This article originally appeared in the 06/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
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.
- By Shannon D. Spence, Wendelyn S. Stoveland
This article originally appeared in the 06/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
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.
- By Donald A. Flory, Ron Sparks, CSP, PE, REM
This article originally appeared in the 06/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
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.
This article originally appeared in the 06/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
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.
This article originally appeared in the 06/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
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.
This article originally appeared in the 06/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
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.
- By Chuck Wehland, Laurie Earl
This article originally appeared in the 06/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Stormwater takes on a new dimension during times of drought and amid concern for climate change, especially in the desert Southwest of the United States where our rivers are mostly dry beds of sand and gravel. Stormwater Phase II Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) communities seeking appropriate best management practices (BMPs) to address sediment load -- the principal nonpoint source pollutant in the arid Southwest -- may find base flow conditions exhibiting no water and a high potential for in-channel scour and sediment loading.
- By Kristine Uhlman, CGWP, RG, Dr. D. Phillip Guertin
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
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.
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
A nine-year, $5.29 million road improvement project in Washington County, Ore., is finally coming to a close in June 2004. With its completion, a community and wetland will begin to enjoy its benefits, including improved pedestrian safety and traffic flow, and protection from erosion and flooding for nearby Johnson Creek.
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
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
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
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).
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Americans demand that their water be safe and clean. And polls and surveys find that Americans are willing to pay their fair share to guarantee the quality of their water. The message to the U.S. Congress is both new and compelling -- if highways and airports are worthy of multi-billion dollar trust funds, so are the nation's waterways. The problem is no longer someone else's; it belongs to each and every one of us -- just as the nation's rivers, lakes, streams, beaches, bays and estuaries belong to us all.
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
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.
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
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.
- By Peter S. Cartwright, P.E.
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
Oil skimmers are simple, dependable and effective tools for removing oil, grease and other hydrocarbons from water. They usually pay for themselves within a few months. In order to ensure the oil skimmer you choose is right for your operation, there are certain steps you can follow.
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
There is a bumper sticker that I see from time to time that reads "Water is Life." The sticker, I believe, originated from the Texas Water Commission, a former regulatory agency headquartered in Austin, Texas. There is quite an accurate statement on the sticker, as has become more apparent in today's world.
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
This article explores the nature, utilization and differences between centralized and decentralized sanitary sewer systems. It explores how and why the majority of sanitary wastewater is routed to centralized sewer systems, and some of the benefits and problems associated with centralized sewers.
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
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.
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.
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.
- By Anthony J. Buonicore, Dianne Crocker
This article originally appeared in the 05/01/2004 issue of Environmental Protection.