Containment

In the Caribbean, the island of St. Lucia is constructing an aquaculture facility to move towards a more sustainable capacity. A number of ponds are already in use around the island. The more advanced facility being built will help establish a larger presence for building stocks and linking together the scattered pond network. Learn more here.;

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today, in keeping with the Administration's focus on ensuring that domestic resources are leveraged safely and responsibly, announced the next steps in its congressionally mandated hydraulic fracturing study. EPA has identified seven case studies to help inform the assessment of potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources. The sites identified were selected following extensive input from stakeholders, including the public, local and state officials, industry, and environmental organizations. To ensure the agency maintains the current timeline for the study, the EPA will begin field work in some of the selected regions this summer.

The International Erosion Control Association's (IECA) membership voted to re-elect Becky Gauthier to the 2009 Board of Directors. Joining Gauthier to the 2009 Board of Directors are new board members Phil Handley and Rick Morse. Read more in the release.

On the verge of China's 60th anniversary of its ruling Communist Party, environmental protests have cropped up over the pollution caused by the countries breakneck expansion. Thousands of protesters, many of whom work or have worked in the plants causing some much environmental damage, have clashed with riot police in numerous cities. Even hostages are reported to have been taken. Learn more here.;

Engineers this week said that damage to vital infrastructure such as highways and airports would hamper Chile’s efforts to recover from a massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck the nation on Saturday. From New Civil Engineer (NCE). Learn more here.;

We return to the story of Lake Delton, Wisconsin today, where water is about to begin refilling the lake. A June 2008 storm destroyed five homes and washed the lake down a channel and into the Wisconsin River. We reported on this village's flood response need in early August when Propex Inc. gifted the village $100,000 worth of erosion control products to help with some key projects. Propex's ArmorMax system was offered for use on steep slopes, having already proven itself in New Orleans' infrastructure repair. Congratulations are due to the residents of Lake Delton on getting their community back up and so quickly. Learn more here.;

The membership of the International Erosion Control Association has voted to accept the proposed regionalizationplan. The voting period, which closed May 23, 2011, saw the measure pass withan almost 9 to 1 margin. The accepted regionalization plan will divide IECA membership into two regions. Region One will consist of North and South America and Europe; Region Two will be centered in what has been the Australasian Chapter and include Africa, Oceania and Asia. This move will allow closer management and coordination with each region and better service to IECA's diverse membership.

Queensland, Australia, faces billions of dollars in damage after massive floods struck the state. At least 55,923 miles of roads need to be rebuilt, and sewer systems and parks will need massive repairs. "In some instance, we won't rebuild it exactly as it was. We might build it better or smarter," said Local Government Association of Queensland CEO Greg Hallam. "But we could never build anything that would withstand what we've seen." Learn more here.;

A new seawater pumped storage plant is set to play a central role in an ambitious energy export scheme known as MAREX. Irish company Organic Power gives more details...

A resurgence of oil drilling in North Dakota is bringing a number of land management issues to light. The mineral rights to 75% of the oil in North Dakota are owned by energy and mining companies; not the private property owners under whose land the oil is often found. This is because mineral rights may have been sold long ago; whereas, the property purchased by a private owner only recently. The drillers and property owners are squaring off against one another over site use, burial of pit liners, remediation, and other issues. Minnesota Public Radio reports. Learn more here.;

On March 4, HUESKER will host a free greenroofs and geocomposites webinar. The core focus will be on the use of Ultimat® TGS geocomposites and how these geosynthetic materials...

Implementation of the European Mining Waste Directive in England and Wales has been a protracted affair with deadlines for compliance closing in. Neil Wells, Geological Services Manager at Hanson UK, provides some insight into what this means for the extractive industries. Learn more here.;

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 Biotic Earth blog has posted a nice update from a critical erosion control project performed at the Milner Ridge wastewater facility in Manitoba, Canada. The work was part of stabilizing the soils around the wastewater ponds, the slopes for which were in jeopardy of failure from erosion. A combination of erosion control blankets and biotic-enriched hydromulch was used. One year later, the site is showing tremendous signs of success; as is this combination approach to erosion control in cold climates. Learn more here.;

Geosynthetic Materials Association (GMA) members were in Washington, D.C., 1-3 March 2010 for the association's semiannual Lobby Days. GMA has consistent representation in Washington through our contracted firms, Kemp Partners/Whitmer & Worrall. But to reinforce GMA's message on Capitol Hill, twice a year GMA-member companies send representatives to meet with Members of Congress as both constituents and members of our trade association. Read more in the summary report from GMA managing director Andrew Aho.

Traditionally, waste management in the southern regions of Castellón and north of Valencia has depended heavily on external treatment services. This made waste management, particularly with higher volumes of...

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will soon embark on a $6.6 million cleanup of a former smelter site from World War I. Consolidation and capping of roughly 164,000 cubic yards of onsite soil and waste will be carried out. Additionally, 33,000 cubic yards of onsite sediment must be managed and site reuse assured. The zinc smelter was closed 93 years ago. Learn more here.;

From 20 - 22 April 1977, the International Conference on the Use of Fabrics in Geotechnics was held in Paris, France. This watershed event included a paper from engineer...

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. Learn more here.;

The International Erosion Control Association (IECA) has joined the Constant Contact Business Partner Program to provide members and other industry professionals with easy-to-use email marketing, event marketing and online survey products to help them build strong, lasting customer relationships. Constant Contact®, Inc. is a leading provider of email marketing, event marketing and online survey tools for organizations and businesses.

Immediately following Geo-Frontiers 2011, TRI/Environmental will host two days of liner integrity survey training at its Austin, Texas campus (March 17-18). Liner integrity survey remains a strong need in geosynthetics installations. These technologies are used to confirm the quality of geomembrane installations or identify areas in which damage may have occurred to a facility. Construction quality assurance (CQA) firms adept with these technologies are creating new revenue centers for themselves while providing these much-needed services to their clients. Learn more and register online. Learn more here.;

Geosynthetics are playing an enormous role in updating how coal combustion residuals (CCRs) are managed and stored, both in the near term and for long-term environmental security. INOVA...

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.;

Dr Ian D. Peggs and I-CORP INTERNATIONAL have been contracted by Leighton Contractors in Australia to provide technical support and guidance for the installation of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) double lining systems in about 14 production water and related ponds at the Condabri and Reedy Creek coal seam gas plants presently being built in Queensland, Australia. The plants are owned by Australia Pacific LNG, a joint venture of Origin, Conoco-Phillips, and Sinopec. This I-CORP/Leighton Contractors cooperation arose from a previous project in which I-CORP provided expert witness support to Leighton Contractors for concrete protection liner failures in SX/EW mixers/settlers at the Gunpowder mine near Mt. Isa in Queensland.

When Paul Barker and his wife Diana abruptly married and moved to Africa so he could begin his career in what became the field of geosynthetics, he had expected...