Bad news: Iowa's flood risks are even larger than before
March 8, 2010

The National Weather Service office in Des Moines has issued its third spring flooding outlook, and declares: "The risk of major flooding has increased een higher since the second outlook on February 19th". Flooding is now expected from the middle of March into late April, with high risks for both ordinary river flooding and flash floods. The four river basins about which they are most concerned are the Des Moines, Raccoon, Iowa, and Cedar -- which, unfortunately, include the biggest population centers as well. The latest report from the Davenport NWS office is just as threatening, with very high probabilities for major flooding along the Mississippi River, for the Wapsipinicon River at De Witt, the Cedar River at Conesville and Cedar Rapids, and the Iowa River at Wapello and Columbus Junction. The Omaha office of the NWS, anticipating flooding in its region as well, is pointing residents to a brochure about flooding and levees offered by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

In anticipation of flooding conditions this year, we're recommending that communities with floodwalls and associated water-control gates check those gates for ease of operation now (rather than waiting for a flood situation), and check their flood-control pumps to ensure that they're ready to start quickly when the need arises. We also have portable dams available for those communities expecting floodwaters. Portable dams offer an environmentally-friendly and quick-deployment alternative to sandbags.


Mobile-home park to close because it can't afford $250,000 sewer upgrade
March 5, 2010

The Lansing Valley Mobile City, located just west of Lansing, Iowa, is being closed down because its owners do not believe they can afford the $250,000 in improvements to the park's septic system that will be required by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to meet current standards. As stricter guidelines are enforced in the interest of better protection of our water resources, there will undoubtedly be other communities -- including municipalities -- that will be forced to take costly and sometimes drastic action in order to meet higher standards for wastewater discharge quality. Some will need to line existing wastewater lagoons, some will need to install disinfection systems like chlorination systems or ultraviolet disinfection units, and others will simply have to start pumping their wastewater to communities with better treatment systems.


UPS to pay civil penalty over EPA allegations about hazardous waste
March 4, 2010

UPS has settled a $54,000 civil penalty with the EPA over the alleged generation of hazardous waste at a facility in the southwestern portion of the Kansas City metro.

Product spotlight: While we can't control the volume of hazardous waste generated at any facilities other than our own, we do offer a variety of spill-containment options, particularly including geomembranes for controlling spills of all types -- including for hazardous materials. A small investment in a good geomembrane barrier could save a lot of fines and cleanup expenses later.


Iowa's proposed lake-nutrient rules to be paused and overhauled
March 3, 2010

The Iowa DNR issued notice to members of the Water Quality mailing list a few days ago indicating that the proposed revisions to the state's rules regarding the management of nutrients (like nitrogen and phosphorus) in the state's lakes and public waters were being put on hold. The nutrient study has been underway for years and a notice of intended action had been issued, but the DNR says that public hearings gave it new information that will require extensive revisions to the proposal. Thus the DNR is asking the Environmental Protection Commission to put the brakes on the approval of the rule at their meeting on March 16th.

We naturally take great interest in the standards applied to water quality in Iowa, since those conditions are affected by (and affect) much of the work we do, especially in municipal wastewater treatment. We will of course be paying careful attention to the changes made to the lake-nutrient standards.


Sea wall failure kills dozens in France
March 2, 2010

A seawall that supposedly dates to the Napoleonic era failed and led to at least 50 deaths in a coastal French town as 26' tall waves went into the community. It's the worst storm to hit France in a decade, and it overwhelmed dikes and produced winds of more than 100 mph at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

We may be landlocked here in the Upper Midwest, but we do face flooding of our own. Among the tools we have available to manage and mitigate floodwaters along dikes and floodwalls: flap gates, sluice gates, and tide-regulated gates. Contact us any time with any questions you might have.


It's time to check your sump pumps
March 1, 2010

Flooding all over Iowa and the Upper Midwest is basically a sure thing this spring, due to really deep snowpack and the almost inevitable heavy rainfall that marks virtually every spring here. That means it's absolutely, positively essential that homeowners and business operators check their sump pumps without delay to make sure that basement flooding won't be an inevitable byproduct of the spring warmup. If your sump pump isn't working properly, we can help you find a new one. But now is not the time to delay. Find and fix the problem now, before it's too late.


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