Environment
Corps Ignores Pleas To Restrict Pipeline Construction Permits
The Army Corps of Engineers turned back efforts by environmental groups to limit availability of nationwide permits (NWPs) that pipelines use when they want to build facilities that cross streams and tributaries but cause insubstantial environmental damage. The Corps issued its revisions to 50 NWPs ..
EPA Announces WIFIA Program For Financing Large Water Projects
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the new Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program that will provide long-term, low-cost credit assistance in the form of direct loans and loan guarantees to creditworthy water projects. WIFIA provides another option for ..
Trump to Tap Oklahoma AG Pruitt to Head EPA
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, a source close to Pruitt said Wednesday. Environmental groups quickly denounced the choice. Pruitt, 48, has been a reliable booster of the fos..
Waste Processing Facility Guilty of Releasing Chemicals into Sewer System
DETROIT (AP) — Great Lakes Water Authority records show a hazardous waste processing facility in Detroit has released excessive amounts of mercury, arsenic, cyanide and other toxic chemicals into the city sewer system over 150 times since September 2010. Waste management service US Ecology is allow..
Air Force Sent Wastewater into Sewers up to 3 Times a Year
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The Air Force says a base near Colorado Springs sent water laced with toxic firefighting foam into the city’s sewer system as often as three times a year. Air Force officials tell The Gazette that Peterson Air Force Base stopped sending firefighting foam wastewater in..
Indiana City Asks EPA for More Time to Cut Sewer Overflows
JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A southern Indiana city wants the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to give it 10 more years to reduce its raw sewage overflows. A 2009 agreement gives Jeffersonville until 2025 to comply with the EPA’s sewage overflow reduction mandate. But the News and Tribune repor..
Fighting Back The Zealots
by Robert Carpenter, Editor-in-Chief We lost the Keystone Pipeline to politics rather than rational justification. The environmental lobby had enough political clout with President Obama when he took office to manipulate his anti-carbon leanings into a full-fledged war on all things carbon. The Oba..
Governor Asks Minnesotans to Take Water Stewardship Pledge
FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Mark Dayton is asking Minnesotans to take a Water Stewardship Pledge, and to rethink how water affects their daily lives and how they use it. Dayton made the announcement Tuesday at the Minnesota State Fair as part of his Year of Water Action. Minnesotans can take ..
Stantec Acquires Firm Focused On Resources For Built Infrastructure
In the second quarter of 2016, Stantec announced the completion of its acquisition of MWH Global – a 6,800-person engineering, consulting and construction management firm focused on water and natural resources for built infrastructure and the environment. This acquisition expands Stantec’s position ..
INGAA Says Aspects Of New Methane Emission Limits Troublesome
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new rule requiring transmission pipelines to plug methane leaks at compressor stations includes some softening of earlier-proposed requirements, but will still impose substantial costs as companies move to repair leaks at new or modified compressors and co..
Water Organizations, EPA Release Effective Utility Management Report
Eight heavy-hitters in the water and utility industries collaborated with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop the Effective Utility Management (EUM) Report entitled, Taking the Next Step: Findings of the EUM Review Steering Group, which was announced at the National Wa..
Tracking EPA Consent Decrees
As has been well-documented in the underground sewer infrastructure industry, the impact of a United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) consent decree upon a city is tremendous, both in terms of financial obligations and scope of new construction and rehabilitation work for sewer systems. ..
Water Sector Groups Join Forces, Launch Recognition Program
The National Association of Clear Water Agencies (NACWA), the Water Environment Federation (WEF), the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) – with support from the U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) – announced their partnership in a new Utility of the Future (UOTF) Today Recognition ..
Minor Pipeline Provision In House Energy Bill
Federal agencies will have less of a chance to slow down applications for pipeline construction if the Senate passes the energy bill which cleared the House in December. The North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act of 2015 (H.R. 8) passed the House by a vote of 249-174, which means it h..
Michels Accepted Into Green Tier Sustainability Program
Michels Corporation has been accepted into the Wisconsin Green Tier Sustainability program based on its commitment to environmental stewardship and to reducing its environmental impact. Green Tier is administered by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and recognizes organizations for super..
The Continuing Evolution Of Tier 4
New Emission Standards For 75-Hp Engines And Above Mean More Educational Awareness The evolution of emission standards in the compact equipment industry has been happening for quite some time. In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has mandated that all 75-horsepower and above nonr..
