Containment

The American Public Works Association (APWA) 2011 Sustainability Conference will be held 27-29 June 2011 in Portland, Oregon. General topics of interest include low impact development, sustainable best practices, success stories in sustainability, and more. This year's early bird registration deadline is May 27. Register online. Learn more here.;

Construction of the New Rail Alpine Crossing (NEAT) project represents a further step in regard to Switzerland's integration in the growing European high-speed network. The core is the Gotthard base tunnel, which at 35.4 miles will be the longest rail tunnel in the world. This massive project involves more than 620 miles of welded geosynthetic panels. Technology from LEISTER is being utilized to ensure the seam strength. Read more from Christophe von Arx and Norbert Tholl.

ASTM International's Committee D35 on Geosynthetics has announced work item WK33069, "Standard Specification for Non Reinforced PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) Geomembrane Seams." It is a work item revision to existing standard D7408-08. The specification for 50 and 60 mil PVC for shear was greater than 80% of the material strength; a proposal has been made to change the numbers back to the industry standard. Learn more here.;

Ohio EPA recently issued a final hazardous waste permit modification to Cytec Industries Inc. (1405 Greene St., Marietta). The permit authorizes Cytec to clean up additional areas on the site according to Ohio EPA's selected remedies. The Washington County site has a long history of industrial use. Specialty chemicals were manufactured there until 1996. Prior to modern environmental laws, some industrial process waste chemicals were disposed of on site in ponds, landfills and other areas.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is facing steep public opposition to a mostly revived proposal to lease more than 2 million acres of land in Western Colorado, Wyoning and Utah for the development of oil shale extraction and oil sands harvesting and conversion. Learn more here.;

The complete version of Annual Energy Outlook 2011 (AEO2011), which includes 57 sensitivity cases that show how different assumptions regarding market, policy, and technology drivers affect the previously released Reference case projections of energy production, consumption, technology, and market trends and the direction they may take in the future. Read about the key highlights.

The March 2011 Geosynthetic Institute conference (GRI-24) operated under the theme "Optimizing Sustainability Using Geosynthetics." These papers addressed pavement preservation, the reduction of climate-damaging gases, and much more--including biofuels. Drexel University's Prof. Grace Hsuan, writing with four others, focused on "The Roles Geomembranes in Algae Production at Landfills." The waste management sector, it turns out, could become an important player in algae biofuel production.

For the first quarter of 2011, AMCOL International Corporation (NYSE: ACO) nearly doubled its diluted earnings per share attributable to its shareholders to $0.38 per share versus $0.20 per share in the prior year's quarter. Net sales increased 27.1% to $222.4 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2011, compared to $175.0 million for the 2010 period. AMCOL is the parent company of geosynthetics manufacturer CETCO.

The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) today announced comprehensive plans to increase the Company's ethylene and propylene production -- and to integrate its U.S. operations into feedstock opportunities available from increasing supplies of U.S. shale gas in the Marcellus and Eagle Ford shale regions. Read more.

When gas gets under a geomembrane, operations-impairing bubbles can form. A number of reasons may be responsible, such as installation damage, poor seaming, or a lack of appropriate construction quality assurance (CQA) measures like liner integrity surveys. These bubbles are commonly referred to as "whales," and they can impact wastewater facilities, manure lagoons, ponds and other lined installations. As this photo demonstrates, even 6 in. (150 mm) thick concrete slabs are insufficient ballast to prevent whales due to trapped air and rising groundwater under a geomembrane liner. Read more.

From April 13, 2011 on the Fast Company website: "Ethonomic Indicator of the Day: 50% - The percent of Americans who disapprove of building more nuclear plants." Fascinating article. Read more. Learn more here.;

The 2011 ICKGSS (International Conference of Korean Geosynthetics Society) invites you to participate in an event that commemorates the 10th Anniversary of the founding of the Korean Geosynthetics Society. Organized by the KGS under the auspices of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS), 2011 ICKGSS will be held 23-24 November 2011 in Seoul, South Korea. KEY TOPICS include (I) Coastal, Transportation and Underground Engineering; (II) Erosion Control and Hydraulic Engineering; (III) Geo-Environmental and Green Structure Application; (IV) Testing, Standardization, Regulation and Reliability; (V) Geosynthetics Stabilized and Reinforced Soil Structure; and (VI) MQC/MQA and CQC/CQA of Geosynthetics. Abstracts due: 30 May 2011.

