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Environment Quick News
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| A
Monthly Report on EPRI's Environmental Research Programs |
June
2010 |
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Program members can use their epri.com ID and password to
download Acrobat PDF files of EPRI technical reports.
For assistance, contact the EPRI Customer Assistance Center
at (800) 313-3774. |
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Dear Environment Sector members:
Summer brings longer, warmer days and vacations.
At EPRI it also brings the season of technical "deep dives."
In addition to Fall and Spring advisory sessions, many of our programs hold
summer meetings that offer the opportunity to dive deeper into the technical results
from our research. These meetings are often used as a venue to invite input from
a wider community of stakeholders as well.
We kicked off the season in May with our 15th
Annual Global Climate Change Research Seminar in Washington,
DC. This meeting brings together industry, government,
and academia to discuss a broad range of climate research
and the implications for the energy sector. Building
on the success of this annual event, we held our first Air
Quality Research Seminar the following week, also in Washington DC.
This meeting focused on air pollution and health with
specific emphasis on particulate matter and the regulatory
paradigm of a mass-based standard. Representatives from
the regulatory and scientific communities, plus industry members,
had a robust series of discussions that will help define future
research in this area.
In June we will hold our Water Summer Meeting in Whitefish,
MT, and our Rights-of-Way program will conduct a workshop
in Milwaukee on Managing Invasive Plant Species.
In July we will be convening members of our new Interest
Group on the Environmental Aspects of Renewable Energy in
San Francisco to delve into these issues and prioritize the
research needs for this new Environment program.
August will bring our MGP meeting in West Point, NY and our
EMF Scientific Advisory Committee Meeting in New York City.
More details on each meeting can be found in the body of
this month's newsletter. Planning, conducting, and communicating
EPRI's research are nonstop endeavors. While we wish you fun-filled
summer vacations and relaxing breaks from work, we also hope
to see you at one or more of our summer meetings designed
to allow in-depth discussions in many of our technical research
areas.
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| Air Quality Area News |
| EPRI Hosts Air Quality Research Seminar.
EPRI's Air Quality Group held its first research
seminar on May 26–27 in Washington, DC. The seminar
covered particulate matter (PM) health effects, with a
focus on evaluating different alternatives to a mass-based
PM standard. In addition to Air Quality Area sponsors,
EPRI invited members of the legislative, regulatory, environmental,
and scientific communities to attend this event. The outcomes
of the seminar will help define EPRI's future PM research.
Seminar presentations are available under the presentations
tab in the EPRI event listing. For more information,
contact Naresh Kumar, (650) 855-8758, nkumar@epri.com. |
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| Program 42: Air Toxics Health and Risk Assessment |
| . Researchers
at the University of Miami initiated laboratory studies
based on EPRI observations to describe the basic chemical
reactions governing conversion of oxidized to elemental
mercury in plumes downwind of three coal-fired power plants. |
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| Program 91: Assessment Tools for Ozone, Particulate Matter,
Regional Haze and Atmospheric Deposition |
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The Southeastern Aerosol Research and Characterization
(SEARCH) network, part of a public-private collaboration
with EPRI and Southern Company, held its annual meeting
May 3–5 to discuss ongoing research and future plans. |
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Researchers have analyzed the data from EPRI’s
August Mini-Intensive Gas and Aerosol Study and have detected
particle-phase isoprene-derived epoxydiol (IEPOX) and
its known reaction products in ambient samples. |
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The project expands upon an earlier EPRI–Natural Resources Defense
Council analysis to evaluate the air quality impact of on-road and non-road electric transportation technologies. |
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This paper examines the methods used to estimate organic particulate matter from measurement data,
to see how sensitive the estimates are to changes in relative humidity and temperature. |
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| Program 92: Assessment of Air Quality Impacts on Health and the Environment |
| Paper Describes Lung Response to Concentrated
Ambient Particles. Rohr, A.C., et
al. "Cardiopulmonary
responses in spontaneously hypertensive and Wistar-Kyoto
rats exposed to concentrated ambient particles from Detroit,
Michigan," Inhalation Toxicology, 2010, 22(6):522-533.
