ASPE Members: In Chicago and Need Meeting Space?

As a new member benefit, ASPE is extending use of meeting space in its new office building to members. If you need a convenient place to meet with clients or design team members located around the country, the new ASPE Headquarters is located just minutes from O’Hare Airport and is accessible via the Courtyard Marriott shuttle bus. (The hotel is located right next door.) Just call ASPE at 847-296-0002 to schedule a space. (Beverages and lunch can be arranged for a small fee. Offer is subject to availability.)

Remember These Members in Your Thoughts

Ed Wallace, past president of the ASPE New York City Chapter, passed away in January. He started his career at Jaros Baum and Bolles and then moved to The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for more than 25 years. He is survived by his wife Lucretia and children, Nancy, Kathleen, and Eddie. Chris Buckley, ASPE Denver Chapter member, passed away last weekend after a battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife Dianne, children Shannon and Kyle, grandchildren Kamryn and Audree, mother, sisters, and extended family. A memorial is being held tomorrow at Olinger Hampden Gardens in Denver.

Attend the 2010 Convention, Play ASPE Poker, and Walk Away a Winner!

One of the exciting new features of the 2010 ASPE Convention and Engineered Plumbing Exposition is ASPE Poker. Sponsors and patrons of the event will provide playing cards at their booths. What can you win? How does $1,000 on the spot sound? The best part is that everyone walks away a winner!

Not One Laptop, not Two Laptops…

But more than 30 laptops will be given away during the ASPE Engineered Plumbing Exposition (Nov. 1–2). Winners must be on the exposition floor to claim their prize. Don’t miss out on winning yours!

ASPE Grassroots Budget Meeting Will Be Held March 13

The ASPE Grassroots Budget Meeting will be held at 10 a.m. CST at the ASPE office. All chapter officers and members are welcome to attend either in person or online via webcast. Call Jinnie Yoo at 847-296-0002 to register.

The Deadline to Register for the CPD Exam Is Quickly Approaching!

The exam will be held at 200 testing sites throughout the U.S. and Canada on April 16 or 17 (date of exam depends on testing site). The deadline to register is March 19. Click here for more information.

Check Out the ASPE New Jersey Chapter’s New Website

To make information about the chapter more accessible, the ASPE New Jersey Chapter board of directors decided to start posting its monthly newsletter on its redesigned website. (Members will continue to receive a mailed copy until June.) The chapter will further update and refine the website with additional chapter news, history, and other information. Special thanks to Vernon Taliaferro of the New York Chapter and Luis Rodriguez, VP technical of the New Jersey Chapter, for their efforts in this endeavor.

Want to Show Off Your Expertise at the ASPE Convention?

ASPE is soliciting presentation proposals for the 2010 Convention. Click here for more information or to submit a proposal online.

You Can Influence ASPE’s Future

How? The Nominating Committee is looking for candidates for the 2010–2012 board of directors. For more information on how to run, e-mail mailto:gpienta@aspe.org. Also, at the 2010 Convention, the delegates will be debating and voting on proposed modifications to the ASPE Bylaws. Send proposed modifications to mailto:ASPEEXDIR@aol.com by June.

Do You Know Someone Who Should Be an ASPE Fellow?

Nominate a deserving member today. (You may not nominate yourself.) The nomination forms and more information about the College can be found here.

ASPE Archived Webinars Offer CEUs

ASPE archived webinars allow you to view and listen to previously recorded events at a time that is most convenient for you. Pay a small fee to earn quick CEUs.

EDUCATIONAL AND NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES

March 10: Denver Tabletop Show

ASPE’s Denver Chapter’s Tabletop Product Show will be held on March 10.  For more information, visit the chapter’s website.

March 11: Western Michigan Tradeshow

The Western Michigan Chapters of ASPE, ASHRAE, and PHCC are holding a free plumbing tradeshow from 3:30–7:30 p.m. at the Elks Lodge in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Contact Paul Sisovsky for more information.

NEW! Dallas Sporting Clay Tournament Being Held March 12

The ASPE and ASHRAE Dallas/Ft. Worth Chapters are holding this event at Elm Fork Shotgun Sports in Dallas. The $100 cost includes lunch and shooting. Entry forms are due by March 4. Contact Charles Crawford for more information.

March 13:  Dallas-area CPD Review Classes Start

ASPE’s Dallas/Ft. Worth Chapter will be holding three CPD review classes on March 13 (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and March 19 and March 26 (noon to 4 p.m.) at PVI in Ft. Worth. Contact Larry Bartlett for more information.

