EPA to Award Over a Half Billion in Funding to Areas Impacted by Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey and New York

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it will provide grants of $340 million to the state of New York and $229 million to the state of New Jersey for improvements to wastewater and drinking water treatment facilities impacted by Hurricane Sandy. The funding announced will help storm-damaged communities in both states as they continue to recover from the damage caused by the storm on Oct. 29, 2012.



Click For More Info National Ground Water Research and Educational Foundation Announces Student Awards

The National Ground Water Research and Educational Foundation distributed a total of $4,000 in Farvolden Awards to four students for paper or poster presentations made at the 2013 NGWA Summit – the national and international conference on groundwater that took place April 28-May 2 in San Antonio, Texas.



Click For More Info Transcript of EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe’s Testimony Before the House Energy and Commerce Committee

In testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe detailed the fiscal challenges facing EPA and requested a 2014 budget increase to ensure the agency is able to operate to potential.



Click For More Info Geosynthetics 2015 Date and Location Announced

The Industrial Fabrics Association International will host the Geosynthetics 2015 Feb. 15-18, 2015 in Portland, Ore. at the Oregon Convention Center. The show will be co-located with the International Erosion Control Association's (IECA) annual Environmental Connection show.



Click For More Info ISA’s 58th Analysis Division Symposium Draws Nearly 400 Attendees

Nearly 400 attendees and more than 60 exhibitors gathered at the International Society of Automation’s (ISA) 58th Analysis Division Symposium, which was held April 14-18, 2013, at the Galveston Island Convention Center in Galveston, Texas.



Click For More Info Europe Bans Neonicotinoid Pesticides

The European Commission will enact a two-year ban on neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides thought to be harming global bee populations, European Union Health Commissioner Tonio Borg decided recently, on April 29.

“I pledge to do my utmost to ensure that our bees, which are so vital to our ecosystem and contribute over €22 billion annually to European agriculture, are protected,” Borg said in a statement from Brussels.



Click For More Info CECO to Acquire Met-Pro

Air pollution control company CECO Environmental Corporation, based out of Cincinnati, has entered into a definitive agreement with Harleysville, Pa.-based Met-Pro Corporation whereby CECO will acquire Met-Pro for $210 million in stock and cash.



Click For More Info Badger Meter Acquires Aquacue

Milwaukee-based water meter maker Badger Meter Inc. has acquired California company Aquacue Inc., a software technology company that incorporates handheld information technology in water use monitoring, for $14 million.



Click For More Info Michigan Wastewater Treatment Plant Explosion Kills One Man, Injures Another

One man was injured and another died in an April 22 explosion at the Dexter, Mich. wastewater treatment plant, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The men were disassembling a tank used to store and breakdown sludge and cutting steel out of it when methane gas ignited; the resulting explosion blew the men onto the roof of an adjacent building.



Click For More Info USDA Rural Development Touts Water Quality Projects

As part of Earth Day celebrations on April 22nd, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced support for projects that will improve water and wastewater services for rural Americans and benefit the environment across the country



Click For More Info EERC Partners with Israeli Company to Test Global Air Pollution Technology

The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota is working with Lextran Ltd., a global air pollution control company based in Petach Tikva, Israel (adjacent to Tel Aviv), in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory, the North Dakota Industrial Commission, and Great River Energy, to test the performance of Lextran’s unique multipollutant control technology for use in coal-fired power plants.



Click For More Info Russian Refinery Selects GE ZeeWeed Wastewater Treatment System for Pilot Test

GE and Russian oil company Bashneft have launched pilot testing of GE’s ZeeWeed™ membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology for biological treatment of sewage water from the Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim oil processing complex and other enterprises of the Northern Industrial Block of Ufa. Strict discharge regulations, and the need to reuse the treated water, led Bashneft to choose GE's MBR, electrodialysis reversal (EDR) and reverse osmosis (RO) technologies for the pilot testing.



