Booster Dispute, But Better Parking
Now this is a Friday story: Tecumseh High School in Tecumseh, Oklahoma is the scene of some bad blood between rival booster clubs--one representing the band, one athletics--but also of better parking lot management. While concession stand sales are a sour subject, the school board did opt to improve gravel parking lots at the new field with a geotextile underlay.
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Williston Deal
The Williston City Commission has agreed to install a pond liner on a municipal golf course holding pond that has been leaking onto airport property. The drainage issue has impaired the airport's ability to improve runway capacity--a $14 million expansion project the city has been determined to begin. The liner will halt the leakage...so long as they install it properly. Though time presses, one hopes proper CQA is allowed.
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Raven's Record Results
South Dakota-based Raven Industries reported record results in its latest fiscal statement. The agricultural market and Raven's Flow Controls division spurred growth, while future growth is protected by added capacity in the geosynthetics and engineered films side of the business.
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Contech Acquisition
Contech Construction Products Inc. has acquired the European SurfSep license which includes the intellectual property assets and selling rights for the stormwater runoff market. SurfSep’s stormwater technology has been owned in the United States by Contech since 2006, but was previously offered by Copa Ltd. In Europe.
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China Takes a Pollution Census
The environmental challenges associated with China's breakneck infrastructure and industrial growth is well known. China Daily reports that Henan Province is launching a "pollution census." The investigation will include a 30,000-member task force. Henan is a major agricultural area. Animal waste management and pesticide runoff control are major sources for pollution in the province.
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Mining Drainage Treatment
The Mountain Watershed Association (MWA) is ramping up its efforts to treat acid mining drainage and convert the land to a usable site. The latest project concerns a site in Melcroft, Pennsylvania--MWA's home. The state Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation is soliciting comments. The $800,000 project is MWA's fourth remediation venture.
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Yakima Finally Concluding
A two-decade-old cleanup project in Yakima, Washington is about to conclude. The former asphalt and concrete production area underwent significant soil removal and petroleum contamination remediation. A liner was installed and a relfection pond created. Now, a short pathway may be added to complete the site's recreational transformation.
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Cowboy Danger
The British Water's Sustainable Drainage Focus Group has issued a warning about quality of installation concerns regarding more environmentally friendly drainage options, such as greenroofs. The group applauds the greener designs, but their success and popularity is producing "cowboy" operators: inexperienced firms claiming expertise and even proprietary technologies in the field.
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Repeat Offenders
Incomplete erosion control measures and a retention pond that wasn't designed to hold enough have led to a $41,000 fine for a Tampa-area developer. The fines were prompted not just by the violations but by the fact the developer has been cited for these failures before. The longer developers ignore proper use of BMPs, the harder it will get for all construction and development. Will education or fines win out?
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Mexico's Mining Boom
Bloomberg.com reports that mining companies invested roughly $2.2 billion in Mexico during 2007. Mexico's Economy Minister, Eduardo Sojo, estimates that $20 billion will be spent over President Felipe Calderon's six-year term. The massive investment in silver, gold and other mineral mining endeavors will also require substantial investment in environmental protections.
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Something to Think About
Moin Kondri's guest column in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is worth a quick read. Kondri, a geologist, writes on the cost of rainwater in urban environments: it's free until it hits the ground. Largely, he argues, this is due to old, hasty designs that called for hard armor urban stormwater systems. The runoff has proved to be too much. Softer, smarter drainage--greenroofs, porous pavers, etc.--must be incorporated.
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GeoWhisky?
It's said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. But from the UK comes news that a by-product of beverage production--in this case, whisky--may help speed soil and water cleanup operations. The soon-to-be-commercialized product called DRAM may be a future complement to geosynthetics during contaminated site remediation and containment. The UK currently has roughly 330,000 contaminated sites.
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Defending Whitby's Design
The Scarborough Council overseeing the $750,000+ erosion control work on Whitby Harbor has come under fire from a local who is protesting the engineering design. The Council has responded rather calmly and appropriately by pointing out the vast experience of the international project team and the internationally established design, which includes aggregate, geotextile separation fabric, and wave-defraying revetment.