The Algal Biomass Organization is now accepting abstracts for speakingopportunities in breakout or panel sessions and poster presentations for the 2011 Algae Biomass Summit. The summit will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota in October 2011. Abstracts are due by May 30, 2011. Learn more here.;

The US Environmental Protection Agency's 6th AgSTAR National Conference will take place from 11-12 May 2011 in Boise, Idaho. (Optional dairy farm digesters will be toured on May 10.) If you are attending, Geosynthetica encourages you to drop us a note and photograph of the geosynthetic utilization you observe or are promoting. Share your insight with Geosynthetica's 400,000+ site users. Learn more here.;

On the US Environmental Protection Agency's website, they have a concise page dedicated to general anaerobic digestor information. Learn about biogas recovery and power/funding potential in sections like "AD 101," read the FAQs, get contacts, and more. Learn more here.;

Details are slowly coming out in regards to the New Zealand Aquaculture Conference 2011. The event has announced 9-10 November 2011 as the dates. The location is the Rutherford Hotel in Nelson. Also, a contact for interested exhibitors has been posted: conference coordinator Rebecca Leach, rebecca.leach@aquaculture.org.nz. Keep tabs at Aquaculture New Zealand's website. Learn more here.;

The interest in the biomass potential of algae continues to swell. The European Society of Microalgal Biotechnology (ESMB), the German DLG e.V. (German Agricultural Society) and DLG BENELUX from the Netherlands have agreed to organize the 5th International Algae Conference, to be held 1-2 December 2011 in Berlin, Germany. The event will primarily focus on biomass potential and the various industries that can benefit from it. Learn more here.;

Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of rock in order to free trapped natural gas is an environmentally intensive operation. It has brought about enormous controversy, but the gas deposits trapped thousands of feet below large tracts of American land have been an irresistable energy resource. A lawsuit from West Virginia is typical of the situation. In it, land owners have charged that Chesapeake Appalachia permanently damaged their land when a fracking wastewater pit liner was ruptured. They contend the torn liner was buried on site without repair and continues to leak onto their property. Learn more here.;

The Muddy Stormwater Blues Stormwater Equipment and Demonstration Days has been scheduled in Chautauqua County, New York for Friday, April 29. The event, geared towards highway officials, contractors, site developers and other interested parties, will offer demonstrations of erosion control blankets, turf reinforcement mats, dewatering, stormwater management technologies. North American Green is one of the presenters. Learn more here.;

The Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has started promoting "green" engineering using more environmentally friendly indigenous materials and bioengineering technology. This includes promoting the use of coconut geotextiles. New three-day training events are targeted to engineers. Learn more here.;

The cities of Eden Prairie and Hopkins, Minnesota are in need of environmental remediation work on two old landfills. But citizens in Eden Prairie do not want to rebury Hopkins' waste as the sites are remediated. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) had hoped to fully remediate and cap only one site; but the agency will now need to tackle both sites. Liner placement, new gas systems, and caps are needed. Learn more here.;

Writing for the Defense Video and Imagery Distribution System (DVIDS), Cpl. Samantha H. Arrington details the construction of a fuel containment zone at Combat Outpost Ouellette in Afghanistan. She writes, "By the light of a full Afghan moon, a handful of young Marines are hard at work. They lay a thick plastic liner over a hollow square. When finished, they will have created a container for more than 40,000 gallons of jet fuel – extending the range for Marine helicopters supporting ground troops near Sangin, Afghanistan." Read more. Learn more here.;

The March 2011 Geosynthetic Institute conference (GRI-24) included an intriguing presentation from Profs. Hsuan and Olson regarding the role of geomembranes in algae production. The two investigated the potential interaction between geosynthetic technologies (e.g., geomembrane tubes, covers and floating bags) and this fast-growing sector for biomass energy. They also identified how waste streams from municipal solid waste landfills may potentially be used as feedstocks to cultivate algae for the production of biodiesel. Learn more here.;

In Southern Illinois, soy farmers, university researchers and others are examining how to beneficially reuse old strip mines (of which that region has many) for supporting fish farm operations. With tens of thousands of acres available to develop into fish farming habitats, they estimate that more than 50 million pounds of fish can be harvested. This industry could also utilize the state's plentiful soy production in fish feed. Learn more here.;

This year marks 10 years since northern California's Tulelake Irrigation District (TID) began to line sections of its extensive 240+ miles of canals, laterals and ditches. Water conservation is certainly a more discussed issue today, at TID and California environment leaders saw this back then. More efficient water supplies would be possible with containment technologies in drought afflicted areas and areas with high seepage loss. Read how TID began lining sections with 45-mil EPDM geomembranes (a Firestone case study). Learn more here.;