EC Education in Knoxville
The Water Quality Forum, a multi-discpline organization dedicated to improving water quality in Knox County, Tennessee, has been educating subcontractors about construction site erosion and sediment controls. This is important to the integrity of basic site controls, such as silt fence, especially when truckloads of materials are being brought in and potentially being driven over the controls. KnoxNews reports.
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LLDPE in the Lead
The Montmorency Oscoda Alpena Solid Waste Management Authority Board in Michigan needs to cap a waste cell. Initial feelings were to use only clay as a temporary bandage; but the board is now leaning towards a linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) cap in order to provide a longer-term solution and leachate control.
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Indian Market
DuPont Building Innovations has substantially increased its product offerings in the Indian architectural and landscaping market, including geotextiles for root barriers and plastic grids for the creation of vegetated, porous paving.
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Landfill Reclamation, Clovis Style
The landfill in Cloivs, California is going through a reclamation process. Only, unlike other celebrated remediation projects, this one is not looking to transform the site into a new use. Rather, they are reclaiming waste stored for a long time in unlined cells and moving to lined cells. The process is allowing them to extend the facilities life while simultaneously mitigating long-term environmental risk.
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From MSW: Dewatering Tubes
The May 2008 issue of Municipal Sewer & Water looks at dewatering operations in the city of Lebanon, Tennessee. The article appears on pages 50 and 51 of the online reader and focuses on how the city's sewer department needed a way to more quickly dewater sludge. The new passive system used three 60 x 100 ft geosynthetic tubes.
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From Bad to Worse
The news for the Countrywide Landfill in Stark County, Ohio has been bleak for the past year. An underground fire has been the subject of much debate. But while damage has not been detected to the bottom liner, the emergency cap installed over 35 of the site's 88 acres (to control odor from the fires) has torn and spilled leachate.
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Maine's Secondary Concern
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MEDEP), working with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), has brought a hefty $157,000 fine against a company for Clean Water Act violations. One of the primary failings at the oil storage facilities has been inadequately maintained secondary containment liners.
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Recreational Development
In Beverly, Massachusetts, lead-contaminated soil presented the city with an opportunity to use state grant money to develop a youth center. A geotextile separation layer was installed and two feet of clean soil has been placed atop. The new youth center includes a skate park, ball fields and much more.
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Mining Cleanup Tax
In Florida, a higher tax will be placed on phosphate companies to encourage quicker closure of former gypsum operations. Florida has a long successful gypsum mining industry, but its environmental legacy is not nearly as admirable. Significant cleanup and capping are required for operations dating back decades. The Ledger article includes an interesting close-up photo of a geomembrane being seamed.
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PCB Waste Seeks Home
The Fox River cleanup in Wisconsin, which has been profiled in engineering publications such as Geosynthetics, now needs to find a final destination for its PCB-contaminated material. Waste Management has applied for an application to dispose the material at its Ridgeview Landfill, but opposition is greeting this decision. The $390 million project has yet to choose burial sites for the dredged material.
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Corps Pushes on Levee
The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) wants to raise the St. Charles Parish levee from 13 ft to 18 ft. The design change was revealed this week, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. A 30-day comment period has begun. Design issues are available on the Corps regional website.
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Fiberweb Sells Bidim Unit
United Kingdom-based Fiberweb Plc has sold its Brazil-based Bidim unit to Mexichem SAB de CV, which is a division of Mexichem. The $32 million cash deal will help reduce debt for Fiberweb Plc and boost Mexichem's product line offerings. Bidim manufacturers nonwoven geotextiles. Fiberweb in the United States continues to manufacture nonwoven geotextiles and erosion control materials.
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Mining in Australia
Delegates have gathered in Australia to discuss ways by which the country can manage and sustain its breakneck boom in mining. Resource exploration, environmental stewdardship, and long-term infrastructure development are key topics. Australia's Premier Mike Rann opened the event by noting the mining industry could be a dominant interest for the next 100 years.
