Agri-business companies handling large quantities of chemicals and transporting them through all sorts of conditions to different facilities must be prepared for an accidental spill. Accidental spills create environmental problems that can cost your business. However, agri-businesses can control their response to spills and react in ways that limit the environmental impact and help save time and money should a spill occur.
Environmental consultant, Tony Kollasch first discusses, what businesses can do to minimize environmental impacts? He covers the importance of spill response preparedness and REACT; Respond, Evaluate, Alert, Contain, Take.
Read the full article published in Wisconsin Agri-Business News Quarterly.
SCS Engineers periodically prepares Technical Bulletins to highlight items of interest to our clients and friends who have signed up to receive them. Our most recent SCS Bulletin summarizes the new rules which took effect on October 28, 2016, with compliance obligations under the NSPS Subpart XXX rule beginning November 28, 2016. Originally, states and local air jurisdictions were to submit their proposed EG rules by May 30, 2017; however, there have been some delays in this process, which we condense and detail in this Bulletin. SCS will continually update coverage of this Rule on our website.
An essential part of landfills accepting organic matter is the gas collection and control system (GCCS) for controlling odors and landfill gas (LFG) emissions into the environment; the piping network. GCCS design and construction have evolved significantly over the past four decades, from passive venting trench systems to a sophisticated and elaborate piping systems with specialized components for handling LFG, landfill liquids, and condensate flowing through the piping network.
This detailed article discusses best practices and recommendations that GCCS designers keep in mind; careful attention to these details can potentially save landfill operators significant modification costs and inconveniences prior to and during construction of the final covers.
Read the full article published in MSW Magazine.
About the Authors: Ali Khatami, Ph.D., PE, LEP, CGC, is a Project Director and a Vice President of SCS Engineers. Srividhya Viswanathan, PE, is a Senior Project Manager with over 10 years of engineering experience. David Fisher is an SCS National OM&M Compliance Manager with 18 years of environmental experience.
SCS Engineers will participate in the Career Eco Veterans Virtual Career Fair this Tuesday, February 27th from 11AM-4PM Eastern / 7AM-1PM Pacific. SCS Engineers is proud to offer rewarding careers to Veterans; we value the dedication work ethic, discipline and technical knowledge that you bring to our workforce. If you or anybody you know is interested in attending, please register on the Career Eco website. It is free for Veterans to register and participate.
It’s been 10 years since the first Research, Development, and Demonstration (RD&D) Plans were approved allowing liquids to be applied to municipal solid waste landfills in Wisconsin. What have we learned?
Under an approved RD&D Plan, landfill operators can apply liquids other than recirculated leachate to the waste at municipal solid waste landfills. The RD&D Rule was published by US EPA in 2004, and states had the option of adopting the rule and issuing RD&D approvals. Wisconsin was an early adopter, and 13 of the approximately 30 landfill sites in the US with RD&D approvals are in Wisconsin.
This presentation will look at data from the Wisconsin landfills with RD&D Plans. Each site is required to report annually on a very detailed basis. For this presentation we will zoom out and look at the data on an aggregated basis to address big-picture questions. What are the trends in volumes applied for leachate recirculation versus RD&D Liquids? How do these volumes compare with precipitation? What liquid waste streams have been accepted and how have they been applied? How has RD&D liquid application affected landfill gas generation?
We will also provide an update on the regulatory status of the RD&D rule. On May 10, 2016, a final federal rule was published that revised the maximum permit term from 12 years to 21 years; however, WDNR will have to adopt this change in order for it to be available to Wisconsin landfills.
Share these valuable resources directly from the SCS Website.
ReFED, the San Francisco-based nonprofit committed to reducing food waste in the U.S., has released the Food Waste Action Guide for the foodservice and restaurant sectors, which state that there is a 16 million ton opportunity to reduce food waste and to recover the equivalent of 1.5 billion meals per year within the two sectors.
The guide follows the 2016 publication, A Roadmap to Reduce U.S. Food Waste by 20 Percent. Both publications were developed in partnership with the Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA) along with input from more than 80 expert contributors and a number of restaurants across the country, are designed to help industry leaders develop and implement food waste reduction strategies.
They provide best practices and strategies as well as present a set of proven prevention, recovery and recycling solutions to help the foodservice and restaurant sectors prioritize and accelerate waste reduction activities. Food waste reduction is quickly becoming a key element of financial and reputational value for restaurants and foodservice providers.
As some landfill owners have learned the hard way, the co-disposal of construction and demolition (C&D) fines or sulfur-containing industrial wastes in municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills can generate hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas. H2S emissions are problematic at a landfill as they can cause odor, create worker safety issues, and cause wear or damage to landfill gas (LFG) collection and energy utilization components. Sulfur content in landfill gas can also impact air permitting for a landfill, either in the form of fugitive H2S emissions or sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions from combustion.
We will discuss the biological, chemical and physical conditions necessary for H2S generation in a landfill. H2S generation can be prevented by knowing which waste types are likely to contain sulfate and testing incoming waste streams when appropriate. We will also discuss the complexities in trying to model and predict H2S generation in MSW landfills. For sites with high H2S concentrations and/or low H2S limits, we will review different H2S treatment technologies in use today.
Hundreds of closed landfills in Wisconsin are required to perform groundwater monitoring and reporting. Typically, the frequency of monitoring, size of the monitoring well arrays, and the list of required parameters, was established many years ago as part of the landfill operating permit or closure plan approval. There is a potential to reduce, or terminate landfill monitoring when groundwater quality improvements are documented. WDNR guidance entitled “Reducing or Terminating Groundwater Monitoring at Solid Waste Landfills,” (PUB-WA 1013) provides instructions for requesting reductions to monitoring requirements.
Learn about new revisions to the WDNR guidance, developed with input from the WDNR’s Waste and Materials Management Study Group, which are intended to improve both the range of options for monitoring reductions and the process for requesting reductions. In addition to providing procedures for reduction in monitoring frequency, new revisions to the guidance include procedures for requesting reductions to the required number of monitoring wells and parameters. The revised guidance also provides instructions for communicating monitoring reduction requests to the WDNR review hydrogeologists.
SWANA’s new online testing platform gives members and industry professionals easy access to SWANA’s leading certification courses and exams.
The online testing platform has many benefits:
“The SWANA platform provides students the opportunity to read through the content and take their time preparing for exams; a valuable part of the learning process,” said Tracie Bills, SWANA/CRRA Zero Waste Course Instructor and Northern California Director at SCS Engineers.
President, Washington DC Post of SAME
The Washington D.C. Post of the Society of Military Engineers (SAME) Board of Directors selected David Hostetter for his Outstanding Contributions by a Young Civilian Member.
Hostetter says he focuses on three things in his work: using his engineering skills to make a difference in the world, serving his clients wholeheartedly, and mentoring other young professionals as he was mentored.
Hostetter mentors other young professionals by involving them in hands-on engineering projects which helps them to discover how design impacts installation and operations. They have the opportunity to ask questions and to work with senior level engineers and experienced field staff. Dave learned valuable lessons this way, and he is passing those lessons and best practices on to others.
Hostetter is now the Eastern Regional Manager of SCS RMC®, which stands for remote monitoring and control technology. Several industries use this proven technology for the simultaneous viewing, analysis, alerting, and control of equipment and systems critical to production and safe operations.
Well done, Dave!
Read the press release or learn more about Dave Hostetter.
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