Environmentally Speaking - eNewsletter for the A/E/C Community

Design-Build Nutrient Removal Initiatives:
Blending Reduction and Reuse

Thanks to sustainable wastewater engineering efforts, Pennsylvania's popular Penn National Race Course is on track to comply with state nutrient reduction strategies. Our firm completed a new nutrient removal facility design for the Penn National Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Grantville which meets both NPDES discharge limits and water reuse criteria.

t	Facility design was complicated by a large number of horses at the race course. The concentrated animal feeding operation will require wash water from the horses to be routed to the WWTP. Horse hair also required careful selection of pumping and screening equipment.

A comparable size to the existing WWTP (0.23 mgd), the new WWTP will comply with a total nitrogen (TN) level of 8.0 mg/L and a total phosphorus (TP) level of 1.0 mg/L. The project will also include portions of a water reuse system to allow for irrigation of track and turf areas with treated effluent and for potential use in restroom facilities.

related coverage

Design-build (scroll down)
Managing waste (scroll down)
Nutrient reduction (scroll down)
Water sustainability

Contact Project Manager, Tom Jones, WWTPO, for more information.

Landfill Gas-To-Energy:
Another Source of
Renewable Energy

The pipe is proposed to be installed under I-176 and I-76. It will then run to a PP&L easement that will be followed to Route 897, where the tie-in will be located.

Off the heels of the award-winning Lanchester effort, Pennsylvania's Conestoga Pipeline Project will provide customers with landfill gas (LFG) for beneficial use in their industrial processes. This assignment involves installing a 9-mile-long, 18-inch diameter HDPE pipeline between the Conestoga Landfill in New Morgan Borough and an existing LFG pipeline in East Earl Township.

Landfill-derived gas will be processed with filtration and drying equipment, then compressed for pipeline transport. Customers will utilize this renewable energy source in place of traditional fuel sources such as heating oil or natural gas.

related coverage

Conestoga Compressor Station (video)
Pipeline Safety (left)

Granger Energy is jointly developing this project with Allied Waste Industries and UGI. Contact Design Project Manager, Jim Leiper, PE, for more information. Stay tuned to our next issue for more renewable energy benefits.

Michigan Redevelopment:
Housing Project Success

UST Contamination

A street oiling contractor who had operated at the Hazard Street location for nearly 40 years collected used motor oil for use as a road dust suppressant. The oil was stored in a 20,000-gal leaking UST located on the property that was eventually removed by the State.

A recently dedicated Habitat for Humanity house was built on state-remediated property on Hazard Street in Kalamazoo, MI. The Hazard Street Project was made possible thanks to a USEPA underground storage tank (UST) grant and Gannett Fleming's multi-faceted remediation efforts (performed under contract with the State of Michigan).

Our firm initially conducted a Phase I environmental site assessment (ESA) to determine the property's historical uses. The subsequent Phase II ESA included a geophysical survey and soil and groundwater samples utilizing direct push methods. Next, a soil test pit investigation which involved removing and disposing of petroleum-contaminated soil at five property locations was performed. Subsequent soil samples collected from the excavation walls and floors confirmed that the Hazard Street property met Michigan's risk-based requirements for residential redevelopment.

The Habitat for Humanity Hazard Street house was built by area high school students enrolled in the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency's building program.

Contact Vice President, Ed Burk, Jr., PG, to learn more about this endeavor or Michigan remediation and redevelopment efforts See Links to access the Habitat for Humanity web site.

Nutrient Reduction:
Revamping Our Strategy

Background

The Chesapeake Bay Agreement seeks to improve water quality within the Chesapeake Bay watershed to a level that will remove the Bay from the federal Clean Water Act 303 (d) list of impaired waters by 2010. Pennsylvania released the Strategy to establish the programs needed to meet the nutrient cap goals of the state’s Chesapeake Bay tributaries.

The Pennsylvania "Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy (Strategy)" has undergone a great deal of public scrutiny since its initial release nearly 2 years ago. This has resulted in the formation of a Steering Committee and several workgroups to review various components and recommend changes to address public concerns.

Our firm has been an active participant in reshaping the Strategy through participation in the Point Source Work Group and the Trading Work Group. There are several major changes that have been accepted by the Steering Committee and are expected to be adopted by the PADEP.

