Underground Storage
In order to accommodate stormwater management needs and expand access and parking to a rapidly expanding hospital campus in Greenville, South Carolina, a system of corrugated HDPE pipe and stone has been installed. The roughly 100,000 cubic feet of stormwater storage space underground has allowed the tight footprint of land above it to become a parking lot. Read the project study from the Plastic Pipe Institute in the latest CE News.
Learn more here.;
Animal Waste Containment in Quebec
The Canadian province of Quebec has more than 6,000 hog manure storage tanks. That scale makes it difficult for farmers to adapt quickly to changes in government containment regulations. But the use of reinforced, flexible polypropylene (fPP-R) geomembranes for tank covers is having a beneficial impact. Environmental Science & Engineering looks at one site's use of Firestone geomembranes in this capacity.
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Superfund Settlement in NOLA
The United States Environmental Protection Agency has settled a lengthy dispute involving a Superfund site in New Orleans. The Agriculture Street Landfill accepted waste for the first half of the 20th century, was closed, then was reopened in the 1960s for the burning of hurricane waste. With the new agreement, the city must maintain a geosynthetic capping system on the site and pay for any future cleanup needs.
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Floating Covers Abstracts Needed
A technical session on floating covers has been proposed for Geosynthetics 2009, to be held 25-27 February 2009 in Salt Lake City. This would be the first session on floating covers at a geosynthetics conference. Ian Peggs invites all those with experience in floating covers to submit a 300 word abstract to the conference before mid-June. Read more about this session, including application ideas, here.
Liner Dispute
Mining company Glacier Northwest is at loggerheads with people in the Seattle area now that the firm wants to expand a sand and gravel mining operation on Maury Island. To do so, Glacier would need to encapsulate contaminated soil in geosynthetic linings. Opposition to the project claims that the company's design is of a landfill, not a "containment facility" as maintained. Landfills are banned on Maury Island.
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Future Nickel Mining
Nickel comes in two types: laterites and sulphides. The latter is deeper in the earth but easier to process. The former is the dominant sort in today's mining, but not by choice. It seems to be the lionshare of accessible deposits right now. Laterite mining is near the surface, but the nickel requires acid leaching, high temperatures and more stringent environmental controls.
Learn more here.;
EU on Ag and Aquaculture Needs
The European Parliament has passed a resolution that stresses a priority should be given to a significant increase in investment in agriculture, aquaculture, rural development and agribusinesses in developing countries. The measure comes in reaction to rising food prices around the world and includes language regarding access (which may mean roads) and fair trade. Though 75% of the world's population lives in rural areas, only 4% of development aid concentrates on agriculture.
Learn more here.;
PCBs on the Fox
The on-going Fox River cleanup has a home for its next round of PCB-contaminated soil. The project has used a considerable amount of geosynthetics for dewatering and sediment control. Now, PCB-tainted soil will be shipped from two dewatering facilities to a Veolia landfill in Chilton, Wisconsin.
Learn more here.;
Indian River Seeks Liner
NRG Energy owns the Indian River Power Plant in Delaware and is seeking permission to build a lined fly-ash landfill next to the outdated and nearly full unlined landfill cell. Public meetings have been held but more have been requested. State officials seem to be leaning toward a new lined site so long as the former fly ash pit is capped with a polyethylene liner.
Learn more here.;
WHO on Better Construction
The World Health Organization is pushing for increased spending on hospital and school construction around the world. The goal is to make hospitals and schools not just places of day to day need and use, but places of refuge during turmoil, such as during hurricanes or tsunamis and after earthquakes. These are the facilities that must remain in tact and operational. Energy efficiency, waste management and other areas are in need of better construction support.
Learn more here.;
Saving a Lake
The lake in Rymill Park, Adelaide, Australia, is dry after a combination of drought, leaks in the lakebed, and, most importantly, a local decision to drain it. But the draining of the lake has been done only to allow contractors to install a geosynthetic containment liner to stop the leakage. And, encouragingly, the project has been delayed--by rain. Looks like things are turning up Down Under.
Learn more here.;
Methane Goes Corporate
Dairy giant Dean Foods has announced that it is building methane-harvesting anaerobic digesters. The 4,700-head Big Sky Dairy farm near Gooding, Idaho will have an operational energy system by early 2009. Dean Foods plans to use the electricity to power the farm and will sell excess power back into the local grid. It may serve as a model for other major corporate farms.
