Special Series

The Billings, Montana-based Northern Plains Resource Council is paving its headquarters parking lot with pulverized glass, reports the Billings Gazette. (Scroll past the Old Chicago news to the permeable paving note.) Geotextiles and recycled plastic rings provide the subgrade support and soil separation. Recycled glass surfacing has gained some momentum in northern states. For more on pulverized glass, check out this January 2005 column from Cynthia Andela in American Recycler at this link http://www.americanrecycler.com/0105glass.shtml Learn more here.;

From the organizing committee of GeoDenver 07: If you plan on submitting a paper, please go to the Web site (found at the "continued" link below) and establish a user id and password. If you want to propose a session, please e-mail Mo Gabr at gabr@eos.ncsu.edu. Papers are due July 01, 2006; there will be a fee associated with the acceptance of the paper (subtracted from the registration fee when the author registers). Learn more here.;

Ian Peggs of I-CORP INTERNATIONAL describes what to look for when designing lining systems for electrical integrity/leak locatiom surveys.

Propex Fabrics Inc. committed on April 25th to a plan to restructure and consolidate its United States needlepunch nonwoven manufacturing activities to optimize the efficiency of its overall operations and improve profitability. Learn more here.;

The D35 (06-02) Committee Ballot is now posted on the ASTM web site. To access the ballot, please go to the link below and login. This will give you access to your personalized 'My ASTM' page. The minutes, rosters and agendas (where available) are also posted in this area. Learn more here.;

Current status for Chinese standards regarding geomembranes and other geosynthetics are as follows: 1) Geomembranes used for landfill (to be in effect soon) 2. Design and Installation of Liners (still drafting) 3. Technical Regulations of MSW Landfill 4. Capping of Landfill (still drafting) 5. Technical Regulations of Hazardous Landfill (still drafting, 2nd version). Charlie Zhen, Vice President & Chief Engineer of GLE, is involved in the drafting work of 1, 2, 4 and 5. He says incorporating leak surveys into the second standard is a possibility.

First Quarter Results and a Report on New Orders and Backlog are now available on GSE's Web site. Learn more here.;

Three of the Pacific-Northwest's most well-known hydroelectric facilities will be the featured destinations of the HydroVision 2006 Technical Plant Tours later this year. Deadline to register for HydroVision Technical Plant Tours is today, May 1, 2006. Learn more here.;

Forester Magazines: The latest issue of Erosion Control magazine features two geo-related articles on gabion baskets and channel protection. Last month's MSW Management featured an article on landfill gas (LFG) production. For the gabion abstract, click the "continued" link below. For channel protection, cut and paste https://www.geosynthetica.net/abstracts.asp?keywords=a1890 into your browser and for LFG cut and paste https://www.geosynthetica.net/abstracts.asp?keywords=a1889 into your browser. Learn more here.;

Erosion-control professional Tom Carpenter and his silt fence installation work were profiled recently in the Des Moines Business Record. Learn more here.;

The D35 (06-01) Committee Ballot is now posted on the ASTM web site. To access the ballot, please go to http://myastm.astm.org and login. This will give you access to your personalized 'My ASTM' page. The minutes, rosters and agendas (where available) are also posted in this area. The meeting schedule is available by selecting the "Meetings & Symposia" link on your personalized 'My ASTM' page approximately two months prior to the next meeting. The ballot will be open and available on the web from APR 24, 2006 - MAY 31, 2006. All voting members are required to return ballots. Your ballot response is important to the committee in obtaining the required 60% return for a valid ballot. The return of ballots is a measure of a member's participation on a committee. It is critical that ASTM is notified of any changes to mailing and email addresses as soon as possible. This may be done by going to your 'My ASTM' page and selecting "Update your information". Alternatively, send corrections along with your member number to mailto:changes@astm.org or phone ASTM Customer Service at (610) 832- 9585 or fax at (610) 832-9555. Learn more here.;

Gundle/SLT Environmental, Inc. (GSE), will release its first quarter 2006 financial and operating results on Tuesday, May 2, 2006. The company will host a conference call May 4, 2006, at 10:00 a.m. (ET). This call will discuss results of operations for the first three months of 2006 and answer questions from participants. Learn more here.;

Top Stories for the week of April 19 on Land and Water's escn.tv: 6.1 Million Dollar Settlement for Casmalia Superfund Site, Stormwater360 Becomes CONTECH Stormwater Solutions Inc., and Invasive Spartina Infiltrates the West. Learn more here.;

