The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) received complaints last year that the flaring temperature of the landfill gas treatment facility of PPVRL had failed to reach the contractual requirement of 1 000 degrees Celsius, leading to the discharge of sub-standard leachate into the foul sewer and untreated leachate into a nearby stream.
An investigation team was subsequently set up by the EPD to conduct thorough investigation on the complaints.
A test conducted by the investigation team on-site in May 2016 found that the leachate treatment plant failed to handle leachate effectively, and was therefore required to suspend operation to conduct thorough repair works.
Regarding whether sub-standard effluent had been discharged from PPVRL, the investigation found that the leachate concentration was at relatively low levels as the landfill had been closed for many years and sometimes the leachate could meet the dry season discharge standard even without pre-treatment.
However, since the mixing of leachate could not meet the wet season discharge standard, the investigation team could not exclude the possibility that sub-standard discharge had happened given that the treatment plant could not handle the leachate effectively.
The follow-up actions taken by the EPD’s enforcement team found that the discharge of the leachate treatment plant during the period from May to mid-October 2016 repeatedly contravened the requirements of the licence issued under the Water Pollution Control Ordinance.
It was found that the total nitrogen level in the discharge exceeded the specified limit in the licence on eight occasions, the amount of discharge exceeded the discharge flow limit specified in the licence on 10 occasions, and the contractor also failed to notify the EPD immediately on two occasions when the amount of discharge exceeded the discharge flow limit.
The investigation team had referred the relevant information to the Police for follow-up on whether someone had deliberately provided inaccurate data or false statements to the EPD.
As the leachate treatment plant has failed to meet the contractual requirements of treating leachate effectively, the EPD has deducted operation payments according to the contract provisions.
The EPD will continue to closely monitor the operation of PPVRL.

A solar-powered ferry that comes with low operational costs and does not in any way pollute the water is among the most feasible solutions to combat this problem.
Coincidentally, this was when AltEn, one of the world’s most experienced solar boats manufacturer was looking for a partner in India.
The product When asked about the company’s vision, Sandith says, “NavAlt’s vision is to make marine transport more efficient by drastically reducing the energy and resources needed for building and operation.” Currently, the Chief Naval Architect and MD at NavAlt, Sandith says, “We aim to create a cleaner and commercially viable inland water transport system.
Conventional passenger boats powered by diesel engines cause a lot of air and water pollution.
NavAlt offers solar ferry boats that do not have any of these problems.
India’s first solar ferry is currently operating on the Vaikom – Thanakadavu route in Kerala.
Sandith says, “We are in the process of making water transport more efficient.
Sandith says, “It is a moment of great pleasure and it is a motivation for innovative startups like us.
Although the technology has been borrowed from France, the cost of the ferries isn’t too high, since the manufacturing has been done in India from scratch.
Over the next few years, NavAlt will be developing more solar ferries, and will also work with the Government to expand their service.

25 Investigates: Water utility chief racking up travel on taxpayers’ dime.
25 Investigates: Water utility chief racking up travel on taxpayers’ dime 25 Investigates: Water utility chief racking up travel on taxpayers’ dime CONNECTING…The provided media formats are not supported BOSTON – A government water utility employee in Boston asked customers and taxpayers to pick up the tab for his luxury hotel stays and travel to vacation destinations, a 25 Investigates review found.
Sullivan traveled to conferences or meetings in 11 out of the 12 months of last year.
In all, the Boston Water and Sewer Commission has reimbursed Sullivan for almost $37,000 in travel expenses just since 2015.
“The city shouldn’t be paying at all — anything — for these trips that he’s making,” said David Tuerck, president of Beacon Hill Institute.
“These are mostly advocacy groups and he should be reimbursed 100 percent by the groups who are hosting him.” Commissioners say trips created added value Sullivan declined our request for an interview, so 25 Investigates caught up with his boss, Henry Vitale, at a recent commission meeting.
Expensive hotel stays even without leaving New England 25 Investigates also found some of Sullivan’s overnight hotel stays weren’t far from home.
When asked why Sullivan was staying overnight on the Cape, Vitale said, “I’m unaware of that.
25 Investigates also looked at executive travel at the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority, which supplies water to more than 50 communities, including Boston.
Sullivan was at that same conference and BWSC paid more than $900 for his hotel and conference registration.

