In other news below:
-- Michigan DEQ takes action against Vreba-Hoff Dairy
-- Calif. agencies launch campaign for urgent water savings by residents, businesses
-- IncreMental Advantage to release report on Israeli water management, technology
-- GE to acquire Abbott's in vitro, point-of-care diagnostics businesses for $8.13 billion
-- Mexican environment, building trends analyzed in Research & Markets listing
-- Global Water Technologies oil & gas services subsidiary launches new website
-- Arch Coal's Mountain Laurel honored with W.Va. environmental stewardship award
-- Sen. Boxer bills seek perchlorate regulation
-- GL&V awarded $45 million in global minerals processing contracts
-- Mott MacDonald acquires Careba Power Engineers
• Norwalk's Veterans Memorial Park now boasts Envirosafe stormwater filter -- NORWALK, CT, Jan. 19, 2007 -- Transpo Industries Inc. of New Rochelle, NY, installed an EnviroSafe™ Modular Stormwater Catch Basin Filtration System yesterday at Veterans Memorial Park. This was done for the Norwalk DPW under a grant by the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation. Present at this installation were engineers from local municipalities as well as the news media.
The stormwater filtration system is designed to economically fit into existing stormwater drains to capture and filter the many pollutants common to stormwater runoff. These include trash, debris, sediments, oils, grease as well as soluble metals. This new filtering technology incorporates a potent antimicrobial treatment that inhibits bacteria, virus and mold growth.
The EnviroSafe™ installation took place outside at the far end of the park on a cold and windy day. Afterwards, about twenty individuals attended an informative luncheon lecture at the Maritime Aquarium. Transpo CEO Arthur Dinitz introduced Julie Belaga, former Regional Administrator of the EPA and current board member of Save the Sound. Ms. Belaga spoke on the need for local stormwater filtration along our waterways. Following this was a technical presentation by Steve Orman and Product Developer Jack Peter Sr. A question and answer period followed.
Also see: "Transpo to install stormwater filter system in Norwalk, Conn., park"
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Among other recent headlines:
• Michigan DEQ takes action against Vreba-Hoff Dairy LANSING, MI, Jan. 19, 2007 -- The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality announced today that a motion has been filed by the state attorney general's office at DEQ's request petitioning the 30th Judicial Circuit Court to find Vreba-Hoff Dairy LLC in contempt of court for ongoing violations of a Consent Judgment entered by the court in December 2004. The 2004 judgment was negotiated by the DEQ and Vreba-Hoff to resolve allegations raised in a DEQ complaint filed in September 2003, and supplemented in March 2004. That complaint alleged 25 separate discharges of manure and other agricultural wastes to surface water in the vicinity of Vreba-Hoff's two dairies and land application sites in Lenawee and Hillsdale counties. The judgment placed substantial obligations on Vreba-Hoff to ensure that discharges wouldn't occur in the future, with the cornerstone of the agreement being the design and implementation of an Enhanced Wastewater Treatment System to be used to treat all wastes produced by Vreba-Hoff's combined herd of approximately 6,200 animals. That has not happened, Attorney General Mike Cox said...
Also see: "Vreba-Hoff Dairy reacts to MDEQ court filing"
• Calif. water agencies launch campaign for urgent water savings by residents, businesses -- Unseasonably high demand, pipeline repairs stretch water supply thin in portions of Los Angeles, Ventura counties -- LOS ANGELES, Jan. 19, 2007 -- An advertising campaign launched today calls for residents and businesses in western Los Angeles and southern Ventura counties to suspend outdoor watering and non-essential indoor water use temporarily while repairs to a large-diameter pipeline continue. The campaign -- initiated by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Calleguas Municipal Water District and Las Virgenes Municipal Water District -- expands the water-saving call beyond portions of Ventura County to include western Los Angeles County. Over 600,000 people reside in the affected areas served by Calleguas and Las Virgenes, including the cities of Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Camarillo, Hidden Hills, Moorpark, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village, as well as the community of West Hills...
• IncreMental Advantage to release special research report on Israeli water technology, water management -- PRINCETON, NJ, Jan. 19, 2007 --IncreMental Advantage announced today that it will release its unique research report on "Israeli Water Technology and Water Management" in mid-February. This report will be read by senior executives at water companies, municipalities, regulatory authorities and by the investment community (portfolio managers, investment bankers, lenders, bond issuers and venture capitalists). It will feature interviews with several of Israel's foremost authorities on water technology and water management. Topics include: desalination; wastewater recycling and water purification; nanotechnology's emerging role in water technology; other innovations in water technology and water management; Israel's leadership role in the water technology and water management industry, and factors that may cause a worldwide boom in the field...
• GE to acquire Abbott's in vitro and point-of-care diagnostics businesses for $8.13 billion -- FAIRFIELD, CT, & ABBOTT PARK, IL, Jan. 19, 2007 -- General Electric and Abbott, a global leader in medical diagnostic instruments and tests, announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement for GE to acquire Abbott's primary in vitro diagnostics businesses and Abbott Point-of-Care diagnostics business (formerly known as i-STAT) for $8.13 billion in cash. Abbott's Molecular Diagnostics and Diabetes Care businesses are not part of the transaction and will remain part of Abbott. The addition of two of Abbott's core laboratory diagnostics businesses will broaden GE Healthcare's diagnostic offerings...
