CTI’s Post

While creating waste on a construction site is inevitable, there are ways we can divert construction materials away from the waste stream, being better stewards of the environment. Last year, Rody Taylor and KC Dumpster Company opened the first construction and demolition (C&D) recovery facility across Missouri and Kansas. The facility is designed to sort, process and recover materials from construction and demolition waste. Partnering with facilities like KC Dumpster is a game-changer—we're conserving natural resources, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and minimizing the environmental impact of our construction sites. Read more below! https://hubs.li/Q02y0jfz0

Clean CFAC Superfund Site in Montana Ask your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, everyone you know to sign the petition! (Attached below) We need as many signatures as possible by the end of March. Flathead County, Montana residents are asking the EPA to pause decision-making for the Columbia Falls Aluminum Company (CFAC) Superfund Site Plan. There are serious concerns that the plans provides no long term solutions and endangers our environment and health of residents. Montana DOJ, Natural Resource Damage Program wrote in a recent report: “EPA has issued a proposed plan for a final cleanup in 2023; the preferred alternative, however, will not return the Site to baseline. Rehabilitation, restoration, or replacement of natural resources is required to reduce future injuries and compensate the public for interim losses of natural resources and the services they provide.” Residents don’t want “waste-in-place”, they want waste safely removed and kept away from groundwater sources, such as the Flathead River. Please, take a moment to learn more about this issue and consider how it may be affecting your community too. The healthy scrutiny placed on environmental regulators helps to ensure that they are doing the right thing for all of us.

Much of the renewed community concern has centered on the EPA’s proposal to contain rather than remove the environmental hazards; specifically, groundwater in the plume core that contain concentrations of cyanide, fluoride and arsenic in dangerous concentrations, posing risk to future residential drinking water users. Under the EPA’s preferred remedy, those chemicals would be contained by an underground barrier called a slurry wall. The barrier would stretch 3,000 to 4,000 feet in length, wrapping around the perimeter of the contaminated property and filling a deep trench before tying into the aquitard, a geologic formation with a low rate of permeability that would form the fourth wall of a containment cell. The EPA also evaluated the cost of off-site disposal, estimating it as ranging from $625,000,000.00 to $1,400,000,000.00, compared to the $57,500,000.00 cost of the preferred alternative. The agency also evaluated the logistics of off-site disposal, including excavating about 1.2 million cubic yards of hazardous waste from the landfills, which would need to be dewatered and carted off site to the nearest Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) landfill in Arlington, Ore., nearly 500 miles away. https://lnkd.in/gHJ8Cvfs

📢 #MHnS and Stantec teams are thrilled about a new collaboration with one of our longstanding clients, the City of Lloydminster ! Under the guidance of the City’s Environmental Service’s team, we will be working on an Integrated Waste Management and Facility Master Plan to guide the city’s solid waste management for the next twenty years.🌱 ♻ Advancing Lloydminster’s City Council’s strategic goals in environmental stewardship, this comprehensive plan will assess the current waste management system and identify strategies to enhance and support it. Key focus areas include: • Waste Reduction and Reuse • Waste Diversion • Alternative Waste Technologies (including Waste-to-Energy) • Landfilling options ⌛ Although in the early stages, we are excited about the collaboration between #MHnS and Stantec’s waste planning and landfill engineering teams, as well as leaders from City of Lloydminster administration. 👏 With our combined expertise and dedication to our client, we are confident we can help improve Lloydminster’s waste management systems. We look forward to engaging with City Council, key stakeholders, and the public to gather valuable input as we develop the Master Plan. Stay tuned for updates! #WasteManagement #Sustainability #CityPlanning #WasteReduction #BetterTogether

So much to do in core infrastructure in the US...