The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) received complaints last year that the flaring temperature of the landfill gas treatment facility of PPVRL had failed to reach the contractual requirement of 1 000 degrees Celsius, leading to the discharge of sub-standard leachate into the foul sewer and untreated leachate into a nearby stream.
A test conducted by the investigation team on-site in May 2016 found that the leachate treatment plant failed to handle leachate effectively, and was therefore required to suspend operation to conduct thorough repair works.
Regarding whether sub-standard effluent had been discharged from PPVRL, the investigation found that the leachate concentration was at relatively low levels as the landfill had been closed for many years and sometimes the leachate could meet the dry season discharge standard even without pre-treatment.
However, since the mixing of leachate could not meet the wet season discharge standard, the investigation team could not exclude the possibility that sub-standard discharge had happened given that the treatment plant could not handle the leachate effectively.
The follow-up actions taken by the EPD’s enforcement team found that the discharge of the leachate treatment plant during the period from May to mid-October 2016 repeatedly contravened the requirements of the licence issued under the Water Pollution Control Ordinance.
It was found that the total nitrogen level in the discharge exceeded the specified limit in the licence on eight occasions, the amount of discharge exceeded the discharge flow limit specified in the licence on 10 occasions, and the contractor also failed to notify the EPD immediately on two occasions when the amount of discharge exceeded the discharge flow limit.
The investigation team had referred the relevant information to the Police for follow-up on whether someone had deliberately provided inaccurate data or false statements to the EPD.
A spokesman for the EPD said that the department is gravely concerned about the management and monitoring by the contractors of its facilities.
As the leachate treatment plant has failed to meet the contractual requirements of treating leachate effectively, the EPD has deducted operation payments according to the contract provisions.
The investigation findings (English only) have been uploaded to the EPD’s website for public viewing (http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/waste/studyrpts/waste_studyrpts.html" target="_blank">www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/waste/studyrpts/waste_studyrpts.html).

It eliminates current health care levels and improves Social Security solvency without even mentioning Social Security.
Most people with pre-existing conditions will not be able to afford insurance, and millions more now covered will no longer have any meaningful insurance under the new plan.
The reduction and elimination of health insurance benefits for millions coupled with such things as promoting air and water pollution by increasing coal use, eliminating water testing and standards, and feeding unhealthy food to school children (or no food at all), are designed to ensure life expectancy continues to decline, thus decreasing the cost of Social Security benefits.
EDITOR: Whether left or right it seems both sides have the firm conviction that “theirs” is the “truth” that should be self-evident to everybody.
Both sides must seek the wisdom to find truths that are selflessly evident about America.
Another factor is the medical costs.
The question that I have is not why insurance premiums are so high, but why are medical costs so high?
Or, why does it cost X number of dollars to buy 90 pills of a cholesterol reducing medication?
William Houston, Wilmington Reaping what we sow EDITOR: Here’s an alarming headline: “Arctic stronghold of world’s seeds flooded after permafrost melts.” It seems that the Global Seed Vault — on a Norwegian island above the Arctic Circle — was flooded by meltwater after “soaring temperatures in the Arctic at the end of the world’s hottest ever recorded year …” The Global Seed Vault was opened by Norway in 2008.
Heads up, people!

What Would Happen in a World Without Water?.
The same can be said of all animals and plants, as well, since H2O constitutes one of the building blocks necessary for life to thrive.
Changing faces For starters, it wouldn’t be quite so green for very long.
Clouds would cease to formulate and precipitation would stop as a necessary consequence, meaning that the weather would be dictated almost entirely by wind patterns.
Indeed, other than fluctuations in wind force, our climate would resemble one endless summer – but not the shorts-and-t-shirt, holiday kind; the flesh-meltingly hot kind.
With these “sinks” gone, the greenhouse gases would have a field day and temperatures would spiral out of control.
Liquid inside the Earth’s crust at high temperatures and high pressures becomes magma, resulting in eruptions like the one at Vesuvius which did for poor old Pompeii.
Therefore, with no ocean to weigh plates down and no water to power eruptions, we’d be left with a series of incredibly high mountain ridges any time two tectonic plates collided.
Let there be life Remarkably, however, this wouldn’t mean the end of all life on Earth.
Instead, extremophiles harvest their nutrients from carbon monoxide (CO), meaning they can thrive even in sizzlingly hot or acidic environments, without water or sunlight.

Long Island Sound pollution study begins in Mamaroneck.
The survey, led by Save The Sound, a conservancy organization with offices in Mamaroneck, will span 116 bays and harbors in New York and Connecticut along the Sound.
"We know plenty about the open water, but these little nooks and crannies are where the most public interest is.
The study’s first year will measure water cleanliness at 24 sites starting in Mamaroneck and spanning the Sound’s length and breadth up to Mystic Harbor in Connecticut.
Twelve environmental and conservation groups are participating, with more preparing to join next year.
From May through October, researcherswill be out on the water twice a month at dawn measuring dissolved oxygen and other indicators of water pollution.
Pollution in the water has increased steadily in recent years, said Peter Lindroth, a researcher with the group.
"What you do in your home — from using fertilizer to not taking care of septic systems — can all impact the Sound and lead to pollution," he said.
"The hope is that this data will give us a road map for action."
Brown said she hopes to complete the study by 2019.

