Commissioned by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce Foundation, INTERA Principal Geoscientist, Dr. Jack Wittman, recently led a 6-month study of Indiana’s water resources and the impacts these resources have on the ability to sustain economic development across the state. The results of the study are included in a report titled “Water and Economic Development in Indiana—Modernizing the State’s Approach to a Critical Resource.” The report includes specific recommendations for: creating widespread awareness about the need for water supply planning; coordinating current efforts, including the funding of additional water research; implementing more robust monitoring of water resources; and developing standardized systems for data analysis and water resource management. The study warns that without planning and proper management, Indiana’s water supply—a longtime natural resource strength—could become a challenge for both businesses and citizens. The study also sets the stage for the creation of a long-needed, long-range water plan for the state. The complete report can be downloaded at http://www.indianachamber.com/index.php/water-study.
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INTERA Supports Water Authority in Its Efforts to Promote Aquifer Clean-Up
In this article in the Albuquerque Journal, Bernalilo County Commissioner, Maggie Hart Stebbins, writes this opinon piece, which includes a reference to INTERA’s support:
In my role as County Commissioner and member of the Water Authority board, I am often asked what action the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority is taking on the Kirtland Air Force Base jet fuel spill now threatening Water Authority wells. I hope I can offer some clarity about the Water Authority’s actions on that issue over the past several years.
Although we may wish otherwise, it is important to understand that the Water Authority has no regulatory authority over the Air Force.
Under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, that responsibility is given to the New Mexico Environment Department. The Authority is a “stakeholder” and entitled to provide input, which we do on a regular basis; however, we have no power to force either the KAFB contractor or NMED to incorporate our recommendations into the work plans or final decisions about how the remediation will take place.
Despite that limitation, we have taken concrete action on a number of fronts.
Since 2008, the Water Authority has been conducting its own voluntary monthly sampling/testing of nearby drinking water production wells in the Burton and Ridgecrest Well Fields. That includes monthly sampling for ethylene dibromide (EDB) and aviation gas/jet fuel constituents, in addition to the biennial sampling required under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
To date, there have been no detections of contaminants related to the fuel spill.
We have also contracted with the U.S. Geological Service to install our own independent early warning well system to alert the Water Authority should contamination reach the zone of the aquifer from which our drinking water is produced. That “well nest” is located between the plume and our production wells.
There has been no detection of spill-related contaminants at that site.
In 2010, I recommended that the Water Authority engage an expert environmental firm to evaluate the progress and effectiveness of the Air Force contractor’s investigation and cleanup activities. The Water Authority’s contractor, INTERA, and water utility staff have evaluated every release of data made available by KAFB. They have provided to the Water Authority, NMED and Air Force officials analysis of the data; documented concerns about the status of the remediation; and offered recommendations for improving the process.
Over the past five years, the Water Authority board has heard at least 10 presentations by KAFB and its contractor as well as NMED. Those meetings have been opportunities to challenge the contractor on the pace of the cleanup and bring critical information to the public.
Given the importance of the Burton and Ridgecrest wells to the municipal water supply, the Water Authority and INTERA recently presented a strategy to contain the contamination before it ever reaches production wells – using methods that can be implemented in a matter of months, not years.
We are awaiting feedback from the Air Force and NMED on that strategy, which we think is a viable option for protecting the local water supply while final remediation is still in the planning stages.
I have followed closely the progress on this issue because it affects not only the residents of my commission district, but the future water supply for all of Bernalillo County. I am committed to making sure that the jet fuel chemicals are not allowed to enter the drinking water system, and I will continue to work for a remediation process that ensures that contamination is contained and removed before it reaches our wells.
Any proposal by KAFB’s contractor that allows the contamination to reach our production wells is unacceptable. The burden of remediation – and the long-term consequences of the spill – should not be placed on the ratepayers or on our community’s drought reserve.
Bernalillo County residents rely on the Water Authority to represent their interests where the fuel spill is concerned. Our policy positions and actions clearly demonstrate our commitment to promoting an acceptable solution to this potentially disastrous problem.
Maggie Hart Stebbins is vice-chair of the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority.
Continue ReadingDr. Mick Apted Discusses Waste Isolation in Shale in USA Today
by Wendy Koch, USA TODAY
Shale is already a source of the U.S. natural gas boom, but new research suggests it could help the expansion of another energy source: nuclear power.
Could shale rock spur another energy bonanza? It’s already helped create a surge in U.S. oil and natural gas production, and research today suggests it could do something else: store radioactive waste from nuclear power plants.
