Victorian Aquaculture Goals
The state of Victoria, Australia had its aquaculture industry gutted in 2004 when fee increases on operations caused a number of businesses to close or move to other states with stronger aquaculture councils. Now, Australia's government is trying to bring business back and triple the size of Victoria's industry to $60 million. It's currently the country's smallest at only 3% of national production.
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Mining Cleanup Tax
In Florida, a higher tax will be placed on phosphate companies to encourage quicker closure of former gypsum operations. Florida has a long successful gypsum mining industry, but its environmental legacy is not nearly as admirable. Significant cleanup and capping are required for operations dating back decades. The Ledger article includes an interesting close-up photo of a geomembrane being seamed.
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PCB Waste Seeks Home
The Fox River cleanup in Wisconsin, which has been profiled in engineering publications such as Geosynthetics, now needs to find a final destination for its PCB-contaminated material. Waste Management has applied for an application to dispose the material at its Ridgeview Landfill, but opposition is greeting this decision. The $390 million project has yet to choose burial sites for the dredged material.
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Mining in Australia
Delegates have gathered in Australia to discuss ways by which the country can manage and sustain its breakneck boom in mining. Resource exploration, environmental stewdardship, and long-term infrastructure development are key topics. Australia's Premier Mike Rann opened the event by noting the mining industry could be a dominant interest for the next 100 years.
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McMillen Opens
McMillen Field in Antioch, Illinois is a 12-acre site of athletic fields built atop a former landfill. A high school is sited nearby and uses electricity generated by the methane harvesting system beneath the site's cap. The school district estimates it saves $100,000 per year on the power and the electricity it sells back into the grid. All the fields are now opening. It's another example of beneficial end use redevelopement done right.
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CAFOs Under Fire
The concentrated (or confined) animal feeding operations (CAFOs) movement may be reaching a critical stage of development and opposition. As they proliferate, so does research against the way they've been designed and built. The Washington Post has published a piece regarding the independent Pew Center research about CAFO problems; and another group has noted current designs cost up to $4.1 billion in remediation costs due to improper standards in construction and monitoring.
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UK Farm Issues
So often the news on rainfall runoff is centered on urban areas; and so often the news regarding herd sizes and managing manure focuses on the United States. But the United Kingdom is dealing with these issues too. Writer Olivia Cooper points out that runoff from hard surfaces on farms can amount to 865 litres per year. And new regulations on slurry storage are prompting serious upgrades to facilities, from drainage to containment to power generation.
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Expansion: Denied
The Lemons Landfill in Dexter, Missouri has been denied in its initial expansion permit. Operators estimate that the current site has up to eight years of space left, aided in part by recycling endeavors and waste restrictions. Lemons actually accepted less in 2007 than in 2006. Officials denied the permit due to concerns over the liner-quality soil. Lemons will next attempt to prove that the geosynthetic liner and the clay liner will be sufficient to meet permitting standards.
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Play Ball!
The Minnesota Twins are constructing a new riverfront stadium in Minneapolis, but to do so they must remove a considerable amount of contaminated soil. Waste Management Inc. has acquired the proper permits for removing and landfilling the material. The Minnesota Public Radio news item on the matter does not detail the pollutants but does not that they require burial with a protective liner.
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GeoAmericas Free Papers
geosynthetica's Lara Costa has posted a wrap-up and abstracts from GeoAmericas 2008. These pages deliver conference images, a summary of events and links to free papers from the event (courtesy of IFAI, publisher of the full conference proceedings). Check out Lara's review and the significant conference papers posted here for free. See the links to those pages on the abstracts page. Full proceedings may be acquired from the IFAI Bookstore.
USACE Supports Geosynthetic Use
The latest release on geosynthetics from the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) reports on the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) support for geosynthetic performance in levee construction and reinforcement. Read the full release here.
Two Courses from PGI
The PVC Geomembrane Institute (PGI) is offering two new sessions of its "Constructing with GCLs and PVC Geomembranes" day-long short course. Sessions will be held June 17 in Columbus, Ohio and June 19 in Cambridge, Ontario. For more information, see the downloadable registration document.
