Dust Control – Soil Stabilization – Erosion Control

Archive for the ‘erosion control’ Category

Neighbors of a [local,neighboring,neighborhood,community,district,regional,area] [quarry,pit,mine,excavation] and [wildlife,nature,animals] [refuge,safe haven,sanctuary,shelter,harbor] [could,might,may well,may perhaps,may possibly] get [some,a little] [relief,reprieve,liberation] [soon,quickly,shortly] from dust [and,in addition to,as well as,along with] flooding issues.

The [County,Region,District] Board [recently,of late,a short time ago] [approved,accepted] amendments to a [special,extraordinary,unusual]-use [permit,license,certificate,authorization] for the [partnership,company,business,firm,corporation,enterprise,organization,joint venture] of the McGraw Wildlife Foundation and Beverly Materials’ 350-acre gravel [quarry,pit,mine,excavation] east of Route 25 and south of Route 72. [Included,Incorporated,Integrated] in the amendments are [stipulations,conditions,terms,provisos,provisions] that [would,could] [require,necessitate,entail,call for] the [creation,formation,making,construction,establishment] of berms to help [mitigate,alleviate,lessen,ease] flooding, and [implementation,execution] of a dust control [plan,arrangement,strategy,proposal].

Board [member,associate,associate,affiliate] John Fahy, R-West Dundee, [said,alleged,held,believed] [residents,people] in his [district,area,locality,region] are [pleased,satisfied,happy,content,contented] with the [changes,transformations]. A [public,community,civic,municipal] [hearing,trial,inquiry,investigation] was held [recently,of late,a short time ago] in Carpentersville on the [matter,subject,topic,theme,issue].

"While the [residents,people,inhabitants] [might,may] not be [happy,pleased,glad,joyful,cheerful] that there is a mining [operation,business,company,company,venture,undertaking,outfit], they are in [favor,support] of seeing it get [done,completed,finished]," Fahy [said,alleged]. He [said,thought,alleged,believed] the mining [operation,business,venture,outfit] has slowed to a 30-year [process,development,progression].

A [temporary,transitory,interim] berm on the east and south sides of the [nearby,close by,close to] Fox River Bluffs [subdivision,division,sector,section] [would,could] be constructed by [quarry,pit,mine] [operator,operative] Beverly [Materials,Resources,Supplies] or [someone,somebody] hired by the [company,business] [within,inside] six months of the [approval,endorsement,agreement,authorization], according to [county,region,district] [records,minutes,report]. This [would,could] help [relieve,alleviate,reduce,lessen,help,take the edge off] existing drainage [problems,troubles] in the [subdivision,section,division,sector] by redirecting stormwater [runoff,overflow,surplus,overspill] from [about,approximately,roughly,around] 34 acres [around,about,surrounding,covering] the southeast [corner,curve,bend]. [Additional,Extra,Added] drainage work on lots in the Fox River Bluffs [subdivision,division,sector] [would,could] be [done,complete,completed,finished] by Beverly [Materials,Resources,Supplies] or McGraw [Foundation,Charity,Organization].

One [person,individual,character] who spoke on behalf of the mining [company,corporation,business,group] [said,held,alleged] a dust control [plan,strategy,idea,proposal,plot,design] had been submitted [and,furthermore,moreover] that the [conditions,circumstances,situation,state of affairs] were [acceptable,satisfactory,suitable,good enough,adequate,tolerable,tolerable,all right].

At hand are more than a few ways to implement erosion control designed for landscaping, gardening and land management. Erosion control may help retain the highly valued top soil plus help protect downward streams from becoming clogged with dirt. One means is to apply vegetation on slopes that could see substantial amounts of runoff. This vegetation would need to have deep wandering roots that would stick the top soil in place during times of violent rain. In order to get the plant life on track we have to utilize a product that may give us stabilized soil from the beginning. That is key because we don’t desire our soils to merely rinse away when the precipitation comes, taking the plant life down with it.

Read the rest of this entry »

Releasing the National Compliance Enforcement Report in Pretoria, she pointed out that this decrease in convictions is a cause for concern, particularly in light of the increase in the total number of criminal dockets registered during the year under review.

