Containment

Waterfront Toronto has broken ground on Canada’s Sugar Beach, a new park that is transforming a parking lot in a former industrial area into Toronto’s second urban beach at the water’s edge. Learn more here.;

British Columbia Parks was seeking a permanent environmental solution to protect from ongoing wave erosion along the Newcastle Island Provincial Marine Park shoreline located across from Nanaimo, B.C. The island is only accessible by boat so a solution that minimized the need for heavy equipment and material was needed. A DeltaLok system was installed. Read more from Canadian Environmental Protection (CEP). Learn more here.;

Few countries are as blessed with energy resources as Brazil. Hydroelectric plants on its river systems provide approximately 85 per cent of its electricity. It is the world’s second biggest producer of biofuels, after the US. It has great potential for new, renewable energy sources such as biomass and wind power. And recent discoveries of what promise to be huge oil fields off its coast seem certain to make it one of the world’s biggest oil-producing nations. In spite of this, Brazil has struggled to secure cheap and reliable energy supplies. Read more in the Financial Times. Learn more here.;

A Cheyenne refinery says it plans to fight the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's nearly $7 million fine levied in late September for allegedly dumping hazardous waste into a pond designed to hold storm water. The EPA cited the company for having an inadequate liner. But company spokeswoman Kristine Boyd has said Frontier Oil Corp. has spent $15 million to improve the pond this year. Learn more here.;

Greenwich, Connecticut--like much of the northeastern United States--suffered extensive flood damage from the most recent nor'easter storms. Now, a consultant's report has recommended a number of flood defense solutions from bridge management to drainage system replacements. The total cost of the 33 recommended projects is estimated to be $100 million. Learn more here.;

Imo State officials in Nigeria have identified 460 zones in which life is threatened by erosion. Of those, 31 have been estimated to cost roughly N12.8 billion (USD $84 million) to ammend. No specific solutions, however, were revealed in the interview with Nigerian newspaper the Vanguard. Learn more here.;

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has hired a world-renowned Colorado State University water researcher to design and build a levee testing facility capable of simulating erosion from the enormous waves that likely contributed to Hurricane Katrina's devastating toll on New Orleans. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded $1.7 million to Chris Thornton, director of the Engineering Research Center, to design and build one of the world's largest wave overtopping simulators. Read more.

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.

Is a low-cost, effective flood barrier possible? And can it erect itself when needed? Apparently. John Greenwood of Nottingham Trent University has worked with GA Geotechnical to create the SELOC (Self-Erecting Low-Cost Barrier). The barrier itself, originally made of wood covered with a waterproof membrane on the side facing the flood-risk area, lies flat on the ground most of the time, hinged along its bottom edge. As the water rises, it floats, with its top edge rising with the water level. A restraint stops it when it reaches the vertical. 'The system's strength comes from the membrane,' Greenwood explains. Learn more here.;

More about John Greenwood's SELOC (Self-Erecting Low-Cost Barrier) system from an October 2009 article in a Nottingham newspaper. It's an interesting stormwater and flood management system. Learn more here.;

A new plan in Colorado hopes to rectify many decades of environmental injuries from mining practices that came before the advent of modern containment technologies. For example, the US Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a mine tailings treatment facility. Road widening has been proposed. All of it, however, requires significant government support. Stimulus funds have been applied for, and the plan backers are battling Colorado preservationists who do not want new development in the historic gold mining region. Learn more here.;

The 9th International Conference on Geosynthetics (9ICG) is offering its very early-bird registration rate through 22 November 2009. Those who take advantage of registering now will save up to 20% on the conference. The 9ICG will be held 23-27 May 2010 in Guaruja, São Paulo, Brazil, under the auspices of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS). Please register as soon as possible. Learn more here.;

The director of the CSIRO’s Minerals Down Under National Research Flagship, Dr Peter Lilly, has outlined his vision on science and technology development for the Australian mining industry by 2030. In his keynote address at the 6th Annual Australian Mining Prospect Awards on November 11, Lilly said the future prosperity of the industry would rely on investments in technology. This includes mining in close proximity to cities, in-situ heap leaching advances, utilization of traditional waste streams for beneficial uses, and much more. Learn more here.;

