Water sustainability became a pressing topic in 2020 as a record-breaking drought settled across the United States, almost covering the entirety of the country’s Western half with pockets in the Midwest and East Coast regions. The drought spanned from the same year through 2022 after winter precipitation was believed to have delivered the much-needed moisture. If life-need water supply is …
OSHA to Enhance Enforcement of Pre-COVID Silica Dust Control Regulations
In 2018, OSHA released its latest set of silica dust control regulations geared towards reducing workers’ exposure. OSHA became concerned when they received 116 infractions, 80% of which were deemed severe, within the beginning of the same year. OSHA noted these serious violations were compounded by numerous other infringements. Taking in the reality of industrial yard spaces, the agency decided …
Another Competitor Bites the Dust: Penn State Researchers Find Brine for Dust Control is Toxic and Ineffective
Dust control has always been a major issue for industrial sites and in response, myriad techniques have been attempted to eradicate it. For example, one of these old-fashioned approaches, watering, works like a band-aid, potentially lasting for just mere minutes, racking up costs with multiple application sessions to reapply the suppressant. Even chlorides, concocted of sodium, magnesium, and magnesium chlorides, …
A Scientific Approach to Industrial Dust Control Programs
For industrial sites like steel mills, precast operations, mines and quarries who are required to operate with strict air quality permits (Title V Air Quality Permits or OSHA’s Silica Rule), managing respirable, fugitive dust from unpaved areas is a necessary battle. The cost of not implementing a successful industrial dust control program is more than just regulatory fines, though: it includes …
Case Study: Dust Mitigation Begins and Ends with Science
For those who know Midwest, it’s no mystery that we believe dust mitigation can be managed — scientifically — to achieve predictable results. Predictable results equal predictable budgeting, reliable safety and compliance, and achievable metrics. That happens because we focus on the program as much as the product. The product is a part of the whole effort to control dust …