As hurricane season approaches, executives of New Jersey infrastructure agencies and the industry firms that work for them question whether they are doing enough to pressure politicians and other purse-string holders for more infrastructure-resiliency funding in the wake of 2012's Superstorm Sandy."You have to link to people that cut checks and look a generation ahead," Fred Sickels, acting director for drinking water at the New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection, told attendees at a May 7 resiliency conference, sponsored by engineer HMM, in Iselin, N.J. "Engineers have to communicate to policy- makers. Funding it will be a challenge."Donald Cresitello, senior
Related Links: Oklahoma Geological Survey Earthquake map Texas Railroad Commission FAQs on Saltwater Disposal Wells Oklahoma and Texas, two oil and gas strongholds that historically applied a very light hand to government regulation, are taking the steps to address the seismic effects of wastewater disposal associated with hydro-fracking.In late April, the Texas Railroad Commission said that it was assessing results from a recent Southern Methodist University study linking disposal well activity to several 2013 earthquakes along an ancient fault line near Azle, Texas. TRC also put Exxon Mobil on notice to show cause as to why certain of its wells
USAID A map of earthquake's epicenter and surrounding areas. Related Links: View Structural Engineer Kit Miyamoto's Latest Blog and Video from Nepal Quake Zone Kit Miyamoto's First Blog and Video from Quake Zone USAID Nepal Earthquake information page Hartford High School Engineers Help Nepal Students Power Up Since the devastating April 25 earthquake in Nepal that killed 7,500 people, the U.S. has provided more than $14.2 million in humanitarian aid. Federal disaster teams were reaching areas made inaccessible by landslides and debris triggered by the tremor that registered a magnitude-7.9. The federal military teams began aerial assessments of the stricken
Related Links: 'Flawed Design' Caused Failure of Mount Polley Mine's Earthen Dam, Say Investigators Mount Polley Dam Failure Raises Bar for Pebble Mine Backers Imperial Metals Corp., owner of the mine that caused Canada's worst mining disaster in history, has started limited production at an even bigger mine, which could be a threat to Alaska's $2-billion annual salmon and tourism business.Meanwhile, Imperial has applied for a temporary restart of Mount Polley Mine, where a tailings storage pond failed in August 2014, spewing 4.3 billion gallons of water and 10.3 million cu yd of mine tailings and construction waste into two
Related Links: DOE Fact Sheet on March 24 Directive Press Release on Senate Legislation Issued by Office of Sen. Murkowski Industry observers are hopeful that recent initiatives by the Obama administration and Congress could help to break the long-running impasse over the storage and disposal of high-level radioactive waste.On March 24, President Obama signed a directive to enable federal officials to identify a site to store high-level defense-related waste, and a group of senior senators introduced a bill to establish a policy for addressing the long-term storage of nuclear and defense-related radioactive waste. And, on March 27, Sen. Harry Reid
Photo Courtesy of Tar Sands Blockade Testing protocols would aim to prevent pipeline spills, such as in Arkansas in 2013 (above). Related Links: Association of Oil Pipelines Letter Tar Sands Blockade How safe are all the old oil and gas pipelines that crisscross the U.S., and does it make sense to pressure-test most of them? The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration is developing a verification process that may subject to hydrostatic pressure testing as much as 95%, or 182,000 miles, of the U.S. pipelines that transport crude oil, gasoline and other liquids. Up-to-date records also would be required.Evan
AP Oil giant's formerly owned Bayway refinery site in Elizabeth, N.J, which first began operation in 1909, has extensive petroleum and chemicals-related contamination on its 1,300 acres. Related Links: NJ Legislators Kick Off Hearings into Disputed Exxon Mobil Deal How clean is a cleanup? Exxon sites scrutinized as N.J. seeks settlement NJ Sierra Club: Attorney General Tries to Spin ExxonMobil Sellout NJ Announcement of Cleanup Pact for ExxonMobil Refinery Sites Document excerpts detail the state's case against ExxonMobil prior to settlement NJDEP 2006 Report: Natural Resource Damages at ExxonMobil Bayway and Bayonne Sites The huge oil Bayway refinery complex in
Thames Water Huge upgrade will intercept around 18 million tonnes of untreated wastewater now discharged annually into the river through numerous Victorian-era combined sewer overflows. Enlarge Thames Water Sewer program, covering 25 km, will continue through about 2023. London utility Thames Water plc has named three U.K. construction teams for up to $3.5 billion of large-diameter tunnel work on its planned mega-sewer project, the 25-km Thames Tideway. Tunneling and separate financing contracts will be awarded this summer, with construction set to start next year.The tunnel, with work projected to continue through 2023, will be the UK’s largest water-infrastructure project and
Photo Courtesy of Imperial Metals Work is ongoing to build up the height of the failed dam at Mount Polley Mine before the melt. Related Links: BC Tailings Dam Spillage Bigger than Initial Estimates (ENR, subscription) Mount Polley Dam Failure Rasies Bar for Pebble Mine Backers (ENR, subscription) The Mount Polley Mine earthen dam in western Canada failed because of a faulty design that didn't consider the geology of the perimeter foundation, an independent review panel says. The Aug. 4 incident dumped 4.5 billion gallons of water and 10.3 million cu yd of mine tailings and construction waste into nearby
Related Links: EPA Seeks More Input on CO2 rule for Existing Powerplants (ENR, subscription) EPA Sets Ambitious Goal for Reducing CO2 Emissions from Existing Powerplants Speakers at a climate-focused conference on Feb. 23-25 were generally upbeat about efforts the government, states, non-profits and corporations have been making to address climate change over the past decade.Carol Browner, a former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator, pointed to the nation's ability to improve air quality through the Clean Air Act, which was enacted in 1970. "It is because of government and the private sector working together that we have made the progress that