Since 2007, the government of Alberta has required oil sands companies that emit over 100,000 tonnes of CO2 annually to measure and report emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from their operations. For two mine operations, Barr is providing annual fugitive GHG emissions measurement with flux chambers at more than 500 locations across the sites, including mine faces, sand disposal areas, reclaimed areas, and tailings basins.
After a quality review by our data analysis team, the field and lab data are used to develop emission factors for each of the site's distinct areas of activity. To delineate zones with different ore characteristics, we use GIS mapping of the mine’s elevation data, along with geographic coordinates of advancing mine extraction work. The material-specific emission factors are applied to the total area of each delineated zone of material in which mining activity took place the previous calendar year, which enables us to calculate the total annual fugitive emissions from mining. The mining emissions are combined with tailings basin and reclaimed and sand disposal areas to determine the total fugitive annual GHG emissions reported by the facility.
In Napoleon, North Dakota, and areas surrounding nearby North and West McKenna Lake, a rising water table is causing damage to infrastructure and agricultural land to be taken out of production. Additionally, there are flooding concerns related to the high water levels of McKenna Lake and other concerns that the outlet and associated culverts may be of insufficient capacity. Barr was hired to find a long-term solution.
The shallow groundwater system and surface hydrology of North and West McKenna Lake and the surrounding watershed are interrelated and well-connected. The lakes sit atop the Napoleon Aquifer and are fed by surface-water tributaries as well as a tributary melt-water channel. Potential solutions to the problem may involve drainage or additional storage of surface water, groundwater drainage or pumping, or a combination modifying both the surface-water and groundwater systems. To accomplish the objectives of the study, Barr developed an integrated surface-water and groundwater model of the entire hydrologic system using the GSFLOW modeling software developed by the U.S. Geological Survey. This modeling approach allows the Logan County Water Resource Board to compare alternatives and their effectiveness at addressing groundwater and lake-level issues before investing in a construction project. Additionally, the modeling provides a basis for complying with the regulatory framework in North Dakota, particularly related to the rights of existing water appropriators.
Barr provided a designated representative and support team for environmental review and permitting of several natural-gas-distribution projects in northeastern Minnesota, as directed by Minnesota Energy Resources (a WEC Energy Group subsidiary). We coordinated independent environmental reviews, interpreted environmental regulations, and evaluated permit requirements and exemptions. Our work included assessing federal, state, and local regulations; impacts on protected species, wetlands, and water bodies; and potential third-party contamination.
Barr also provided field surveys as needed to help ensure environmental compliance throughout permit procurement and project execution. All told, we completed more than a dozen natural-gas-distribution projects for Minnesota Energy Resources, ranging from replacing a pipeline across a water body to installing 15 miles of new pipeline.
South St. Paul has a three-mile-long earthen levee and floodwall system that was constructed in 1968. Designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the original system had more than a dozen gatewells, three pump stations, and three closures. The city hired Barr for an aggressive, three-phased improvement project to address deficiencies. Our work included relining more than 1,300 feet of large-diameter pipe, rehabilitating gatewells and pipe penetrations, abandoning seven gatewells, repairing voids in the levee, stabilizing riprap embankment, improving stop-log closures, replacing one pump station, and upgrading the remaining pumping stations with advanced electrical control systems.
Throughout design and construction, we coordinated with the Corps (three Section 408 permits), city, county, and railroad. In addition to developing construction plans and specifications, we coordinated bidding and construction observation. Construction on all three phases of the $4.7 million project finished in 2017. Barr developed a system-wide improvement plan (SWIF) so that the city could re-enter the Corps’ levee safety program until the levee achieved “minimally acceptable” status in 2017. We also updated the city’s levee operations manual and emergency flood response plan. We continue to assist the city in ongoing operations, maintenance, and planning related to the flood control system. The completed improvements are helping the city maintain its FEMA certification.
The City of Rochester, Minnesota, asked Barr to develop flood-inundation-map libraries that could be tied to National Weather Service flood forecasts at USGS stream gauges. We conducted hydraulic modeling to create map libraries showing inundation extents at one-foot-elevation intervals for four locations within the city limits. To make the maps more accessible and deployable during a flood, Barr developed an ArcGIS-based interface for automating the creation of annotated maps that shows the inundation extents for the current flood forecast at the associated stream gauge. These maps can be shared with city staff members and the public to facilitate emergency-response and flood-fighting efforts.
The inundation map libraries are also valuable tools for emergency planning. Along with the map libraries, Barr developed the framework for an emergency-flood-response database that can be used to organize the various emergency responses that must occur at a given flood level. By pre-populating activities such as road and trail closures, sand bagging, and evacuation areas, the city is in a better position to respond to floods proactively when they occur.
