Utility performance has been the subject of many benchmarking tools over the last decade. Professional water and wastewater associations have offered programs to their members to fill this need, focusing on various indicators. Typically, the measures are broad and all-encompassing at higher levels of management and more specific and narrow at the lower levels of an organization.
This article originally appeared in the 07/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.
All of us are concerned with the global impact of adverse environmental issues. Since early times, humans have known that some of the most useful metals, such as lead and arsenic, are also very toxic and need to be controlled and contained.
This article originally appeared in the 06/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.
Economic prosperity is in the best interest of every United States citizen. Climate change due to human-caused greenhouse gases in the atmosphere may threaten the economic survival of this nation.
- By H. Troy Stuckey, Hannah R. Kolni
This article originally appeared in the 06/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.
Many facility environmental managers believe that their wastewater compliance requirements are properly managed when discharges from “production-related operations and equipment” are permitted. However, other discharge sources, such as building- or facility-related utilities that provide support to company operations, may require permitting or be subject to other regulatory requirements.
This article originally appeared in the 06/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.
Unfortunately, many of the advances in our industrialized world have come at great expense to our environment. Currently, one of the biggest environmental problems in the United States and other developed nations is the contamination of soil and groundwater caused by accidental releases of hazardous chemicals and petroleum hydrocarbons.
This article originally appeared in the 06/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.
Since the demise of communism in 1989, many eastern European countries have invested heavily in environmental technologies and cleaner production facilities. The primary factors driving this growth have been the accession to the European Union (EU) and its commitment to integrating member country economies.
This article originally appeared in the 06/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.
Mercury is getting a lot of attention, both in the popular press and in state and federal regulatory agencies. Combustion systems, like coal-fired power plants, industrial boilers, incinerators, and cement kilns, are sources of mercury emissions to the air. This article outlines the mercury emission regulations that apply to different combustion systems and the best demonstrated means to control these emissions from combustion sources. This article focuses on utility and industrial combustion systems because they are the highest emitters and face the greatest reductions and tightest scrutiny.
This article originally appeared in the 06/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.
An analysis of the lighting industry shows a significant shift from the use of incandescent bulbs to fluorescent bulbs. Incandescent bulbs use more fossil fuel energy, cost more and are less effective than fluorescent bulbs, which produce more lumens.
- By Anthony Zippi, Mark A. Ceaser
This article originally appeared in the 06/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.
More than 7.6 billion tons of industrial solid waste are generated annually in the United States. That’s the equivalent of more than 8,500 Golden Gate Bridges, more than 2,000 Empire State Buildings, or 1,200 Hoover Dams.
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.
As urban centers grow in size, substantial areas of agricultural and industrial land are being converted to residential use. One of the issues frequently encountered when such a change in land use is implemented is the presence of elevated concentrations of chlorinated pesticides and herbicides historically used in agricultural crop production.
- By Alan Seech, James Mueller
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.
On Sept. 21, 2006, Stephen Johnson, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), signed the latest revisions to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM), also known as PM-2.5.
- By Steven J. Christiansen, JD
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.
If Buddy Holly, the 1950s rock musician, helped put Lubbock, Texas, on the map, heavy rains and flooding have done their best to take it off. So, when a warning like the one quoted below is published, this major city located in the Texas Panhandle takes it very seriously.
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.
During my confirmation hearing in the Senate in 1989, I became aware how deep were concerns in the Democratic-controlled Congress that a Republican appointee for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator would not vigorously enforce environmental laws against business.
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.
Just as "it takes two to tango," it has taken two political parties working in tandem over the last few decades in the United States to produce the vast majority of major federal environmental laws.
- By Cindy Chen, Mike Hicks
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.
For years, fiberglass-reinforced baths and showers have been perceived as “commodity” products. Of course -- as with any product -- there have always been quality differences between brands. Nevertheless, the manufacturing methods employed and the materials used have been roughly similar.
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.
Facilities across many industry sectors are turning to mobile technology software designed for PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) handheld devices to meet various environmental compliance demonstration requirements. This article discusses the capabilities of mobile technology in this regard and describes several situations in which facilities fulfilled regulatory requirements by utilizing software designed for handheld devices.
This article originally appeared in the 04/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.
When considering entities that manage hazardous waste generated at a large number of generating sites, most people think of billion-dollar national or multinational corporations, with factories and facilities distributed over a wide area.
This article originally appeared in the 04/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.
Did you ever notice that advertisements for environmental, health and safety (EH&S) software products sound like commercials for pain relief?
This article originally appeared in the 04/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.
While cationic and anionic resins typically last a long time in industrial wastewater and groundwater applications, they frequently become fouled by any of several compounds. The fouling eventually will destroy the resins' capacity to adsorb metals or other materials.
This article originally appeared in the 03/01/2007 issue of Environmental Protection.