Ag Buildings
Iowa State University is studying the use of hoop buildings for cattle production. Hoop buildings, which often use fabric roofs, have been used in many hog operations, but they've been slow to be adapted for cattle and dairies. ISU is studying the effects on production for raising cattle in hoop building environments. So far, the results have been very positive. This includes the use of geotextile separation fabrics with limestone screenings on top.
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Geomembranes in the UAE
The United Arab Emirates is primarily a polymeric products importer, but the nation is now turning to a $175 billion, 10-year industrialization project that will establish a plastics production zone and new port. Part of the development plans include the manufacture of geomembranes.
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The Australian's Move
The Australian, an internationally known newspaper that bills itself as Australia's only national broadsheet, is lauching its "Environment Series." The collection of nine special reports will cover all aspects of Climate Change and how it impacts Australia. The next report in the series will be "Recycling & Waste Management" and is slated for publication 31 May 2008.
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Leonides Rules Forthcoming
Dutch-owned concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) have been popping up all over the United States. Communities are quickly having to settle upon the appropriate stormwater regulations. In Leonides Township, Michigan, a new Dutch-owned cattle operation is to learn its stormwater rules shortly. Currently, the operation proposes to detain "dirty water"--including manure runoff--in three large geosynthetic-lined retention ponds.
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Maxey Flats
From 1963 - 1977, Maxey Flats in Kentucky accepted nuclear waste for disposal. Since 1977, the site has been an on-going cleanup and monitoring site. A geomembrane cap was installed to prevent further incursion of water after 900,000 gallons of leachate was extracted, and a final cap is planned. Today, the site is considered much safer and is welcoming visitors to observe and learn about the environmental controls.
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Industrial Farm Study
A lack of consistent and transparent regulations governing concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) is underscored by a report released by the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production (PCIFAP) and the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). The report is entitled Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations: A Survey of State Policies. Read about this and other reports at PCIFAP's website.
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Hot Topic: GCL Course
The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), offers a number of e-courses. SWANA invites you to join Chris Athanassopoulos, P.E of Colloid Environmental Technologies Co. (CETCO) as he presents the basic methodologies for the design of containment facilities using geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs). The course, "Hot Topics in Geosynthetic Clay Liners," will be offered May 8 & 15 from 1:30 - 3:30 pm (Eastern Time).
Learn more here.;
NZ Aquaculture Project
The government of New Zealand hopes to triple the daily production value of the country's aquaculture industry by 2020. Currently, the industry generates $1 million per day. In support of this, 803 ha have been approved for aquaculture industry development in Kaipara Harbour, Tasmin Bay and Golden Bay.
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Erosion Deal Reached
The Canadian Ministry of Environment, the province of Ontario and the city of West Grey have reached a cost-sharing deal on an estimated $2.4 million erosion control project. The overall details have been sealed by a confidentiality clause, but no one disputes the project's importance. Rapid erosion of the South Saugeen River's banks have caused the waterway to encroach upon sewage lagoons.
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Geosynthetics 2009 Call for Papers
Geosynthetics 2009 will be held 25-27 February 2009 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The conference theme is "Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering." Areas of focus include shoreline and water protection, conveyance and storage, mining, agriculture, aquaculture, temporary roads and drainage. The deadline for conference paper proposals is June 2. Read more about submitting abstracts, the review process and key dates.
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Under Cover
Lynn Merrill, writing for Waste Age, reviews a number of interesting alternative daily covers (ADCs) in the landfill business. One of the more interesting notes, however, comes from a Maryland site at which two landfill cells were constructed simultaneously in order to make construction more economical. Polyethylene covers from Raven are being used to protect the cell liners and leachate collection system while the cells are not in active use.
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When Life Gives You Lemons…
The Lemons Landfill serves the Cape Girardeau, Missouri area, but to continue doing so effectively needs more space. The operators applied for a 33-acre expansion, but were rejected. They plan to reapply. In the meantime, four new cells--previously approved--will be constructed on the current 75-acre site. Lemons is one of 21 active landfills in the state.
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Canal and Levee Safety
Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) has introduced the Aging Water Infrastructure and Maintenance Act to the United States Senate. The bill aims to provide funding for review of western US canals, reservoirs and other key structures managed by the Bureau of Reclamation. Sen. Reid's office release notes that the average age of BuRec's projects is 50 years. Meaning: many updates may be needed to modernize the system and make it safe.
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