Containment

Brownfields 2011--the 14th National Brownfields Conference--will take place 3-5 April 2011 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. The event is the largest, most comprehensive conference in the United States focused on cleaning up and redeveloping abandoned, underutilized, and potentially contaminated properties. The US Environmental Protection Agency is significantly involved in the conference. Learn more here.;

Tensar Corporation announced today that President and Chief Executive Officer Phillip D. Egan has decided to retire from his positions. He will relinquish his duties effective immediately and will leave Tensar later this year. Don Meltzer will serve as interim President and CEO of Tensar Corporation while a search for a permanent replacement is conducted. Don has served as a Tensar Board member for the past year and has recently worked closely with the Tensar leadership team to prepare the company for growth and profitability expansion as the world recovers from the recent recession. Learn more.

The Alliance City Council (Ohio) has authorized its Safety/Service Director John Blaser to solicit bids for geotextile bags and polymers for dewatering alum sludge at the city's wastewater treatment plant. Blaser said the city has been using one bag as an experiment and that it was working well. He said bags would cost in excess of $25,000, so he requested putting them out for bid. Learn more here.;

AASHTO has released its "Technical Manual for Design and Construction of Road Tunnels - Civil Elements, First Edition." These guidelines provide recommendations for planning, design, construction, and structural rehabilitation and repair of the civil elements of road tunnels, including cut-and-cover tunnels, mined and bored tunnels, immersed tunnels, and jacked box tunnels. This 2010 publication is currently available only for pre-order. A delivery date estimate has not yet been announced. Learn more here.;

Among the US Department of Defense's latest contract awards: Black Construction/Mace International, JV, Barrigada, Guam, was awarded on September 30 an $8,970,000 firm-fixed-price contract for repair shoreline revetment. The work to be performed provides for the repair of existing revetment and restores portions of the shoreline to protect threatened infrastructure along the approximately 700 feet of shoreline. Repair will include replacing the existing rubble-mound revetment with an engineered revetment consisting of Class A armor stones; Class B underlayer stones and geotextile fabric; and stabilizing portions of existing shoreline corridor with soil backfilling and re-vegetation. Work will be performed at Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territories. Work is expected to be completed by October 2011. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was negotiated as sole-source procurement in accordance with FAR 6.302-1, “only one responsible source”. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Far East, Yokosuka, Japan, is the contracting activity (N40084-10-C-0087). Learn more here.;

The Global Waste Management Symposium (GWMS) is to very well attended. Sunday evening opened with an evening reception on the lawn of the host site, the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort. Monday morning started bright and early with a 7:30 breakfast in the main exhibit room, which bustled with activity right up until Dr. Thomas Christensen's Keynote Lecture at 8:30. Read more.

The Global Waste Management Symposium (GWMS) 2010 is taking place at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa in San Antonio, Texas through October 6. Geosynthetica's Elizabeth Peggs is there. The GWMS is an esteemed forum for the presentation of peer-reviewed applied and fundamental research and case studies on waste management. The bienniel event features significant international participation. This unique educational opportunity will not be around again until 2012. On-site registration is still available. Learn more here.;

The AMI conference on Waterproof Membranes looks at the trends and technical developments in the international roofing and geomembrane industry. It takes place from 30 November-2 December 2010 at the Maritim Hotel in Cologne, Germany. This year the markets will be reviewed by an international panel of specialists commencing with Jon Nash of AMI Consulting on European construction developments. This is followed by NTC "Gidrol-Krovlja" with an overview of trends in the Russian arena, then Polaris International (Bahrain) on Middle East single-ply roofing strategies and challenges, and Arab Water Seal (UAE) on MENA market trends.

The American Public Works Association (APWA) 2011 conference and exhibition has extended abstract presentation proposals through 8 October 2010. General topics of interest include operations improvements, emerging trends and technologies, public works leadership, and the business side of public works. The event will be held 18-21 September 2011 in Denver, Colorado. Learn more and submit a proposal electronically. Learn more here.;

Excerpt from Joint News Conference, 3 p.m. Eastern Time, 30 September 2010, Marshall, Michigan. Read comments from Enbridge Inc.'s president and CEO Patrick Daniel and executive vice president (liquids pipelines) Steve Wuori. They report that the spilled oil and sediment is being pumped into large geotextile tubes on shore. The water will be drained and treated and the sediment will be allowed to dry and then will be hauled away to an appropriate waste facility.

Cadwallder Technical Services now offers a training DVD, "How to Heat Seam and Test Geomembranes." The video demonstrates and discusses techniques of hot wedge welding, extrusion welding, hot air welding, destructive testing, and non-destructive testing; and it includes information relevant to all geomembrane materials and all forms of heat seaming and heat seaming equipment. Learn more. Learn more here.;

An Elk Mound, Wisconsin dairy operation has been selected to receive the 2010 Environmental Excellence Award by the Dairy Business Association. Five Star Dairy, LLC received the honor during World Dairy Expo this week for its outstanding waste and pollution prevention projects that protect Wisconsin's natural resources. The farm has installed a manure lagoon cover to keep out water and enable digester production in the future. Learn more here.;

The International Erosion Control Association (IECA) is calling for nominations for its 20th annual Awards of Environmental Excellence. This year's revamped awards program features eight categories to recognize industry professionals and organizations for their contributions to the erosion and sediment control community. IECA will honor all award winners during its awards program at Environmental Connection 2011 (EC11) 20-23 February 2011. The deadline to submit a nomination for awards presented at EC11 is November 1, 2010.

