Fukushima Water Cleanup Deadline Unlikely to be Met

According to recent calculations by Bloomberg News, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) is unlikely to meet its March 2015 deadline to complete the filtering of cancer-causing radioactive isotopes at its wrecked nuclear plant in Fukushima.

Tepco’s President, Naomi Hirose, made a commitment to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in September of last year to remedy the contamination of groundwater their plant has caused. Bloomberg estimates suggested that filtering out the isotope strontium, which has been linked to leukemia, from the stored water will take more time than they have left with the set deadline.

Spokeswoman Mayumi Yoshida stated earlier this month that Tepco can, “only say we’ll make efforts to achieve that target” of reaching their goal of decontamination before the deadlines that are less than a year away.

The prolonging of the cleanup process has other implications as well, including an extension on a South Korean ban on Japanese seafood imports, and an increased demand in the U.S. for an international takeover of the cleanup process. While the implications of not completing the cleanup on time have not yet been discussed, Tepco is continually seeking ways to remedy the after effects of the March 11, 2011 accident.

The levels of toxic waters are continually rising at a rate of 400,000 liters per day, and as of July 29, the site was said to have more than 373,000,000 liters of radioactive water still needing treatment. With numerous failed attempts at reducing the amount of irradiated water released, Tepco’s ability to reach the deadline is looking incredibly bleak, but Yoshida reassures, “we are doing everything we can do.”

Years later we are once again being reminded of the Fukushima crisis and the magnitude of its effects. Just as it was discussed in the aftermath of the incident, the assistance of a cloud-based, centralized data management system could help to take action on the cleanup. With today’s technology it is possible to store relevant data in a system that is accessible to all stakeholders, supplies a way to continuously monitor and analyze levels of isotopes, and offers opportunities to make better decisions and improve safety at nuclear power plants.

Del Monte Plans & Cans its Way Toward a Sustainable Future

7 August 2014 — If you’ve ever opened a can of peaches or green beans, there’s a good chance it was marked with the red and yellow Del Monte Quality shield. After all, Del Monte Foods is one of the country’s largest and most well-known producers, distributors, and marketers of branded food products—namely canned fruits and vegetables—for the U.S. retail market.

These cans of produce eventually appear on the shelves of supermarkets across the country and end up in our shopping carts—but what happens before they make it there?

Today’s consumers are more invested than ever in discovering the details of how products come to be. This includes what natural resources are used, how much of each is expended, and what environmental impacts are a result of the production process. Curiosity seems to be especially piqued when it comes to the food and agriculture sector, and Del Monte is an example of a company who has chosen to address these questions, as well as offer a roadmap for future improvements.

 

The Sustainable Dream
Del Monte clearly states that its process of bringing food to our dinner tables is grounded in a deep respect for natural resources. The company works to ensure the delivery of its products is done in the most sustainable way possible, by striving to reduce its operational environmental footprint through the elimination of waste and minimization of materials, energy, and water used.

Toward what was arguably the beginning of the sustainability craze, Del Monte established a baseline year of 2007 with a target year of 2016 to effectively monitor its environmental key performance indicators (KPIs). The company made a commitment to corporate responsibility, and began to track energy, water and waste KPIs, conduct lifecycle assessments, practice LEAN techniques at their 14 facilities, and analyze their supply chain greenhouse gas footprint.

 

Software Lends a Helping Hand
In the beginning, Del Monte ran into a few challenges along the road to making sustainable improvements. At the time, the company’s sustainability program was experiencing problems with data validation, and was still manually creating reports by exporting data to spreadsheets.

In order to simplify reporting and ensure the quality of its data, Del Monte made the decision to use the latest advancements in technology to manage and report the metrics behind its sustainability goals, and implemented Locus’ sustainability software. Del Monte discovered that Locus’ cloud-based system was configurable, thus making it more relevant to the company’s business and providing closer access to its environmental data.

Locus helped Del Monte discover where errors existed in its historical data, which were then fixed and migrated to the software platform. Existing data validation steps and notifications were configured to fit Del Monte’s timelines and processes to ensure the quality of the data. Within the software, each user was given a dashboard that they could customize to their site’s sustainability needs, allowing them to see important data immediately upon login, and easily create standard reports. Users were also able to create graphs and tables across all sites within their business unit, and compare these to corporate trends—therefore achieving their goal of making data more transparent within the company.

