Consultancy appoints global PFAS expert

Professional services firm Tetra Tech, a provider of consulting and engineering services, has welcomed Dr Ian Ross to its PFAS (poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances)...
firefighting foam

Pulling out PFAS

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances – known as PFAS – can be captured and destroyed in water bodies using a system demonstrated by a group at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
President Putin chairing a meeting about the fuel spill

Norilisk spill sees court

The first prosecutions have been brought in relation to a spill in Russia's Arctic region in May, which involved the release of over 20,000 tonnes of diesel into rivers and subsoil near the Siberian city of Norilisk.

Collaborative approach required to achieve zero pollution, said conference speakers

Water companies can expect increasing scrutiny into their environmental performance, as customer awareness of river and bathing water quality grows. This was among messages...

EA annual report on pollution incidents highlights backsliding by many water firms

England’s water and sewerage companies have received something of a mixed review in terms of environmental performance in the Environment Agency’s recent annual report...

Southern Water publishes plan to cut pollution incidents

On 7 September Southern Water announced "a comprehensive plan" that it claimed demonstrated its commitment to reducing pollution incidents and helping to improve the...
cog graphic

Technology and the timely response

Kirk Meikle, from spills countermeasures expert Darcy Group, offers a few thoughts on how new technology is impacting the management and prevention of spill incidents on sites where such a risk exists
man i.hi vis jacket cleaning spill

The legal implications: quick guide

Site operators should be aware of the legal, as well as practical implications of a spill. Environmental and health and safety law imposes certain duties on site operators which, if not complied with, can result in legal proceedings, fines and reputational damage.

River-friendly businesses honoured as scheme sparks growing environmental network

A number of firms have secured "River-Friendly Business" status through an initiative which aims to help companies work together to tackle water pollution. Run by...

Government is “passing water pollution buck to the car industry”, experts warn

The Government acknowledged the serious and growing impacts of poisonous particle pollution from brake, tyre and road surface wear on the environment and human...

Improved sewage treatment has increased river biodiversity over past 30 years, says study

Improvements in wastewater treatment in the UK over the past 30 years are linked to improvements in river biodiversity, according to a study conducted...

PFAS treatment start-up changes name and announces successful fund-raise to accelerate growth

Puraffinity, a spin-out from Imperial College London, that develops advanced materials for selectively removing target chemical compounds from water, has announced an oversubscribed seed...

Welsh rivers in urban locations still have damaged food chains and fewer species of...

Toxic chemicals from past decades could be hindering the recovery of Britain’s urban rivers, concludes a recent study by scientists from Cardiff University, the...
pond-with-ducks-swimming

Firm pays £150k to charity after spill

Stoke-on-Trent company, Fuerst Day Lawson Ltd, has donated £150,000 to The Trent Rivers Trust, following a pollution incident in the summer of 2015

Automation is the answer?

Envirotec spoke to Kirk Meikle of Darcy Spillcare, who believes many will be unaware of spill prevention system's present-day affordability and ease of installation .

Extolling the virtues of bespoke water quality measurement

Bespoke water quality measurement systems can address highly specific requirements. Water-quality instrumentation manufacturer Pollution and Process Monitoring (PPM) says it has a customer base...

Newly discovered microbes guzzle greenhouse gases (and maybe oil spills)

Scientists at The University of Texas at Austin’s Marine Science Institute have discovered nearly two dozen new types of microbes, many of which use...
Beach

Conference aims to collate lessons

The theme of this year’s Premiam Conference was “Looking back and moving Forward”
The MBARI group used a biodegradeable dye to simulate an oil spill and test the capabilities of AUVs to perform useful monitoring and tracking functions

Robots fill a void

The challenge of tracking underwater oil plumes is starting to be addressed by the use of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Recent months have seen a number of groups discussing experiments to evaluate this capability
An aerial view of the Great Barrier Reef

Reef spill should prompt review

Reports that a cruise vessel discharged several thousand litres of food waste and grey water into the Great Barrier Reef should send a clear message that MARPOL Annex IV needs urgent revision