Today’s landfill design professionals can help eliminate unsafe configurations and institute features that can proactively warn of and minimize hazards for operator and customer safety. Designers consider subgrade conditions, geotechnical factors and regulatory requirements when specifying how steep a landfill may be constructed.
The practical aspects of landfill operations and maintenance play a significant role in slope configurations since the landfill must provide safe access to monitoring points, environmental control features, and mowing.
Bob Gardner highlights the most important features to consider for landfill cells, including the design and construction phases of the entire landfill’s infrastructure. Bob covers a broad range of topics including:
Many states regulate the maximum design slope, and although these vary, it is up to the landfill designer to take practical, safety and regulatory considerations into account when establishing the slope configuration. Bob recommends working closely with the field staff to incorporate a design that is user-friendly, effective and safe.
Read the WasteToday article “Ensuring safety during landfill design,” by clicking here.
About the Author: Bob Gardner, PE, BCEE
One of the most important regulatory requirements on landfill bottom lining system drainage layer is that the maximum head of leachate over the liner should not exceed 1 ft. When this requirement was developed, the consensus was that the drainage layer consisted of granular materials. Later, when geonets and geocomposites entered the market, the unwritten consensus among solid waste engineers and regulators was that the maximum head of leachate at the base should not exceed the thickness of the geonet or geocomposite drainage layer.
With that in mind, the reduction in hydraulic transmissivity of geocomposite laid over steeper slopes can adversely affect the maximum leachate head over the liner. When hydraulic transmissivity value reduces due to steeper slope at the base, the hydraulic conductivity reduces in turn as well. Reducing hydraulic conductivity results in an increase in the maximum head of leachate passing through the geocomposite.
Read Dr. Ali Khatami’s design advice for cell base slopes under these circumstances to maximize hydraulic transmissivity; recently published in the winter edition of Talking Trash.
Additional Resources:
Downhole scaling of organic compounds presents challenges in Class I disposal wells. Once chemical and physical conditions drive biological growth and mineral precipitation, the resulting downhole scale must be confronted with expensive workovers, stimulations, or even plugging and abandonment. In one Midwest case study, an electric utility is battling ferric, carbonate, and sulfate precipitate driven by fluctuating pH in its coal combustion residuals (CCR) leachate. Using a variety of geochemical models, we are taking a proactive approach to eliminate expensive fixes by simulating the saturation indices of key mineral species under defined parameters that drive the formation of downhole precipitate under temperature and pressure.
Using a variety of chemical equilibrium models such as PHREEQC, MINTEQ, WATEQ4F, and Geochemist’s Workbench, conceptual scenarios are run at the surface and in the mixing zone of the downhole reservoir using site-specific water-quality data, pressures, and temperatures. Each scenario provides anticipated mineral saturation states, used to estimate mass removal or chemical neutralization to prevent downhole precipitation. To mirror the dynamic nature of the CCR leachate water chemistry, modeling will continue as an iterative process whereby we will continue to collect data and run simulations to stay ahead of changes that could affect the downhole well chemistry.
This proactive approach will reduce the potential for downhole scaling to increase operational efficiency, reduce maintenance costs, and extend the life of this Class I well.
Meet Stephanie Hill and the SCS team at the Groundwater Protection Council’s 2019 Underground Injection Control conference. Tuesday, Feb. 26 from 10:30 a.m. – 12:00.
Stephanie Hill obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Texas at Austin in geological sciences with a focus on hydrogeology. She serves clients nationwide with the SCS Engineers team as a senior project manager and oversees the St. Louis area operations. Stephanie’s project experience includes hydrogeological evaluations, liquids management solutions, and Class I injection well permitting, design and operation.
If you use hazardous substances or store oils or fuels on-site at your facility, you need to be prepared to respond appropriately to a release. Having a written plan is your company’s first step to protecting human health, the environment, and your company’s assets from the aftermath of a spill.
Not all of your employees are qualified to clean up all releases. Training may be required if there are potential risks. Choosing the correct level of training and the right people to train is essential to maximizing your facility’s spill preparedness. Read more about spill response teams here.
Spill planning and reporting can be subject to rules from multiple agencies, depending on what spilled, where the spill happened, and whether it leaves your property.
Which Plan Does My Facility Need?