A pharmaceutical manufacturer uses reciprocating internal combustion engines for emergency backup power. Since the U.S. EPA air regulations related to these engines are complex, Barr was tasked with improving the company’s engine compliance tool. Our improvements were designed to promote a better understanding of the complex environmental regulations through user-friendly summaries and to assist environmental health and safety (EHS) staff with internal compliance reviews by highlighting key compliance requirements within the rules. Our updates included additional organizational and informational features, clarification regarding applicability dates, an expanded set of definitions, and reorganized bookmarks for easy navigation.
Barr also developed a webinar highlighting key aspects of the air regulations and providing an overview of the engine compliance tool. Corporate environmental staff used the webinar materials for training site EHS personnel; the engine compliance tool and webinar materials were beneficial in enhancing site their understanding of regulations and minimizing compliance risks. The materials also leveraged corporate EHS staff time by providing easy-to-use tools for site EHS staff, thereby reducing time spent answering similar questions from multiple sites.
Spanning the Mississippi River, the Smith Avenue Bridge (also known as Saint Paul’s High Bridge) features large steel arches and post-tensioned steel tendons, key components in keeping forces in the arch balanced and structurally stable.
In 2017, a High Bridge preservation and re-decking project required cutting the steel tendons. The bridge’s owner, the Minnesota Department of Transportation, wanted to confirm that bridge movement wouldn’t be a problem. Barr worked with Kraemer North America, the project’s construction manager and general contractor, to design, install, and implement a near-real-time monitoring program. This compared actual bridge movements and strains to those modeled by HHA Consulting, Kraemer’s structural engineer for the project.
Our team installed over 50 monitoring prisms, 32 strain gage instruments, and radios on the bridge along with an automated motorized monitoring total station (AMTS) and solar power system on each shoreline. Every hour, each AMTS monitored 25 prisms from 100 feet to over 1,000 feet away.
During the 15-month project, we collected and analyzed nearly 2 million measurements, ranging from small movements caused by solar radiation of the steel arches to 5 inches of movement caused by cutting the steel tendons. These measurements were very close to the modeled estimates.
Trimont Wind I, a subsidiary of Avangrid Renewables, operates an existing 100.5 MW wind-energy generation facility in Martin and Jackson counties, Minnesota. The company proposed upgrading turbines to increase their efficiency, reliability, and energy output and to prolong the useful life of the windfarm. By refurbishing the turbines, Avangrid also avoided decommissioning the project and constructing a new windfarm—thereby conserving resources and minimizing environmental impacts.
The retrofitting project required Minnesota’s first site-permit amendment for partial repowering of a wind facility. We worked with the Minnesota Department of Commerce and Public Utilities Commission to determine permit-application requirements and timelines; managed application preparation and submittal; consulted with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; and prepared a decommissioning plan. Our assistance also included conducting a search for threatened and endangered species and providing support at public hearings.
Avangrid was granted a permit amendment by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission in May 2018.
The 800-acre Carleton College arboretum underwent a long-term restoration of its woodland, prairie, savanna, and floodplain plant communities. When parking lots and a new recreation center were built adjacent to the arboretum, the college called on Barr to design a stormwater treatment facility in the arboretum.
The facility had to meet functional requirements—treating water before it reached the Cannon River and fitting into the arboretum’s natural landscape. We recommended a constructed wetland, which would be both effective and attractive in the arboretum setting.
Barr performed hydrologic and ecological analyses to determine the size of the new wetland and its potential fit with the natural topography and vegetation. Working with the college to site the wetland, Barr recommended reclaiming a former dumping area, where heaps of old blacktop were overgrown with invasive, exotic trees. By constructing the wetland there, the college lost an eyesore and an ecological liability while gaining valuable wildlife habitat and a visual amenity. Unlike typical stormwater-detention basins, this wetland system has gradual, natural-sided slopes; features a geosynthetic clay liner to allow for more permanent water storage in the basin; is shaped to resemble oxbow wetlands that occur naturally along rivers like the Cannon; and fosters a diverse wetland-plant community.
The Nine Mile Creek Watershed District transformed a large home within a five-acre wooded parcel into an innovative water-resources facility that serves as the district’s new office and education center, known as Discovery Point. Barr was hired to develop a landscape master plan for the site, which included designs for site grading and drainage; a 26-stall parking lot and entrance drive; electrical, water, and sanitary service utilities; retaining walls; and stormwater features such as rain gardens, multiple permeable-pavement systems, and a 1,050-gallon interactive cistern with a decorative runnel wall. The site showcases replicable commercial and residential landscaping and green-infrastructure practices that are low maintenance, ecologically appropriate, and aesthetically pleasing.
Barr also designed a suite of interpretive signs, which were installed in fall 2015. Ongoing work includes development and implementation of long-term plant-community restorations highlighting oak-savanna and woodland areas.