Sometimes an essential aspect to achieving your sustainability goals is knowing when to enlist outside assistance. Important business decisions are based off of data collected and unfortunately, human error is usually inevitable. Taking advantage of the latest technology and built-in validation checks means attaining flawless data quality, and thus ensuring strong and accurate business decisions. Also, making data transparent—meaning easily searchable and accessible—is important to show you are meeting all expected regulations and business-specific goals. Doing all sustainability tracking, management, and reporting in one central, cloud-based system is a solid method for improving data transparency. From this system, it is possible to:

  • Track industry-specific and business-specific KPIs including GRI indicators
  • Review and approve data according to business-specific work flow requirements
  • Compare parameters across sites or against other related parameters
  • Generate trend charts on the web and create reports to track impact
  • Set periodic benchmark goals and track performance against these goals

 

From Dream to Reality: Visualizing Progress
Over the past seven years Del Monte has been continuously working to tackle its environmental sustainability goals across the various operational steps that result in bringing its products to consumers: from processing, to packaging, to distribution. With the assistance of Locus’ software, Del Monte has created uniform sustainability reports across all sites. Reporting and graphing capabilities help the company view trends in its data more quickly and reliably; data can be easily compared from month to month in order to view recent headway.

Del Monte currently uses Locus’ software for analysis of natural resource to cost, and to manage its various sustainability metrics in order to reach its objectives, such as conservation goals (water and electricity reduction), waste audits, and waste diversion goals. For example, in 2007, Del Monte was approximately 40 percent in waste diversion. With the use of Locus’ sustainability tracking, reporting, and charting functions, Del Monte was more equipped to better manage their progress and reach an 80 percent solid waste diversion rate.

One day at a time, with the help of Locus’ software tools, Del Monte is steadily charging ahead to achieve the sustainability goals it set seven years ago. So the next time you pick up a can of Del Monte produce from the shelf, take comfort in knowing it was produced with an unwavering appreciation for the environment and its resources.

Companies Make Strides Toward Enforcing Oil Spill Prevention Plans

In recent years, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has become much more vigilant about oil spill regulation—regardless of the spills origin. After a series of inspections over the past two years, the EPA announced seven New England companies who have all created or updated their spill prevention plans to be in compliance with federal oil pollution prevention laws.

The companies, who all store or distribute oil, agreed to pay fines under an expedited settlement program, their penalties ranging from $3,000 to $9,500. This expedited program allows companies to pay reduced penalties if they quickly correct violations against the Oil Pollution Prevention regulations. These companies also were required to have a certain minimum storage capacity with no accompanying spill in order to qualify for these reduced fines.

The EPA’s Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) rules designate certain requirements for oil spill prevention, preparedness, and response to prevent oil discharges into navigable waters and adjoining shorelines. These rules call for facilities to adhere to guidelines pertaining to their ability to prepare, amend and implement SPCC Plans.

For many companies, complying with these regulations created by the EPA requires an additional focus on detailed actions in SPCC procedures.  Often times tracking and reporting spills if and when they occur—along with the root causes and inspection findings—can be a significant challenge without the appropriate management tools. However, when properly prepared, abiding by these necessary SPCC rules will ensure that organizations stay within compliance, thus avoiding fines and penalties and any harsh effects on our environment.

Grain Processing Corporation Selects Locus Technologies Software for Environmental Management

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., 8 July 2014  — As part of its environmental sustainability program, Grain Processing Corporation (GPC) has selected Locus Technologies’ (Locus’) software platform to manage a variety of environmental policies for two of its corn wet-milling facilities. GPC manufactures, distributes, and markets high quality, customer-specified food, pharmaceutical, and industrial grade products.

GPC will use Locus to identify, track, and respond to all environmental media affected by the operations of two of its facilities: one located in Muscatine, Iowa, and the other in Washington, Indiana. Both of these facilities have numerous air emission sources, wastewater treatment facilities, and both Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) and Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) requirements. With the assistance of Locus’ web-based software, GPC can manage all of its processes, such as tracking permit requirements and meeting recordkeeping and reporting deadlines, in one central, user-friendly platform.

“When we were searching for a software management system, we needed it to be able to manage all processes for our two facilities, with the expansion option of up to 20 additional locations with differing recordkeeping, schedules, and reporting needs,” said Mick Durham, Director of Environmental Services at GPC. “Locus met these specifications, and will allow us to manage our environmental data so that we can improve our environmental compliance and ensure that our company’s business practices remain sustainable in the long term.”

“Our recent success in deploying our software to several customers in food and agricultural industries proves its versatile nature: Locus’ software goes beyond mission-critical compliance activities and provides a system for broader sustainability and resource management that ultimately leads to operating cost reduction,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus Technologies. “Locus provides a simple, integrated system, similar to ERP that manages all environmental, energy, water, and other sustainability needs under a single portal infrastructure and single sign-on online.”

