Containment

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 hosts two meetings this week to update Kalamazoo area residents on portions of the Kalamazoo River Superfund site. A general site update meeting will be held Tuesday, 1 December, in Plainwell, Michigan. A meeting focused on the Allied Landfill portion of the site will be held Thursday, December 3 in Kalamazoo. Read more.

While ethanol production was hailed as a cure to American dependence on Middle East oil, Congressional demands on ethanol production now seem to greatly outpace demand and fuel use. The economic decline has severely impacted ground shipping, commuting and personal travel. Despite many successful ethanol operations up and running and others planned--many of which use geosynthetics for on-site wastewater management and gas harvesting--production is expected to slow significantly. Learn more here.;

The Pollution Control Board (PCB) in India has issued a notice that requires medium- and large-scale coffee growers to use non-permeable high density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembranes (1.5 mm thick) to construct pits to recycle water. Additional requirements have been placed on the proximity of wastewater and water recycling pits from natural water bodies. However, while the environmental protection is appreciated, market conditions do not currently seem to support an investment on this scale for India's coffee growers, who have not weathered the economic crisis too well. Many say they will not be able to adapt right now. Their business survival may be threatened without government support. Learn more here.;

Nylex (Malaysia) Bhd, a dominant player in the chemical, plastic and polymer business, is planning various strategies to boost its financial performance. Nylex is mainly involved in investment holding and the manufacture and marketing of vinyl-coated fabrics, calendered film and sheeting, and other plastic products, including geotextiles and prefabricated sub-soil drainage systems. Learn more here.;

A proposed Monsanto Co. phosphate mine slated to produce ingredients for Roundup weedkiller generated nearly 7,000 public comments, including from a former U.S. Interior secretary who urges its approval and the Environmental Protection Agency, which wants additional pollution safeguards. The Bureau of Land Management will review the comments to see if a plan for the Blackfoot Bridge Mine released earlier this year merits changes. Final approval of the mine could come by next summer. Geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) may be part of a $25 million liner system to contain runoff from on-site piles. Learn more here.;

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today announced that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded $3,091,648 in federal grants for Des Moines Water Works and the City of Cedar Rapids. The funding is part of an ongoing effort to help the state rebuild following severe rainfall and flooding during May - August of 2008. Nearly $2 million will go to a post-flood reconstruction project requiring significant quantities of riprap and geotextile underlay.

EPA has awarded $520,400 to Wayne, Nebraska, for improvements to its wastewater treatment plant project. Wayne's existing 25-year-old facility continues to generate odor complaints regarding the sludge treatment system. The grant will help construct a wastewater treatment plant which will address odor concerns.

The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) ANTEC® 2010 conference will explore topics of critical importance for improving the environmental sustainability of plastics. The 2010 installment will include some new technology forums on issues of sustainability. Among them: "Polymer Applications for Clean Environments." This session includes discussion of geomembrane utilization. The event will take place 16-20 May 2010 in Orlando, Florida. Read more.

Rick Mills writes on acid mine drainage, the need for strong environmental controls, and the importance of mining and mineral extraction to Canada's economy. Learn more here.;

The deadline for submitting abstracts for presentation at StormCon 2010 is 2 December 2009. StormCon is seeking abstracts for presentations at the 9th annual conference, which will be held 1-5 August 2010, in San Antonio, Texas. Abstracts are invited for the following session tracks: BMP Case Studies; Low-Impact Development; Stormwater Program Management; Water-Quality Monitoring; and Advanced Research Topics. To see a full description of the conference tracks and to submit your abstract online, visit www.StormCon.com. Learn more here.;

Waste cells in the Bay Area of California seem to have only two options left: close or expand. The Mecham Road Landfill in Sonoma County, for example, has been an issue of contention as trash must now be hauled 60 miles away since the site's expansion has been blocked for the last four years. Other key burial sites have been put on hold while a handful of sites have expanded considerably to accommodate all the waste being blocked from closer landfill sites. Learn more here.;

SIBUR has begun implementation of the SCM - Supply Chain Management project aimed to save logistical costs, optimization of the raw and finished products stock level, and improvement of client service. The project provides for centralization of management functions of the supply chains starting from purchase of the fresh raw materials and ending with delivery of the finished products to its end users. The whole process is supposed to be entirely automated by integrating of the existing autonomous software products into a uniform SCM IT-system.

