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Patently Good Business

July 1, 2007By Alan Seech

Honoring intellectual property rights within our industry benefits everyone

The first patent was issued in 1421, to an Italian architect for invention of a specialized boat to transport construction materials to building sites. In issuing it, the city-state of Florence recognized that inventors needed protection from those who would use their inventions without paying fair compensation. The document even spelled out consequences for illegal duplication: the copycat boat was to be publicly burned!

Time to Chill Out

July 1, 2007By Anthony J. Sadar

Freezing, thawing or just plain (political) climate change?

I am a child of the ‘70s, and just like the folks who came of age in the ‘60s, who were warned of global disaster from "too many people," I was told that the next ice age was just around the corner. This climate disaster would bring worldwide famine and, with it, the collapse of social order, or at least deconstruction of the status quo.

Cleanup Cost-cutter

June 1, 2007By Bob Kelley

A guide to the most efficient oxygen-release compound to use in the enhanced bioremediation of contaminated soil and groundwater

Unfortunately, many of the advances in our industrialized world have come at great expense to our environment. Currently, one of the biggest environmental problems in the United States and other developed nations is the contamination of soil and groundwater caused by accidental releases of hazardous chemicals and petroleum hydrocarbons.

Economic Survival in a Warming Market

June 1, 2007By H. Troy Stuckey, Hannah R. Kolni

With regulation of greenhouse gas emissions looming, states and businesses should act now

Economic prosperity is in the best interest of every United States citizen. Climate change due to human-caused greenhouse gases in the atmosphere may threaten the economic survival of this nation.

Lighting the Future

June 1, 2007By Anthony Zippi, Mark A. Ceaser

The increased use of high-efficiency fluorescent lamps, which contain mercury, is pushing the demand for better recycling programs for these products

An analysis of the lighting industry shows a significant shift from the use of incandescent bulbs to fluorescent bulbs. Incandescent bulbs use more fossil fuel energy, cost more and are less effective than fluorescent bulbs, which produce more lumens.

Mercury's Rising Impact

June 1, 2007By Constance L. Senior

This contaminant, a combustion byproduct of power plants, is increasingly polluting land and water through air-borne deposition

Mercury is getting a lot of attention, both in the popular press and in state and federal regulatory agencies. Combustion systems, like coal-fired power plants, industrial boilers, incinerators, and cement kilns, are sources of mercury emissions to the air. This article outlines the mercury emission regulations that apply to different combustion systems and the best demonstrated means to control these emissions from combustion sources. This article focuses on utility and industrial combustion systems because they are the highest emitters and face the greatest reductions and tightest scrutiny.

On the Lookout

June 1, 2007By Paul C. Simonetta

Paying attention to often ignored wastewater sources, such as cooling towers, can help your facility stay in compliance

Many facility environmental managers believe that their wastewater compliance requirements are properly managed when discharges from “production-related operations and equipment” are permitted. However, other discharge sources, such as building- or facility-related utilities that provide support to company operations, may require permitting or be subject to other regulatory requirements.

Taking It to the Field

June 1, 2007By Donald Sackett

Portable XRF analyzers promote easy metal analysis at remediation sites

All of us are concerned with the global impact of adverse environmental issues. Since early times, humans have known that some of the most useful metals, such as lead and arsenic, are also very toxic and need to be controlled and contained.

Coming Into Compliance

May 1, 2007By Jim Stone

As part of meeting new MACT standards, one fiberglass manufacturer uses thermal oxidizer technology to capture the contaminant styrene and use it as a fuel source

For years, fiberglass-reinforced baths and showers have been perceived as “commodity” products. Of course -- as with any product -- there have always been quality differences between brands. Nevertheless, the manufacturing methods employed and the materials used have been roughly similar.

One Fine Mess

May 1, 2007By Steven J. Christiansen, JD

Revisions to air quality standards for particulate matter are being contested as both too harsh and overly lenient

On Sept. 21, 2006, Stephen Johnson, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), signed the latest revisions to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM), also known as PM-2.5.

Pesticide Terminator

May 1, 2007By Alan Seech, James Mueller

Using in situ bioremediation to destroy pesticides in impacted soil is a cheaper, more permanent alternative to 'dig-and-dump' treatment methods

As urban centers grow in size, substantial areas of agricultural and industrial land are being converted to residential use. One of the issues frequently encountered when such a change in land use is implemented is the presence of elevated concentrations of chlorinated pesticides and herbicides historically used in agricultural crop production.

Renewable Refuse

May 1, 2007By Sherleen H. Mahoney

Businesses trash wasteful practices to save money, resources.

More than 7.6 billion tons of industrial solid waste are generated annually in the United States. That’s the equivalent of more than 8,500 Golden Gate Bridges, more than 2,000 Empire State Buildings, or 1,200 Hoover Dams.

Taking Cities by Storm

May 1, 2007By Kimberly Paggioli

A state-of-the-art drainage system helps municipalities in flat locales decrease the volume and duration of street flooding

If Buddy Holly, the 1950s rock musician, helped put Lubbock, Texas, on the map, heavy rains and flooding have done their best to take it off. So, when a warning like the one quoted below is published, this major city located in the Texas Panhandle takes it very seriously.

The Greening of U.S. Industry

May 1, 2007By Gene Anguil

Many companies are voluntarily seitching to better air pollution control equipment

The Paradox of Politics

May 1, 2007By Cindy Chen, Mike Hicks

Party division unearths more environmental law development, analysis shows

Just as "it takes two to tango," it has taken two political parties working in tandem over the last few decades in the United States to produce the vast majority of major federal environmental laws.