". . . nitrogen and phosphorus annual mass loading caps might be based on a TN of 6 mg/L and a TP of 0.8 mg/L at the WWTP's design annual average daily flow, instead of the projected 2010 flow used under the original Strategy - Point Source Work Group

past coverage

Chesapeake Bay Nutrient Management Strategy

To learn more about Pennsylvania's latest nutrient reduction strategies or to request a copy of our related brochure, contact Senior Process Designer, Dale Shope, PE.

Phase 1 ESA Manual

Effective November 1st, Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs) requirements underwent a major change. To ensure that a consistent process is followed for each Phase 1 ESA performed, Gannett Fleming environmental professionals (EPs) now use a handbook that outlines the proper Phase I ESA procedure. Developed by our firm's site remediation practice, this document streamlines the ESA process so that EPs can more efficiently use time and resources.

related coverage

Phase 1 ESA All Appropriate Inquiries Rule

For more information, contact Senior Project Manager, Frank Swit, PG.

Project Delivery Part 1:
Design-Build Caveats

D-B benefits

fast-track ability enhanced
expedited completion
potential cost savings
costing/scheduling input during design
value engineering
early cost commitment
low change orders
reduced owner burdens
owner isolated from liability
improved risk management

A Design/Builder holds consolidated responsibility for delivering a completed project. Due to this single-source accountability, it is essential that a strong trust exists between the Design/Builder and the Owner throughout the entire design-build (D-B) process. Equally as important is for the Design/ Builder to maintain multi-disciplinary capabilities throughout all phases of an assignment, from inception through completion.

To learn more about D-B advantages, contact Gannett Fleming Project Development Corporation President, Don Morosky, PE. Stay tuned for more D-B project solutions.

Biological Nutrient Removal:
A Primer for Pennsylvania Municipalities

As follow-up to last year's article on "Treatment Activities for the Removal of Nitrogen and Phosphorus," Senior Process Designer, Dale Shope, PE, tackles these issues head-on in a two-part series entitled "Biological Nutrient Removal: A Primer for Pennsylvania Municipalities." He discusses removal process, technology application, financing, construction and discharge limit compliance issues.

". . . While phosphorus removal requirements are not new to wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) discharging to stream tributaries on the Susquehanna River downstream of Duncannon, PA, total nitrogen limits are relatively new to Pennsylvania. In fact, many of the existing WWTP facilities not designed with total nitrogen reduction in mind may need major improvements."

Dale's articles appear in prominent state municipal magazines including "The Authority" and "Keystone Water Quality Manager."

Transfer Stations:
The Middlemen of Solid Waste Management

An article discussing the transfer station's role in the waste disposal cycle was recently featured in an online edition of "MSW Management (see links below)." Author Steve Lezinski provides an in-depth examination of this subject, ranging from transfer station planning, design and control issues to safety, environmental, outreach initiatives.

	". . . engineering continues to provide integrated solutions and multi-use facilities such as transfer stations to create a logical sequence of operations. This entails waste collection through waste-to-energy processes and disposal that maximizes waste stream efficiencies."

related coverage

Current Granger Projects (scroll up)
LFG Pipeline Safety (scroll up)

A Technical Writer/ Solid Waste Specialist, Steve's experience includes preparing a railroad linear occupancy (or wire application) for Norfolk Southern for two proposed landfill gas (LFG) pipeline/railroad crossings and the Granger Energy service extension.

Water Resource Management:
Dam Breaching

The recent American Water Resources Association (AWRA) Annual Conference in Baltimore, MD, covered multi-faceted topics ranging from water and wastewater modeling, regulatory, supply, and technology issues to hydropower and dam rehabilitation. The event included a Gannett Fleming paper discussing the removal of large dams and site restoration - including a case study on the breaching of Birch Run Dam.

". . . prior to its removal from service in 2005, the 65-foot-high, 700-foot-long earthfill Birch Run Dam was number one on the Pennsylvania DEP (PADEP) list of unsafe dams. Representing a high-hazard potential to 11,000 downstream residents, PADEP requested that the Borough of Chambersburg, PA, address inadequate spillway capacity and other dam deficiencies."

To learn more about this project's innovative dam removal and stream restoration process, contact Project Manager, Tim Johnston, PE.

» American Water Resources Association

» Gannett Fleming Project Development Corp.

» Habitat for Humanity

» Michigan DEQ

» MSW Management