Study finds methane emissions lower than EPA estimates
As reported by Don Santa, INGAA president and CEO, the Environmental Science & Technology journal has released a report finding that methane emissions from the natural gas transmission and storage sector are 27 percent lower than the federal government’s estimate, based on the average estimate from ..
Pipelines Hope GOP or Courts Fix New Wetlands Rule
Republicans in Congress are working to pass legislation which would set aside a new EPA and Army Corps of Engineers joint rule to make it more expensive to build pipelines in areas containing streams and other small bodies of water. The new EPA rule would require pipelines – and anyone else wanting ..
Federal Court Ruling On Mercury Revives Gas-Electric Worries
A federal court decision allowing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to move forward with a rule limiting mercury emissions from power plants has heightened concerns in some quarters about interstate pipeline infrastructure inadequacy.
EPA Awards WaterSense Excellence Award
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the Sonoma-Marin (California) Saving Water Partnership (SMSWP) as a recipient of its national WaterSense Excellence Award for outstanding work promoting WaterSense and water-efficient irrigation practices.
EPA moves to clarify Clean Water Act scope
In mid-September, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers drafted a proposed rule to clarify which bodies of water fall under the Clean Water Act (CWA) – a question that had been contested for years, with debate hinging on whether waters connecting to “navigable waters” fell under the agencies’ authority.
TCEQ Establishes Water Project Liaison
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), in response to a request from Governor Rick Perry’s office, has established a water project liaison within the TCEQ to assist and coordinate with the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) in implementing House Bill 4.
Binz Withdraws From Consideration For FERC Chairmanship
The withdrawal of the White House nominee for the FERC chairmanship reflects the intensity of the political wars between Democrats and Republicans in Washington, the heavy-handed Obama administration and miscues by Binz, a former Colorado Public Utility Commission Chairman.
Volvo CE Interim Engine Conversions
From the second quarter of 2014 Volvo CE customers will be able to have their Tier 4i/Stage IIIb machines fitted with a special engine conversion kit. This kit will enable Volvo owners to sell their used machines on to countries where high-sulphur fuels are still used.
Pipeline Construction Impacted By OSHA Proposal on Crystalline Silica
Oil and gas operations are near the top of the list of sectors which will be affected if the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) proposed new workplace standard on crystalline silica becomes final.
Miami-Dade agrees to upgrade its sewer system
Under a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced recently, Miami-Dade County in Florida has agreed to invest in major upgrades to its wastewater treatment plants and wastewater collection and transmission systems in order to eliminate sanitary sewer overflows.
Supreme Court sides with Oklahoma in Tarrant v. Herrmann
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 13 unanimously sided with Oklahoma in Tarrant Regional Water District v. Herrmann litigation, ending a long court battle over water in the Red River basin.
EPA Survey Shows $384B Needed For Water Infrastructure By 2030
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released results of a survey showing that $384 billion in improvements are needed for the nation’s drinking water infrastructure through 2030 for systems to continue providing safe drinking water to 297 million Americans.
Editor's Log: Feast Or Famine
Summer in North America brings heat. But this year, it has brought record heat. When Fairbanks, AK, hits the 90s and we get pictures of shore side sunbathers in bikinis – from Anchorage, AK, nonetheless – you know it is hot! Death Valley, CA, hit 130 degrees on June 30 – hot even by that location’s standards.
Settlement ensures improvements to sewer and stormwater systems
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice announced that the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, KS, has agreed to a settlement to address unauthorized overflows of untreated raw sewage and to reduce pollution levels in urban stormwater.
- DeLa Express seeks FERC approval for Permian-to-Louisiana gas pipeline project
- OSHA penalizes Houston contractor over safety violations resulting in worker's death
- Fiber infrastructure has no known expiration date, Fiber Broadband Association research concludes
- Nevada OSHA fines Elon Musk's Boring Company over safety violations in Vegas tunnel project
- Damage prevention and safety: Turning awareness into action
- Ditch Witch 1030
- Michigan lawmakers introduce bills to create septic codes throughout the state
- Indiana American Water to gain 8,000 water customers with Silver Creek Water acquisition
- Arkansas governor allocates $42 million for water infrastructure projects
- Federal judge finds Flint, Mich, in contempt over lead water pipe crisis