March 19: Phoenix Golf Tournament

ASPE’s Phoenix Chapter is holding its annual golf outing at the Starfire Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. Registration deadline is March 9. Click here for a registration form.

NEW! Cleveland Wastewater Treatment Plant Tour Scheduled for April 7

ASPE’s Cleveland Chapter will be touring the Southerly Wastewater Treatment Plant in Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio from 9–11 a.m. The plant has an average daily flow of 125 million gpd and can provide complete treatment to a maximum of 400 million gpd. Contact John Varga to RSVP by April 2.

April 7: Houston Product Show

ASPE’s Houston Chapter’s Product Show will be held in the Pavilion Center of the Sam Houston Race Park from 4:30–8:30 p.m. Technical seminars offering CEUs will be held all day. Pre-register at aspe-houston.com and get three extra door prize tickets.

NEW! Northern California Trade Show Being Held March 14

ASPE’s Northern California Chapter and PHCC’s Sacramento Valley Chapter are holding this event at

the Scottish Rite Center in Sacramento, California. Signup information will be available soon.

April 15: Chicago Product Show

ASPE’s Chicago Chapter will be holding its annual Product Show with more than 90 exhibits at the White Eagle in Niles, Illinois, from 3:30–8 p.m. Technical seminars offering CEUs will be held starting at 11:30 a.m. Contact Frank Sanchez for more information or go to aspe.org/Chicago for free show tickets.

April 30: Baltimore Golf Outing

ASPE’s Baltimore Chapter will hold its annual Golf Outing at the Timbers at Troy in Elkridge, Maryland. All proceeds go toward the John Jung Memorial Scholarship, given to a worthy local engineering student. Contact David Goodellfor participation and/or sponsorship information.

May 11: Central Florida Product Show

ASPE’s Central Florida Chapter, in conjunction with ASHRAE, will be holding its annual Product Show at the Orange County Fairgrounds. More information will be available soon.

NEW! Raleigh Golf Tournament Being Held June 4

ASPE’s Raleigh Chapter is holding this fundraising event at Riverwood Golf Course in Clayton, North Carolina. For more information, contact Scott Sansbury.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Code Changes Wouldn’t Have Prevented Natural Gas Explosion in Connecticut

Just days before a natural gas explosion at the Kleen Energy Systems plant in Middletown, Connecticut, which killed six people and injured 20, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, an independent federal agency that investigates chemical accidents, approved its recommendation for urgent changes to the National Fuel Gas Code to improve safety when gas pipes are being purged (cleared of air) during maintenance or the installation of new piping. However, the NFPA says the National Fuel Gas Code doesn’t apply to power plants because of the high pressure levels used at such facilities. Yesterday, investigators obtained a warrant to seize and analyze evidence in their efforts to determine the cause of the blast.

Pipe Manufacturer Accused of Falsifying Test Results

A whistle-blower lawsuit raised against JM Eagle, which claims that the company knowingly made substandard PVC water and sewer pipe, recently became public when it was unsealed in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. John Hendrix, a former JM Eagle engineer, filed the suit in 2006 after he claims he was fired shortly after he wrote a memo to management expressing his concern that the tensile strength of the company’s pipe was below the level required by standards. Joining the suit are Nevada, Virginia, Delaware, and Tennessee, plus 43 California cities and water districts. However, after a three-year investigation into the claims, the U.S. Department of Justice and the State of California have declined to intervene. Yesterday, JM Eagle released the results of tests performed by Jana Laboratories that the company claims proves its PVC pressure pipe meets long-term strength requirements.

Did Tyson Chicken Pollute the Illinois River Watershed?

In the closing arguments to a four-month trial, an attorney for Oklahoma said that several Arkansas poultry companies disposed of chicken litter by giving it to local farmers to use as fertilizer, which eventually polluted a sensitive watershed with large amounts of phosphorous via runoff. The Oklahoma Attorney General's office says on average 125,000 birds are bred each year on just one poultry farm. Between 2001 and 2006, the state says those birds produced 2.7 million tons of waste.

EPA Unveils Plan to Restore the Great Lakes

Last Sunday, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson unveiled an action plan to guide the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the Obama Administration’s effort to restore the Great Lakes, announced last year. The action plan directs aggressive action under five priority focus areas: protection and cleanup of the most polluted areas in the lakes; combating invasive species; protection of high priority watersheds and reduced runoff from urban, suburban, and agricultural sources; restoration of wetlands and other habitats; and implementation of accountability measures, learning initiatives, outreach, and strategic partnerships.