But she pointed out that many cases have experienced substantial delays within the prosecution system, confirming the urgent need for dedicated courts to deal with these types of cases.

Nevertheless the report cheered her up by saying that the number of acquittals dropped from 441 in the previous year to 18.

A total of 4,661 environmental cases were reported nationally for the year to the end of March 2009. During this period the total number of criminal dockets registered was 2,412 compared with 1,762 in the previous reporting period.

The total amount of money raised by admission of guilt fines nearly doubled from 2007/08 from 744,706 rand to approximately 1.4 million rand in 2008/09.

Read the rest of this entry »

Emissions reductions equivalent to removing 153,000 cars from California highways

Results are in from the first year of a new air quality program for farmers: 2,523 applications were submitted for the program to clear Central Valley skies by offering incentives to retire old inefficient engines and adopt cultural practices to improve air quality. The $22.6 million made available this year through USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in California was able to fund 586 applications. Preliminary calculations suggest that the effect these farmers will make will be an emissions reduction equivalent to removing 153,000 vehicles from California highways.

Read the rest of this entry »

Whether you’re a professional or a do it yourself home remodeler, dust is a problem that occurs on most jobs. Professional remodelers know that clean up takes time, but not cleaning the area after you’re finished ruins relationships and loses clients. Do-it-yourselfers can see the face of their spouse when they mention another project. Clean up is more than just cleaning the area; it means removing dust that flies all over the house. 

There are steps to reduce the amount of dust and therefore the time it takes to clean up the area. One of these is plastic, tape, staples and 2 by 4′s. Normally putting up this type of barrier is not a one-man job, if you do it alone it takes time, lots and lots of wasted time. The professional knows how important dust free construction is to the homeowner, so they take the time for two or more men to install the barrier. Most home do-it-yourselfers don’t bother, so normally projects create weeks of clean up as the dust settles throughout the house.

Now, there’s a product, which installs easily at the jobsite and blocks the dust from leaving the area. Zipwall dust control  systems include telescoping poles, plastic gripping heads with pads to protect the sealing, skid free discs for under the poles, locks to seal the side and best of all, zippers. That’s right, zippers. Getting in and out of a work area that’s taped up normally means you have to overlap some of the plastic and form a loose seal at the doors, which allows the dust to escape to other parts of the house. The Zipwall system allows you to keep the seal tight, even suck the dust out as you work by putting the hose of an operating vacuum under the plastic and not have one bit of dust go to another area of the house. The professional looking enclosed area and the dust free job site is enough to get the highest praise from even your meticulous client.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here is the problem. When you use a dust suppression product like Top-Seal Dust Control, You cause the soil to become less permeable. Thus Causing the water in the lake to stay in the lake. Eventually you will Flood your Solar Farm and then it will just be a nice place to dive.

In Los Angeles, California, the city’s Department of Water and Power (DWP) is eyeing flat, dusty, arid Owens Lake as the potential site for a future mega-solar farm, but the initiative is focused less on clean, renewable solar energy than on preventing the interminable dust storms generated by the dry lake bed.

Owens Lake started to run dry when, in 1913, the city began diverting water from the Owens River. By 1926, the former lake was a shallow hardpan. Today, it ranks as the largest single source of PM10 dust (windborn dust particles smaller than 10 microns) in the United States. In fact, one estimate suggests the lake produces up to 8 million metric tons per year.

The DWP thinks that covering 616 acres of the lake bed with solar panels could cut down on dust storms, which threaten the health of nearby Keeler and Ridgecrest residents by delivering up to 23 times the amount of airborne particulate matter federal levels suggest as safe.

Read the rest of this entry »

The state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is looking to add a new general permit category to its arsenal of resource protection tools. The new permit is designed to ensure that inland lake shoreline stabilization is done through an environmentally safe process known as bioengineering — using plant products to simulate a natural shoreline while functioning in much the same way as the antiquated and traditional seawall.

According to a recent DEQ public notice, the new category is being proposed to encourage the use of bioengineering to stabilize the shorelines of inland lakes.

"These practices — also known as ‘soft’ or ‘green’ engineering — are intended to prevent or control soil erosion and to restore native shorelines while protecting and enhancing fish and wildlife habitat and other nature features associated with the lake," the notice states.
Bioengineering involves the use of a combination of native plants and natural or biodegradable materials to engineer shoreline protection that mimics, to the best extent possible, or enhances the natural shoreline.

