Related Links: Building the Knowledge Base for Climate Resiliency New York State Flood-Recovery Projects Move Forward New York City's Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) says the city is moving ahead with the implementation of its resiliency plan, based on the findings of a recently released report on climate change that predicts New York City's sea level could rise as much as 6 ft by 2100. Among city programs going forward are the $335-million Lower East Side integrated flood protection system and the estimated $100-million shoreline investment program to protect the most vulnerable waterfront communities.The announcements come as a result of
Photo Courtesy of National Corvette Museum Geologist observes micro pile at Corvette Museum site, revealing vertical dimension of sinkhole that swallowed eight sports cars a year ago. Related Links: Sinkhole Fix Proceeds at Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky. Foundation Flaws Make Kentucky's Wolf Creek Dam a High-Risk Priority Void Safe Sinkholes are common in karst areas, but karst got more attention last year after the destruction of eight specimen sports cars at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky.All 50 states have karst, but it is concentrated in Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida and Pennsylvania, where water-soluble rock such as
Photo Courtesy U.S. EPA Airboat cleanup crews find oil, cut through the ice and swab up the spilled pollutants. Related Links: Yellowstone River Cleanup Continues Following Spill Arkansas Spill Zone Residents Await Plan to Return Home; New Leak in Missouri Bridger Pipeline LLC must install horizontal, directionally drilled crossings on its Poplar Pipeline where it crosses two rivers after a Jan. 17 breach spilled more than 29,000 gallons of oil into the Yellowstone River, near Glendive, Mont.The cause of the breach has not been determined, but sonar testing on Jan. 24 showed that the 2,250-ft section of pipeline—laid in a
Related Links: DOE Contract and Project Management Working Group Report More Troubles, Less Support for Energy Dept.'s MOX Project U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz on Jan. 15 outlined actions his department is taking to improve project management and performance on troubled projects, such as the Mixed- Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility in Savannah River, S.C., and the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant in Washington state.Some of those steps include requiring more-developed designs before major projects can begin, reconstituting the Energy Systems Advisory Board process and establishing a portfolio review board to provide independent assessments of the risk profiles for all major
Photo Courtesy of Heath Consulting Firms say devices already exist to detect escaping methane and will be necessary for compliance with any regulation. Related Links: Fact sheet on White House Plan Datu Research Report on Methane Emissions Technologies and Jobs The Obama administration's proposal to regulate emissions from new and modified oil and natural-gas sources will provide some new work for environmental services companies.That assessment is according to companies that have been working to help oil-and-gas exploration and production companies, pipeline owners and other energy-sector firms identify and mitigate leaks of methane—one of the most potent greenhouse gases. The administration
Rendering Courtesy of Ostara Nutrient Recovery Reactor Reactor unit, as in this rendering, will produce more plant fertilizer from wastewater biosolids. Related Links: Ostara Nutrient Management Solutions Pile driving is underway for construction of Canada's largest-ever nutrient-recovery facility, which will remove phosphorus from sewage solids in Edmonton, Alberta, and use it to make 10,000 kilograms per day of plant fertilizer. The facility will scale up by 20 times a demonstration plant installed in 2007."We are constructing a standard reinforced-concrete slab foundation on top of driven steel piles," says Gavin Post, project manager at Epcor Water Services, Edmonton. The firm and
Photo Courtesy of Southern Co. The Kemper energy facility in Mississippi, now in the startup and testing phase, has garnered international attention as the first U.S. commercial-scale powerplant to implement carbon capture and storage technology, the linchpin of the Obama administration's carbon pollution plan for new powerplants. Related Links: Clean Coal: Is Carbon Capture and Storage Fossil Fuels' Best Hope? Front and center in environmental oversight this year were the Obama administration’s efforts to push through measures to address climate change through regulatory, rather than legislative means.President Obama announced his Climate Action plan in 2013, and federal agencies unrolled several
Related Links: North Dakota Is Bakken Business Studies Find No Link Between Fracking, Water Contamination New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's (D) announcement that he would ban high-volume hydraulic fracturing, more widely known as fracking, was praised by environmental groups but largely criticized by those in favor of the oil-and-gas recovery method as a way to revive economically depressed areas in the state.However, some firms that work in the sector say they expect to see little change as a result of Cuomo’s Dec. 17 decision since the state has had a temporary ban on fracking since 2008.Cuomo’s action is based on
Related Links: New Jersey Landfill Mired in Turmoil Applellate Court Decision Text Fenimore Landfill has sparked controversy once again in Roxbury, N.J., after an appellate court ruled that New Jersey's Dept. of Environmental Protection overstepped its authority when it seized the site in 2013.The court found NJDEP did not secure judicial approval before seizing the property under an emergency order and neglected to properly test the site for contaminants it claimed were a danger to the community.The state's emergency order was issued hours after Gov. Chris Christie (R) signed the New Jersey Legacy Landfill Act, a law which allows the
Hundreds of sustainability experts converged on Long Beach, Calif., to discuss engineering resilient infrastructure in a world challenged by sea-level rise and climate change.