Containment

Over at the Aiken Standard, writer Mike Gellatly reports on the closure of the General Separations Area Consolidated Unit (GSACU) in the Savannah River Site, a 310 sq. m. section of land owned by the US Department of Energy. The site managed radioactive materials for government, industry and other endeavors during the Cold War Era. It was added to the National Priorities List in 1989 and has now been successfully capped with geosynthetics. Learn more here.;

Maccaferri's coastal structures are designed, produced, and installed to stand against the forces of Mother Nature. This was apparent after Super Storm Sandy hit the Northeastern United States in October 2012. Maccaferri's existing coastal structures protected homes and natural shorelines from storm surge damage and erosion. Links are provided here to fuller stories on each project, one of which involves revisiting how a 2010 installation held up to Sandy.

The Erosion Control Technology Council (ECTC) has re-designed its newsletter under the leadership of Scott Nelson of Geo-Synthetics Inc. The newsletter reflects the new direction ECTC has taken with this group. Within the past two years, ECTC has expanded the types of products it represents to include hydraulically applied erosion control products and sediment retention fiber rolls (also known as wattles). The latest initiative ECTC has implemented is the Quality Data Oversight Review (QDOR) program. More information about QDOR and the work being done by ECTC can be found in the newsletter, courtesy of ECTC managing director Laurie Honnigford.

DuPont has achieved zero landfill status in its Building Innovations business by reducing, reusing and recycling manufacturing byproducts and waste at manufacturing sites globally. After three years of focused effort, DuPont Building Innovations has become completely landfill free, reducing its environmental footprint from 81 million pounds of landfill waste annually to zero. Now, through the "Drive to Zero" landfill program, none of the waste generated by the business from the manufacture of DuPont™ Corian® solid surfaces, DuPont™ Zodiaq® quartz surfaces, DuPont™ Tyvek® weatherization systems products and geosynthetic textiles is sent to landfills.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the worldwide subsidies to fossil fuel consumption in 2009 amounted to no less than 300 billion USD, while at the same time the global support for renewables was almost 60 billion USD. Gaps in support and other key issues in renewable energy will be at the heart of the World Bioenergy conference, taking place in Sweden in late May 2012. Geosynthetics are increasing utilized in renewable energy applications, such as for manure lagoon methane capture, solar energy caps on landfills, and wind farm access roads.

The deadline for sending an offer of a paper at Middle East Plastic Pipes 2010 is fast approaching. Please send a short summary and speaker name to me before 15th November 2009 at sh@amiplastics.com. Middle East Plastic Pipes 2010 will be held from 17-19 May 2010 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The International Erosion Control Association (IECA) is calling for nominations for the IECA Board of Directors for terms beginning in February 2012. The IECA Board of Directors is made up of nine members, each serving a three-year term. The election for the three available positions will be held this fall. Learn more.

A blog post from Monday afternoon (9 March 2009) at the West Virginia Gazette suggested that the chair of the United States House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee--Nick J. Rahall II (D-WV)--may be attempting to minimize new regulations on coal ash slurry reservoirs. Things may not be as they seem in this one, however. Politics has much to do with timing. Read more.

The New Jersey-based newspaper, the Star Ledger, has posted an interesting video story about landfill construction. The 3-minute, 20-second video takes viewers from initial transfer and burial operations back to construction, including video of an active geosynthetic installation. Leachate collection and management and methane harvesting are also touched upon in the report. Watch it online. Learn more here.;

The 19th North American Waste-to-Energy Conference (NAWTEC) will take place 16-18 May 2011 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This event is co-sponsored by major organizations such as SWANA. Eight concurrent technical sessions, global research updates, three keynote lectures, a large waste-to-energy trade show, and more characterize the gathering. Learn more at NAWTEC's website. Registration is now open. Learn more here.;

After 40+ years of geosynthetic materials performance consulting work, Dr. Ian D. Peggs has made a strategic decision to close I-CORP INTERNATIONAL, Inc. for the foreseeable future and to...