Timothy Wood and Peter Scaramella are presenting at the 2024 California Land Recycling Conference: From the Ground Up (CALRC), September 17-19 in Carson, California. GSI is a proud Visionary Sponsor and exhibitor at this fifth annual conference hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 9 and the CA Department of Toxic Substances Control’s (DTSC) Office of Brownfields in collaboration with the Center for Creative Land Recycling. Tim is a co-presenter for “What to Expect When You’re Expecting to Work With DTSC’s Voluntary Agreements: Aligning Regulatory Expectations with Consultant Insights for Effective Brownfield Cleanup” on September 18 from 11:45 AM – 12:45 PM. This session on regulatory oversight in brownfield cleanup with be co-presented by DTSC’s Office of Brownfields and will discuss expectations for voluntary agreements and share insights on transforming contaminated sites. Later that same day, Pete will present a timely technical and policy update on “A Balancing Act: Building Affordable Housing on Properties with Low Levels of Soil Vapor VOCs” from 4:55 – 5:10 PM. This talk will discuss the challenges in redeveloping properties with low level soil vapor impacts that are not associated with a traditional “point source,” and the tradeoffs involved with managing vapor intrusion risks, given the inherent uncertainties in the VI pathway. #CALRC #Brownfields #EnvironmentalCleanup #CommunityDevelopment #VaporIntrusion #AffordableHousing #UrbanRedevelopment #SoilVapor #EnvironmentalChallenges #CalEPA #GSIExperts

EMS Geotech's Associate Director Tom Walby recently provided comment on Wales Online article discussing the vast amounts of illegally dumped rubbish, including tonnes of hazardous hospital waste, remaining in the ground in Neath, Port Talbot more than two years after the offenders were sentenced in court. Tom commented regarding the waste: "The photos looked like "the tip of an iceberg", that the "damage could be tenfold", and that clear-up costs would likely run into the millions of pounds. He added: "There could be a risk of harm to groundwater, watercourses and soil quality from the waste and a possibility of landfill gas or volatile vapours." Thousands of tonnes of waste was tipped at the former Rheola aluminium works, near Resolven, and at a farm near Skewen. The illegal operations were unearthed by environment watchdog Natural Resources Wales (NRW) during a four-year investigation which began in spring 2016. Cardiff-based, EMS Geotech specialises in environmental and ground investigation projects and is able to assist on a range of geo-environmental and geotechnical topics including contaminated land. #walesonline #neath #porttalbot #contaminatedland #groundinvestigation #waste #hazardouswaste #geoenvironmental #geotechnical #wales #waste https://lnkd.in/e_MfV6g7

Is your community or organization interested in applying for a brownfields grant? Important information below (⬇) to help you get prepared for upcoming funding opportunities! 💰 #GrantWriting #FederalGrants #Brownfields #TechnicalAssistance #EconomicDevelopment #CommunityDevelopment #RuralDevelopment

Find out how we will manage water at our proposed underground gold-copper-silver mine. 👇 Dalradian has proposed a sustainable approach to water management that meets stringent environmental and regulatory standards and minimises the use of freshwater through recycling (c.90% within the processing plant). All water which comes into contact with operations will be captured and treated at the state-of-the-art water treatment plant using the latest technology before being discharged at a standard that preserves naturally occurring water in local streams. Any water discharged will be monitored to meet independent, strict criteria set by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. Ponds will capture rainfall and water from the site/operations including water from the underground mine and the Dry Stack Facility, four in total. These will be excavated fully into the ground and are not ‘dams’. They have been designed to contain a 1-in-a-1000-year, 24-hour storm event without overtopping. Water in these ponds that isn’t reused in operations will be treated at the water treatment plant before discharge. Based upon extensive modelling and independent testing of over 1,000 samples, the proposed mine is designed to operate in tandem with the local environment. Water management is integral to that approach. #ModernMining #DalradianOpportunities #Water #Environmental #Monitoring

“Our Creativity Differentiates Us!" is one of our core values here at ICS, and our NorCal project teams have showcased a prime example of their creativity in our ongoing dig and haul project (turned dig, treat and haul) in Marysville, CA. The original scope of this project called for the excavation and disposal of approximately 1,400 cubic yards of lead-impacted soil deemed Non-RCRA Hazardous (California-Hazardous) requiring disposal at a Class I landfill. However, our team proposed an alternate approach to treat the soil onsite first and later dispose of the treated soil as Non-Hazardous to a nearby local landfill delivering value in the form of a) reducing overall costs, and b) de-risking the Generator and stakeholders from long-term liability associated with disposal of hazardous waste at a Class I landfill. Way to stand out and add value team! #Hazardous #Lead #Soluable ##Treatment #NonHazardous #Soil #Innovation #Environmental #Construction #TechnicalExpertise #PracticalExperience