Related Links: Consent decree filed March 5 in federal district court Complaint filed in federal district court by U.S., W.Va., Pa., Ky. In a settlement with the U.S. Dept. of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency, Alpha Natural Resources Inc., a major U.S. coal company, has agreed to pay a record $27.5 million in civil fines and spend about $160 million for projects to curb discharges of pollutants from its mines in five Eastern states.Under a consent decree filed on March 5 in federal district court in Charleston, W.Va., the company, based in Bristol, Va., will settle thousands of permit violations
Photo by Peter Reina for ENR Planned nuke plant relies heavily on 3D, 4D modeling, said Martin Westbury, project director. Related Links: Russia Moving to Expand Global Nuclear Power Market Share China To Build First New U.K. Nuke Plants in More Than 20 Years U.K. Takes Step Toward First Nuclear Powerplant in Two Decades Officials of the European Union are soon to probe the legality of U.K. government guarantees to the private-sector developer of Britain's first nuclear powerplant since the mid-1990s.While the EU investigates whether the guarantees comply with its state aid rules, the French-led developer of the three-reactor, 3,300-MW
Photo Courtesy of CDOT U.S. 36 corridor upgrades will include new lanes, bridges and a commuter bike lane. Related Links: First Phase of U.S. 36 Expansion Hits Its Peak CDOT Selects Design-Build Team for Phase 2 of U.S. 36 The Colorado Dept. of Transportation last week finalized a controversial contract with private consortium Plenary Roads Denver to build the second phase of the U.S. 36 Managed Lanes project. The two-phase project expands and improves the main freeway between Denver and Boulder.It adds a "managed lane" in each direction for bus rapid transit, high-occupancy vehicles and drivers willing to pay a
Related Links: Duke Energy's Dan River page NCDENR page on spill The two stormwater pipes that caused the early February release of as much as 39,000 tons of coal ash into the Dan River in North Carolina have been plugged.But while damage to the downstream environment is still being assessed, the event appears certain to have far-reaching effects for the utility that owns the site and the state agency that regulates it.In the weeks since the leak was first discovered on Feb. 2 at a former Eden, N.C., coal-fired powerplant owned by Charlotte-based Duke Energy, the U.S. Attorney's Office in
Related Links: Repairs Begin On Kentucky Bridge Struck By Cargo Ship Kentucky Bridge Collapse Will Speed Up Construction Work Construction is scheduled to start in March on a $131.5-million bridge over the Tennessee River in western Kentucky that will replace the aging Eggners Ferry Bridge.The old bridge was shut down after a cargo ship struck it, taking out a 322-ft span in 2012.Fort Worth, Texas-based Johnson Brothers Corp. won the bid for the new four-lane bridge that will carry U.S. 68/Ky. 80 traffic over Kentucky Lake at the Land Between the Lakes Recreation Area.Gov. Steve Beshear (D) in a Feb.
Related Links: Hawaiian Utilities Balk at Speed of Solar Panel Adoption Xcel Solar Plan Would Triple Overall Generation Peterborough, N.H. is building a 947-KW solar array—the state's largest photovoltaic system and first solar-on-landfill project. The array is sited on former sewer lagoons at the town's wastewater treatment facility.The project has no up-front costs, thanks to a $1.2-million grant approved on Jan. 15 by the state Public Utilities Commission Renewable Energy grant program and financing through a power purchase agreement with Water Street Solar 1.The subsidiary of Borrego Solar, Oakland, Calif., will build, own and operate the plant. The town will
Photo Courtesy of National Corvette Museum Crews formulate a plan to recover eight classic American sports cars that fell into a massive sinkhole that opened up on Feb. 12 under the showroom floor at the Corvette Museum. Related Links: Drones Inspect Sinkhole at National Corvette Museum Time Lapse Video of Corvette Museum Skydome Work The Corvette Museum, where eight collector cars were swallowed suddenly by a sinkhole, now has another large hole—this time in the side of the atrium housing the cars, so a crane can go in and retrieve the vehicles.Construction, engineering and geological experts have been at the
Colorado's U.S. 6 Closed for Bridge Demolitions.The Colorado Dept. of Transportation closed Denver's U.S. 6 freeway on the weekend of Feb. 14 to demolish the Knox Court Bridge and part of the Federal Boulevard Bridge over U.S. 6. During the full closure, crews from contractor Edward Kraemer & Sons Inc., Castle Rock, Colo., completed 20 nights' worth of work in 72 hours. Tasks also included a lane shift to allow for additional bridge work, says Kevin Sullivan, CDOT project director. The $98-million project will replace six obsolete bridges on U.S. 6 between Knox Court and Interstate 25 and improve traffic
Related Links: Information on GBI's Guiding Principles for New Construction President's 2009 Executive Order The Portland, Ore.-based Green Building Initiative (GBI) has launched a new guide to help federal agencies building new construction projects to comply more easily with a 2009 executive order related to sustainability in federal buildings."The Guiding Principles Compliance for New Construction" of federal buildings, released on Feb. 19, complements GBI's program for existing federal buildings, which has certified approximately 250 buildings since its inception. The standards are based upon GBI's Green Globes rating system.According to GBI's new president, Jerry Yudelson, the compliance guide allows agencies to
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