Environmental professionals, civil engineers, and most other professionals are legally obligated to meet the standard of care, i.e., to apply the care and skill ordinarily applied by local peers performing similar services at the same time.
- By Scott Vierke, John P. Bachner
This article originally appeared in the 11/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Beautiful and blue, vast, and sometimes violent, the Great Lakes are truly "Nature's Reservoir." They contain 20 percent of the earth's fresh surface water, spanning nearly 900 miles from the headwaters of the St. Lawrence River in Kingston, Ontario, in the east to their western fingertip at Duluth, Minnesota.
This article originally appeared in the 11/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
In 1999, when former Vice President Al Gore stated during an interview on a CNN television program that he "took the initiative in creating the Internet," neither political party had any idea of the significance his invention would have on American politics.
This article originally appeared in the 11/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
There are numerous case studies of failed remedial systems, which in turn can be linked to the remedial design team not fully understanding the site conditions. Often the most effective way to clean up these recalcitrant sites is source/migration control rather than intrusive remediation. The best solution can only be determined if the site is properly understood.
This article originally appeared in the 11/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Until just recently, water was viewed as a low-cost commodity. This perception has changed as communities across the United States face water supply limitations and plant managers look for ways to cut their process water treatment cost.
This article originally appeared in the 10/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Daily, an average of 52,089 people travel on flights in and out of Maryland's Baltimore/Washington International (BWI) Airport. To support this amount of passenger traffic, the 3,596-acre airport site must provide parking for departing passengers and access to an ample supply of rental cars for arriving passengers.
This article originally appeared in the 10/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Environmental Protection salutes five outstanding facilities that represent a new progressive attitude in dealing with environmental issues. Our top picks show that a forward-thinking approach, industrial development, and greater profit margins can be balanced with a cleaner environment.
This article originally appeared in the 10/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
An existing consent decree (CD) provides that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was required to issue a final particulate matter (PM) CD no later than December 19, 2003, and that EPA had to sign for publication notices of proposal and final rulemaking concerning its review of the PM national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS).
- By Rodney L. Pennington, PE
This article originally appeared in the 10/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Environmental, health and safety (EHS) managers are keenly aware that their careers and longevity within their organizations are dependent upon their ability to demonstrate that they bring something of value to the table beyond just the donuts for a meeting. It's a subject in need of considerable attention, especially in today's tight economy. This month we examine how to identify the communication barriers that impede real progress.
This article originally appeared in the 10/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
While reminiscent of the many ranches that once occupied this region, the slowly turning windmill and large cisterns on the Roy Lee Walker Elementary School campus in McKinney, Texas, are not intended for decoration. They're examples of the many sustainable practices the school district has incorporated to protect the environment and teach environmental awareness through hands-on learning.
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Over the last several years there have been widespread misconceptions about which type of heat recovery media (HRM) is best for heat exchange and horsepower usage when used with a regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO), a type of air pollution control technology used to destroy volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Environmental Protection's readers respond to the question, "Do environmental management systems provide value?"
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
It is no secret that the financial scandals of recent years have had a dramatic impact not just on the business world itself, but also on individual investors and government regulators. Enron, WorldComm, Tyco, MCI and others have entered the popular lexicon as words that will forever be associated with rampant greed and seemingly non-existent oversight. Whether we've seen the last of the fall of the giants, involving nearly incomprehensible loss of capital, is anyone's guess.
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Water shortages have become a problem in America due to an ever-increasing population and a dwindling water supply. Areas where water is being restricted are the west coast states, the southwestern states, and even states in New England.
- By Peter S. Cartwright, PE, George R. Alther
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Biosolids -- in the United States, more than 19,000 municipal wastewater treatment facilities generate 7 million dry tons of this material every year. Biosolids are the nutrient-rich organic materials resulting from the treatment of sewage sludge, which is the name for the solid, semi-solid, or liquid untreated residue generated during the treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment facility. Wastewater treatment plants spend $1.1 billion to treat and dispose of the stuff. Over 80 percent of it is recycled and reused.
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Total organic carbon (TOC) analysis can be used as an effective industrial wastewater monitoring tool. However, heavily particulated sample matrices present significant challenges for most TOC analyzers. The following guidelines address the various considerations for performing automated TOC analysis on these types of samples.
- By Mike Purcell, Brian Wallace
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
The full cost of ownership related to operating a water or wastewater treatment facility consists of the initial capital, commissioning, training, spare parts, maintenance, and calibration costs for the lifetime of the equipment.
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
U.S. industry faces the daunting task of managing investigations and clean-ups at thousands of contaminated properties. In staying abreast of new technology and ever-evolving regulatory programs, companies must address many challenges involving regulations, technologies, and costs.
- By David H. Simpson, Rusty B. Norris, PE, PLS, RSM
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Sludge dewatering operations at the Lancaster wastewater treatment plant run continuously five and a half days every week, processing an average of 95 cake tons per day. Before it adopted a new polymer preparation approach to more fully activate cationic polymer, belt-press dewatering at the facility had become highly expensive and inefficient.
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
The 1972 Clean Water Act (CWA) was created to restore and maintain the integrity of the nation's water. One of the specific goals of the CWA is the complete elimination of pollutant discharge into navigable waters. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permitting Program, which supports the CWA, requires permitting for all point source discharges to U.S. waters (i.e., "direct discharges").
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.