Hotel Reservations Cut-Off Date: Monday, May 14, 2006, rooms are still available. Group Rate, $207 (CAD). The Sheraton Centre Toronto is offering the following incentives to ASTM attendees who make their reservation prior to May 14, 2006.1) A random drawing for two theatre tickets for "Lord of the Rings" On Tuesday, June 13, 2006. 2) Four random drawings for upgrades to a small one-bedroom suite. 3) 10%f lunch and dinner menus (food only) in the hotel outlets (available to all attendees housed at the Sheraton, just present your room key) (Winners will be notified after the drawing). To make your room reservation use the following link to the hotel: http://www.starwoodmeeting.com/StarGroupsWeb/res?id=0506246062&key=C7906 or call the hotel at 416-361-1000 or 1-888-627-7175. Meeting Registration Cut-Off Date: June 7, 2006. If you have not already preregistered, the Meeting and Registration. Information for the ASTM May Committee Week (June 11-16, 2006) in Toronto, Canada is available on the ASTM web site at the link below. To locate your meeting: Select the `Login Here? Button; you will be prompted for your nine-digit member number and your password. On your `My Committees? Page, select the `Meetings and Symposia? Link for your committee. Select the blue hyperlink under Future Meetings. Follow this link for meeting information, meeting schedules, and online registration. We request all attendees to preregister for this meeting. The registration information significantly assists us in preparations for the committee week and final meeting room assignments are based on expected attendance. Closer to the meeting date, a copy of the committee schedule with meeting room names will be emailed to all preregistered attendees. For additional meeting information, contact Dottie Meyers at: dmeyers@astm.org or 610-832-9706. Learn more here.;

While resin price trends and their general effects upon markets are generally noted within industries rather than in popular business media, Bloomberg News now reports that many industries have had trouble passing along necessary price increases due to competitive pressure. Many users of resins, such as polyethylene product makers, are just now recovering some of the costs of production, though rarely all costs. Learn more here.;

Construction has been completed on one of the first truly modern reservoirs in Turkmenistan. The waterproofing system includes two geotextile and one geomembrane layer. Read about it at the "continued" link below. Learn more here.;

During the last week of March, leaders of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) joined with several hundred members of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) to support a common goal: protecting human lives. Engineers from both organizations visited lawmakers on Capitol Hill to express their support for two bills that could significantly impact our nation’s future disaster statistics. On, March 16, Representatives Randy Kuhl (R-NY), Jim Matheson (D-UT) and Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) introduced legislation to reauthorize the National Dam Safety Program. The Dam Safety Act of 2006 (H.R. 4981) would provide up to $12.7 million a year for four years to assist states in improving their dam safety programs. Also on March 16, Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Daniel Inouye (D-HI) introduced the Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act of 2006 (S. 2444), which would provide up to $350 million over four years to repair and upgrade the estimated 2,600 unsafe dams in the United States. The common date was no coincidence. Both pieces of legislation were introduced two days after a dam failure in Hawaii claimed seven lives. While the Dam Safety Act of 2006 would reauthorize an existing program aimed directly at state programs, the Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act of 2006 is focused on public entities that own dams, such as municipalities and water districts. It was originally introduced by Rep. Sue Kelly (R-NY) as the Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act of 2004 (H.R. 5190), and again in 2005 (H.R. 1105). The Association of State Dam Safety Officials endorses both bills, and urges members of Congress to quickly pass the legislation before another disaster occurs. How likely is this? According to the experts, it’s practically a given. State dam safety officials have identified more than 3,500 unsafe or deficient dams nationwide, and many dam owners lack the funds required to bring the structures into compliance with state regulations. It is no wonder that in 2005, ASCE’s Report Card for America’s Infrastructure graded the overall condition of our nation’s dams as a D. That grade was earned in the same way all grades are earned: through attention, interest, and effort, and/or lack thereof. Both ASDSO and ASCE agree that it is high time the nation gets serious about applying rigorous attention, interest, and effort to improving the condition of potentially dangerous dams throughout the U.S. Both urge Congress to act on H.R. 4981 during FY 2006, before the National Dam Safety Program expires, and to pass the Senate bill in order to expedite the remediation of deficient public dams. According to ASDSO President Ken Smith, “We fully acknowledge states’ rights, but the problem is so big that it merits federal attention. Dams are a vital piece of the national infrastructure, and the failure of one dam can affect several states. I’m afraid more lives will be lost without help from Washington.” Learn more here.;

Australia-based Geofabrics was stung by a vandalism-related power outage. An electrical surge and shutdown kept its paving fabric line down for days, costing the manufacturer considerably. Read about it in The Border Mail at the "continued" link below. Learn more here.;

