In olden times, just over 30 years ago in the mid-1970s, the environmental movement was still young, "environmentalists" were a troublesome new class of malcontents and eccentrics, and men were still men. Environmental legislation seemed highly partisan. Democratic majorities on both sides of Congress (until 1980 when the Senate changed) were the driving force behind new clean water and clean air amendments, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Comprehensive Response, Compensation, & Liability Act (CERCLA)/Superfund.
This article originally appeared in the 01/01/2006 issue of Environmental Protection.
While the sitting U.S. Congress might be characterized as attempting to expand federal spending abroad and restrict spending at home without regard to the impacts on domestic programs, including water quality-related programs, Hurricane Katrina and a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report on infrastructure maintenance may have been "watershed events" that will result in some re-examination of federal spending priorities in the public sector.
- By Jason V. Turner, Sarah Klahn
This article originally appeared in the 01/01/2006 issue of Environmental Protection.
Arsenic (As) removal from drinking water by adsorptive media has been a proven technology for years. In the western and southwestern United States, however, much of the As-tainted groundwater has a pH value that is high enough to significantly reduce the operating capacity of adsorptive media, including the iron-, alumina-, and titanium-based media commercially available to municipalities.
This article originally appeared in the 01/01/2006 issue of Environmental Protection.
The bottom line for companies is that now may be the right time to take a systematic look at their products and services.
This article originally appeared in the 01/01/2006 issue of Environmental Protection.
2005 saw developments related to waste management in both the judicial, administrative, and regulatory contexts. These developments are likely to continue to influence policy and actions well into 2006. The following article summarizes some of these major developments, with an eye toward future effects.
- By Stephen I. Addlestone, JD
This article originally appeared in the 01/01/2006 issue of Environmental Protection.
We've asked leaders from different segments of the environmental field to gaze into their crystal balls and forecast significant developments they see occurring in 2006 and beyond.
- By Angela Neville, Jason Goodman
This article originally appeared in the 01/01/2006 issue of Environmental Protection.
SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Daniel Hinerfeld, the young, ultra-articulate director of communications for the Southern California office of the Natural Resources Defense Council ("NRDC"), agreed to let me drop by in mid-September to interview him and some other NRDC staffers so I could write this installment. I was slightly nervous about visiting.
This article originally appeared in the 11/01/2005 issue of Environmental Protection.
What's bright blue, heavier than water and mostly insoluble? In the case of a brownfield site in the Midwest, the answer is a daunting remediation challenge.
- By Joseph F. Lorenz, Ronald E. Hutchens
This article originally appeared in the 11/01/2005 issue of Environmental Protection.
The following is the first part in a two-part series that examines the subject of product stewardship. This issue is taking on a whole new significance in light of emerging global regulations based on the precautionary principle and management's push to develop new products in expanded markets.
This article originally appeared in the 11/01/2005 issue of Environmental Protection.
It took years and years of designing, planning, and problem-solving before a vehicle that wasn't powered by a gasoline engine actually made it onto the market in quantities sufficient to satisfy more than the most adventurous or environmentally conscious of consumers.
This article originally appeared in the 11/01/2005 issue of Environmental Protection.
Water reuse has gone from being a positive environmental alternative to a growing necessity. Reusing wastewater saves money and the environment, but it can be expensive to pipe treated water through miles of distribution lines from a centralized reclamation facility to where it is needed.
This article originally appeared in the 11/01/2005 issue of Environmental Protection.
Physical water treatment (PWT) is a general term that refers to non-chemical methods of controlling or preventing fouling, especially mineral fouling or scale. PWT technologies use the laws of physics to impact water chemistries and mitigate scale without the use of chemical additives. Such technologies target lime scale, an extremely adhesive crystalline precipitate of calcium carbonate, which is responsible for the majority of scaling problems. Calcium carbonate also traps other minerals, such as magnesium, to form combined scales, just as it traps soap in residential sinks and bathtubs to form so-called "soap scum."
This article originally appeared in the 11/01/2005 issue of Environmental Protection.
We are proud to showcase the five winners of our tenth annual Facilities of the Year Competition. These facilities represent a wide variety of industrial sectors and geographical locations.
This article originally appeared in the 10/01/2005 issue of Environmental Protection.
Attention is typically given to regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO) performance only when a specific problem or fault shuts the system down or when the system is out of compliance.
This article originally appeared in the 10/01/2005 issue of Environmental Protection.
Water is the hot issue of the next 25 years. You know it, I know, but the American public doesn't. Why should they? American households spend less than any other industrialized nation for their water use. In fact, every year they spend nearly twice as much on carbonated and caffeinated beverages as they do on treating drinking and wastewater.
This article originally appeared in the 10/01/2005 issue of Environmental Protection.
The accounting scandals, perp walks to prison, and Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) have sent shock waves throughout the ranks of boards and executives. Has this significantly improved environmental, health, and safety (EHS) and social responsibility governance at the top? Unlikely. What will it take to get executives and the board fully engaged?
This article originally appeared in the 10/01/2005 issue of Environmental Protection.
Over the past few decades there has been an increased awareness of the importance of water quality. Many municipalities and industrial facilities have upgraded or installed new technologies to meet the demand for clean water. Advances in water quality science show that further improvements are needed to ensure a plentiful water supply and to protect the natural environment.
- By W. Wesley Eckenfelder, William Ney Hansard
This article originally appeared in the 10/01/2005 issue of Environmental Protection.
Despite the very best in design, there does come a time in every wastewater lagoon system when sludge must be removed.
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2005 issue of Environmental Protection.
Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation is a proven disinfection technology that has been used for almost a century. The technology is used to disinfect drinking water (municipal and consumer), wastewater (discharge and water reuse), indoor air, swimming pools, and industrial effluents from the food and beverage industries, cooling towers, fish hatcheries, ballast water, semiconductor fabricators, and pharmaceutical manufacturers.
- By Bertrand W. Dussert, PhD
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2005 issue of Environmental Protection.
This year marks the 15th anniversary of the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990, established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce or prevent pollution at its source, before it's generated.
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2005 issue of Environmental Protection.