Containment

ADS also announced that it has reached agreement to acquire the assets of Century Plastics, Inc. of Hayfield, Minnesota. Century manufactures corrugated high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic pipe used mainly for agricultural drainage systems.

TenCate™ is pleased to announce the appointment of Lancer Textiles as Master Distributor for the Industrial Fabrics division effective immediately. Lancer Textiles' role as Master Distributor will be to service those TenCate™ customers that may not be able to meet the minimum order quantity requirement, who typically buy small quantities, who order infrequently and to fulfill special converting needs and requests, such as slitting, re-rolling, etc.

Tensar International recently installed a magnetic fuel treatment system from Maxsys to one of their gas-fired, steam-raising boilers. The project has reported cut gas consumption by 5.78%--a considerable financial savings in the manufacturing process and an admirable environmental benefit. Also, extensive analysis by the Blackburn-United Kingdom facility's chief engineer has found that boiler efficiency has improved by 5.46%. Read more in the release.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposal to require livestock agriculture to report manure-related greenhouse gas emissions is not well thought out and could increase environmental problems, according to the National Pork Producers Council. Among the NPCC's concerns is that reporting requirements may actually deter the installation of methane-harvesting systems, such as geosynthetic covers.

The Dallas City Council has approved $29 million for a levee damage study and transportation improvements. The levees have been treated with erosion control measures, but significant improvements are thought to be needed, including reinforcement and internal seepage control. Learn more here.;

Waste & Recycling News has posted some photos from Day One of Waste Expo 2009. See them here. Learn more here.;

The Times of India reports that villagers in Candolim are working with a water resources department on a 1.5-km-long beach erosion control project that will use sand-filled geotextile tubes. Monsoons have caused considerable erosion in India this year, and increasing the country is turning to geotextile tubes to provide better protection. The project is expected to cost Rs 6 crore (USD $1.27 million). Learn more here.;

In Cowichan, British Columbia, Canada, a biocell facility has been granted approval to proceed with construction after a three-year permit battle. The asphalt-topped site will treat fuel-contaminated soils and will have a geomembrane for containment. Learn more here.;

Textile World reports that Summerville, South Carolina-based Thrace-Linq Inc. has commissioned a state-of-the-art needlepunched nonwoven manufacturing line from NSC Nonwoven. Greece-based Thrace Plastics Co. S.A. manufactures woven and nonwoven geotextiles. The company acquired Linq in mid-2007 to form Thrace-Linq. Learn more here.;

The Associated Press reports that another round of billions from the federal stimulus package in the United States will be released to the states over the summer. Among the many projects targeted, approximately 200 projects in rural waste and water systems will be performed by the US Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will expedite cleanup at 20 Superfund sites. US Vice President Joe Biden has added to the discussion that the stimulus work in the coming months will add roughly 600,000 jobs. A significant portion of those jobs will be part of the 1500 road projects aided by the next round of stimulus. Learn more here.;

As of 1 June 2009, Axter Coletanche, makers of bituminous geomembranes, has discontinued its main distributor relationship in Quebec and is heading up its own distribution of the Coletanche bituminous liner in Canada. Bertrand Bruel is leading this effort from his office in Montreal. He reports hightened interest in the use of bituminous geomembranes in global dam construction after the company's recent visit to the ICOLD conference in Brazil. Learn more here.;

Oasis State Park in New Mexico is a popular fishing spot in Portales along the eastern border of the state. The lake was recently restocked with catfish and reopened to the public. The man-made lake was restored after two failures of clay liners--the first of which (February 2008) was a failure after 20 years of use, and the second after about two weeks when a company attempted to rehabilitate the old clay. A geosynthetic lining system was acquired and now promises renewed, long-term use. Learn more here.;

In Cumberland County, Tennessee, a company has proposed using coal ash in the reclamation and beneficial reuse of a 300-acre former mining site on Smith Mountain. A public hearing has taken place during which residents expressed considerable concerns. Tennessee, as many readers know, is where more than 5 million cubic yards of coal ash spilled when a Kingston-based facility's ash pond failed last December. The proposed project on Smith Mountain would use liners, samples of which were shown at the hearing. More is expected from the County Commission after its June 15 meeting. Learn more here.;

