers 2011 in Dallas (13-16 March 2011). Download the special offer for the 2005 proceedings here and catch-up on these important publications.

As the demand for geoelectric integrity surveys performed as the final stage of liner construction quality assurance (CQA) increases, the number of surveyors certified by the TRI-CORP Liner Integrity Center (T-CLIC) also increases. To date about 200 people have taken the 1-day classroom and 1-day, hands-on instructional course at the TRI campus or at other locations. Read more about this important movement in liner integrity verification.

The government of Pakistan has planned a project worth Rs 115 million (USD $1.4 million) to prepare a feasibility study, detailed engineering designs and tender documents to line the Rohri, Dadu and Rice Canals in the province of Sindh. Regular breaches have occurred in these canals. Some of the biggest improvement issues sought will be more sustainable irrigation, economic impact, and stemming seepage loss. Project planners will evaluate numerous techniques for lining works under the operation of canals. Learn more here.;

The U.S. Forest Service is developing an environmental cleanup plan for the San Mateo Uranium Mine under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act. The site is located on the Mount Taylor Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest, Cibola County, approximately 12 miles northeast of Grants. The recommended cleanup alternative is to consolidate the waste rock piles and place them in an on-site repository. A geomembrane would be placed above the waste rock in the repository and would be covered with clean soil, re-vegetated, and armored with rock. Learn more here.;

New Civil Engineers' (NCE) coverage of the Tensar flood damage response in Cumbria. Learn more here.;

Duke Energy plans to spend $140 million in the Carolinas -- $365 million company-wide -- by 2013 on protective caps and liners at its ash landfills, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The liners are intended to keep ash that is laden with arsenic, mercury and other metals from contaminating groundwater. Learn more here.;

Following the 21 November flood destruction of the town's bridges over the River Derwent in Workington, Cumbria, Army Royal Engineers have used Tensar International's TriAx™ geogrid to help construct new bridge abutments for a 40 ton temporary footbridge. Connecting the north and south of the town, the actual bridge will take a week to assemble, and is expected to be in place for the Monday morning school run. Read about this vital work and how it took less than three weeks from need to design to construction.

Colorado Lining International is pleased to announce that Greg Scales has joined the firm's sales division as Outside Sales for the East Coast Region. He will be based in Asheville, North Carolina. Mr. Scales has 20 years of professional experience in the geosynthetic industry. He graduated from the University of Louisville School of Engineering with Bachelors of Applied Science in Civil Engineering (1983) and from Webster University with a Master of Arts in Marketing and Management (1985).