The French construction publication, BTP, has posted an article about the importance of geotextiles and geocomposites in roadway improvement, such as for the reduction of reflective cracking and subgrade improvement through reducing water incursion and the mixing of fines. In particular, the publication cites TenCate's products currently being used in the French market. Read the article today (in French only). Learn more here.;

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken a significant step in an effort to help reduce the need for federal taxpayers to fund the cleanup of environmental releases. The agency has identified three additional industry sectors for which it will begin the regulatory development process for any necessary financial assurance requirements: the chemical manufacturing industry; the petroleum and coal products manufacturing industry, which primarily includes refineries and not coal mines; and the electric power generation, transmission, and distribution industry.

ASTM International Committee D20 on Plastics has revised standard D2103, "Standard Specification for Polyethylene Film and Sheeting," to D2103-10. This specification covers the classification of polyethylene film and sheeting. Recycled polyethylene film or resin may be used as feedstock, and the film or sheeting may contain additives for surface property improvement, pigments, or stabilizers, or a combination of these, but they must conform to the requirements specified. Learn more here.;

Each year one finds a good number of anniversaries to recognize. In engineering, you might recognize company milestones, professional society anniversaries, a particular geotechnical event, the invention of a...

In the town of The Blue Mountains in southwestern Ontario, a request has been filed with the Ministry of Environment to expand the landfill site by 100,000 cubic meters. The site is estimated to have three or four years of space left in it. The facility would like to create 25 years of space. The case for expansion includes the installation of more advanced, modern leachate and drainage management technologies and landfill liners. Learn more here.;

A month out, the early numbers on the International Erosion Control Association's (IECA) Environmental Connection 2014 conference are showing a strong trend. The association now expects the attendance to...

At CIMTEC 2010--a multiple symposia gathering on new technologies and materials for various fields--one of the symposia in the 5th International Forum of New Materials is on the subject of "Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion: Materials and Technology Challenges." It will be held 13-18 June 2010 in Montecatini Terme, Italy. One of the four areas for which papers/presentations are invited is "thin-film photovoltaics." Another is "PV devices, modules, systems and applications." This may tie-in nicely with recent integrations between exposed geomembrane caps and thin-film solar laminates. Also, another symposium at CIMTEC will be "Materials Technology for Nuclear Waste Treatment and Disposal." This marks another important area in which geosynthetic capping systems are being used. Abstracts will be accepted through 7 November 2009. Download the PDF brochure with details on each symposium. Learn more here.;

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. Learn more here.;

29 марта 2017 года состоялось официальное открытие первого завода HUESKER в г.Клин., Россия. Dr.Grandin F.- Hans (Управляющий Директор HUESKER Group), Г-н Хмельницкий С.Г (Генеральный Директор ООО «ХЮСКЕР») и Г-жа Сокольская...

TRI Environmental Senior Engineer Abigail Gilson is one of the world’s foremost practitioners in electrical leak location (ELL) technologies. As part of the on-going ELL webinar series supported by...

Edmonton-based Tekle Technical Services (TTS) will soon open what is billed as an experimental fibers plant in Drayton Valley, Alberta, Canada. The facility is thought to be the first of its kind in North America. It will convert wood and agriculture fibers into agricultural matting, geotextiles and other materials. Learn more here.;

The 3rd International Symposium on Geosynthetic Clay Liners (GBR-C 2k10) is almost here! Germany-based SKZ, with scientific committee support from France-based Cemagref and the United States-based Geosynthetic Institute (GSI), will host the event in Würzburg, Germany 15-16 September 2010. These sessions, which will explore a vast amount of GCL applications, research, and performance, will be held at the historic Fortress Marienberg. Dr. Jorge Zornberg, president of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS), will open the conference.

Dr. Dennes Bergado writes with news of a gathering in Thailand: Geosynthetics Asia 2012, the 5th Asian Regional Conference on Geosynthetics. The first Call for Abstracts for this event, to be held under the auspices of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) and to be hosted by IGS Thailand, can be viewed in PDF here. Geosynthetics Asia 2012 will take place 10-14 December 2012 in Bangkok.

The 2nd Global Geosynthetics Summit will be held 19 – 20 May 2016 in New Delhi, India. The key speakers for the event, just announced,  include India ministry...