Containment

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken a significant step in an effort to help reduce the need for federal taxpayers to fund the cleanup of environmental releases. The agency has identified three additional industry sectors for which it will begin the regulatory development process for any necessary financial assurance requirements: the chemical manufacturing industry; the petroleum and coal products manufacturing industry, which primarily includes refineries and not coal mines; and the electric power generation, transmission, and distribution industry.

Geosynthetica’s partner publication in Brazil—Geosynthetica.net.br—has organized a two-day training session on geosynthetic installation. “Qualidade Na Instalação De Geomembranas” will take place 9 – 10 June 2015 in São Paulo...

Layfield Environmental Containment is pleased to announce the employment of Mr. Alex Gersch as Business Development Manager based out of Adelaide, South Australia. Alex brings a wealth of experience...

A 22,000-ton, 22-year-old pile of PCB-contaminated soil sits in west Toronto beneath a triple-layered geosynthetic cap. It is one of 23 similar sites across Ontario. The Star has published a piece about the PCB issue in Ontario and included an image of Toronto's large pile as seen from Google Earth. Learn more here.;

The twelfth edition of Techtextil North America takes place June 2-4, 2015 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas where industry experts will present the most...

By Ian D. Peggs and Chris Kelsey – Low temperatures, fast-dropping temperatures, and strong winds can provide the ideal conditions for rapid crack propagation (RCP)—“shattering”—in exposed high-density polyethylene...

As part of an annual £100 million program spent each year by the agency British Waterways to maintain the United Kingdom's network of waterways, £60 is being allocated to a host of projects right now. The projects are funded through a combination of government grants and the income British Waterways generates from things such as property and boat licenses. Inspection and repair works this winter range from iconic aqueducts and lock flights to humble canal bridges. The agency is the third largest owner of listed buildings in the UK, maintaining, among many things, 54 tunnel, 3,115 bridges, 417 aqueducts and 91 reservoirs.

Under the umbrella of the Department of Energy’s renewable energy funding, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced last week that up to $30.6 million in stimulus funds would go into modernizing seven hydropower projects. Read more. Learn more here.;

While it still focused almost exclusively on more temporary erosion control mats (such as coconut or jute-based), the Philippines geotextile manufacturing industry has restarted in the wake of landslides that claimed a number of lives. Weak demand for even coconut-based materials led to the closing of many facilities in recent years. Learn more here.;

ASTM International Committee D35 on Geosynthetics has announced a new work item: WK34962, "New Guide for Limitations with the different Techniques for Electrical Detection of Potential Leaks Paths in Geomembranes." In the scope statement, the committee notes, "This standard guide is intended to assist and educate individuals or groups in assessing the limitations of the different options available for locating potential leaks paths in installed geomembranes through the use of electrical methods. Guide is needed since there is a lot of misunderstanding in the industry what the electrical leak location surveys can provide." Learn more here.;

TRI reports that only a few spots are left for participation in the next CQA Week at the TRI campus in Austin, Texas. During the 6-10 December 2010 CQA Week, the already excellent course lead by Dr. Ian Peggs will include expert education from Ausenco Vector's Abigail Beck. Ms. Beck's 49 million square feet of electrical leak location experience is the perfect complement to Dr. Peggs' 30+ years of Geosynthetic Materials Science & Electrical Leak Location experience. Construction quality assurance (CQA) training at TRI focuses on geomembrane liner integrity surveys, QA/QC of geosynthetics installation (geotextiles, geomembranes, geogrids, etc.), and QA/QC of compacted clay and geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) installation. Optional certification exams are also offered. Download a flyer (PDF)

Erosion Control magazine is the latest publication to release a digital format edition. This free, optional version of the magazine displays the publication in an exact copy on your computer. It follows closely after the magazine's relaunch of its website, which included greater interactivity between the writers and readers, blogs, and more. Demo the March/April 2009 digital edition here. Learn more here.;

Iryna Popova, Director of EcoInform, has announced that a draft program is now available for the 6th Cooperation for Waste Issues conference, which will take place 8-9 April 2009 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Key topics at the event include municipal and industrial waste, radioactive waste, environmental compliance, biomass, energy generation, and much more. View the program today. Geosynthetica.net is a cooperating organization to the event. Learn more here.;

