GSI landfill covers webinar upcoming

GSI landfill covers webinar on May 11 will focus on the various components included in geosynthetic final covers for solid waste landfills.

The Geosynthetic Institute (GSI) will sponsor a webinar, “Landfill Covers: Past-Present-Emerging,” on May 11, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT. Geosynthetic Materials Association (GMA) member companies and their employees receive discounted rates on all GSI webinar and short course registrations.

Participants will be able to assess past landfill cover practices and gain comparisons to present practice as required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund). That said, these regulations are ca. 45 years old and have not been updated insofar as geosynthetics are concerned. This leaves the states to implement current practices and regulations. The implementation of regulations for drainage geocomposites and geosynthetic clay liners are noteworthy in this regard.

Most interesting are emerging cover concepts such as exposed geomembrane covers, solar panel coverings, artificial turf coverings and myriad post-closure beneficial uses, such as:

• Golf courses and driving ranges
• Other sports-related uses
• Facilities with transient loads
• Facilities with permanent loads
• Outdoor artworks/sculpture parks

Learning objectives of the GSI landfill covers webinar

Participants will become familiar with the various components included in final covers of solid waste landfills. By so doing they will gain perspectives of how to extend the concept with new geosynthetic solutions in an environmentally safe and secure manner.

Webinar benefits

1. Understand the historical advancements from past-to-emerging landfill closure methodologies
2. Understand the basic elements of a final closure system
3. Understand related technical issues such as settlement, gas collection, exposed geomembrane lifetime, barrier material idiosyncrasies, etc.
4. Understand the status and scope of abandoned or closed landfills
5. Become familiar with the myriad uses of such landfills in a generally beneficial manner
6. Appreciate that such usage goes beyond technical issues in that transference, regulatory, legal and public acceptance issues must also be addressed

Intended audiences

The GSI landfill covers webinar will be useful for public and private owners/operators of landfills, heap leach pads, shale gas cuttings, combustion coal residuals and related solid waste facilities; consultants and designers in the public and private sectors; regulators and agency personnel at the federal, state and local levels; geosynthetic manufacturers and their representatives; geotechnical and geosynthetic testing organization personnel; contractors and installers of liner and cover systems; academic and research groups; and others desiring technically related information on this important aspect of our constructed environment.

Specific topics covered

1. Concept and goals
2. Past practices
3. Present status
4. Emerging final covers
5. Summary and conclusions

Webinar instructor

George R. Koerner, Ph.D., P.E., and CQQ, is the director of the Geosynthetic Institute. He oversees laboratory accreditation, field certification and continuing education at the institute. He also manages several research projects and has published more than 350 technical papers in his 35-year association with polymers used in below-ground construction. Koerner’s Ph.D. is from Drexel University in geotechnical engineering. He is a registered professional engineer and a certified quality auditor. Koerner has received many awards over the years. The most notable being IFAI’s Environmental Technologies Award of Excellence 1995, ASCE’s DVGI Geotechnical Engineer of the year in 2004, the title of ASTM Fellow in 2013 and GMA’s first Robert M. Koerner Lecture and Award in 2017.

Webinars cost $200.00 for GSI and GMA members, and $250.00 for nonmembers. Successful completion of a multiple-choice test after the webinar carries 1.5 professional development hours (PDH).

For more information or to register, visit the GSI webinar webpage.