Click For More Info Aquatech Formally Opens Central Water Treatment Facility in Tioga County, Pa. for Shale Gas Producers

Aquatech recently celebrated the formal opening of its central water treatment facility in Tioga County, Pa. The Tioga plant utilizes Aquatech’s MoSuite™ set of technologies to deliver a menu of wastewater treatment and recycle services. MoSuite is an effective combination of MoTreat® and MoVap® process units, a pretreatment and distillation evaporator specifically designed to treat drill fluids, frac flowback, production brine and other wastewaters from exploration and production of conventional and unconventional oil and gas.



Click For More Info Funding for Safe Drinking Water Left Unused

The recent revelation that nearly half a billion dollars in federal funding for safe water has gone unspent by the State of California offers one more strong incentive for residents to install Final Barrier protection in their own homes, the Water Quality Association states.

"While we rely on public agencies for initial treatment, the best way to ensure safe drinking water is by empowering ourselves," said Dave Haataja, executive director of WQA. "By putting protection in our homes, we can offer the Final Barrier against contaminants."



Click For More Info Settlement with Tyson Foods to Address Multiple Releases of Anhydrous Ammonia

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice announced a Clean Air Act (CAA) settlement with Tyson Foods, Inc. and several of its affiliate corporations to address threats of accidental chemical releases after anhydrous ammonia was released during incidents at facilities in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska, resulting in multiple injuries, property damage, and one fatality.



Click For More Info PA DEP Releases Sampling, Quality Assurance Plans for Oil and Gas Development Radiation Study

The Department of Environmental Protection released detailed sampling and quality assurance plans for its ongoing comprehensive radiation study of oil and gas development. The agency will sample and analyze radioactivity levels of flowback waters, treatment solids, drill cuttings and drilling equipment, along with the transportation, storage and disposal of drilling wastes.



Click For More Info National Award Recognizes SDG&E Environmental Monitoring Program

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) was recognized with a National Environmental Excellence Award for the electronic environmental monitoring and compliance tools it used during the construction of the Sunrise Powerlink. The award for Best Available Technology was presented at the National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP) conference in Los Angeles.



Click For More Info Westinghouse Contracted to Support Argentina’s Embalse Nuclear Power Plant Steam Generator Replacement

Westinghouse Electric Company announced that its subsidiary, PCI Energy Services, LLC (PCI) has signed a contract with Nucleoeléctrica Argentina S.A. (NA-SA) to provide engineering, specialty pipe cutting and welding services in support of the replacement steam generator program at Argentina’s Embalse Nuclear Power Plant. This work is part of the overall refurbishment program at Embalse to extend the plant’s life by up to an additional 30 years.



Click For More Info GE Technology Drives Increased Gas Compression at China Gas Field

Offering a 3 percent increase in gas compression compared to other machines in its class, a GE Waukesha gas engine, driving the largest gas compressor of its type in China, has entered full commercial operation at the Chongqing Gas Field. The project supports China’s long-term development strategy with lower emissions, fuel flexibility, higher efficiency and reliability and is part of the country’s plans to build large-scale gas storage facilities.



Click For More Info AWWA Announces New Publication Chronicling the Journey of Disinfecting Public Water Systems with Chlorine

The American Water Works Association has announced the release of its newest publication: “The Chlorine Revolution: Water Disinfection and the Fight to Save Lives.”



Click For More Info EPA Updates Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for New Power Plants

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued updates to pollution limits for new power plants under the mercury and air toxics standards, based on new information and analysis that became available to the agency after the rule was finalized.



Click For More Info Settlement with Dominion Energy Reduces Harmful Pollution in Three States and Downwind Communities

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that Dominion Energy has agreed to pay a $3.4 million civil penalty and spend approximately $9.8 million on environmental mitigation projects to resolve Clean Air Act (CAA) violations.



Click For More Info EPA Finalizes Vessel General Permit

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final vessel general permit regulating discharges from commercial vessels, including ballast water, to protect the nation’s waters from ship-borne pollutants and reduce invasive species in U.S. waters.



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