To take down Longview, Washington's Trojan cooling tower, crews will use 2000 pounds of dynamite. To contain the blast, they'll wrap the tower in geotextile fabric. Learn more here.;

Amcol International Corporation, parent company to CETCO, will hold a conference call to discuss first quarter results on Friday, April 12, 2006 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern. Please RSVP for this conference call by contacting Terri Cardona at 847-818-7936. Please remember to RSVP, as only those participants who register will be allowed on the call. The call-in number for the conference is: 800.946.0705, Passcode: 3346637 (Please call approximately 10 minutes before call time). The call-in number for digital replay is 888.203.1112, passcode 3346637. The instant replay will be available the morning after the call and live until 4/28/06. The call transcript will be posted on the AMCOL Int’l website approximately one week after the call. Learn more here.;

There was hope that an article in the April 1st St. Louis Post Dispatch was an April Fool’s prank. Ken Leiser’s article (Many Dams in Missouri Would Escape Oversight under Altered Measure) concerned the alteration of Senate Bill 1236, introduced last month by Sen. Kevin Engler. In its original form, the Bill was laudable. It would have afforded much greater protection to the citizens of Missouri by bringing an additional 4,400 dams under state oversight. Currently the state inspects only dams 35 or more feet in height. SB 1236 scuttled the arbitrary height requirement in favor of more comprehensive criteria based on both height and water storage capacity. The Bill also prohibited regulatory exemptions, calling for oversight of all dams posing a potential threat to public safety and well-being. Now the Senate Commerce, Energy and the Environment Committee has weakened the Bill by writing in an exclusion for agricultural dams. We fully agree with a nationwide dam safety expert who labeled this exemption "ridiculous" and "silly.” Lyle Bentley heads the dam safety program in Tennessee, where agricultural dams are exempt from state regulation. Because of this exemption, there is no oversight of about 45 percent of Tennessee’s dams of regulatory size. According to Mr. Bentley, the state’s dam failure statistics demonstrate the consequences of regulatory exemptions. In the 33 years since Tennessee’s dam safety law was adopted, 40 dam failures have occurred in the state. Thirty-six (90%) of the dams that failed were exempt from state regulation, not on the basis of size (all met state regulatory criteria), but because they were classified as “farm ponds.” Fortunately, these incidents killed no one, but one washed an occupied home about a quarter mile down an Eastern Tennessee mountainside. “If they are going to exempt any dams on any basis other than hazard potential, they should exempt the federal ones,” said Mr. Bentley. “I know that the one that failed (Taum Sauk) was an FERC dam, but, as I understand it, the failure was a mechanical problem, and they’re addressing it. At least someone was looking out for that dam. That’s not the case with our so-called ‘farm ponds’ here in Tennessee.” Ken Smith, President of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials and Assistant Director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, concurs. “If saving human lives is the goal of Missouri’s new dam safety regulations, the regulations must encompass all dams that pose a potential threat to human life, regardless of function,” stated Smith. “If protecting livelihood and property is a secondary goal, the regulations should encompass significant-hazard-potential dams as well. Only if a dam poses no potential threat to human life or property—then and only then should it be exempt from regulatory oversight.” Putting the financial interests of any one group ahead of public safety demonstrates an appalling lack of regard for human life. In any circumstance, it is willful neglect; in the worst-case scenario, it could be considered reckless homicide. Many states are able to maximize limited resources by focusing attention on high- and significant-hazard-potential dams and discouraging development below dams. We respectfully suggest that Missouri adopt this approach as well. Learn more here.;

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) has set the date and location for its 22nd Annual Northwest Regional Solid Waste Symposium, Tacoma, Washington. Next year's theme will be "Emergency and Disaster Debris Management." The event will include a debris management class (16 - 18 April) and symposium (18 - 20 April). Details will be available soon on the chapter Web site. Learn more here.;

Roughly 700,000 lbs of PCBs have polluted the sediments of the Fox River in Wisconsin. A settlement has been announced in which two paper companies will pay approximately $30 million towards the river's dredging and soil cleansing operation. Geosynthetic tubes figure prominantly in the application and are featured in this article from Environment News Service. Learn more here.;

The Dow Chemical Company announced a 0.06/lb increase on all LD and LLD resins effective May 1st. HDPE resins will increase by 0.03/lb - a temporary voluntary allowance (TVA) will be effective on the HDPE from May 1-31. The TVA will be removed on June 1 and the increase will apply to all HDPE prices.

Learn how to achieve a successful presentation with the expected results. This ASTM Manual on Preparing and Delivering Technical Presentations guides engineers, technologists, scientists and students through the process of preparing and delivering an oral presentation. Learn more here.;