The American Public Works Association (APWA) has announced the creation of a new infoNOW community dedicated to sustainability. APWA's infoNow communities are email networks consisting of public works professionals (based on subject area) who share questions, answers, real-life experiences and updates on various policy initiatives of interest to the community. With the introduction of the Sustainability infoNOW community, APWA now offers 17 email networks interaction among peers and colleagues. The Sustainability infoNOW community is an active forum for the exchange and announcement of issues specific to sustainability, including such issues as the triple bottom line, livable communities, best management practices and updates from the APWA Center for Sustainability.

The failure of plastic pipe beneath at new fish hatchery in Texas has brought pipe failure potential forward in discussion. On 7 October 2010, Jeffrey Jansen will present a Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) webinar title "Plastic Pipe Failure." His presentation will address performance considerations and common failure mechanisms when dealing with plastics pipes. The discussion includes an introduction to plastic piping systems, analysis methods for evaluating failed pipes, and failure mechanisms, including cracking, buckling, weathering, and fatigue. Learn more. Learn more here.;

Raven's geosynthetics experts regularly publish Geo Team Updates. The September 2010 issue outlines Geo Team contacts, the new website, and a summation of the year's developments. This includes a glimpse at what is forthcoming from Raven, such as an upgrade to the scrim reinforcement on the company's already-successful 36-mil and 45-mil Heavy Duty J-Series Reinforced LLDPE materials. Learn more here.;

American Securities LLC, a New York-based private equity firm, today announces that it has completed its significant investment in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (ADS), the largest producer of corrugated polyethylene pipe products in the world. Based in Hilliard, Ohio, ADS is a 40-year-old, privately-held company serving the storm and waste water industry. Equity for the investment was provided by American Securities Partners V, L.P., a $2.3 billion private equity partnership. Barclays Capital acted as financial advisor to ADS.

The state of Wyoming is not alone in the need to evaluate and potentially remediate old, unlined landfills. The American waste management sector has continually scored the highest grades in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) infrastructure "report cards." This is largely due to the geosynthetic liners required in modern landfills. But old landfills, pre-code, are another matter. Wyoming estimates it may need $225 million over 20 years to address problems. A new facility in Casper is helping ease waste management needs. Learn more here.;

The Torrington Telegram reports on its city's problem with old, unlined landfills. It also includes how an 88-acre site operated by TDS Environmental Services, combined with a high-tech garbage baler, may allow for up to 100 years of waste disposal operations. Learn more here.;

Fortune magazine's Dan Primack writes about Berkshire Partners' sale of Advanced Drainage Systems after 22 years of ownership. Learn more here.;

Layfield Group, www.layfieldgroup.com, a leader in geosynthetics and environmental containment solutions for industrial, oil and gas, mining and municipal markets is proud to announce the launch of Enviro Liner® 6000HD. Enviro Liner® 6000HD is a premier grade geomembrane that offers superior UV resistance, tensile strength and flexibility through its advanced formulation of flexible polyolefin alloys and High Density Polyethylene (HDPE).

When first introduced over a decade ago, Tendrain Triplanar geonets revolutionized the geosynthetic industry with their unique, void maintaining structure. The advanced performance provided by the patented triplanar technology gave designers the confidence to realize performance levels not available in conventional biplanar geonets so prevalent at the time. The demand for greater confidence in cutting edge designs forced manufactures to respond with higher performing geonets. While manufactures of biplanar geonets responded by simply increasing the thickness of their geonets, an entire line of triplanar geonets evolved. SynTec Tendrain, Tenflow, Tenseal and Roadrain are all unique triplanar structures developed around specific applications.

Berkshire Partners LLC, the Boston-based private equity firm, today announced it has sold its ownership position in Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (ADS), the leading manufacturer and distributor of corrugated high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe products in the world. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. ADS serves a variety of markets including storm and sanitary sewer systems, stormwater retention/detention systems, septic systems, roadway constructions, residential and commercial construction, golf courses, athletic fields and agriculture. Today, more than 8.5 billion feet of ADS pipe are in service around the world.

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) submitted comments to the Environmental Protection Agency regarding proposed revisions to the mandatory greenhouse gas reporting rule. SWANA agreed to revisions concerning waste-to-energy, municipal solid waste (MSW) and fossil fuels, and default moisture values concerning the Acid Rain Program. Learn more.

The International Erosion Control Association and the Southeast Chapter of IECA are sponsoring a one-day workshop in Nashville, TN on October 15th. This event is the first of several "roadshow" tours where IECA presents quality education from a national, state and local perspective. The content is area specific and address issues related to stormwater management that effect all who coordinate and manage stormwater programs. Learn more here.;