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The Dirt, biweekly eNewsletter

Top Stories - February 21, 2012

 

Storm Water Culvert Repair Stands Up to Weight of Railroad Trains and Contaminated Soil

The town of Durham, New Hampshire found that sliplining with 5-foot diameter polypropylene pipe was the solution to a three-pronged problem being faced when they repaired a storm water culvert. The 99-year old poured-in-place box culvert runs under an active railroad track through a Brownfield site. This required the repair to be able to seal out any contamination from above, not inhibit the creek’s water flow rate and still be able to withstand the weight of 17 feet of earth and the multi-ton Amtrak passenger and freight railcars frequently passing overhead every day. Construction costs were originally pegged at $180,000, but the final tally of $101,000 was a reduction due to the pipe selection and the project being treated as a design-build undertaking.

To see the full press release, click here to take you directly to the source.

 

 

IECA has an exclusive offer for Land and Water readers!

If you're still undecided about coming to IECA's Environmental Connection 2012 in Las Vegas next week, we have a special deal for you! Visit IECA's website and register for a complimentary expo hall pass*. Just enter coupon code "ec12expo" on page “Step 1 of 4: Contact Information” and complete the registration process. There are a limited number of free passes available and this offer is only valid through Wednesday, Feb. 22nd. Don’t wait or you’ll miss out on this unprecedented offer!

*Offer code only valid until February 22, 2012. Valid for online redemption only. May not be combined with any other offer or applied to the purchase of full-conference pass. No cash value.

To see the full story click here to go directly to the source.


 


 

EPA Issues Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Construction Sites

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a new permit, in accordance with the Clean Water Act, that will provide streamlined permitting to thousands of construction operators, while protecting our nation’s waterways from discharges of polluted stormwater from construction sites. The new permit was shaped by important input from the public and stakeholders to ensure that it provides important protections for waterways, while also providing flexibility to operators.

The 2012 construction general permit (CGP) is required under the Clean Water Act and replaces the existing 2008 CGP, which expired on February 15, 2012. The new permit includes a number of enhanced protections for surface waters, including provisions to protect impaired and sensitive waters. Under the Clean Water Act, national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permits are typically issued for a five-year period, after which time EPA generally issues revised permits based on updated information and requirements, as is the case with today’s announcement. The permit also provides new flexibilities for operators.

The 2012 CGP updates include steps intended to limit erosion, minimize pollution sources, provide natural buffers or their equivalent around surface waters, and further restrict discharges to areas impaired by previous pollution discharge.

To see the full press release, click here to take you directly to the source.


 


 

FGI Establishes Geomembrane Polymer Selection Matrix

The Fabricated Geomembrane Institute (FGI) has developed a Geomembrane Polymer Selection Matrix to assist engineers, designers, and specifiers with the proper selection of geomembrane polymers based upon their attributes, physical properties, performance, and test methods. This matrix lists 33 properties and attributes that may be part of the considerations made when selecting the proper polymer for the project. The current version of the matrix is available by clicking here. The FGI Geomembrane Polymer Matrix will be continually reviewed and updated as new polymer materials become available and additional selection properties, test results, and attributes are added.

The matrix is polymer-based and is designed to narrow the search for a few of the 33 geomembranes that could be suitable for a specific application or project. The Geomembrane Selection Matrix can be used to select a geomembrane polymer type for a wide range of containment applications, such as, solid waste containment, waste water ponds, tailings impoundments, coal ash ponds, oil exploration and cleanup, potable water containment and protection, canals, and dam and levee facings.

To see the full press release, click here to take you directly to the source.


 


 

Hog Farm Fined $1.5 Million for Clean Water Act Violations

The president of North Carolina-based Freedman Farms, Inc. was sentenced in federal court to five years probation and ordered to pay $1.5 million in fines, restitution and community service payments for violating the Clean Water Act. The announcement was released by the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

The incident dates back to December 2007, when the Columbus County-based farm discharged hog waste from a 4,800-head finishing site directly into the Browder’s Branch, a stream that leads to the Waccamaw River.

William B. Freedman, president of Freedman Farms, Inc. was sentenced to six months in prison, followed by six months of home confinement. Freedman Farms must also implement a comprehensive environmental compliance program and institute an annual training program.

Evidence presented to the court documented that Freedman Farms discharged hog waste into a tributary to the Waccamaw River that flows through the White Marsh, a large wetlands complex in the southern tip of the state. The hog waste was supposed to dump directly into two lagoons for treatment and disposal but, instead, was discharged directly into Browder’s Branch.

To see the full press release, click here to take you directly to the source.


 


 

Contech Announces New Ownership and Name

Contech Engineered Solutions LLC (formerly Contech Construction Products Inc.), a leading provider of innovative engineering and site solutions for the residential, commercial and infrastructure markets, announced several positive developments, which position the company for the future.

Contech is pleased to announce that it has new ownership in place; equity investors including Anchorage Capital Group, LLC, Littlejohn & Co., LLC, Tennenbaum Capital Partners, LLC and Farallon Capital Management, L.L.C. These investors have worked with Contech, its equity partners and its senior lenders to recapitalize the company and secure long-term financing. The company also announced that as a result of its growth in new markets and geographies, and the build-out of its product lines for the residential, commercial and infrastructure markets, it has changed its corporate name to Contech Engineered Solutions LLC, effective immediately.

To see the full press release, click here to take you directly to the source.


 


 

DEP Fines Chesapeake Appalachia $565,000

The Department of Environmental Protection has fined Chesapeake Appalachia LLC a total of $565,000 in civil penalties and reimbursement costs for erosion and sediment control violations, wetland encroachment violations and an April 2011 well control incident.

DEP fined Chesapeake $215,000 for a March 2011 incident in West Branch Township, Potter County, where sediment discharged into a stream classified as high quality. In late February and early March, heavy rain caused significant erosion to an access road and Chesapeake’s Beech Flats gas well pad, both of which lacked sufficient controls in place to prevent the run-off. As a result, significant amounts of sediment entered the Right Branch of Wetmore Run, a high-quality stream.

In addition, Chesapeake paid $190,000 as part of a consent order and agreement after the operator lost control of a well head during hydraulic fracturing of the Atgas 2H Well in Leroy Township, Bradford County, on April 19, 2011. Fluids from the well mixed with rainwater and entered a nearby unnamed tributary to Towanda Creek and Towanda Creek itself.

In connection with a third site, DEP fined Chesapeake $160,000 as part of a consent order and agreement resulting from violations in 2010 of impacting a wetland and allowing sediment to enter Sugar Creek in North Towanda Township, Bradford County. Part of a well pad was built in the wetland. It was constructed with extremely high, steep slopes which, after significant precipitation, caused additional sediment to slide further into the wetland and the nearby stream.

To see the full press release, click here to take you directly to the source.


 


 

Propex’s Fibermesh® Named #1 Brand

Fibermesh® by Propex was named the #1 brand of reinforcing fiber in both categories of Concrete Construction Magazine’s 2012 Brand Study: Brand Familiarity and Brand Most Used.

In the magazine’s reader survey, Fibermesh was voted the #1 brand based on these questions: Which brands have you heard of? And, which brands has your firm used in the past two years (including brands you subcontracted with others to install)?

The survey sample of 4,250 was selected in systematic fashion by the magazine’s publisher, Hanley Wood and Readex Research from recipients classified as contractors in Concrete Construction’s readership. The data was collected via mail survey from September 20 to November 7, 2011. Readex Research is a nationally recognized independent research company located in Stillwater, Minnesota.

To see the full press release, click here to take you directly to the source.