Containment

The Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (Adwea) is days away from awarding the contract for a landmark water storage project that will create a three months emergency supply for the Emirate. The Strategic Water Storage/Recovery Project will involve the construction of three large basins, each of which will be filled with gravel and topped with a geosynthetic cover over a period of 30 months. From these basins, water will seep into the groundwater supply via PVC pipes. Learn more here.;

Liberty, North Carolina-based Supertex has ramped up production of its polymeric tube netting for use in absorbant booms in the Gulf of Mexico. The article profiles the company and its head, Edward Cummins; but geosynthetics veteran and Supertex's Geosynthetic Division head Pete Stevenson also gets a quote. Learn more here.;

Bateman Engineering has commenced the engineering and procurement (EP) on the Maxi phase of the innovative greenfields Trekkopje project in the heart of Namibia's Namib Desert, some 65 km north-east of the coastal town of Swakopmund. The French nuclear giant AREVA, through its subsidiary AREVA Resources Namibia and AREVA Processing Namibia Pty (Ltd), is developing the world's first uranium mine to utilise an alkaline heap leach process. The heap leach pad will comprise 30 cells in total, of which about 22 will be active at any given time, while the remainder will be in various stages of construction (stacking), demolition (reclaiming), or maintenance per the OOHLP (On-Off Heap Leach Pad) method.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking proposals for educational sessions at Brownfield 2011--the 14th National Brownfields Conference, scheduled for 3-5 April 2011 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. The deadline for submitting proposals is now 30 July 2010. The National Brownfields Conference is the largest, most comprehensive conference in the nation focused on cleaning up and redeveloping abandoned, underutilized, and potentially contaminated properties. Learn more here.;

The Executive Board of Royal Ten Cate (TenCate) has appointed Dave Clarke (52) as new Global Group Director TenCate Advanced Composites, effective 1 January 2011. The Executive Board of Royal Ten Cate has appointed Wally Moore (46), former Group Director TenCate Geosynthetics Europe, as Global Group Director TenCate Geosynthetics, effective since 1 July 2010. Jorg Huber (66), the current Global Group Director TenCate Advanced Composites, will retire from TenCate at the end of this year and will continue to share his experience with TenCate as an external member of the Board of Royal Ten Cate USA.

The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) invites you to present a paper at its inaugural ASIATEC technical conference in Tokyo, Japan. The three-day event, SPE-EUROTEC 2011, will be held 15-17 February 2011. SPE invites speakers to present papers at this first-ever conference in the following areas: Nanotechnology; Green plastics and biomass plastics; Polymer processing; Engineering properties and structure; Thermoplastic elastomers; and more. Learn more here.;

Sika AG announces that its U.S. subsidiary, Sika Corporation, has acquired the Greenstreak Group, Inc. The transaction closed on 1 July 2010. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, annual revenues for Greenstreak are approximately $30 million USD. Sika expects this acquisition will further strengthen its leadership position in the North American construction industry-- particularly in the area of engineered waterproofing.

The Federal On-Site Coordinator in US has accepted yesterday night an oil cleaning device to combat the environmental consequences of the oil spill that is polluting the waters of the Gulf of Mexico since the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling well on 20 April. The US has accepted a high capacity, high speed off-shore skimmer offered by the European Union through the European Maritime Safety Agency and currently located in Vigo (Spain). The Framo Transrec 150 skimmer is an off-shore device that separates oil from water. Contacts are ongoing in order to arrange details for the delivery. The US coast guard has also accepted last night 1200 metres of off-shore booms offered by Norway.

BASF SE, the world's biggest chemical company, said it plans to outpace the expected 5 percent annual growth in the global plastics market by boosting operations in Asia. BASF's plastics division will report higher sales and a "significant" improvement in earnings in 2010, board member Martin Brudermueller reiterated at a press conference in Frankenthal, Germany. Demand in Asia will grow at 6 percent a year through 2015, he said. Learn more here.;

According to latest reports, the polyethylene (a plastic polymer) production capacity in the Middle East's Gulf countries will increase from 10.7 million tonnes in 2009 to 21.5 million tonnes by the year 2015, an increase of slightly more than 100 per cent. Likewise, the production capaciy of polypropylene (another polymer) will increase from 4.8 million tonne in 2009 to 9.5 million tonne by year 2015, an increase of 98 per cent. Learn more here.;

CEMATEX, the European Committee of Textile Machinery Manufacturers and the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) have announced a high-level business forum, to take place next year alongside the ITMA 2011 show, in Barcelona, Spain. Read more.

EPA today announced draft allocations for nitrogen and phosphorus as part of a rigorous pollution diet for meeting water quality standards in the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries, and restoring local rivers and streams throughout the 64,000-square-mile watershed. EPA plans to issue a draft Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) or pollution diet for a 45-day public comment period on September 24. The final Phase 1 Watershed Implementation Plans are due November 29, and EPA will establish the Bay TMDL by December 31.