Three More States Are Considering Adopting Residential Sprinkler Mandate

The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development has completed its adoption process allowing local jurisdictions to adopt or modify the 2009 IRC. In Iowa, following a recommendation of the State Building Code Advisory Council, the proposed State Building Code includes the adoption by reference of the 2009 IRC. The new code would require fire sprinklers in all homes with an amended implementation date of 2013. In New Jersey, notice to adopt the 2009 I-Codes, including the one- and two-family sprinkler provisions, were signed off and delivered to the Office of Administrative Law to be published in the New Jersey Registry. It is currently awaiting an executive decision by the governor.

Top 3,000 Companies Cause $2.2 Trillion in Environmental Damage per Year…

According to a United Nations report to be released in May, the cost of pollution and other environmental damage caused by the world's biggest public companies would wipe out more than one-third of their profits if they were held financially accountable. The biggest single impact on the estimate was emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for climate change. Other major costs were local air pollution such as particulates and the damage caused by the overuse and pollution of freshwater. Heavy water users such as food, drink, and clothing companies are likely to feature high on the list.

…But U.S. Companies Are Using Less Water than Ever

State of Green Business 2010says that U.S. companies’ water use per dollar of GDP has dropped 20 percent in the last decade, and industrial water use has dropped by 30 percent since 1985. 31 percent of the companies studied—including 46 percent of those with revenue over $1 billion—have conducted a water footprint analysis or are in the process of doing so. The report also includes analysis of the top 10 green business stories in 2009.

Canada Proposes New Wastewater Regulations

Canada’s Environment Minister recently announced that a draft of proposed municipal wastewater systems effluent regulations is now available for public consultation. Once in force, these regulations will set standards for the discharge from all wastewater facilities in Canada, and wastewater facilities across the country no longer will be permitted to directly release raw sewage into waterways.

Leading Companies Are Not Disclosing Water Risks

“Murky Waters? Corporate Accounting on Water Risk” evaluates and ranks the water disclosure practices of 100 publicly-traded companies in eight key sectors exposed to water-related risks. The report shows that many companies do not include water risk and performance data in their financial filings, and do not provide local-level water data, particularly of facilities located in water-stressed regions. Another key finding shows that none of the 100 companies provide comprehensive water data on their supply chains. Only 21 companies disclosed targets to reduce water use, 15 companies had goals to reduce wastewater discharge, and 17 companies report local-level water data.

Why Are Certain Drinking Water Wells More Vulnerable to Contamination?

More than 100 million people in the United States receive their drinking water from public groundwater systems, which can be vulnerable to naturally occurring contaminants such as radon, uranium, and arsenic, as well as man-made compounds, including fertilizers, septic-tank leachate, solvents, and gasoline hydrocarbons. The U.S. Geological Survey tracked the movement of contaminants in groundwater and in public-supply wells in four aquifers in California, Connecticut, Nebraska, and Florida and found that all wells are not equally vulnerable to contamination because of differences in three factors: the general chemistry of the aquifer, groundwater age, and direct paths within aquifer systems that allow water and contaminants to reach a well. Learn more here.

Researchers Reveal Strategies for a Low-carbon Water Industry

In the United Kingdom, 23 wastewater treatment companies create 5 billion tons of carbon dioxide gas emissions per year—almost 1 percent of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions—in an effort to meet the EU Water Framework Directive’s high water quality standards. Thus, the Welsh Environment Agency performed a research project to determine methods to reduce carbon emissions from wastewater treatment processes. In addition to the main report, the agency published reports on the potential for increased renewable energy generation by the water industry and the benefits of sustainable drainage systems in reducing the amount of storm water that needs treating at sewage works.

Bright Orange Creek Baffles Experts

According to an article in the San Jose Mercury News, Soquel Creek in Santa Cruz County turned tangerine for several hours last Friday, but investigators can’t figure out why. Fortunately, the tainted water has not been linked to any health issues.

Cruise Lines Oppose Proposed Wastewater Discharge Rules

Alaska’s Department of Environmental Conservation is taking public comments on proposed new limits on wastewater discharges from cruise ships operating in Alaska’s marine waters. However, the Alaska Cruise Association says more than half of the ships operating in Alaska would not be able to meet limits for the pollutant ammonia and that there is not enough time for the ships to comply.