A haven for people and pollinators: Muscatine to establish a 16-acer pollinator park.
Koch, who directs the city of Muscatine’s Water Pollution Control Plant, thinks about plants often in the course of his job.
Plants, he said, soak up water and prevent floods.
“I’ve been working a lot with pollinators and grasses and native flowers and we have a lot of them growing around the treatment plant here, so I just kind of said, ‘boy, this would be a great opportunity to have a really large area where people want to go,’” he said, noting that the 16-acre plot is near a bike path and trails.
The park, said David Cooney of the Muscatine Pollinator Project, will be a place where people can walk or ride, enjoying the flowers and wildlife—and there will be a lot of wildlife to enjoy.
“We’re looking at monarchs, we’re looking at honey bees, we’re looking at native bees, we’re looking at hummingbirds,” he said.
“We’re also going to do a pole that says, ‘Its 1,903 miles to Mexico,’ where the monarchs have to fly,” he said.
Cooney said the pollinator park is his group’s biggest project to date.
They will plant their first 8 acres by the end of May, and will plant the rest at a later date.
“We’re so excited to have people drive through there and over the next few years, (to) really see these native areas take hold and the difference that it makes,” Koch said.

FDA to Drug Manufacturers: Beware Water-Borne Contaminants.
“BCC can survive or multiply in a variety of non-sterile and water-based products because it is resistant to certain preservatives and antimicrobial agents,” FDA said in a statement.
“Detecting BCC bacteria is also a challenge and requires validated testing methods that take into consideration the unique characteristics of different BCC strains.” According to FDA, people exposed to BCC are at an increased risk for illness or infection, especially patients with compromised immune systems.
Recent Recalls In October 2016, an FDA investigation identified BCC in more than 10 lots of oral liquid docusate sodium produced by Florida-based contract manufacturer PharmaTech, which found the contaminant in its water system.
PharmaTech voluntarily recalled all its liquid products from 20 October 2015 through 15 July 2016 as a precautionary measure.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed 60 cases of BCC infection in eight states.
What to Do FDA is specifically reminding drug manufacturers to: “Establish procedures designed to prevent objectionable microorganism contamination of non-sterile drug products, such as procedures to assure adequate quality of incoming materials, sanitary design, maintenance and cleaning of equipment, production and storage time limitations, and monitoring of environmental conditions (21 CFR 211.113(a)).
Use scientifically sound and appropriate acceptance criteria (e.g., USP Chapter <1111> Microbiological Examination of Non-sterile Products: Acceptance Criteria for Pharmaceutical Preparations and Substances for Pharmaceutical Use)8 and test procedures (e.g., USP <61>/<62> Microbiological Examination of Non-sterile Products: Microbial Enumeration Tests and Tests for Specified Microorganisms, respectively) to assure that drug product components (including pharmaceutical water) and finished drug products conform to appropriate quality standards (21 CFR 211.160(b)).
Ensure that the methods used to test finished drug products prior to release for distribution are appropriately validated, accurate, sensitive, specific and reproducible (21 CFR 211.165).
Test in-process materials during the production process (e.g., at commencement or completion of significant phases, or after storage for long periods), using valid in-process specifications to assure, among other things, that the drug product will meet its final specification, including criteria for absence of microbial contamination, where appropriate (21 CFR 211.110).

GHS sophomore receives Intel ISEF Grand Award.
Greenwich High School (GHS) sophomore Rahul Subramaniam received first place in the Microbiology category, a $3,000 award and Best in Category, a $5,000 award, from among about 1,800 students from around the world at the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) on Friday, May 19.
Rahul Subramaniam’s project is an Early Warning System for Zika Virus in Mosquito Populations Based on Real-Time Field Detection of Viral RNA in Mosquito Saliva – Rahul created an inexpensive and consumer-friendly mosquito trap with a food-source that would change color (in ~30min) if any of the (feeding) mosquitoes were infected with Zika.
Rahul is the first known researcher in literature to detect mosquito saliva in a live trap; this enabled him to detect Zika virus in that saliva in a field trap, that can be used as the initial basis for quarantine of an area that contains Zika-infected mosquitoes, before anyone gets infected.
Luca Barceló received an Intel ISEF second place award in the Environmental Engineering category ($1500), and was awarded a $48,000 scholarship to the University of Arizona for his project — Crowd-Sourced Detection and Mapping of Nitrate Water Pollutants via a Mobile Web-Based Image Analysis System.
Shobhita Sundaram received an Intel ISEF fourth place award in the Cellular and Molecular Biology category ($500), and also received a $1000 Special Award from NSA for her project — Detection of Premalignant Pancreatic Cancer via Computational Analysis of Serum Proteomic Profiles.
The application of her algorithm for pre-diagnosis of this otherwise (often) deadly disease represents a major breakthrough for pre-testing of those with a family history or suspicion of the disease, as curative surgery in the disease’s early stages is often successful.
Four additional Greenwich High School students were awarded the opportunity to participate in the 2017 Intel ISEF to present their projects: Agustina Stefani: Carbon Capture and Storage via Silver Nanoparticle Catalyzed Hydration of Carbon Dioxide.
Connor Li: Optimization of Vertically Aligned Boron Nitride Nanotube Membranes via Magnetic Arrangement in a Lyotropic Precursor for Water Transport Applications.
Michelle Xiong: Development of a CNT/ZnO/TiO2 Membrane for Visible-Light Induced Photocatalytic Filtration of Water-Borne Organic and Bacterial Pollutants.