These rock formations are ideal for storing potentially dangerous spent fuel for millennia, because they are nearly impermeable, a U.S. geologist told a scientific meeting. One of the biggest risks of storing nuclear waste for thousands of years is water contamination.
The development of new U.S. nuclear power plants, all of which are now decades old, has been partly hobbled by the lack of a long-term repository for their waste. In 2009, the U.S. government abandoned plans for a repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, so plants currently store about 77,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel onsite in above-ground facilities.
“Shale has a lot of nice properties. … We really should consider whether this is something we should look into,” says Chris Neuzil of the U.S. Geological Survey, who presented his findings Monday in Dallas to the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society. He says experiments show how incredibly watertight shale can be — 100 to 10,000 times less permeable than cement grout.
“Not all shales have the low permeabilities at the scale we desire,” but plenty is available in tectonically stable areas that won’t be used for oil and natural gas production, Neuzil says. In recent years, hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is being used to break apart these rock deposits and extract the the gas or oil trapped within.
Neuzil says current U.S. storage of nuclear waste is problematic because the spent fuel continues to produce heat and harmful radiation long after a power plant uses it to produce electricity. Plants typically store the waste in steel-lined, concrete pools filled with water or in massive, airtight steel casks.
Neuzil says safe maintenance of above-ground storage depends on stable societies for thousands of years. He also notes the risks of natural disasters, including Japan’s 2011 tsunami that knocked cooling pumps offline at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Several countries, including France, Switzerland and Belgium, have plans to develop long-term nuclear waste repositories hundreds of yards underground in layers of shale and other clay-rich rock. Neuzil is investigating a site using limestone in Ontario with the Canadian Nuclear Waste Management Organization.
“He’s bringing up a very sensible idea, but this isn’t particularly new,” says Mick Apted, a geochemist at Austin-based INTERA, an environmental consulting firm. “The Europeans have taught us this.”
Apted, who’s working with Switzerland and Belgium on their programs, says France is furthest along in pursuing an underground repository in clay-rich rock, which isn’t as hard as shale. He says France, which gets 80% of its electricity from nuclear power, has identified a site. In Finland and Sweden, he says, companies have submitted a construction license to build a repository in granite-like rock and are waiting on government approval.
“It’s far too soon to know” whether shale is a viable long-term storage option, says Geoff Fettus, an attorney in the nuclear program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. He says prior research has looked at the feasibility of various geologic formations, but “NRDC is not aware of a significant number of studies on this particular medium (shale).”
In his January 2010 State of the Union address, President Obama received standing applause from both sides of the political aisle when he called for a “new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants.” In February, his administration finalized $6.5 billion in loan guarantees for the nation’s first two new nuclear reactors in three decades — at Southern Co.’s Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia.
The expansion of nuclear power, welcomed by the nuclear industry and business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, remains controversial in the environmental community. Many environmentalists oppose it, citing potential Fukushima-type meltdown risks as well as the lack of a long-term repository for nuclear waste.
Yet in recent years, it’s drawn the support of leading climate scientists, such as James Hansen, former head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, who say solar and wind energy will not be able to deliver enough carbon-free energy to avoid catastrophic global warming. Nuclear power plants emit no heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions.
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Suzanne Busch, PE Joins INTERA’s Albuquerque Staff
Albuquerque, NM – INTERA is pleased to announce the addition of Ms. Suzanne Busch, PE to the company’s Albuquerque-based environmental engineering team. A registered professional engineer in New Mexico, she brings 30 years of experience in engineering design and management of civil infrastructure projects, including the operation and maintenance of remediation systems at active and former landfill sites. Prior to joining INTERA, Ms. Busch spent 25 years with the City of Albuquerque in a variety of capacities including Engineer Associate with the Public Works Department (1988 – 1993), Senior Engineer in the Capital Implementation Program (1993 – 2007), and Principal Engineer in the Environmental Health Department (2007 – 2013). A well-known and highly respected engineer in New Mexico, Ms. Busch’s skills and experience will not only benefit INTERA’s current projects, but prove invaluable in the company’s efforts to expand engineering services with a variety of state and municipal agencies, as well as private industry.
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New INTERA “Look”—Same Commitment to Delivering Excellence with Every Geoscience and Engineering Solution
We are pleased to announce that 2014 marks the 40th anniversary of INTERA’s founding as an environmental consulting firm. In recognition of this important milestone, we are unveiling a new corporate logo. The new logo retains design elements from our former blue “wave” logo while incorporating additional earth tones that more accurately reflect the breadth of the company’s environmental, water and coastal resources, and waste isolation services. While this represents a new “look” for INTERA, our focus remains on delivering excellence with every geoscience and engineering solution.
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