New EU rules on organic food labelling including the requirement to display the new EU organic logo, enter into force on 1 July, 2010. The so-called "Euro-Leaf" will now be obligatory on pre-packaged organic food products that have been produced in any of EU Member States and meet the necessary standards. In the ever-growing aquaculture sector, the new rules will have a big impact. The EU is the largest seafood market. In 2008 an estimated 123 certified organic aquaculture operations were in operation in Europe, out of a total of 225 such farms worldwide. These accounted for almost half world production of 50,000 tonnes in 2008.

Within the framework of the All-Russian Conference "Railway Transportation of Oil Cargoes" a round-table discussions were held dedicated to the project of liquefied petroleum gas transshipment terminal at Ust-Luga port. Representatives of SIBUR, Gazprom Neft, Novatech and Federal Tariff Service took part in the event.

The 31st Geotechnical Conference and Exhibition of the German Geotechnical Society (DGGT) will take place 3-6 November 2010 in Munich at the International Conference Center of Munich. The event celebrates 50 years of DGGT events and activities. Presentations will include NAUE, Huesker, BBG and other geosynthetic-related companies. Learn more at the event website. Learn more here.;

The 31st Geotechnical Conference and Exhibition of the German Geotechnical Society (DGGT) will take place 3-6 November 2010 in Munich at the International Conference Center of Munich. The event celebrates 50 years of DGGT events and activities. Presentations will include NAUE, Huesker, BBG and other geosynthetic-related companies. Download the event brochure. Learn more here.;

COPRI (Coasts, Oceans, Ports and Rivers Institute)--a semi-autonomous institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)--invites prospective authors to submit an abstract to the Solutions to Coastal Disasters 2011 event. (Dates and location to be announced.) Topics include coastal erosion; hurricanes; coastal storms; seismic events and tsunamis; climate change; sea level change; wind; and arctic environments. Multidisciplinary topics and papers are encouraged. Abstracts due: 19 July 2010. Learn more here.;

The USGS estimates that the Arctic holds about 22 percent of the world’s undiscovered conventional oil and natural gas resource base, 30 percent of the world’s undiscovered natural gas resources, 13 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil resources, and 20 percent of the world NGL resources. Access, exploration, mining and environmental preservation are issues to be discussed at the Arctic Technology Conference 2011 (7-9 February 2011) in Houston. Abstracts are accepted through 1 August 2010. Learn more here.;

The Kennewick Irrigation District (KID) in Washington state is dealing with a breach in a 16-inch buried steel line, disrupting service to about 5,000 customers. The steel has corroded and the outer concrete casing has cracked. About 400 feet of pipe will be exposed and flexible PVC liner installed. Learn more here.;

ASCE's Coasts, Oceans, Ports and Rivers Institute (COPRI) and the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC) will co-sponsor Dredging 2012. The event is being developed by COPRI's Waterways Committee. For more information on the conference or for related questions, please contact Kelly Barnes at Kelly.J.Barnes@usace.army.mil. To join the conference organizing commitee, please contact committe chair Mike Cox at michael.d.cox@usace.army.mil or COPRI at copri@asce.org. More information will be posted on the event website as it becomes available. Learn more here.;

As a follow-up to the 2007 Census of Agriculture, the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service is conducting a first-ever survey focused on renewable energy. The On-Farm Energy Production Survey will gather information about energy production on America's farms and ranches, including the use of anaerobic digestion, wind turbines, solar panels, and other alternative energy sources. The survey is being conducted in response to an increase in on-farm energy production practices. USDA expects to release the results in 2011. AgSTAR will provide more information and analysis of the data when they become available. Learn more here.;

The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPEC) has made available more than 40 technical presentations from GPEC 2010 online. For $150 for SPE members ($199 for nonmembers), you can access any presentation for a 6-month period and continue to learn. Because everything is hosted online, you will receive almost-instant access to vast amounts of technical information. Learn more here.;

The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) invites you to present a paper at its inaugural EUROTEC technical conference in Barcelona, Spain. The three-day event, SPE-EUROTEC 2011, will be attended by several hundred industry professionals who are interested in learning about the latest global developments in plastics.SPE is inviting speakers to present papers at this first-ever conference in the following areas: Failure Analysis and Prevention; Bioplastics; Product and Engineering Design; Color and Additives; General Business; Engineering Properties; Structure; and more. Learn more here.;

A new online tool is now available to help Australian farmers retain the huge quantities of stored surface water they annually lose to evaporation and seepage. Called the Ready Reckoner, the free, web-based program calculates the cost of using liners or dam covers against the cost of losing water. It was developed in a partnership between the Co-operative Research Centre for Irrigation Futures (CRC IF), National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture (NCEA), National Program for Sustainable Irrigation, FSA Consulting and the Queensland Government. Learn more here.;

A new online tool is now available to help Australian farmers retain the huge quantities of stored surface water they annually lose to evaporation and seepage. Called the Ready Reckoner, the free, web-based program calculates the cost of using liners or dam covers against the cost of losing water. It was developed in a partnership between the Co-operative Research Centre for Irrigation Futures (CRC IF), National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture (NCEA), National Program for Sustainable Irrigation, FSA Consulting and the Queensland Government. Learn more here.;