"The DEQ has the ability to propose minor project categories that are permit categories that qualify for an expedited or accelerated review process," said John Skubinna, an environmental quality analyst with the DEQ. "The Land and Water Management Division of the DEQ is the agency that reviews and issues permit for construction around the shoreline of a lake. They recently proposed a new minor project category for bioengineering construction. That proposed category went out on public notice for comment in June. That period ended in August and, based on those comments, a decision will be made on whether to create that new category and put it in use later this fall."

Read the rest of this entry »

One topic the county commissioners, city Council members and mayors of Green River and Rock Springs will address at a workshop Nov. 6 is turning what remains of the old highway into a serviceable alternate road between the two cities.

The commissioners began planning the workshop last August.

“We do this kind of work every day,” Rock Springs Mayor Tim Kaumo said. “If we all come together, we can come up with a product that will meet the needs of our community.”

Opinions on how this might be accomplished vary. County Engineer John Radosevich envisions a crushed base surface, with a magnesium chloride treatment for dust control two or three times a year, depending on volume of use. Kaumo thinks milled up asphalt would work better.

This is the type of project SCI thrives on, by utilizing the soils that are native to the area we would be able to transform what is considered an unusable road into a very usable and manageable road for a fraction of the cost they are looking at spending. By the time this is published here we will have contacted the public workers regarding their options. dust Control is just another part of the benefit to using Top-Seal

Read the rest of this entry »

Denver, Colo. - The International Erosion Control Association’s membership voted to re-elect Sandy Mathews and Brock Peters, CISEC to the 2010 Board of Directors. Joining Mathews and Peters to the 2010 Board of Directors is new board member Charles Riling, Jr.

Riling will begin his term in February alongside fellow Board members Mike Chase, CPESC, CPSWQ, CESSWI, Julie Etra, CPESC, Ron Faucher, CPESC, Philip Handley, REM, CPESC, Lee Johnson, CPESC, Sandy Mathews, Rick Morse, CPESC, CPSS, CEnvP, Brock Peters, CISEC, and Tom Williams, CPESC.

Sandy Mathews, is a Senior Scientist leading the Oakland, CA office of Larry Walker Associates.  Sandy joined IECA in 1996 and was recruited and elected to the Western Chapter Board in 2000. Mathews served two terms as Western Chapter Secretary and one as President prior to joining International Erosion Control Association’s Board of Directors in 2008.

Read the rest of this entry »

Now i can see the residents point of view as well as Mr. White’s. It takes time to complete projects like this and staging is part of the game. You don’t redo you dust control every day. The people have a right to clean air and the builder has the obligation to keep it that way. Bu some times we each have to think of the others situation. I guess if he has started with a dust control product like Top-Seal from the very start he would have been in better shape. I can promise you it would have been less than 10k per day.

The state’s Department of Ecology issued a violations notice and order to developer Calvin White for not taking care of dust control problems at two East Wenatchee subdivisions he has been in the process of developing since 2006.

The notice of violations and order, dated Sept. 23, indicates White could face a $10,000 civil penalty each day for each violation if he does not take corrective action.

White has 30 days to appeal the corrective order the DOE issued along with the violations notice; but in the past two weeks, he has been busy at Aspen Hills and Calalina Crest subdivisions north of East Wenatchee. He put in a road, leveled a mountainous pile of dirt and hydroseeded the two properties with an erosion-control seed mix.

Susan Billings, DOE’s section manager for the Central Regional Air Quality Section out of Yakima, said the department has received steady complaints from neighbors of the two subdivision sites.

The notice said neighbors provided detailed reports about ongoing impacts to their health and welfare, damage to their property and inability to enjoy their residences indoors or outside.

Dave Hulligan, whose duplex was situated next to a nearly 60-foot-high pile of soil on White’s land until White leveled it Thursday, said, “It’s almost like living in a sandstorm.”

He said if his garage door is open for even a few minutes, the fine particulate fills up his tool cases.

“My mom, who is staying with me, has asthma, and at times it is impossible for her to breathe,” Hulligan said.

Read the rest of this entry »