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NC Beaches Are Eroding
North Carolina has been one of the most active erosion and sediment control enforcement states. However, beach erosion remains a murky area for regulation, oversight and acceptable solutions. Sandbags are permitted. That's it. Harder structures are being lobbied for. It's unfortunate that the Star News feature on the debate did not even recognize geotextile tubes, which have been extremely effective in many regions.
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McMillen Opens
McMillen Field in Antioch, Illinois is a 12-acre site of athletic fields built atop a former landfill. A high school is sited nearby and uses electricity generated by the methane harvesting system beneath the site's cap. The school district estimates it saves $100,000 per year on the power and the electricity it sells back into the grid. All the fields are now opening. It's another example of beneficial end use redevelopement done right.
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EC Blankets Needed
Livingston Parish in Louisiana may add erosoin control blankets and gentler slopes to development regulations. Erosion and sediment runoff from construction has been an on-going problem. The lack of erosion control blankets was brought up at a parish council meeting; and the committee added the debate to next week's meeting.
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TenCate Announces 1Q Earning
Dutch-based Royal TenCate announced its 1Q 2008 earnings late Tuesday, April 29. The company's net was up 22% over the previous year's 1Q, but it missed analysts' expectations. Still, the full-year EPS forecast seems strong. US-based TenCate Geosynthetics is part of Royal TenCate's global network.
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CAFOs Under Fire
The concentrated (or confined) animal feeding operations (CAFOs) movement may be reaching a critical stage of development and opposition. As they proliferate, so does research against the way they've been designed and built. The Washington Post has published a piece regarding the independent Pew Center research about CAFO problems; and another group has noted current designs cost up to $4.1 billion in remediation costs due to improper standards in construction and monitoring.
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UK Farm Issues
So often the news on rainfall runoff is centered on urban areas; and so often the news regarding herd sizes and managing manure focuses on the United States. But the United Kingdom is dealing with these issues too. Writer Olivia Cooper points out that runoff from hard surfaces on farms can amount to 865 litres per year. And new regulations on slurry storage are prompting serious upgrades to facilities, from drainage to containment to power generation.
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TenCate To Report Results
Royal Ten Cate N.V.'s first quarter results are expected to continue the strong trend seen in the fourth quarter and boosted by recent acquisitions, although some analysts said there was low visibility on how the company performed this quarter. The North American geosynthetics market remains difficult, however, reports Thomson Financial.
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Expansion: Denied
The Lemons Landfill in Dexter, Missouri has been denied in its initial expansion permit. Operators estimate that the current site has up to eight years of space left, aided in part by recycling endeavors and waste restrictions. Lemons actually accepted less in 2007 than in 2006. Officials denied the permit due to concerns over the liner-quality soil. Lemons will next attempt to prove that the geosynthetic liner and the clay liner will be sufficient to meet permitting standards.
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Play Ball!
The Minnesota Twins are constructing a new riverfront stadium in Minneapolis, but to do so they must remove a considerable amount of contaminated soil. Waste Management Inc. has acquired the proper permits for removing and landfilling the material. The Minnesota Public Radio news item on the matter does not detail the pollutants but does not that they require burial with a protective liner.
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Summer (Construction) Begins
In Arlington, Massachusetts, the summer road projects are already underway. Geogrid reinforcement is being installed in key stretches of pavement, vapor barriers are being installed near contaminated soils, and significant drainage improvements are being made. It's a situation soon to be seen all over the United States.
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GeoAmericas Free Papers
geosynthetica's Lara Costa has posted a wrap-up and abstracts from GeoAmericas 2008. These pages deliver conference images, a summary of events and links to free papers from the event (courtesy of IFAI, publisher of the full conference proceedings). Check out Lara's review and the significant conference papers posted here for free. See the links to those pages on the abstracts page. Full proceedings may be acquired from the IFAI Bookstore.
Trump Plays On
Donald Trump's extensive landfill-to-golf project in New Jersey is slowing moving, but moving forward it seems. Trump has said he will invest roughly $35 million of his own money and is raising money from other sources. An expected $350 million in the course-and-condo site is needed before it opens. A methane-gas collection system has been installed and liner repairs for leachate control have been made.
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