 

ABOUT GRAIN PROCESSING CORPORATION
Founded in 1943, GPC is a privately owned company with a solid history of innovation and a vision for continued success in the future. Its mission is to manufacture, distribute and market customer-specified food, pharmaceutical and industrial-grade products of uncompromising quality. GPC’s substantial investment in the finest people, facilities, technology and customer support services reflects the seriousness of that commitment to quality. For more information about Grain Processing Corporation, visit www.grainprocessing.com.

Obama Administration Unveils Plan to Cut Power Plant Emissions

The Obama Administration has announced what is arguably the most significant environmental regulation of the president’s term: a proposal to curb power plant emissions that will mandate a 30 percent cut in carbon emissions at fossil fuel-burning power plants by 2030.

The proposal was unveiled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and is expected to set targets for state-by-state reduction of power plant-produced carbon emissions; the largest source of carbon pollution in the U.S. According to the proposal, states could have until 2017 to submit a plan to cut power plant pollution, or 2018 if they join together with other states to address the issue.

In 2010 the EPA announced it intended to regulate coal-fired power plants and oil refineries, but this effort was not followed through. However, due to factors such as improvement in the economy and the natural gas boom, the White House and advocates feel that the time is right.

According to a poll conducted by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication in April, two-thirds of Americans support increased regulation on power plant emissions, even if the cost of electricity rises.

The success of the carbon emission-cutting rule will depend on pending details, such as exactly how strict the targets are and how the federal government holds states to them. Although U.S. emissions have been declining recently due to increased use of natural gas to generate electricity, the country is still second to China in terms of annual emissions.

Along with this proposal comes the importance of accurately and efficiently collecting, aggregating and reporting emission sources data. An essential piece to the puzzle of addressing climate change and abiding by new rules and regulations is properly measuring and managing information.

Monsanto Selects Locus’ Cloud Software for Sustainability Management

Leading Agricultural Products Technology Company Selects Locus for Sustainability Reporting

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., 2 June 2014 — Monsanto Company, a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality, has selected Locus Technologies (Locus) to provide a comprehensive, integrated software platform for sustainability management and environmental stewardship throughout the corporation’s facilities.

Monsanto has adopted the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework, a comprehensive sustainability reporting structure that is widely used around the world to more effectively measure, build upon, and communicate its current sustainability efforts. As a member of the GRI G4 Pioneers program Monsanto is utilizing the Locus enhanced data collection process to enable the transition to the new GRI G4 platform.

Locus’ award-winning EH&S and sustainability software platform is already implemented and provides Monsanto with enterprise tools to organize the GRI indicator collection and reporting solution for its corporate sustainability group. Monsanto site personnel are now able to enter GRI Indicator data by site, and produce reports for their sites. Corporate personnel are able to produce reports of data aggregated across the entire organization for use in preparing and automating their GRI Reporting.

“We are very pleased that Monsanto has selected Locus’ cloud-based software to organize its GRI information,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus Technologies. “The GRI Guidelines are the world’s most widely-used sustainability reporting framework and we are very pleased to support Monsanto in their reporting requirements. Both Monsanto and Locus are GRI Organizational Stakeholders,” added Duplan.

Exelon Nuclear Selects Locus’ Software for Data Management at its Nuclear Generating Stations

The use of Locus’ cloud-based, environmental software confirms Exelon’s commitment to environmental stewardship

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., 27 May 2014 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the industry leader in cloud-based environmental compliance and information management software, announced today that Exelon Nuclear is using Locus’ EIM and ePortal software at its nuclear generating stations and expanding this year to additional sites.

Exelon Nuclear is a business unit of Exelon Generation, which is one of the largest competitive U.S. power generators, with approximately 34,700 megawatts of owned capacity comprising one of the nation’s cleanest and lowest-cost power generation fleets. The company has made a long-standing commitment to the environment and in 2013 two separate global authorities on corporate sustainability—the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) and CDP—recognized Exelon for its sustainability performance and climate change performance and reporting. Exelon is the only U.S. utility on CDP Global Indexes for Climate Performance and Disclosure.

Locus systems have been fully implemented to collect, manage, and organize environmental information at Exelon’s and their subsidiaries’ nuclear power stations.

“With the increased focus on nuclear power safety, and the decommissioning of older-generation power plants, we are proud that Exelon has chosen our cloud-based software to manage its operational data, which are subject to a different set of regulatory requirements from those typically seen at other sites. This award validates Locus’ long-term commitment to helping the utility industry improve sustainability performance at all levels,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus.

