Archives

Addressing the rising costs of landfill cover soil 

July 14th, 2023

Landfill cover soil is vital when addressing environmental safety and sustainability in waste management (1). As landfills, coal combustion residuals (CCR), and mining sites conclude their service life, there is a mandated obligation to close these sites to minimize their environmental impact. However, this process has become costly due to the rising cost of cover […]

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EPA announces latest actions to protect groundwater and communities from coal ash contamination

January 26th, 2023

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the latest action to protect communities and hold facilities accountable for controlling and cleaning up the contamination created by coal ash disposal. The agency issued six proposed determinations to deny facilities’ requests to continue disposing coal combustion residuals (CCR or coal ash) into unlined surface impoundments. For […]

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GMA will host Geosynthetics Morning  

March 25th, 2022

GMA will host Geosynthetics Morning at Outlook Conference 2022, with a focus on infrastructure and coal combustion residuals, as well as other important topics and current trends. The lobby of the Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Va., in 2016. Photograph by Antony-22. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) The Industrial Fabric Association International (IFAI) Geosynthetic Materials Association […]

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GSI to host webinar on disposal of coal combustion residuals

November 26th, 2021

Photograph courtesy of Solmax The Geosynthetic Institute (GSI) will sponsor a webinar, “Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals,” on Dec. 8, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. EST. Geosynthetic Materials Association (GMA) member companies and their employees receive discounted rates on all GSI webinar and short course registrations. With coal representing more than 25% of energy […]

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Fabricated Geomembrane Institute to host webinar on using geomembranes for coal ash

November 1st, 2021

Photograph courtesy of the Fabricated Geomembrane Institute The Fabricated Geomembrane Institute (FGI) will sponsor a free webinar, “Use of Geomembranes in CCR Landfills,” on Nov. 11, at noon CDT. Watching the webinar carries 1 professional development hour (PDH). This presentation will cover the use of geomembranes in providing base liners for coal combustion residuals (CCR […]

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Everything you need to know about the World of Coal Ash 2022

October 27th, 2021

The Cincinnati, Ohio, skyline as seen from Covington, Ky. Photograph by Jason Zhang. Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en The World of Coal Ash (WOCA) 2022 is coming to Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati riverfront May 16–19, 2022. It has been too long since our WOCA family has gathered, and we can’t wait to welcome all attendees, exhibitors, speakers and […]

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Using bentonite-polymer composite geosynthetic clay liners to contain CCR leachates

October 1st, 2021

FIGURE 1 To tackle tough leachates and shield the environment from hazardous byproducts created by a coal ash site such as this, a GCL is being installed for advanced protection. (Photograph courtesy of CETCO) Coal combustion residuals (CCRs) are the byproducts from combustion in coal-fired boilers that are disposed in lined landfills when they cannot […]

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Geosynthetics for CCR, PFAS and energy applications

October 1st, 2021

This issue of Geosynthetics magazine delves deep into two innovative uses of geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) in very different applications: coal combustion residual (CCR) leachates and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) mitigation in landfills. We also examine three case studies of energy companies using high-density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembranes for flowback water in water evaporation/recycling ponds. […]

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Design of a CCR composite liner system

August 1st, 2021

Q: We are designing a composite liner system for a coal ash landfill. From the bottom-up, the cross section is subgrade soil, geosynthetic clay liner (GCL), geomembrane, composite drainage layer with nonwoven geotextiles on both sides and then ash from coal combustion residuals (CCR). Do you have an opinion on the design, particularly on 3:1 […]

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The GMA Techline

February 1st, 2021

Moderated by George R. Koerner BIOLOGICAL DEGRADATION OF PE AND PP Q: Can you please enlighten me on the biological degradation of polyolefin polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP)? A: Within the various plant forms of biological life, i.e., bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi and algae, polymer degradation is essentially nonexistent due to high molecular weight of the common […]

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