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. Learn more here.;

Event organizer Svedio's Lena Dahlman reports that the World Bioenergy 2012 conference has received more than 200 abstracts covering all aspects of bioenergy development. The conference will be held in Jönköping, Sweden 29-31 May 2012. Dahlman notes that geographical range of submissions has been particularly satisfying, with submissions coming in from 39 countries and true global representation. This includes India, China, Malaysia, Pakistan, Kenya, South Africa, Canada, Colombia and many more. Learn more here.;

Leister Process Technologies, the worldwide leader in plastic welding and hot air equipment announces the opening of its expanded U.S. headquarters outside of Chicago. The new, centrally located facility quadruples Leister's capabilities in North America. Among the new services offered: Complete inventory of Geosynthetic tools for instant availability; Complete spare parts inventory for overnight parts shipping; Complete new service and repair facility; and Complete new training and demonstration space. Read more.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is making nearly $2 million available in 2010 to reduce pollution at the local level through the Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) program. EPA will award CARE cooperative agreements at two levels. Level I awards range from $75,000 to $100,000 and will help establish community-based partnerships to assess toxics problems in their community and consider options for reducing environmental risks.

During the past week, Geosynthetica has interviewed waste management operators, utilities, design engineering firms, geosynthetics manufacturers, and fabricators and installers about coal combustion residuals (CCRs). The interviews...

Within the next 12 months, Turks and Caicos Island in the West Indies will replace its small, unlined dumps with a large, new, modern landfill with a geosynthetic lining system. The landfill will include a self-sealing geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) under a 60-mil layer of a polyethylene geomembrane. Refuse will be spread and compacted daily over a small 100-by-50-foot working face and covered with a layer of soil, completely closing off any open waste areas each day. Learn more here.;

Two aluminum-processing industries in Tennessee have submitted preliminary plans to construct a landfill behind the county airport, a proposal similar to one two years ago that was voted down by commissioners. The 95.2-acre landfill proposed by Tennessee Aluminum Processors Inc. and Smelter Service Corp. will be discussed at a city planning commission meeting on 5 January 2010. Any aluminum by-product would be separated from the groundwater by a 12-inch thick leachate collection system, a 7-foot clay buffer, two high density polyethylene liners and a clay liner, according to the plans. Learn more here.;

In 2011, Madison County, New York became one of only a few locations in the world to bring online an innovative, solar energy-generating exposed geomembrane cap on a landfill cell. The site utilizes a Spectro PowerCap™ from Carlisle Energy Services, Inc. (CES) with a 20-30 year long-term interim cover design. A new video on YouTube (see above) showcases Madison County's investment in (and savings from) greener engineering strategies, such as installing a "solar landfill."

ASTM International's Committee D35 on Geosynthetics has released a new standard, ASTM D7703, Practice for Electrical Leak Location on Exposed Geomembranes Using the Water Lance System. The practice standardizes a geoelectric method used to detect potential leaks in exposed electrically isolating membranes in the field in containment applications. The Committee's first vice chairman, Tim Bauters, P.E., Ph.D., says "... pinpointing of leaks can prevent costly site closures, delayed permitting/opening and, in the worst case, cleanup costs."

The walls of the historic Erie Canal are tainted. Coal tar in the soil from an old gas-manufacturing plant is leaching through the walls of the canal. A public meeting will be held on July 15 to solicit public views on possible remediation solutions. Learn more here.;

Writing for the Defense Video and Imagery Distribution System (DVIDS), Cpl. Samantha H. Arrington details the construction of a fuel containment zone at Combat Outpost Ouellette in Afghanistan. She writes, "By the light of a full Afghan moon, a handful of young Marines are hard at work. They lay a thick plastic liner over a hollow square. When finished, they will have created a container for more than 40,000 gallons of jet fuel – extending the range for Marine helicopters supporting ground troops near Sangin, Afghanistan." Read more. Learn more here.;

A new, patent pending capping system called LiteEarth™ launched at the international Waterproof Membranes Conference in Dusseldorf, Germany. The system features a single-ply composite of synthetic grass fused with EPDM geomembrane to produce a flexible, durable, one of a kind product for a wide range of permanent closures.