“At Exelon, our commitment to the environment is integral to our customers and corporate strategy. Since its inception, Exelon has focused on the business value of reducing its impact on the environment, better meeting the needs of our customers, employees and the communities we serve,” said Francis Leone, Chemistry, Radwaste, and Environmental Manager for Exelon Nuclear. “We selected Locus as a strategic technology partner because of its advanced domain expertise, scalable cloud-based technology, comprehensive vision of centralized analytics of environmental management systems, and deep understanding of the nuclear industry. We are very pleased that we now have complete ownership of and easy access to our data, allowing us to continue operating our fleet in a transparent way so that the company and public can witness first-hand our commitment to long-term sustainability.”

Locus has been collaborating with the Electric Power Research Institute and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) over the last several years to develop and implement advanced information management systems at nuclear power plant sites and weapon complexes and is the leading provider of environmental and radionuclides information management in this important industry.

Exelon Nuclear will use Locus EIM and ePortal software to improve its data gathering and management, monitoring and reporting at its nuclear sites. Locus’ web-based software EIM is specifically designed to manage data from these types of operations, and provides an unmatched level of data security. The software will also help Exelon enforce an extensive set of QA/QC requirements on all uploaded data. The system helps reporting entities enforce data quality in accordance with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) or other standards, such as NQA-1, and ANSI/ISO/ASQ Q 9001:2000, and to validate incoming analytical data.

 

ABOUT EXELON
Exelon Corporation is the nation’s leading competitive energy provider, with approximately $24.9 billion in annual revenues. The Exelon family of companies participates in every stage of the energy business, from generation to competitive energy sales to transmission to delivery. Headquartered in Chicago, Exelon has operations and business activities in 48 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. Exelon is one of the largest competitive U.S. power generators, with approximately 34,700 megawatts of owned capacity comprising one of the nation’s cleanest and lowest-cost power generation fleets. The company’s Constellation business unit provides energy products and services to approximately 100,000 business and public sector customers and approximately 1 million residential customers. Exelon’s utilities deliver electricity and natural gas to more than 7.8 million customers in central Maryland (BGE), northern Illinois (ComEd) and southeastern Pennsylvania (PECO).

Exelon Nuclear Selects Locus’ Data Management Software

Exelon Nuclear will use Locus Technologies’ EIM and ePortal software to improve its data gathering and management, monitoring and reporting at its nuclear sites, the cloud-based environmental compliance and information management software company says.

The use of Locus’ cloud-based, environmental software confirms Exelon’s commitment to environmental stewardship

Originally Posted on Environmental Leader

SAN FRANCISCO, California —May 27, 2014 — Locus Technologies (Locus), the industry leader in cloud-based environmental compliance and information management software, announced today that Exelon Nuclear is using Locus’ EIM and ePortal software at its nuclear generating stations and expanding this year to additional sites.

Exelon Nuclear is a business unit of Exelon Generation, which is one of the largest competitive U.S. power generators, with approximately 34,700 megawatts of owned capacity comprising one of the nation’s cleanest and lowest-cost power generation fleets. The company has made a long-standing commitment to the environment and in 2013 two separate global authorities on corporate sustainability—the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) and CDP—recognized Exelon for its sustainability performance and climate change performance and reporting. Exelon is the only U.S. utility on CDP Global Indexes for Climate Performance and Disclosure.

Locus systems have been fully implemented to collect, manage, and organize environmental information at Exelon’s and their subsidiaries nuclear power stations.

“With the increased focus on nuclear power safety, and the decommissioning of older-generation power plants, we are proud that Exelon has chosen our cloud-based software to manage its operational data, which are subject to a different set of regulatory requirements from those typically seen at other sites. This award validates Locus’ long-term commitment to helping the utility industry improve sustainability performance at all levels,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus.

“At Exelon, our commitment to the environment is integral to our customers and corporate strategy. Since its inception, Exelon has focused on the business value of reducing its impact on the environment, better meeting the needs of our customers, employees and the communities we serve,” said Francis Leone, Chemistry, Radwaste, and Environmental Manager for Exelon Nuclear. “We selected Locus as a strategic technology partner because of its advanced domain expertise, scalable cloud-based technology, comprehensive vision of centralized analytics of environmental management systems, and deep understanding of the nuclear industry. We are very pleased that we now have complete ownership of and easy access to our data, allowing us to continue operating our fleet in a transparent way so that the company and public can witness first-hand our commitment to long-term sustainability.”

Locus has been collaborating with the Electric Power Research Institute and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) over the last several years to develop and implement advanced information management systems at nuclear power plant sites and weapon complexes and is the leading provider of environmental and radionuclides information management in this important industry.