ProcessingTalk has published a recap of the 6-7 May 2009 event "Plastics in Underground Pipes 2009," which was held in Orlando, Florida. The conference was orchestrated by Applied Market Information (AMI), organizers of numberous global plastics events such as the forthcoming Waterproof Membranes 2009 event in Germany. Read ProcessingTalk's recap. Learn more here.;

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was in charge of the unlined, Kingston, Tennessee coal ash storage facility when it broke in December 2008 and released more than 5 million cubic yards of coal ash across a couple hundred acres. Cleanup is expected to cost well more than $600 million. Currently, TVA is construction a gypsum storage pond, but the plans call for only a clay liner. Local officials are pushing for a geosynthetic lining system. Learn more here.;

The Industrial Fabrics Association International's (IFAI) annual International Achievement Awards (IAA) competition is accepting submissions through 15 June 2009. Among the 28 entry categories, you'll find "Geosynthetics." One change to this year's competition is an entry fee, but it is a nominal fee. We encourage you to look into this event and share your projects and experience with the larger industry. Need help with preparing your submission or writing about your project? Contact the writers and editors at geosynthetica.net. Download the competition PDF. Learn more here.;

The government of India and INDA, a nonwovens industry association, are teaming up to organize nonwovens and geotextile workshops. The aim is to improve the technical textile knowledge base in the country. Learn more here.;

Byron Bay lies along Australia's Gold Coast. Storms have caused considerable erosion problems. One homeowner, John Vaughan, is going to court over injunctions against hard armor solutions. Softer solutions, such as geotextile tubes, are preferred. Vaughan has lost thousands of cubic meters of land to erosion. In the meantime, he's pushing to at least be allowed to make repairs to geotextile bags that are defending his land. Even that work seems tenuous given the area's "retreat" policy in regards to erosion. Learn more here.;

More stringent environmental regulations have been coming to American Indian reservations, with some tribal nations creating or debating the creation of environmental cleanup programs similar to the US federal government's Superfund. The Cherokee Nation has been upgrading landfill quality, such as with the installation of leachate pond liners in the Cherry Tree, Oklahoma area and the construction of a new cell. Learn more here.;

In the 1980s, an accident at the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center (Natick Labs) along Lake Cochituate in Massachusetts released a considerable amount of PCBs. Natick officials and engineers have now drafted a plan to finally clean up the site, which has been studied since the early 1990s. Geotextile tubes will be used. Learn more here.;

TenCate Geosynthetics is as a supplier involved in projects in both Nigeria and the United States, in which TenCate Geotube® technology is being deployed. In Nigeria, TenCate Geotube® is being used to strengthen and protect river banks in the Niger delta. In the US, TenCate Geosynthetics is working with the U.S. Corps of Engineers on the rehabilitation and protection of the coastal strip of Grand Isle in New Orleans (Louisiana). (CONTINUED.)

The Michigan Messenger reports that the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) approach to cleaning up the Hudson River is vastly different than how the Saginaw River is being approach, despite similar dioxin-contaminated sediment concerns. The Hudson has been declared a Superfund site; the Saginaw has not. The Hudson's dredged material will be disposed of in lined landfills; Saginaw's is scheduled for unlined pits (by US Army Corps of Engineers plans). The Hudson River project uses silt curtains to contain sediment; Saginaw's does not. Learn more here.;

The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) most recent newsletter focuses almost exclusively on the Global Plastics Environmental Conference (GPEC), the 2009 edition of which was held in Orlando, Florida in late February. Read about the issues that influenced this conference on sustainability and read the earliest promotions for GPEC 2010, which will be held 9-10 March 2010 in Orlando. Read the newsletter online in PDF. Learn more here.;

Geosynthetics magazine editor Ron Bygness has passed along a photo from his recent visit to Korea, where he visited companies, testing laboratories, and university classes. He promises a more detailed outline of the trip will be published in the next issue of Geosynthetics. Read a summary of the soon-to-be-published issue and view the photo in full size. Also, geosynthetica invites you to share your work site and travel images with our readers. Contact chris@geosynthetica.net for more information.

Writing for NJ Biz, Shankar P. analyzes the role lobbyists are playing in influencing the spending of federal stimulus funds. Shankar's article includes mention of Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS) and the company's manufacturing facility in New Jersey. Learn more here.;