Learn more here.;
An Unexpected Partner
SeaWorld Adventure Parks, known more for its entertainment and education endeavors involving dolphins, killer whales, and other water-based species, is working with Florida's government to develop a fish hatchery. Much of the focus will be on sport fishing production. This may lead to other projects in the United States, as aquaculture development is getting funding now that sea fish populations are decreasing.
Learn more here.;
Fly Ash Debate
In Vernon County, Wisconsin, the Dairyland Power Cooperative is fighting with communities to get a required fly ash landfill constructed so that the coal-based plant can continue to operate within federal air quality standards. Representatives of Dairyland met with residents to explain the lining and drainage system to be used.
Learn more here.;
IFU on the CWA
Chris Petersen, president of the Iowa Farmers Union (IFU), testified before a Congressional committee last month regarding the Clean Water Act. IFU's position is that concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) should not only have to post bonds to cover any future cleanup costs and have a manure storage closure plan. CAFOs have come under increased scrutiny in the absence of manure controls and the long-term cleanup costs associated with them.
Learn more here.;
Manure Management Webcast
ThePoultrySite reports that a manure management webcast will be offered on May 16. The market-based presentations, which will include three one-hour sessions, focus on topics such as gaining carbon credits through capturing methane with covered lagoons and digesters. The seminar is hosted by the Livestock and Poultry Environmental (LPE) Learning Center.
Learn more here.;
LLDPE in the Lead
The Montmorency Oscoda Alpena Solid Waste Management Authority Board in Michigan needs to cap a waste cell. Initial feelings were to use only clay as a temporary bandage; but the board is now leaning towards a linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) cap in order to provide a longer-term solution and leachate control.
Learn more here.;
Residents Want Liner
In Millsboro, Delaware, a proposed carbon-injection system for the generating units at a power plant is being greeted with concern from area residents. The carbon injection should remove mercury for air emissions: a good thing; but the mercury then must be mixed with fly ash: the concern. Residents would be more comfortable, they say, if the on-site landfill had a liner or cover.
Learn more here.;
Landfill Reclamation, Clovis Style
The landfill in Cloivs, California is going through a reclamation process. Only, unlike other celebrated remediation projects, this one is not looking to transform the site into a new use. Rather, they are reclaiming waste stored for a long time in unlined cells and moving to lined cells. The process is allowing them to extend the facilities life while simultaneously mitigating long-term environmental risk.
Learn more here.;
From MSW: Dewatering Tubes
The May 2008 issue of Municipal Sewer & Water looks at dewatering operations in the city of Lebanon, Tennessee. The article appears on pages 50 and 51 of the online reader and focuses on how the city's sewer department needed a way to more quickly dewater sludge. The new passive system used three 60 x 100 ft geosynthetic tubes.
Learn more here.;
Solmax's Specialized Geomembranes
Solmax offers specialized geomembranes made from a PVC compound containing plasticizers based of ethylene and elvaloy (EIA). The geomembranes are reinforced with a polyester screen for enhanced mechanical properties. This specialization enables them to be used for long exposure to high temperatures, hydrocarbons and UV rays. Read more about them.
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Engineering Demand in Mining
Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reports that Canada's skyrocketing demand in energy and mining sectors is producing a hard-to-fill order for engineering and technical services. The Canadian mining industry is thought to need 92,000 more professionals by 2017, many of them engineers and engineering technologists. These projects require significant environmental controls, access roads and remediation readiness too.
Learn more here.;
From Bad to Worse
The news for the Countrywide Landfill in Stark County, Ohio has been bleak for the past year. An underground fire has been the subject of much debate. But while damage has not been detected to the bottom liner, the emergency cap installed over 35 of the site's 88 acres (to control odor from the fires) has torn and spilled leachate.
Learn more here.;
Maine's Secondary Concern
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MEDEP), working with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), has brought a hefty $157,000 fine against a company for Clean Water Act violations. One of the primary failings at the oil storage facilities has been inadequately maintained secondary containment liners.
Learn more here.;
$1.3 Million Fine for Carlsbad
A Carlsbad, New Mexico landfill has received a $1.3 million fine from the New Mexico Environment Department for accepting improper waste. The facility, which attempted to ban NMED staff from inspection, has accepted (and failed to properly cover) asbestos and hazardous waste, in violation of its permit.
Learn more here.;