Exelon Nuclear will use Locus EIM and ePortal software to improve its data gathering and management, monitoring and reporting at its nuclear sites.  Locus’ web-based software EIM is specifically designed to manage data from these types of operations, and provides an unmatched level of data security. The software will also help Exelon enforce an extensive set of QA/QC requirements on all uploaded data. The system helps reporting entities enforce data quality in accordance with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) or other standards, such as NQA-1, and ANSI/ISO/ASQ Q 9001:2000, and to validate incoming analytical data.

About Exelon
Exelon Corporation is the nation’s leading competitive energy provider, with approximately $24.9 billion in annual revenues. The Exelon family of companies participates in every stage of the energy business, from generation to competitive energy sales to transmission to delivery. Headquartered in Chicago, Exelon has operations and business activities in 48 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. Exelon is one of the largest competitive U.S. power generators, with approximately 34,700 megawatts of owned capacity comprising one of the nation’s cleanest and lowest-cost power generation fleets. The company’s Constellation business unit provides energy products and services to approximately 100,000 business and public sector customers and approximately 1 million residential customers. Exelon’s utilities deliver electricity and natural gas to more than 7.8 million customers in central Maryland (BGE), northern Illinois (ComEd) and southeastern Pennsylvania (PECO).

Exxon Mobil to Report on Asset Risks Due to Evolving Climate Policy

Exxon Mobil just became the first oil and gas company to agree to publish information about the risks that stricter limits on carbon emissions would place on their business. According to the New York Times, this decision stems from increasing pressure from shareholder activists to warn investors of the possible consequences. The energy giant has agreed to publish this information by the end of the month.

The agreement comes from an effort by Ceres, a coalition of investors and environmentalists interested in making companies more environmentally responsive. The Ceres campaign started with a letter that was sent to ask 45 of the top fossil fuel companies if they were addressing the risks posed by the changing climate policy. What gave this letter such influence is the fact that it was sent by shareholders representing $3 trillion in assets to these companies.

These risks come from a growing realization that the changing policies on global warming and the value of fossil fuel assets may not by synced with one another. For instance, if carbon emissions are reduced by 80 percent, a goal stated by President Obama, then extracting oil reserves in certain areas where it is more expensive will become uneconomical. The concept that the two goals of extracting reserves and reducing carbon emissions are in direct conflict is undoubtedly coming to light.

Exxon Mobil has also agreed to project how further carbon emission restrictions would affect its future projects, and explain why new fossil fuel reserves that it invests in are not at risk of decreasing in value. Overall Exxon Mobil’s reporting agreement should provide for a better stewardship of sustainability and will help other companies come forward with their reporting.

Accounting for carbon emissions will put more focus on environmental software companies that can scale and provide solid platforms for an integrated approach to not only carbon management but all of their other environmental and sustainability risk management activities such as water quality and air emissions.

Versar, Inc. Selects Locus’ EIM as its Standard Environmental Data Management System

Locus EIM to assist Versar by supporting ERPIMS exports for U.S. Air Force remediation projects

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., 7 January 2014 —Versar, Inc. (NYSE MKT:VSR) has selected Locus Technologies’ (Locus’) Environmental Information Management (EIM) software to be its preferred environmental data management system for the firm’s Performance Based Remediation (PBR) program for the U.S. Air Force (USAF).

Versar will take advantage of EIM’s ability to support analytical data compatible with Environmental Resources Program Information Management System (ERPIMS), the electronic system that the Air Force uses for validation and management of data collected from environmental projects at its bases. In addition, Versar will utilize the ERPIMS regulatory export feature and the EIM data validation module.

Versar is currently providing PBR services to the USAF under the 2009 Worldwide Environmental Restoration and Construction (WERC 09) contract through September 2020. The Versar Program, as both Prime contractor and Team subcontractor, presently includes nearly 200 contaminated sites at 15 Air Force bases in 10 different states across the U.S. The total value of the work (if all options are awarded) is approximately $110M; Versar is the Prime contractor with direct responsibility for 128 sites valued at $93M under three separate Task Orders (TOs) and is a Team subcontractor on a fourth TO.

“We are very proud Versar has determined that EIM has the robust and versatile functionality to meet the company’s data management requirements for its USAF PBR Program,” said Neno Duplan, President & CEO of Locus. “We are constantly striving to incorporate specific features into our software, such as the ERPIMS compatibility, that will make a big difference for our customers.”

ABOUT VERSAR, INC.
Versar, headquartered in Springfield, VA, is a publicly traded global project management company providing sustainable, value-oriented solutions to government and commercial clients in engineering, construction management, environmental services, and munitions response market areas. For more information, visit www.versar.com.