Canada-based architectural firm ADI Ltd has left the ADI Group to join with Trow Global. The deal leaves ADI Group with ADI Systems Inc and Geomembrane Technologies. While ADI Ltd's decision is to leave, the company will maintain a strong relationship with its former ADI Group sister companies. No layoffs have been part of this change nor are any planned. Learn more here.;

The Dow Chemical Company, a leader in science and technology, launched its new Dow Construction Chemicals business at the 4th Annual Middle East Drymix Mortar Association (MEDMA) Conference, taking place in Dubai on November 25. The conference is staged during Big 5, the region's leading building and construction show. The new business unit brings together the construction expertise of Rohm and Haas and Dow Wolff Cellulosics to offer in-depth technical knowledge and effective formulation development experience to manufacturers of building and construction products around the world, supported by dedicated facilities for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Learn more here.;

The Dow Chemical Company announced today the formation of Dow Construction Chemicals a new business within the Dow Advanced Materials portfolio that combines certain capabilities of legacy Rohm and Haas Company, acquired in April of 2009, and legacy Dow Wolff Cellulosics, formed in 2007, to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions to manufacturers of building and construction products around the world. Dow Construction Chemicals offers deep, broad technology platforms and extensive application know-how in acrylic, redispersible latex powder, and cellulosic chemistries. The business is focused on providing additive and formulation solutions to manufacturers of construction products such as elastomeric roof coatings, external insulation and finish systems (EIFS), specialty cements, insulation, caulks and sealants.

Abstract submissions are still being accepted for the 2nd Global Waste Management Symposium through 1 December 2009. Proposed topics for the 2010 GWMS include: facility design, climate change, leachate management, waste containment, energy recovery and much more. Learn about it here.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has required the U.S. Navy to consider more rigorous cleanup options for residential and shoreline property near the Jackson Park Housing Complex in Bremerton, Washington. The Navy is currently in the initial stages of a Superfund cleanup at the 232-acre property.

Concerns about toxics discharged from an unlined coal ash waste dump in suburban Washington, DC have prompted four environmental groups to give formal notice that they intend to sue Mirant MD Ash Management, LLC and Mirant Mid-Atlantic, LLC Corporation of Atlanta, Georgia for Clean Water Act violations in Maryland. The Brandywine Coal Combustion Waste Landfill receives fly ash and bottom ash from Mirant's coal-fired Chalk Point Power Plant, the largest power plant in Maryland. Mirant says the 40-year-old plant is ISO 14001:2004 certified, which means it meets a widely accepted international standard for environmentally responsible operation Learn more here.;

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today issued a final rule to help reduce water pollution from construction sites. The agency believes this rule, which takes effect in February 2010 and will be phased in over four years, will significantly improve the quality of water nationwide. Construction activities like clearing, excavating and grading significantly disturb soil and sediment. If that soil is not managed properly it can easily be washed off of the construction site during storms and pollute nearby water bodies. The final rule requires construction site owners and operators that disturb one or more acres to use best management practices to ensure that soil disturbed during construction activity does not pollute nearby water bodies.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was joined by federal, state and local officials as they noted important progress in the cleanup of the Imperial Oil Superfund site in Morganville, New Jersey. EPA announced in April that the site had received an infusion of $25 million in new funding through the American Recovery andReinvestment Act of 2009 to accelerate the hazardous waste cleanup already underway at the site. This Recovery Act funding is part of the $600 million that Congress appropriated to the Federal Superfund remedial program. A public information session has been scheduled for Tuesday, 8 December 2009 at 7:00 pm, at Marlboro Municipal Building, 1979 Township Drive, to inform the community about progress at the site. All are welcome to attend.

The Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) has opened exhibit booth space sales for Geo-Frontiers 2011 (13-16 March 2011, Dallas, Texas). The event brings together IFAI, the North American Geosynthetics Society (NAGS), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Geo-Institute (GI) to co-organize this second Geo-Frontiers, the first of which was held in 2005. View the floor plan for exhibit space here. Learn more here.;

When an official managing the construction of a new cell at the Hall County landfill was looking for a place to discard some 4-inch plastic pipes that the landfill’s plastic liner came wrapped on, he turned to Rick Foote, the county’s natural resources coordinator. Foote sent out a message to folks on the EnviroShare X-Change e-mail list. Now, instead of waste in the landfill, Three Dimensional Life, a local nonprofit organization geared toward rehabilitating boys, has turned the pipes into useful gravity-flow irrigation pipes for a garden. Learn more here.;

The ASTM Committee D35 on Geosynthetics meeting in San Antonio, 27-29 January 2010, will feature important new events: Geocell Standardization Exploratory Meeting; Shear Strength Test Result Interpretation; Subgrade Reinforcement; and a Workshop on Geosynthetic Material Durability: Field and Laboratory Experiences. Learn more about these special events.

The Forest Service has pushed back its plans again, and now says it will release an environmental analysis of the proposed Rosemont Mine in the second quarter of 2010, about a year later than it originally planned. The Forest Service also plans now to make a decision on the mine during the last three months of 2010--up to six months later than an earlier planned decision date of July 2010. Learn more here.;

In a major bid to go global, Reliance Industries Ltd., the giant Indian energy and materials company, made an offer of around $12 billion to take a controlling interest in Lyondell Basell Industries when the chemical maker exits bankruptcy, people familiar with the situation said. Learn more here.;