The multibillion-dollar, decade-long effort to restore the Florida Everglades has made tangible but slow progress; however, the effort is facing some difficult challenges ahead, says a new report from the National Research Council. Photo: Courtesy of South Florida Water Management District The Picayune Strand project, begun in 2003, was one of two CERP projects to receive ARRA funding to accelerate construction. The Tamiami Trail project also received ARRA funds. Those challenges include finding continued funding and balancing the need for meeting federal water-quality requirements with the restoration plan’s goal of increasing water flows, the study authors conclude in the NRC’s
An ill-starred effort to bore one of the deepest tunnels in the world has restarted in the mountains of northern Peru after months of delays due to rock bursts. The $247-million Los Olmos irrigation project was halted when the tunnel-boring machine at work on the 12.5-mile-long tunnel (with 6,890 ft of overburden) was damaged by rock bursts in April. On July 8, engineers with Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht were able to restart the TBM, but rock bursts continue to hinder progress. In August, work began on the tunnel’s opposite approach using conventional drill-and-blast methods. The tunnel breakthrough is now slated
Belgian dredging firm Jan de Nul has won the Panama Canal expansion’s last major contract, a $54.5-million job to dredge and excavate 4 million cu meters at the entrance of the historic waterway’s Pacific access channel. The contract will make way for construction of new and larger locks. + Image Photo: Courtesy of Panama Canal Authority Excavation work to build an access channel from the Panama Canal to new, larger locks at the Pacific entrance of the waterway is more than half completed. Photo: Courtesy of Panama Canal Authority Excavation proceeds at the canal’s Atlantic entrance for the new, larger
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has added New York City’s Newtown Creek to its Superfund list, which prioritizes cleanup and remediation efforts for the country’s most hazardous waste sites. The 3.8-mile-long Newtown Creek, which runs along the border of Brooklyn and Queens, was found to be contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pesticides and metals. One of the most active industrial areas in New York City was adjacent to the creek for many years. This is the city’s second site assigned to the Superfund List. Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal was added in March. The EPA says the evaluation
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which periodically inspects California’s Central Valley flood-protection network, released a report card on 10 of the state’s 26 levee systems, rating seven as “unacceptable” and warning some problems would “likely prevent performance in the next flood event.” Issues cited included encroachment, underseepage, vegetation and slope stability. The other three won “marginally acceptable” ratings; they retain eligibility for “active” status in a federal “rehabilitation and inspection” levee safety program and may receive federal aid to repair flood damage. The Corps is using $4.6 million in American Recovery and Investment Act funds to contract with GHT2—a
On the heels of two high-profile oil- pipeline leaks in Michigan and Illinois and a high-pressure gas-pipeline explosion that killed at least four people and destroyed a neighborhood in San Bruno, Calif., U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Sept. 15 sent to Congress proposed legislation to beef up federal regulatory oversight and increase penalties for violations of pipeline safety rules. Photo: Courtesy of U.S. Government Technicians in protective equipment prepare pipe section before cutting and removing it from the Enbridge pipeline oil-spill site near Marshall, Mich. The segment was shipped to federal lab for analysis. The legislation the proposed bill
Hoping to speed up the viability of carbon capture and sequestration, the U.S. Dept. of Energy on Sept. 7 awarded more than $575 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to 22 different CCS research projects. The DOE gave funds in four areas: three projects will receive $312 million for large-scale testing of advanced gasification technologies; four projects will get $123 million to research advanced turbo-machinery to lower emissions from industrial sources; five projects will share $90 million to research how to increase the efficiency and cut costs of post-combustion carbon capture; and 10 projects that already have received
As BP begins to secure the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, the oil and gas industry is preparing to enter a new era of regulation, likely giving birth to an oil-spill-response industry and the eventual re-engineering of rigs, platforms and wells. Photo: Courtesy U.S. Coast Guard Recent reports advocate stricter regulations and better response plans. Reports released this month by a joint task force and BP all point to the need for a fresh look at the way the industry operates in the Gulf of Mexico and responds to oil spills. In addition, a Sept. 8 report from
With the failed blowout preventer atop BP’s Macondo well removed and BP moving toward a final plugging and abandonment of the well, the industry is beginning to focus more on the causes and eventual outcomes of the April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon that led to the deaths of 11 men and months-long oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico. Photo: U.S. Coast Guard Blowout preventer that failed to operate in April was brought to the surface on Sept. 4. It is now undergoing forensic investigation onshore in Louisiana. BP, a joint industry task force and a team of
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its contractors are setting a record for achieving the fastest gain in consolidation and strength on earthen levees—a mere 60 to 90 days, compared with 10 to 11 years—by using an intricate design that layers a sand blanket, geotextile fabrics, rock and wick drains to evacuate moisture from marshy soils. “Something of this major import, of this scope, is rare, and we are using unique and unusual means to achieve those goals,” says Al Naomi, program manager, URS Corp., San Francisco. URS performed geotechnical design and developed plans and specifications for the levee
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