Related Links: EPA website on Pavillion investigation USGS report on sampling from Pavillion, Wyoming wells The American Petroleum Institute on Oct. 18 said its analysis of data released by the U.S. Geological Survey in September suggests the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s water-quality investigation in Pavillion, Wyo., could be flawed.That finding could point to bigger problems regarding the agency’s ongoing national study of the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on groundwater, the oil-and-gas advocacy group’s upstream director told reporters.Eric Milito, API’s upstream director, said that EPA’s approach in the Pavillion study could forecast the approach the agency will take for its

Related Links: Clean Water Action statement Statement from Reps. Mica, Gibbs U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wetlands status and trends report (Oct. 2011) As the Clean Water Act marked its 40th anniversary on Oct. 18, environmental groups and congressional Republicans took the occasion to voice their sharply differing concerns about how the landmark law will be applied in the near future.The conflicting birthday messages come less than three weeks before the Nov. 6 elections, the outcomes of which will play a large role in determining future Clean Water Act legislation and regulations.Both sides acknowledge the improvements in water quality since

Photo Courtesy of American Road & Transportation Builders Association CFO Bertram says DOT aims to streamline its reviews of TIFIA applications. Related Links: States Gear Up to Seek Expanded TIFIA Loan Aid MAP-21 Transportation Measure Goes on the Books Advocates of public-private partnerships to help finance transportation projects are hailing the new Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, or MAP-21, and hustling to take advantage of a key part of the statute: a more than five-fold hike in a Dept. of Transportation loan program.As states await word from DOT on preliminary requests for 2013 aid under its

Related Links: Transcripts of Supreme Court Oral Arguments High Court to Hear Water, 'Takings' Cases In one of the first cases it heard in its new term, the U.S. Supreme Court plunged into the murky task of determining whether damage caused by federally directed flooding is a "taking" of private property.The court heard oral arguments on Oct. 3 in Arkansas Game & Fish Commission v. U.S. The commission contends that water releases from an Army Corps of Engineers dam in six consecutive years destroyed valuable timber. The commission says the flooding is a property "taking," which under the Fifth Amendment

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Digital Visual Library Parts of the Corps' waterway network, including Lock and Dam No. 25 on the Mississippi, are more than 50 years old. Related Links: National Research Council Report ENR Blog: Signs of Life for a New WRDA Bill A new National Research Council study says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is losing ground in maintaining and upgrading the agency's huge, aging water-resources infrastructure.The Corps-sponsored report, released on Oct. 4, comes as there are stirrings in the Senate about a new, multiyear water-resources bill that would authorize Corps river locks and dams, harbor

Related Links: President Obama's CHP Executive Order Link to USCHPA website Administration officials say they are making a push to incentivize the use of combined heat-and-power, or CHP, energy systems to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and increase energy efficiency in facilities ranging from Veterans Administration medical centers to industrial plants.Speaking at the U.S. Clean Heat & Power Association's annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 3-4, officials from the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency described recent efforts to encourage greater use of CHP systems, which advocates claim are more efficient than dual-turbine systems. Currently, there are approximately 82 gigawatts

Related Links: New WEF Chief Outlines Key Priorities WEFTEC Convention website Finding solutions to the intractable challenges facing the health of the nation's waters "must be rooted in innovation and technology," said Lisa Jackson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator, at the Water Environment Federation's annual conference.Speaking at the WEFTEC gathering, held from Sept. 29 to Oct. 3 in New Orleans, Jackson noted that the U.S. is a global leader in terms of environmental technologies and innovations. Getting countries to share knowledge and helping them access American know-how will address global water challenges, she said. To that end, Jackson and Francisco

Related Links: 2010 Disciplinary Action Against M.R. Wright & Associates Co. Aggressive, Owner-Oriented Approach to Liability for Inspection Mistakes New lawsuits target the engineering firm whose principals wrote the owner of a southern Ontario hotel and retail concourse that the roof parking deck above the shops was structurally sound two months before part of it collapsed June 23, killing two women.The families of Doloris Perizzolo, 74, and Lucie Aylwin, 37, filed suit Oct. 1 in Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Sault Ste. Marie for about $5 million against engineer M.R. Wright & Associates Co. Ltd., Sault Ste. Marie, and

Related Links: National Conference of State Legislatures searchable ballot-measure database Ballotwatch 2012-Initiative & Referendum Institute-University of Southern California ENR story on 2010 construction-related bond issues and initiatives on ballots Construction Firms, Groups, Mixed on Romney Policies A Second Obama Term Could Look Much Like the First Infrastructure bond issues have roared back onto statewide ballots in this year's presidential election, with more than $4 billion dollars' worth tallied in nine states, up from $1.9 billion in five states two years ago, says the National Conference of State Legislatures, or NCSL.In addition, there are finance measures on municipal or regional ballots,

Related Links: New Corps of Engineers Commander Bostick Taking Stock ASCE Report Sees Big Maritime Infrastructure Funding Gap ENR Blog: Signs of Life for a New WRDA Bill The Army Corps of Engineers is facing an “unsustainable situation” in maintaining its huge and aging water infrastructure, as current funding isn't keeping up with the needs, a new National Research Council study says.The report, released on Oct. 4, says that the Corps' sprawling network of river locks and dams and other civil works “is wearing out faster than it is being replaced or rehabilitated.” The system includes about 700 dams, 14,000