Superfund Cleanup Sites
Cleanups of four Superfund hazardous waste sites are described, two in Pennsylvania, one in Tacoma, Wash., and one in Globe, Arizona. The key chemical wastes were polychlorinated bipheynls,...
Instant Expertise: A Danger of Small Computers
The low cost and easy access afforded by small computers have made it easy for an engineer to become an instant expert. Because low-cost software is available for almost any field of endeavor,...
Competitive Strategies for Growth
A discussion is given on the approach of Camp Dresser & McKee Inc. to the question of specialization versus diversification in a consulting engineering firm. It was easy to opt...
RCRA EP Toxicity Test Applied to Dredged Material
A set of 25 Great Lakes harbor sediment samples were subjected to bulk sediment analysis and the EP Toxicity Test. Based on the results of this pilot study, there appears to be little,...
Improved Techniques for Removal of Sediments Contaminated with Hazardous Materials
Realizing the need to improve the capabilities of response personnel in dealing with cleanup operations involving contaminated sediments, the U. S. Coast Guard and the U. S. Environmental...
Development of Response Plans for Toxic Spills
A plan is proposed for managing the response to a toxic spill into a river system and the minimization of its effects on water utilities, industry and the environment. As technical aids...
Overtopping of Flood Control Levees and Floodwalls
The risk of overtopping can be significant for flood control levees or floodwalls, and the consequences can be costly and potentially catastrophic. Designs using superiority can force...
Forecasting and Warning for Mt. St. Helens Streams
The eruption of Mt. St. Helens in southern Washington on May 18, 1980, created great devastation both by the blast itself and by mudflows generated by melting snow and ice. Several hydrologic...
Software Development: For Experts Only?
Civil engineering firms tend to buy ready-made software rather than develop it themselves. But if existing software for specific applications is unavailable or of poor quality, then the...
EPA's New Land Disposal Rules�A Closer Look
Despite some initial enthusiasm for the new EPA regulations on land disposal of hazardous waste, many critics are now expressing concern for the long-term environmental impact. The dependence...
Land Treatment of Hazardous Waste
Land treatment is one of several available alternatives to the use of landfills and surface impoundments for the treatment and disposal of hazardous waste. Using this technique, hazardous...
Arresting a Toxic Plume
At an abandoned gravel pit in New Hampshire turned into a dump site for hazardous liquid chemical wastes (as well as drummed solid waste), engineers had to race against the clock to stem...
Spilled Petroleum Recovered from Atop Water Table
An undetected oil spill endangered the Mississippi Aquifer and the people who lived nearby. A thorough engineering analysis determined a solution. A containment procedure and recovery...
Chemical Spill Cleanup Named Project of the Year
A 1978 hazardous-waste spill in Michigan has been cleaned up so successfully that the American Consulting Engineers Council named it the 1982 project of the year. Here is how the railroad...
Hazardous Waste Landfill: Some Lessons from New Jersey
There are four key elements in a secure, hazardous waste landfill: a bottom liner; a leachate collection system; a cover; and the natural hydrogeologic setting. Each of these elements...
Controlling Productivity at a Hazardous Waste Site
The hazards associated with waste disposal sites can make estimating the resources required for a remedial action difficult. During the recent clean-up of a dioxin disposal site, the manpower...
Risk Analysis: Is EPA Changing the Rules?
Recent actions by EPA seem to indicate a departure from past practices in health risk assessment. In the past, findings that a substance is an animal carcinogen have usually led to regulatory...
The Hazardous Waste Dilemma
Issues and Solutions
The legal aspects, siting, management, disposal and site restoration of hazardous wastes are explored in an expansion of 30 of the technical papers that were presented at the 1980 conference...
Groundwater Contamination by Chlorinated Hydrocarbons: Causes and Prevention
Groundwater contamination by chlorinated hydrocarbons is becoming a major problem to public water suppliers and private homeowners who have their own wells. The chemical background, composition...
Hazardous Waste Management in California: Lessons for the U.S.
California has what many say is the best hazardous waste management program in the U.S. In fact, the Federal government used the California program as the basis for a national plan for...
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