On Monday Anthony Ruggiero, a Tarrytown, NY Public Works Foreman, was killed when he was overcome by sewer gases inside an underground manhole as he was investigating a clogged pipe. During the rescue a volunteer firefighter who was also a good friend of Anthony’s also went into the manhole without breathing protection and fell unconscious. Rescuers with breathing protection pulled both men to safety but were unable to revive them.
There’s been no public reports of confined space fatalities in California’s wastewater industry, but around the country it has been a terrible year for confined space fatalities. H2S and other sewer gases as well as rescue procedures appear to still be a problem resulting in several deaths.
- Sept 6th – Tarrytown NY - public works employee and firefighter die
- July 28th – Sewickley, PA – one worker dies, three rescuers injured in deep well at wwtp
- May 7th – Middleton, OH – one sewer inspector dies, one firefighter injured in manhole
- June 2009 – Three plumbers die as they are vacuuming out a deep catch basin in a transfer station
Water For People, a nonprofit international development organization, announced today receipt of a $5.6 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support their innovative Sanitation as a Business program.
The grant represents a significant investment over four years in Water For People’s Sanitation as a Business work, testing possible sustainable sanitation services in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This groundbreaking program seeks to revolutionize the sanitation sector. The program will combine profit incentives for small local companies and income generation programs for poor households and schools, demonstrating a shift from unsustainable, subsidy-based sanitation programs toward sustainable, profitable sanitation services. By merging business principles of market research and segmentation with comprehensive community involvement and thorough evaluation of results, Water For People aims to create a truly scalable model, expanding affordable sanitation coverage in multiple locations worldwide. Read more
CWEA, along with its Clean Water Summit Partners, wrote the Department of Recycling and Recovery on August 26 asking for its attention in resolving a policy decision that would stall popular recycling programs at wastewater treatment plants.
From the letter:
Specifically, we are concerned that if CalRecycle allows permit issuance and requirements to remain within the discretion of individual LEAs, it will serve as a disincentive for POTWs to accept and treat fats, oils, and grease (FOG), septage, and food waste. An additional unnecessary permitting process will inhibit state initiatives, which promote both renewable energy production and the diversion of organic material from landfills. In addition, the policy conflicts with the intent of Title 27, which was adopted to avoid jurisdictional overlap whenever feasible. Therefore, the Clean Water Summit Partners offer several alternative solutions to resolve this matter in a way that will maximize the amount of FOG and Food Waste accepted at POTWs.
Read the full comment letter and proposed solutions
The Western Sustainability and Pollution Prevention Network (WSPPN) and the California Environmental Protection Agency Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) announced today a video contest on the subject of pollution prevention. The contest is open to the public and the deadline for submission of a 60 second or less video is September 19. The winning videos will be featured during Pollution Prevention Week September 20-27; this year honoring the 20-year anniversary of the Pollution Prevention Act signed by Congress in 1990. Video contest winners will also be recognized at a ceremony during the WSPPN 2010 Conference in San Diego on October 27-28. Read more
The Northwest Environmental Training Center will offer a 2-day overview of California’s stormwater rules on October 6-7 in Sacramento.
Stormwater pollution from both point and non-point sources pose serious ecological, economic and social risks. Stringent regulations regarding pollution sources help reduce these risks. This course provides an overview of California’s stormwater regulations, including the General Industrial Stormwater Permit, the General Construction Stormwater Permit, Phase I and II municipal permitting, and programs addressing non-point source pollution like Confined Animal Feeding Operations and the Irrigated Lands Program. The course will also address the federal regulation of point and non-point pollution. The history and origin of each of the permits will be discussed, and the basic requirements of each permit will be outlined.
Find out more and Register Online
The National Biosolids Partnership will conduct September 22 free webcast on the topic, Combined Heat and Power Generation Opportunities at Wastewater Treatment Facilities. Combined heat and power (CHP) projects are becoming more and more popular at wastewater treatment facilities. Evidence of this enthusiasm for CHP projects was on display at WEF’s most recent Residuals and Biosolids Specialty Conference held in Savannah, GA. This webcast will bring together plant operators, utility managers, consultants, engineers, equipment/process vendors, regulators, and academics interested in learning about the state of the practice and opportunities for combined heat and power generation from wastewater treatment plant operations and the various technologies to achieve that objective.
Join NBP for the third in a series of “no charge” quarterly webcasts based on critical biosolids technical topics. The webcast will be held on September 22 from 2:00 – 4:00 pm EDT. Online Registration. More information. Last Day to register is Monday, September 20, 2010. There will be professional development hours (PDH) offered for registrants requiring these training credits. Webcast login instructions and call-in instructions will be sent to all registrants just prior to the webcasts along with instructions on downloading the PDF copies of the power point presentations.
Speakers:
- John Willis – (Brown and Caldwell, Atlanta, GA) – Overview of Technology Options for CHP – Discussion of Engines, Combustion Turbines, Microturbines, Fuel Cells, and Boiler-Steam Turbine Systems
- Dan O’Brien – (Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Boston, MA) MWRA’s Deer Island Heat First-Power Second CHP with Boilers and Steam Turbines
- Srinivas Jalla – (Gwinnett County, GA) – Making the Case for a CHP Project in Gwinnett County, GA
- Dale Doerr – (Sheboygan, WI) – Sheboygan, WI’s Journey to Energy Independence Experience with CHP
LABS has posted a new set of videos on CWEA’s YouTube site. The hour-long six-part series is a recording of its April dinner meeting, which featured Sam Espinoza from the LA Sanitation Districts of LA County speaking about wastewater collection system operation and maintenance.
Comment on this post and let us know what you think. Does your workplace allow access to YouTube? Are the videos useful for information sharing? Want to provide footage of your events or tours of your facility?
From Hugh Logan, CWEA SWRCB Advisory Committee Representative
The State Water Resources Control Board’s Advisory Committee, comprised of nine members from various stakeholder and industry groups, provides feedback to the Office of Operator Certification on regulation updates, reviews operator exams, and gives suggestions for continuing improvement. Hugh Logan, of the South Bayside System Authority, and Chris Berch, of the Inland Empire Utilities Agency, represent CWEA.
The State Office of Operator Certification (OOC) Staff hosted the Advisory Committee July 21st in Sacramento and presented numerous items for discussion. Read more
At its July meeting, CWEA LABS presented an overview of Los Angeles County’s Stormwater Monitoring programs. The featured speaker was Oliver D. Galang, P.E., Section Manager with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works’ Watershed Management Division. Oliver described the Los Angeles County’s existing National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Stormwater Program and provided an update of efforts to modernize and expand these into a systemwide water quality monitoring system. Read more
Come get Scared Safe at the 2010 Northern Regional Safety Training Day. This Training Day will be held from 9:00am-4:00pm at the Yolo County Fair Grounds on Wednesday, October 27, 2010. Take advantage of the many opportunities to discover methods you can use to reduce risk and liability while increasing quality and productivity. There are many safety topics you can learn from such as Danger on the Streets, Ladder Safety and Infectious Diseases. Make sure you visit the Scared Safe Haunted House Exhibit in the Agriculture Building during the lunch and breaks. You will have a most unforgettable Scary Day.
Click here for information on exhibiting and sponsorship opportunities that are currently available.
Register early at the $95 member rate (rate goes up on 10/12/2010) and save at: www.cwea.org/conferences.
