Cleanup of the worst spill of its kind in the history of the U.S. is continuing in east Tennessee, where an earthen retention wall at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston coal plant failed on Dec. 22. The failure sent 5.4 million cu yd of toxic sludge composed of fly ash and water flowing over 300 acres. Photo: AP/Wideworld Impoundment pond retention wall failure on Dec. 22 covered 300 acres with 5.4 million cu yd of coal-combustion waste from TVA’s Kingston powerplant. Photo: United Mountain Defense Water-quality samples in affected area show elevated levels of arsenic. The sludge, a byproduct of
Losing bidders of a U.S. Energy Dept.’s $3-billion cleanup contract at the agency’s Hanford site in Washington state may get a chance to rebid after the agency agreed on Dec. 29 to reevaluate the “mission support” contract award made in September. The decision comes at the urging of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which reviewed a protest of the award by a losing bidder that claimed problems with DOE’s solicitation. GAO dismissed the protest but only after DOE agreed to take “corrective action” in its cost evaluation. A limited-liability company led by Lockheed Martin won the contract, but another led
Cleanup of the worst spill of its kind the history of the United States continues this week in east Tennessee, where an earthen retention wall at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston coal plant failed on Dec. 22 and covered 300 acres with 5.4 million cubic yards and water—or more than one billion gallons—of a sludge-like byproduct of coal combustion called fly ash. Photo: AP/Wide world House knocked off it foundation near site of Tennessee spill. Photo: AP/Wideworld Impoundment pond retention wall failure on Dec. 22 covered 300 acres with 5.4 million cu yd of coal-combustion waste from TVA’s Kingston powerplant.
Parsons Corp., Pasadena, Calif. protested Dec. 23 the U.S. Energy Dept.'s award Dec. 8 of a $3.3-billion contract to a URS Washington Division-led team for liquid waste cleanup at its Savannah River Site former nuclear weapons manufacturing complex in Aiken, S.C. The protest was filed to the U.S. Government Accountability Office by the firm's limited liability company, Savannah River Tank Closure. That unit, a venture that also included Fluor Corp. and Northrop Grumman, was the only other contract bidder. GAO will have 100 days to decide on the protest of the contract, a six-year award at minimum that involves cleaning
Facing an unprecedented water crisis, Israel is speeding up plans to desalinate even larger amounts of seawater than it had already planned. The National Infrastructure and Finance Ministries say in early January they will issue a build-operate-transfer tender for the largest reverse osmosis desalination plant in the world, to be built 40 kilometers south of Tel Aviv. In an effort to speed up the construction of other badly needed plants, the Israeli government has also decided to exempt state utility Mekorot Water from the usual tender process for its planned 100 mcm desalination plant at Ashdod. The government has also
Shifting the emphasis of flood risk reduction work from structural, to non-structural efforts, such as better risk communications and improved evacuation planning, is a key recommendation the National Committee on Levee Safety will make in a report to Congress on Jan. 15. Photo: Tom Sawyer/ENR Emphasis would shift from work like this slurry wall construction to bolster levees in Sacramento to improved risk communications and evacuation planning. The levee failures in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina sounded a national alarm on the unreliability of levees for flood protection, the committee concludes. It will recommend greater use of evacuations during periods
A major water main serving the Washington, D.C., metro area broke on the morning of Dec. 23, disrupting service and stranding motorists along a busy suburban artery for several hours. A 66-in pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipe burst along a section that neighbors State Route 190 in the D.C. suburb of Bethesda, Md., at 8 a.m. Several commuters were traveling the four-lane highway during the morning rush hour when the pipe burst. Photo: AP/Wideworld Motorist stranded by water main break in Washington, D.C., suburbs Dec. 23. The pipe, which carries 135-million gallons of water per minute, sent torrents rushing down a
Before the end of the year, the first in-stream hydrokinetic turbine to produce commercial power will be installed in the upper Mississippi River — just days after receiving the a first of its kind approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the device. Hydro Green Energy LLC of Houston will place its 12-feet in diameter turbine about 50 feet downriver from the Army Corp of Engineers Mississippi Lock and Dam No. 2 in Hastings, Minn. A second turbine will be installed in the spring. At an expected river flow of 2 meters per second, the turbines are expected to
After two days of public hearings and debate, the South Florida Water Management District’s governing board still hesitated to approve an agreement to purchase 180,000 acres of land in the Everglades Agricultural Area from the United States Sugar Corp. for $1.34 billion. As it stood, the board feared, the agreement could expose the district to penalties for conditions over which it had no control. Finally, the board approved a modified agreement with a 4-3 vote, knowing that the Clewiston, Fla., agribusiness might refuse to accept the amendment. But late on Dec. 16, after the water district’s vote, U.S. Sugar issued
President-elect Barack Obama's choice to lead the Dept. of Transportation, 14-year Republican congressman Ray LaHood (Ill.), took construction industry officials by surprise. LaHood's name didn't appear on rumor-mill lists of possible candidates to lead the Dept. of Transportation. Obama formally announced LaHood as his pick to be DOT Secretary on Dec. 19. Ray LaHood He hasn't been a leading legislator on transportation matters, though he served on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for his first six years in the House. Nevertheless, Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), the Transportation committee's current chairman, says he believes LaHood will be "an excellent—superb infact—secretary of
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