Before the end of the year, the first in-stream hydrokinetic turbine to produce commercial power will be installed in the upper Mississippi River — just days after receiving the a first of its kind approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the device. Hydro Green Energy LLC of Houston will place its 12-feet in diameter turbine about 50 feet downriver from the Army Corp of Engineers Mississippi Lock and Dam No. 2 in Hastings, Minn. A second turbine will be installed in the spring. At an expected river flow of 2 meters per second, the turbines are expected to

After two days of public hearings and debate, the South Florida Water Management District’s governing board still hesitated to approve an agreement to purchase 180,000 acres of land in the Everglades Agricultural Area from the United States Sugar Corp. for $1.34 billion. As it stood, the board feared, the agreement could expose the district to penalties for conditions over which it had no control. Finally, the board approved a modified agreement with a 4-3 vote, knowing that the Clewiston, Fla., agribusiness might refuse to accept the amendment. But late on Dec. 16, after the water district’s vote, U.S. Sugar issued

President-elect Barack Obama's choice to lead the Dept. of Transportation, 14-year Republican congressman Ray LaHood (Ill.), took construction industry officials by surprise. LaHood's name didn't appear on rumor-mill lists of possible candidates to lead the Dept. of Transportation. Obama formally announced LaHood as his pick to be DOT Secretary on Dec. 19. Ray LaHood He hasn't been a leading legislator on transportation matters, though he served on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for his first six years in the House. Nevertheless, Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), the Transportation committee's current chairman, says he believes LaHood will be "an excellent—superb infact—secretary of

President-Elect Barack Obama has tapped Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) for the top post at the Interior Dept. The nomination, announced Dec. 17, has been well received by both industry and environmental groups, who describe the candidate as a centrist consensus builder. “He’s a good pick,” says Steve Hall, vice president of government affairs for the American Council of Engineering Companies. “He’s built a good reputation in the Senate as a consensus builder who listens to both sides…We can work with him.” he says. Ralph Grossi, the immediate past president of the American Farmland Trust, says Salazar did “yeoman’s work” in

A federal appeals court’s decision has taken a step toward lifting a state ban on out-of-state water sales, opening a way for a proposed $3-billion project to pipe water from Oklahoma to Texas. The appeals court accepted a north Texas water district’s argument that Oklahoma’s ban could constitute illegal restraint of interstate commerce. Photo: Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau Fast-growing Dallas-Fort Worth area wants water from Oklahoma watersheds. (Click to Enlarge Image) Growing Dallas-Fort Worth area wants to bolster supply with Oklahoma water. The Tarrant Regional Water District, a Fort Worth-based utility serving 1.6 million people in 11 counties, is

After nearly five months of negotiations, the board of the South Florida Water Management District on Dec. 16 voted to approve the purchase of 181,000 acres of land in the Everglades Agricultural Area for $1.34 billion. The board of United States Sugar Corp., the landowner, approved the sale agreement on Dec. 8. The water district ammended the offer, limiting its lability, before voting. But U.S. Sugar may insist that the district approve the deal without change and refuse to accept the counteroffer. Gov. Charlie Crist’s (R) June 24 announcement that Clewiston, Fla.-based U.S. Sugar had agreed to sell the state

Federal and congressional transportation proponents said on Dec. 15 they seek expressions of interest from firms to finance, design, build and operate high-speed passenger rail projects in 11 federally designated U.S. corridors. The solicitation is part of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, signed into law on Oct. 16. Respondents have until September 2009 to submit proposals. A planned Northeast Corridor between New York City and Washington, set to cost up to $30 billion, would be first, with officials saying all routes could operate as early as 2012.

As a self-imposed 2009 deadline nears regarding whether to rebuild or raze the 55-year-old Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle, a consensus seemss far off. In early December, a task force whittled down a list of eight design options to two: a six-lane boulevard or a reconfigured elevated highway. The former option, a six-lane waterfront boulevard resembling San Francisco’s Embarcadero, would cost $2.2 billion. With related Interstate 5 work, mass transit and other projects, that amount increases to $3.3 billion and would take 5.5 years to build. The other option, twin bridges, would cost $2.3 billion. After traffic mitigation and related

The nuclear industry is sprinting to build nuclear-enrichment plants in the U.S. before its supply of en-riched uranium dries up in 2013. Bethesda, Md.-based USEC Inc. is building a $3.5-billion enrichment plant at the site of its shuttered plant in Piketon, Ohio. Louisiana Energy Services (LES), a subsidiary of U.K.-based Urenco Ltd., is building a $3-billion enrichment plant at a greenfield site in Eunice, N.M., and Paris-based Areva is seeking approval to build an enrichment facility at a greenfield site near Idaho Falls at cost of more than $2 billion. Photo: USEC Inc. March 2008 saw first concrete placed for

The California Air Resources Board on Dec. 11 voted to adopt the nation’s first comprehensive state global warming plan. The goal: reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The “scoping plan” implements the 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act. The measure is intended as a blueprint for achieving target emission reductions. The plan takes a multi-pronged approach to cutting state greenhouse gases. There are provisions to create more energy efficiency in buildings, more reliance on renewable energy sources, statewide standards for capturing methane at landfills and more efficiency in the state’s water system. According to Patrick Sullivan, senior vice president of