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China's Illegal Mining Problem
China Daily reports that the government of China has closed approximately 46,000 illegal mining firms over the past two years for safety and pollution violations. The country has wrestled with, and granted considerable latitude towards, environmentally damaging practices. The State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) and affiliated agencies have vowed to establish and enforce more stringent mining regulations.
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Reservoir Liner Approved
The contractor working on a new, 100-million gallon reclaimed water reservoir in Pasco County, Florida has been given the okay to add a liner to the reservoir and construct an extra berm for flood security. The Southwest Florida Water Management District made an additional pledge of $2 million. The reclaimed water--largely treated wastwater--is used in irrigation, for golf courses, school fields and parks.
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More Big Box Fines
Home Depot became the latest "big box" store to get hit with a seven-figure fine for stormwater and site sediment control problems. Approximately 30 Home Depot store construction sites were found to have subpar construction site sediment control. The corporation has settled the issue by paying a $1.3 million fine to the US Environmental Protection Agency.
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Funds for Erosion and Drainage Open
In Santa Cruz County, California, the Resource Conservation District has made available funds for grants of up to $13,000 for private landowners with roads in need of erosion control and drainage improvements. Roughly a dozen grants will be awarded. The deadline to apply is March 28.
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Geosynthetics in EC
Erosion Control magazine's latest issue includes a suite of geosynthetic articles. Carol Brzozowski writes about geocells, geogrid steep-slope reinforcement, and vegetated, geogrid walls; Roberta Baxter covers silt fence and sediment control; and Janis Keating tackles slope erosion and drainage control with blankets and TRMs--including with North American Green's expertise.
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Building the Basin
The new issue of Construction includes an article on the road safety and expansion project along a 6.5-mile stretch of U.S. 17 in Beaufort County, South Carolina. The ACE Basin Widening Project runs through one of the nation's largest undeveloped estuaries. To preserve that sensitive habitat, the project team has called upon layered silt fence and geotextile-wrapped drainage and filtration materials.
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geosynthetica in CE News
geosynthetica.net's 2008 Education Box project has received a mention in the March issue of CE News. See the piece online in the New & Noteworthy section and learn how we're working to improve undergraduate geosynthetic education. A version for practicing engineers may be developed too.
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Geotextile T-Groins Work
What's clear in Clearwater, Florida is that geotextile tube T-groin structures have preserved the beach. A renourishment project in 2005 brought the tubes into use on Upham Beach. Surfers are angry about the diminished wave activity, but those strong waves were the very things previously destroying the beach. The T-groins are scheduled to be renewed in 2013.
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$2 Million EC Grant
Island residents near Beaumont, Texas are thankful to hear that they've finally received some shoreline protection funds. Beach erosion has been severe. Just over $2 million in funding for shoreline preservation has been awarded, and without a requirement for matching funds. The area also received $4.7 million to repair 7 hurricane-damaged bridges.
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Beach Erosion Debate in NC
The state of North Carolina has tough restrictions on hard armor erosion control structures. As the story in USA Today reveals (http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-02-24-seawall_N.htm), some island homes are threatened to lose what little land remains without protection. Geotextile tubes, however, could be a solution to push to the state. They've proven successful in many other area at beach preservation and restoration--including at this critical habitat site in Texas.
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Wildlife on the Cap
The Star Beacon newspaper of Ashtabula, Ohio has published a piece on the degree to which landfills are engineered and how wildlife become a welcomed part of capped landfills. Increasingly, former landfill cells are proving to be successful transformation stories. They are often converted into recreation zones or even wetlands.
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Higher Levees Coming
The United States Army Corp of Engineers may need to raise some New Orleans levees to 29 feet in order to properly protect the area from 100-year hurricane events. According to NOLA.com, officials have yet to determine whether rock, geotextile or concrete will provide the best erosion control against waves for the levee upgrades.
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