Under the umbrella of the Department of Energy’s renewable energy funding, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced last week that up to $30.6 million in stimulus funds would go into modernizing seven hydropower projects. Read more. Learn more here.;

Radioactive waste buried in the Seaway Landfill in Tonawanda, New York will remain there after some waste is dug up. A surface leak from the landfill has caused some concerns, but US Army Corps of Engineers officials report that the site can be cleaned quickly followed by an appropriate long-term geomembrane and clean soil cap. Learn more here.;

Dmitry Konov, President of SIBUR, and Aleksandr Gusev, Deputy Governor of the Voronezh region took part in the official opening of Voronezhsintezkauchuk waste water treatment facilities. The waste treatment facilities were switched over to full biological treatment after reconstruction of the existing facilities and construction of new ones. Investments on upgrade amounted to RUR 800 million. Read more.

Ian Peggs writes from Dubai: "One resin manufacturer, a geomembrane manufacturer, a design engineering representative, and a liner installer attended and participated in lively discussion during the day-long post-conference workshop on HDPE geomembrane. These workshop participants came from Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates and the workshop was led by Dr. Ian D. Peggs (I-CORP). Key topics included liner leak statistics, consequences of leakage, action leakage rates, finding the responsible leaks, and estimating the remaining exposed geomembrane lifetime." Read more.

The former Morgan County dump that operated for decades Great Cacapon, West Virginia will be capped and sealed off by state landfill experts in summer 2010. The 12-acre dump, which has not accepted trash or debris since 1991, has been on a waiting list for the state’s Landfill Closure Assistance Program for years. A cap and drainage management system will be installed, then two feet of clean soil will be added. Learn more here.;

New Ventures, which controls the Crow Lane Landfill in Newburyport, Massachusetts, has yet to complete a cap on the site after nine years of disputes with the city. City and state fines have totaled more than $250,000, but only a portion of those fines have been paid and the lionshare have been suspended. The Newburyport City Council is now applying all the pressure it can on the governing state environmental agency and on the landfill owners to end this protracted dispute. Learn more here.;

Calling the first year of the massive Fox River cleanup process a surprising success, project officials said progress made in 2009 could shorten the $700 million project by an entire year. Geosynthetics are playing a significant role in dewatering and capping. A 10-mile section of the river is being cleaned of PCB contamination stemming from decades of paper mill operations on the water. Learn more here.;

The new National Policy Statement (NPS) - which is subject to public consultation - sets out the broad need for additional ports capacity in the United Kingdom up to 2030 and beyond, taking such things as freight demand forecasts and the economic benefits of ports into account. The document builds on existing Government policy, which is that the need for ports capacity can best be met with an efficient and competitive industry working in a free-market environment. This new document also includes wider Government objectives for sustainable development, covering issues such as climate change considerations and the wider environmental impact of port development. Read more.

When ASTM Committee D35 on Geosynthetics meets in San Antonio, Texas (27-29 January 2010), the gathering will include a Geosynthetic Research Institute (GRI)/D35 joint workshop on durability. The workshop--"Geosynthetic Material Durability: Field and Laboratory Experiences"--will be held on 29 January. Download the official program here (PDF). Learn more here.;

Lexmundi, a consortium of international law firms, offers extensive resources about more than 100 major countries plus US state and Canadian provinces. They include legal topics of interest to geosynthetics business such as environmental control and company structures. View the free Lexmundi "Guides to Doing Business" here. Learn more here.;

NES Group has posted a job listing for a geotechnical engineer for work with onshore/offshore pipelines. The specialization includes geomembrane design understanding. Learn more here.;

David Albers of Bakersfield, California runs a 2,600-head dairy that uses a geosynthetic cover on its anaerobic manure digester. The methane is harvested and coverted into power. What's interesting about Albers, however, is not simply his use of the system but that he's the founder of BioEnergy Solutions. His company is using the geosynthetic systems to make large farms more environmentally valuable. Geosynthetica readers have previously seen information on BioEnergy's work with electricity company PG&E. Learn more here.;