Also see: "GE's Nanotechnology Lab discovers direct pathway to ordered nanostructured ceramics"
• Trends of social, infrastructural environment of Mexico analyzed with impact on EBT industry -- DUBLIN, Ireland, Jan. 19, 2007 -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the new Frost & Sullivan "Country Industry Forecast - Social Infrastructural & Labour Analysis for the Mexican Environmental and Building Technologies Industry" to their offering. Although North America, western Europe, and Japan continue to account for the bulk of the global environmental and building technologies (EBT) industry, the growth rates in these markets have slowed down recently. The growth potential for the global EBT industry lies in the developing countries of eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Environmental regulations and energy-saving mandates - the most important factors influencing the growth of the EBT industry - have become increasingly stringent among North American countries. Moreover, integration of business decisions with environmental issues, increasing construction activities, reduction in global trade barriers, greater globalization, increasing privatization as well as industrial investments, and rising awareness of environmental issues have also been driving industry growth...
• Global Water Technologies oil & gas services subsidiary launches new website -- GOLDEN, CO, Jan. 18, 2007 -- Global Water Technologies Inc., a technology driven water purification and services provider to the $400 billion water industry, announced that its subsidiary, Watergy Produced Water Solutions Inc. recently launched its website: www.watergytech.com. Watergy is a water treatment and services provider to the oil and gas industries. Water produced from oil and gas exploration is one of the largest water management and treatment markets. Watergy offers proprietary water treatment technologies and service models to meet the growing need for environmentally sound water management solutions for this energy sector...
• Arch Coal's Mountain Laurel honored with top environmental stewardship award in West Virginia -- CHARLESTON, WV, Jan. 18, 2007 -- Arch Coal Inc. announced its Mountain Laurel mining complex earned top honors for reclamation excellence from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. The Greenlands Award was presented to Mingo Logan's Mountain Laurel mine for its outstanding achievements in environmental stewardship in 2006. An Arch Coal subsidiary has claimed the top award for the past five out of six years. Engineering design and construction of the new Mountain Laurel complex utilized exemplary reclamation and drainage techniques to protect the environment and native wildlife. Mountain Laurel also convenes a community advisory panel, which meets regularly and promotes a common ground of understanding, communication and exchange on ideas of importance to the community...
• Boxer bills seek perchlorate regulation -- DENVER, Jan. 15, 2007 (WaterWeek) -- On the same day USEPA promulgated the second Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR2) stripped of a proposed requirement to look again for perchlorate, new Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., introduced two bills aiming to test for and regulate the rocket fuel chemical.
Joined by Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., Boxer introduced a measure (S 24) that would give USEPA 120 days to promulgate a rule requiring systems serving more than 10,000 and a sampling of smaller systems to begin monitoring for perchlorate by Oct. 31. The rule would remain in effect "unless and until monitoring is required under a national primary drinking water regulation for perchlorate." In introducing S 24, Boxer said she was "shocked" that USEPA dropped perchlorate from the UCMR2. Calling perchlorate "a clear and present danger" to public health, Boxer said "Americans will not be assured of up-to-date information on whether their tap water is contaminated with this toxin" as a result of USEPA's action. Her Perchlorate Monitoring and Right-to-Know Act would also require water systems to "disclose the presence of any perchlorate in drinking water and the potential health risks of exposure to perchlorate in drinking water" in their annual Consumer Confidence Reports...
Also see:
-- "AWWA Webcast helps utilities face future water demands"
-- "AWWA Webcast simplifies asset management"
• GL&V awarded $45 million in large-scale contracts for the global minerals processing industry -- MONTREAL, QB, Canada, Jan. 15, 2007 -- Benefiting from sustained demand for its metals and minerals processing technologies in the global mining industry, Groupe Laperriere & Verreault Inc. (GL&V), parent company of EIMCO Water Technologies and Brackett Green, announces that its Process Group was awarded, over the past few weeks, several large-scale contracts in this field of expertise, for a total value of more than $45 million [US$38.5 million]. These contracts aim the delivery, between June and October 2007, of various flotation, thickening and filtration systems to ore producers in South Africa, Brazil, Morocco, China, the Middle East, Spain and Canada. These orders are in addition to other smaller-size contracts obtained by the Process Group during the same period, including in the aftermarket...
• Mott MacDonald acquires Careba Power Engineers -- WESTWOOD, MA, Jan. 15, 2007 -- Mott MacDonald, a management, engineering and development consulting firm serving the public and private sectors worldwide has acquired engineering firm Careba Power Engineers based in Westwood, Massachusetts. Mott MacDonald, headquartered in Croydon, England, is a wholly independent, employee-owned company with annual revenues of $1.2 billion, 10,000 staff and work in over 100 countries. Formed in 2001, Careba has approximately 50 staff with annual revenues of nearly $7 million. To be known as Careba Mott MacDonald, the new company will join Mott MacDonald's North American energy team based in Boston, Massachusetts, working on a range of power generation, electrical transmission and distribution, and renewable energy projects. Careba has extensive experience in the engineering and design of major power generation projects including gas fired, wind, biomass, biodiesel, and coal fired projects, as well as high voltage distribution and transmission projects for power plant operators, power plant developers, industrial facility operators, equipment manufacturers, contractors and power distribution utilities...
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