Where do I Start?
You can start by assessing your facility’s spill potential. Take an inventory of the chemical products at your facility. You will want to include some details in your assessment such as the related hazards of each product, the amount you store on-site, the biggest container, and where these are stored and used in relation to employee workstations and other operations at the facility. This assessment may already be incorporated into your written plans.
Ask yourself these questions:
Based on your answers, choose the level of spill response training that best suits your needs…continue by reading Cheryl Moran’s article on spill response training.
Are you ready for the 2019 Environmental Reporting season?
Don’t let the deadlines sneak up on you. Use these reporting overviews from SCS Engineers to help you get ahead of your compliance requirements.
Each guide includes the due dates for the most common environmental reports due at the federal and state levels, including a short overview of each report.
Need more help sorting out details like which reports apply to you, or step-by-step support on how to prepare your reports?
Contact SCS Engineers’ environmental reporting experts today for help complying with your 2018 reporting requirements. In the Upper Midwest contact Ann O’Brien or Cheryl Moran at
For other SCS Engineers locations, please contact us at .
NRDC’s Estimating Quantities and Types of Food Waste is a study and report based on studies performed in the cities of Denver, Nashville, and New York. The main objectives were to assess the amount of food wasted across the residential, industrial, commercial and institutional sectors; to determine why the food was wasted, and to assess the amount of edible food that could have potentially been donated to those populations in need.
Many cities are collecting data and performing waste characterizations to begin reducing the amount of food wasted and finding inedible food that can be composted or used in industries. Estimating a baseline of the amounts currently being discarded is a critical first step in the process. Without understanding basic information about how much food is being wasted and where that waste occurs, assessing progress and developing plans becomes overly challenging.
The report shows us what percentage of foods are inedible and edible, along with the most common foods wasted by residents (coffee, apples, bread, and milk). At the household level, total food wasted was 8.7 pounds per household week, and edible food wasted was 6.0 pounds per household per week. Smaller households have a larger percentage of wasted food too. Not surprising is that awareness of food waste can save consumers money, energy, and time.
Ideally, plans follow the EPA Food Recovery Hierarchy in prioritizing prevention and rescue over other strategies. Developing detailed assessments can provide insight on food wasted by sector, by discard destination, by loss reason, and by food type, including breakdowns of edible, avoidable, and foods that can be rescued. Plans and studies provide additional data that can help in structuring effective interventions to reduce wasted food.
Similarly, few cities have tried to estimate how much surplus food beyond what is currently being donated could potentially be rescued and directed to people in need. Data on these unexploited resources clarifies the scale and sources of rescuable food and, along with information on what types of surplus food are currently needed in the community, can inform strategies for increasing participation in food donation efforts and bolstering food rescue infrastructure. It also highlights what portion of the city’s “meals gap” could potentially be addressed through increased food donation from pre-consumer surplus. See NRDC’s report Modeling the Potential to Increase Food Rescue: Denver, New York City and Nashville for more information on conducting a food rescue assessment.
Donation programs for institutions can be found online. Food Donation Collection is one. Finding a program to take residential pre-consumer surplus are usually limited to non-perishables which is why your city or community is supporting organized local programs such as Arlington Food Assistance Centers.
…and have fun doing it! In true SCS spirit, our offices are busy helping others in their communities, so that everyone’s holiday is a little bit brighter. A special thanks to our Young Professionals who think BIG, for organizing a national food drive with a healthy competition between our offices. The offices nationwide donated several thousand pounds of food to their local food banks.
In Overland Park, Susan McCart headed up the team’s packaging party to provide 35 custom-made holiday care packages to the members of her son’s Air Force unit. Similarly, our other offices are donating to local causes and to those serving our country.
We are happy that we can help, not just at this time of the year, but year round.
Learn how to minimize leachate and contact water management at coal combustion residual (CCR) landfills using good design, physical controls, and operational practices.
Through this SCS presentation of case studies, you will learn how to assess leachate and contact water management issues and implement techniques to minimize leachate and contact water management at your landfill.
Leachate management and contact water management at CCR landfills can be expensive, cause operational headaches, and divert valuable resources from other critical plant needs. Our presentation will provide you with useful tools to ensure your landfill is designed and operated to effectively reduce leachate and contact water and alleviate operator stress. We will present case studies that highlight how design features, physical controls, and operational practices have effectively decreased leachate and contact water management at CCR landfills.
