A major new infrastructure program to reduce or treat raw sewage flowing into Cleveland-area waterways and Lake Erie will move forward, as a result of a Clean Water Act settlement between the U.S. government and the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) announced Dec. 22. The program includes the construction of seven new tunnels and at least $42 million in green infrastructure projects. Photo: Courtesy of Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District is nearing completion on the Mill Creek Tunnel, which can store 75 millions gallons of combined sewage for treatment at one of its
Canada’s National Energy Board approved the $16.2-billion, 1,200-kilometer Mackenzie Valley Pipeline in the Northwest Territories, Canada, but financial and regulatory hurdles remain. The gas project aims to develop three major Arctic natural-gas fields and a pipeline to bring the resource to the southern markets. The project still needs final approval from the federal government in early 2011, more than 6,000 additional project permits and a funding framework. The best-case scenario would see gas flowing by 2018, say industry sources.
In a scathing report issued on Dec. 16, the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill characterizes the effort to build berms to stem the onshore flow from the Macondo well blowout as a politically motivated measure that was ineffective at stopping the oil. Five months after the largest oil spill in U.S. history was capped, contractors are still constructing the sand structures on barrier islands off Louisiana’s coast. The commission concluded that the berms do not survive a cost-benefit analysis because they blocked only 1,000 barrels of the five million barrels of oil that were released in
While the federal government continues to tangle with Congress over a climate-change law, the California Air Resources Board on Dec. 16 endorsed its own cap-and-trade regulation. The measure sets a statewide limit on the emissions from sources responsible for 80% of California’s greenhouse-gas emissions and establishes a price signal needed to drive long-term investment in cleaner fuels and the more efficient use of energy, according to CARB. The regulation is designed to provide covered entities with the flexibility to seek out and implement the lowest-cost options to reduce emissions. The cap-and-trade program also works in concert with standards for cleaner
The U.S. Dept. of Energy is set to start, as early as month’s end, to demolish 57 more contaminated buildings at its Hanford former nuclear weapons site in Washington state. The $62-million effort, boosted by federal stimulus funds, would involve removal of buildings once used to strip plutonium from nuclear fuel rods during bomb-making dating back to World War II. Photo: U.S. Dept. Of Energy Glove boxes used to handle nuclear materials are among contents of buildings to come down. With a public comment period closed on Dec. 27, work will focus on the 200 East Area of Hanford’s Central
The typical winter rains fueled unusually strong El Ni�o weather pattern have lashed Colombia’ Caribbean coast over the past month leaving hundreds dead, thousands homeless and left the much of the South American country’s infrastructure crippled. + Large Image Graphic: C.J. Schexnayder Breach led to widespread flooding on coastal plain. The Colombian branch of the Red Cross set the death toll at 281 and estimate that a total of 2.2 million people in the country have so far been affected by the rains, floods and landslides. The Colombian government puts the damage estimate at more than $5.2 billion to date.
As expected, the Dept. of Justice filed a civil lawsuit against BP and eight other companies involved in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Dec. 15 in the U.S. District Court in New Orleans. A ruling against the companies could mean billions of dollars for environmental cleanup and restoration work for contractors. In the complaint, the U.S. government alleges violations of federal safety and operational regulations that caused or contributed to the oil spill. The lawsuit seeks civil penalties against eight of the firms under the Clean Water Act and damages “without limitation” under the Oil Pollution act for all
A relatively simple formula can predict how well buildings withstand earthquakes, according to lab work and research in Haiti by Purdue University. The studies suggest how to strengthen existing buildings at a low cost and how to make new buildings damage-resistant. Photo: Courtesy of Purdue University Purdue engineers tested their new seismic index theory by building and then shaking a three-story building in a lab. After the January 2010 earthquake, Purdue professors Santiago Pujol and Ayhan Irfanoglu, both civil engineers, surveyed 170 buildings in Haiti. They concentrated on two- to five-story buildings that were made with reinforced-concrete exteriors. About 40%
As many western economies continue to struggle in the wake of the recession, top companies in the environmental sector are expanding their global reach through a mix of organic growth and aggressive acquisitions. Within the water and wastewater sectors, competition has been particularly fierce, as firms look to narrow the bidding lists through consolidation and capitalize on emerging economies. Photo: Courtesy of Black & Veatch Work in the United Kingdom is starting to ramp up again with new projects such as the $150-million expansion of the Mogden Sewage Treatment Works in west London by Black & Veatch. Related Links: Overview:
Philadelphia has launched an ambitious 20-year, $1.6-billion stormwater control plan that its creators hope will transform the city’s combined-sewer system and its urban landscape with new shades of green, including bio-mimetic systems. Photo: Courtesy of Philadelphia Water Dept. Natural rooftop plantings at Philadelphia’s Central Library have reduced stormwater runoff entering the city’s combined-sewer system. Photo: Courtesy of Philadelphia Water Dept. America’s sixth-largest city aims to convert a third of its impervious asphalt surface—about 4,000 acres—into absorptive green spaces through the use of constructed wetlands, floodplain restoration and the use of rain barrels, porous concrete and green roofs. The goal is
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