Friday, July 16, 2010

Please Come See Me Speak at the Temecula Library in August

I'm going to be speaking at the Temecula Library (30600 Pauba Road, Temecula, CA) event entitled "California's Water Problem." The event is sponsored by the Friends of the Temecula Library and will be held on Saturday, August 21, from 1 to 3 pm. A watermelon social will follow.


Please attend the event and learn about the challenges facing California and the world regarding our thirst for water. I hope to see you there.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Secondary Containment Halts Greka Facility Oil/Water Spill


Approximately 250 barrels of mostly produced water and crude oil spilled at the Greka Oil Lease facility in Santa Maria, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
Representatives from Greka, the fire department, the Department of Fish and Game, and County Petroleum responded to the scene at 9:16 a.m.
Crews say the spill was a result of an over-filled produced water tank. The spill did not affect local wildlife, and was within secondary containment, according to the fire department.

Special thanks to KSBY News for reporting.

Friday, May 07, 2010

Shell Singapore Cracker Unit Utilizes Earth Shield Waterstop for Containment Needs



BANGALORE, INDIA--May 7, 2010--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Global oil and gas major Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS.A) (The Hague, Netherlands) inaugurated its widely anticipated Shell Eastern Petrochemical Complex (SEPC) in Singapore on May 4. At the inaugural ceremony, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsieng Loong said that the complex, which is Shell's new petrochemical hub, could attract a "new wave" of investments in excess of $2 billion in fixed assets from major companies involved in the petrochemical industry.

The SEPC is expected to give a major boost to Singapore's chemicals sector, which is responsible for one-third, or $60 billion, of the country's total manufacturing capacity. In fact, the company itself is attempting to lift its capacity to meet the burgeoning Asian, especially Chinese, demand for plastic-making raw materials.

The pride of the project is a cracker, which has a manufacturing capacity of 800,000 ton per year of ethylene; 450,000 tons per year of propylene; and 230,000 tons per year of benzene. Shell already had commissioned its 800,000 tons per year ethylene cracker on Pulau Bukom Island in March and the facility is operating efficiently, without hiccups, it is reported.

The complex also has a strategic integration with a 500,000-barrel-per-day refinery at Bukom Island. Shell modified the Bukom refinery plant, by virtue of which it is now capable of manufacturing a larger gamut of crudes as raw materials for the cracker.

Last November, the company had also commissioned its 750,000-ton-per-year mono ethylene glycol (MEG) plant on Jurong Island.

While designing the new complex, Shell wanted to have both the oil refining and the petrochemical units in the same complex, linking the facilities on the two islands. The cracker on Bukom Island, integrated with the Bukom refinery, is linked to the facilities on Jurong Island by a series of 2.8-mile pipes on the seabed. The company has provisions to either cool the ethylene to a liquid form for the purpose of exporting it from a newly constructed jetty, or to store it in a terminal with cryogenic storage provisions.



Special thanks to industrial info.com for reporting the story. ---David R. Poole

Friday, April 16, 2010

Manager's Guide to Environmental Regulations

I just received my copy of Manager's Guide to Environmental Regulations by Thompson Publishing.  Environmental compliance can be burdensome, complex and costly. This book is a new and essential sourcebook that explains the requirements of the major federal environmental laws and will help you maintain compliance, meet ongoing deadlines, and avoid costly penalties and settlements.


Monetary penalties for noncompliance can be high; and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, once involved in an investigation, may look back a number of years for additional violations beyond the current situation. Thompson’s Manager’s Guide to Environmental Regulations will serve as a valuable tool in preparing your facility.



The book is divided into the following areas for easy reference – how to develop a facility-specific environmental compliance plan and explanations of the regulatory requirements under the major programs: the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know (EPCRA); the Risk Management Program; Hazardous Materials and Waste; the Clean Air Act; and Clean Water Act.

Friday, April 02, 2010

California Concert Series to Benefit Shriners Hospital



JP Specialties, Inc. is proud to once again provide corporate sponsorship for Rhythm on the Vine and Caring for Kids concert series – both benefiting Shriners Hospitals for Children. Shriners Hospitals is a one-of-a-kind international health care system of 22 hospitals where we treat children for orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, cleft lip palate in a family-centered environment – all at absolutely no charge.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Earth Shield Retrofit Waterstop for a Variety of Applications


Joining new concrete to existing concrete requires the use of a waterstop if the joint is to be fluid-proof. However, this formed joint has always been problematic for Engineers and Contractors, as properly installing a standard waterstop across a preformed joint is difficult, expensive, and usually a compromise. Traditionally, Engineers have accomplished the task by specifying the use of a standard embedded waterstop within a sawcut and epoxy-grout filled channel. This labor-intensive and costly method has often produced questionable results due to the potential cold joint formed between the epoxy and the existing concrete surface from shrinkage. Furthermore, by sawcutting the existing concrete, the Contractor may be inadvertently destroying the reinforcing steel within the concrete.


Earth Shield currently manufactures six polymer systems that offer Engineers, Owners, and Contractors real solutions for retrofitting applications. All of the systems are non-destructive — there is no sawcutting of the existing concrete, and therefore no destruction of the internal reinforcing steel. All of the systems feature chemical bond (epoxy), as well as mechanical anchor system (stainless steel batten bar and bolts). All of the systems are manufactured from a fully cross-linked thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV), which provides broad-spectrum resistance to a variety of aggressive chemicals, long life span (entire lifecycle of structure), and excellent physical properties (tensile strength, elongation, etc.).

All six Earth Shield retrofit waterstops systems can be installed either vertically or horizontally. Therefore, they are equally suited for joining slab to wall or wall to slab. A frequent application is for the Contractor to pour the slab monolithically; apply an Earth Shield retrofit waterstop system to the cured slab (green concrete is perfectly acceptable); and cast containment walls (curbs) on top of the waterstop. All of our retrofit waterstop systems can be factory fabricated to fit-to-print dimensions, leaving little to no welding for the Contractor in the field.

Monday, March 08, 2010

Secondary Containment Rules for New Zealand

Secondary containment is a system which will contain fuel spills if a fuel tank leaks or is damaged, and from which the fuel can be cleaned up after a spill. A secondary containment system must also have a capacity capable of containing a spill equaling 110% of the capacity of the largest fuel tank it contains.
General Provisions:
Where a total of 2000 liters or more of petrol and/or diesel is stored the person in charge of the farm must ensure that fuel is stored in a compound (bund). Where the total is below 2000 liters the fuel may alternatively be located so that any spillage will not endanger any building, or flow into any natural water body. Any tanks must be maintained so that valves, hoses and dispensers do not leak.

What is a Compound (Bund)?

A compound is a form of secondary containment consisting of a hollow, pit or structure which is capable of containing any fuel spill from the fuel storage. To comply with HSNO regulations it must:
  • Be of a size capable of holding 110% of the contents of the largest fuel tank; and be constructed of non-flammable materials (concrete, brick, HDPE, clay, earth or similar); and effectively retain the fuel if there is a spillage.
  • In areas with light, free draining soils (e.g. pumice or sandy soils), a compound must be lined with an additional impermeable layer (e.g. concrete, clay or brick) to stop spills entering groundwater.