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Will the Lights Go Out?

July 1, 2004By Mark Baxter, PE

An overview of the challenges facing the existing energy industry and the implications for alternative energy sources

One of the most necessary, yet taken for granted, resources we require is energy. The United States consumes more than its fair share of the global energy supply when compared to other countries -- nearly four times the amount of the second largest consumer, China.

Checkmate

June 1, 2004By Shannon D. Spence, Wendelyn S. Stoveland

A master strategy for securing your water treatment facility

At the American Water Works Association (AWWA) Security Congress, which was held in Charlotte, N.C., from April 25 to April 27, 2004, it was evident that public water and wastewater utilities were no longer novices in the security arena. The events of September 11, 2001, and the subsequent mandates for the water industry contained in the Bioterrorism Act, have greatly affected the way we do business. Consequently, utilities are starting to approach security the way they approach safety -- as an integral part of day-to-day facility management and operations.

Clearing the Air

June 1, 2004By Chuck Wehland, Laurie Earl

A critical review of Clean Air Act legal definitions

Recent legal developments show that the Clean Air Act is broken. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the courts are responsible for the legal malfunction. The U.S. Congress has the authority to repair the statute, but may not have either the institutional will or a clear blueprint for doing it.

Compliance Survival Tactics

June 1, 2004By Greg Gasperecz

How to protect yourself from the Title V data explosion in the absence of a flak jacket

The Title V operating program resulting from 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act requires that facilities demonstrate, in one document, their compliance with all applicable regulations and requirements of the act. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that, as of 2003, 95 percent of Title V permits have been issued nationwide. As such, approximately 19,000 facilities are required to submit annual certifications and semiannual deviation reports.

In the Lab

June 1, 2004

Making Sustainability Work In Today's Society

June 1, 2004By Donald A. Flory, Ron Sparks, CSP, PE, REM

The growing movement focused on managing our environmental, economic and social resources for the long term

The correlation between age and the perception of time is an interesting study. When a teenager is 15, the sixteenth birthday seems to take forever to arrive. The flip side of this situation is that when you are 55, time seems to flash by at an incredibly faster rate.

Preparing for an Uncertain Future

June 1, 2004By Richard MacLean

Environmental strategic planning essentials

The very nature of environmental issues has grown much more complex: from local contamination to global impacts; from toxic hot spots to breaks at the DNA level; from pollution control to supply chain reliability; from regulations to voluntary product certifications; and so on. Strategic planning offers the best approach against being caught off guard, indeed to gain a competitive advantage. Here's how to go about it.

Remediation Marathon Style

June 1, 2004By Scott D. Wallace

Constructed wetlands are an economical way of cleaning up petroleum-contaminated sites that require treatment over long periods of time

In-situ biological treatment (bioremediation) systems have now gained widespread acceptance for dealing with sites impacted by petroleum hydrocarbons. However, at many remediation sites, the need to pump groundwater to maintain gradient control still generates a stream of contaminated water requiring treatment, even if in-situ technologies are being employed.

A Tempting Terrorist Target

May 1, 2004By Bob Durstenfeld

How emerging pervasive detection technologies will mitigate the environmental threat of terrorist actions involving toxic industrial chemicals

While a great deal of attention has been justifiably paid to airline security threats in light of the attacks of 9/11, there remains another threat, one that is more widespread and potentially more lethal: toxic industrial chemicals (TICs).

Demystifying Membranes - Part II

May 1, 2004By Peter S. Cartwright, P.E.

This overview helps separate the facts from the fallacies related to membrane technologies used in wastewater treatment

This is the second article in a two-part series on membrane elements and treatment systems. "Demystifying Membranes - Part I" was published in Environmental Protection's July-August 2003 issue and is accessible online at no charge under "Archives" at www.eponline.com. The first article compares the advantages and disadvantages of four types of membrane separation technologies. Part II clears up some common misunderstandings about the properties of membrane technologies.

On Guard

May 1, 2004By Mark Wysong

Guidelines for chemical terrorism preparedness

Today we live in a newly dangerous world where it is impossible to predict when and how acts of chemical and biological terrorism may occur. Preparing our organizations and communities to address these threats is vital, of course, for the consequences of not being unprepared can be devastating.

On the Horizon

May 1, 2004By Bill S. Forcade

Top issues in air quality management in 2004

2004 will prove to be an interesting year for air pollution control. Just as last year, New Source Review (NSR) reform will continue to dominate the landscape with legislative, regulatory and judicial efforts to swing the pendulum in favor of particular viewpoints. Media attention on the NSR issue may overshadow equally important developments in Hazardous Air Pollutant (HAP) control, more stringent Title V permitting, implementation of new National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and enforcement.

Persistence Pays Off

May 1, 2004By David Laughlin

Persistent bio-oxidation is an innovative remediation strategy for achieving successful site closure for low-level contaminated sites

Most companies that deal with environmental liabilities usually manage a broad array of projects and sites with varying degrees of contamination. While the remediation and cleanup options for many properties can be readily identified, environmental decisions for some sites can be somewhat difficult.

The Brink of Change

May 1, 2004By Anthony J. Buonicore, Dianne Crocker

The forces that govern the way environmental due diligence is conducted are changing; significantly, in some respects. The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now in the final stages of drafting the first rule for "all appropriate inquiry" (AAI), a term for the investigation into a property's potential for environmental contamination prior to purchase.

The Search for Deep Green

May 1, 2004By Richard MacLean

Characteristics of companies that take environmental, health and safety performance seriously

Benchmarking is very much in vogue, but how do you identify the best in class? It is more difficult than you may imagine, since reputation and many of the readily available metrics are poor determinants of deep green. What are the ideal indicators? First and foremost, they are a shopping list of sound environmental, health and safety (EHS) practices for boards of directors who are worried about corporate governance and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002