2019 EUEC in San Diego, February 25-17, 2019. Conference details here.
On October 19, 2018, the Treasury issued proposed guidance related to the new Opportunity Zone tax incentive created by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Opportunity Zones are communities where new investments may be eligible for significant tax incentives. The incentive is designed to spur economic development and job creation.
New tax code Section 1400Z-1 provides the rules for designating Opportunity Zones and Section 1400Z-2 allows a taxpayer to elect to defer certain gains based on timely investment in Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) and excludes post-acquisition gains on investments in QOFs held for at least 10 years. The proposed guidance under Section 1400Z-2 addresses the gains eligible for deferral, types of taxpayers who are eligible, the type of eligible interest, the timeframe to invest in the QOF, and the requirement to include previously deferred gains. The proposed regulations also provide rules for self-certifying as a QOF, valuation of QOF assets (90% test), and guidance on qualified businesses. The proposed rule would permit an investor making an investment as late as the end of June 2027 to hold the investment in the QOF for the entire 10-year holding period plus another 10 years through 2047.
In a nutshell, the new law allows a taxpayer who would otherwise owe capital gains tax on an investment to roll-over the proceeds into an Opportunity Zone and thereby defer (or eliminate) capital gains taxes provided certain conditions are met. As many of the Opportunity Zones will be designated in areas containing Brownfields redevelopment opportunities, SCS expects many of our clients will be interested in this opportunity to do well by doing good. If you are interested in investing in a potential brownfield site, contact SCS Engineers to help you evaluate and manage environmental concerns associated with your site. Visit www.scsengineers.com to learn more.
The following are links to the press release and proposed guidance:
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm530
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/reg-115420-18.pdf
The Treasury plans to present additional guidance before the end of the year, and a public hearing is scheduled for January 10, 2019. Taxpayers may submit comments by 60 days (around the third week in December 2018) after the publication of the proposed guidance in the Federal Register at www.regulations.gov. Additional guidance is expected to include the meaning of “substantially all”; transactions that may trigger the inclusion of gain that has been deferred; the reasonable period for a QOF to reinvest without paying a penalty; administrative rules regarding the investment standard; and, information-reporting requirements. SCS will provide an update when the additional guidance becomes available.
For additional information, you may contact SCS Engineers at or the blog Author, Christine Stokes.
Additional Resources:
Sustainable environmental programs require multi-disciplinary professionals who have highly technical engineering skills and can develop solutions in coordination with state and local entities, private businesses, and the public.
SCS Engineers announces several strategic management enhancements following its Board of Directors meeting in November. The firm promoted several individuals and hired new professionals to increase support for its landfill, waste management, and clean energy clients in states where recycling goals and the reduction of greenhouse gases are advancing at a rapid pace.
SCS Engineers is an employee-owned corporation, with a Board of Directors that sets policies, appoints officers and committees, and otherwise serves the employee-shareholders by governing the corporation. SCS Engineers includes three specialty business practices: SCS Field Services, SCS Energy, and SCS Tracer.
The Board confirmed the company’s list of officers for the year ahead, including the promotions of Pete Carrico to Senior Vice President of SCS Field Services Operations and Maintenance, and Julio Nuno to SCS Engineers’ Senior Vice President of Environmental Services, Southwest.
Promoted to Vice President were Myles Clewner (Florida), Jim Ritchie, Srividhya Viswanathan, Art Jones, and Sol Sim (California); and Tom Lock (Pennsylvania).
SCS also welcomes new Project Director, Daniel Dietch, to its Miami, Florida, office. Mr. Dietch comes to the firm with more than 20 years of academic and professional experience in solid waste management. His experience includes master planning, landfill closure plans, operations and technology reporting, rate models and cost-benefit analyses, data management, and procurement. His expertise will help support achieving state and local sustainable recycling and waste management goals. Mr. Dietch is also the Mayor of Surfside, Florida, and brings the unique big-picture perspective of a public servant.
“These colleagues are a key part of our success, and we are proud to announce their promotions,” said President and CEO Jim Walsh. “Our clients and SCS are thriving as new professionals join with our best and brightest employee-owners.”
