Wastes


City of Unalaska Agrees to Extensive Sewer System Upgrade in Federal Settlement

The city of Unalaska, Alaska, will undertake a major upgrade of its municipal sewage treatment plant under a settlement of a Clean Water Act enforcement action filed against the city and the state of Alaska by the Department of Justice on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Central Park Conservancy Awarded Grant to Design New Waste Management System

The Central Park Conservancy, an internationally recognized leader in park management and restoration, has been awarded a $500,000 grant from Alcoa Foundation and an in-kind donation of aluminum valued at $140,000 from Alcoa Recycling to design a sustainable waste management system to increase recycling and make trash removal in the Park more efficient.

Ecologix Environmental Systems Introduces New Standard in Chemical Treatment for Hydraulic Fracturing

Ecologix Environmental Systems, an Atlanta-based wastewater treatment company specializing in oil and gas, has enhanced their mobile Integrated Treatment System (ITS) for hydraulic fracturing.

Plastic Trash Altering Ocean Habitats

A 100-fold upsurge in human-produced plastic garbage in the ocean is altering habitats in the marine environment, according to a new study led by a graduate student researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

Researchers Honored for Submarine Air Quality System

The United States Navy may deploy the nanotechnology-based system in its submarine fleet, according to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which participated in the project.

Bioalchemy and Turning Sludge into Clear Water

Biological treatment plus ozone can reduce the amount of sludge coming from wastewater treatment plants by a factor of ten.

Students Use Dog Waste to Light Park

Every day, about 200 dogs and their owners visit the Cosmo dog park in Gilbert, Ariz. When they go home, they leave behind about eight cubic yards of dog waste, plastic bottles, bags and other trash. Normally, all of that junk ends up in a landfill. But starting this month, the little gifts that Fido leaves will be used to power a light at the park, thanks to a team of engineering and technology students from ASU’s Polytechnic campus.

Landfills Make Air Pollution Too

San Joaquin Valley landfill to spend $3.8 million to resolve Clean Air Act violations



EPA and LA Water Board Set Strict New Pollution Reduction Plans for 175 Waterways in Los Angeles Area

Action Culminates 13 Year Effort, Eliminating Beach Closures, Reducing Trash and Toxic Chemicals in Waters

EPA Proposes First Carbon Pollution Standard for Future Power Plants

Achievable standard is in line with investments already being made and will inform the building of new plants moving forward.

Plans for Guam Wildlife Habitat Project Move Forward

After 25 years, former waste dump converted to endangered wildlife habitat in Guam.

Countertop Composting

Compost bins are not traditionally thought of as convenient, sleek countertop ornaments, but one California team of visionaries fashioned a new look in an effort to increase widespread adoption amongst municipalities and consumers.

Marines Test New Energy Efficient Weapon in the War on Trash

Marines at Camp Smith, Hawaii, are testing a high-tech trash disposal system that can reduce a standard 50-gallon bag of waste to a half-pint jar of harmless ash.

Raw Sewage Home to Millions of Undescribed Viruses

Biologists have described only a few thousand different viruses so far, but a new study reveals a vast world of unseen viral diversity that exists right under our noses. A paper published in the online journal mBio explores ordinary raw sewage and finds that it is home to thousands of novel, undiscovered viruses, some of which could relate to human health.

Study Reveals How Gas, Temperature Controlled Bacterial Response to Deepwater Horizon Spill

In a new study, UC Santa Barbara scientists explain how they used DNA to identify microbes present in the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and how they identified the microbes responsible for consuming the large amount of natural gas present immediately after the spill.

RFID Could Bring More-Realistic Pricing to Garbage Collection

Because costs of trash collection have increased significantly while landfill space diminishes, radio frequency identification (RFID) holds the potential to dramatically reduce the volume of trash and increase the amount of materials being recycled.

Caterer Cooks And Saves Green

Even though many view environmental protection as coming with an extra cost, a California caterer has managed to cut costs tremendously by going green.

Portland, Maine, Facility faces EPA Sanction for Unsafe Storage of Hazardous Chemicals

A chemical manufacturing and distribution facility in South Portland, Maine, faces an EPA fine of up to $151,900 for improper storage of hazardous materials, in violation of federal and state laws.

Google Carbon Offset

Hog Waste Producing Electricity and Carbon Offsets

A pilot waste-to-energy system recently constructed by Duke University and Duke Energy garnered the endorsement of Google Inc., which invests in high-quality carbon offsets from across the nation to fulfill its own carbon neutrality goals.

German Water Bodies Unlikely to Meet EU Quality Standards by 2015 Deadline

This is the conclusion of a study in which data from the four largest rivers in northern Germany – the Elbe, Weser, Aller and Ems – were analyzed over ten years.

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