Co-authored by EPRI's Annette Rohr, this paper describes
a study of the cardiopulmonary and systemic effects in
rats of concentrated ambient particles. The results indicate
that ambient particles collected in Detroit can cause
mild pulmonary and systemic changes in rats, and that
local sources of fine particles (oil combustion, oil refining,
waste incineration, and traffic) may play an important
role in the observed effects. For more information, contact
Annette Rohr, (425) 298-4374, arohr@epri.com. |
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| Visit
the Global Climate Webpage |
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| Global Climate Change Area News |
| EPRI Holds Global Climate Change Research
Seminar. On May 18–19 in Washington,
DC, EPRI’s Global Climate Change Group held its
15th annual research seminar aimed at communicating
the latest global climate research findings. EPRI and
invited experts discussed a broad range of recent international
and regional research and various implications for the
energy sector. The seminar was attended by representatives
of industry, government, and academia. Seminar presentations
are posted on the
Global Climate website. For more information, contact
Tom Wilson, (650) 855-7928, twilson@epri.com. |
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EPRI’s Geoff Blanford and Richard Richels
participated in a National Academy of Sciences Workshop
on Modeling the Economics of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation,
held April 15–16 in Washington, DC. |
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| Program 102: Global Climate Policy Costs
and Benefits |
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EPRI is developing a new U.S. regional energy–economy
model to assess the regional implications of future energy
and environmental policies. |
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Co-authored by EPRI’s Steven Rose, this paper
estimates the implications of a potential U.S. greenhouse
gas cap-and-trade policy on the U.S. agricultural sector.
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| Program 103: Greenhouse Gas Reduction
Options |
| EPRI To Host 8th GHG Emissions Offset Policy
Dialogue. On June 24, EPRI will host
the eighth workshop in its EPRI Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions
Offset Policy Dialogue project in Washington DC.
Approximately 80 representatives from the policymaking,
environmental, industrial, electric power, financial,
and research communities are expected to participate. The workshop
explored offsets methodology development, offsets registration,
and credit issuance processes of the key GHG offset programs
around the world today. Visit the Global
Climate website to view the Workshop materials.
For more information, contact Adam Diamant, (510) 260-9105,
adiamant@epri.com.
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| EPRI Research Featured at Bioeconomy and
Climate Change Conference. Michigan
State University (MSU) hosted the Bioeconomy
and Global Climate Change Symposium on April 26–27
to discuss the Michigan Climate Action Plan and relevant
research on climate change. Featured at the symposium
was EPRI’s collaborative project with MSU to evaluate
potential nitrous oxide (N2O) emission reductions
from reducing the amount of nitrogen fertilizer applied
to cropland. EPRI’s Adam Diamant provided
an “Overview
of the Key Role Greenhouse Gas Emission Offsets Play in
Evolving Cap-and-Trade Programs.” Phase
2 of the collaborative project, beginning this spring,
will attempt to validate the N2O offsets protocol
developed in Phase 1. For more information, contact
Adam Diamant, (510) 260-9105, adiamant@epri.com. |
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| Program 49: Coal Combustion Products—Environmental
Issues |
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On May 3, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) announced the release for public comment of first-ever
national regulations governing disposal of coal combustion
products (CCPs). |
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| Hybrid Anion Exchangers Show Some Promise
in Treating Ash Leachate. Ash leachate
often contains inorganic constituents such as selenium,
molybdenum, and boron that can be difficult to treat to
low levels. EPRI is investigating the use of hybrid anion
adsorbents for removal of these constituents—as
well as arsenic and chromium—from leachate. For
example, laboratory tests at Lehigh University found that
loading the anion exchange resin IRA 900 with carmelite
successfully reduced molybdenum from 2 mg/L to below detection
for 1000 bed volumes, and to below 1 mg/L for more than
3000 bed volumes. This research is part of a broader effort
to develop treatment technologies that can be used for
leachate-impacted groundwater, in either in situ
or ex situ remediation systems. For more information,
contact Ken Ladwig, (262) 754-2744, keladwig@epri.com.
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| Program 50: Manufactured Gas Plant Site
Management |
| . On
April 27, EPRI submitted comments to the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) on its proposed approach to determining
the carcinogenicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
(PAH) mixtures. |
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| Program 59: Power Plant Multimedia Toxics
Characterization |
| Hazardous Air Pollutants Interest Group
Free to Participants in 2010. The
Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) Interest Group provides
a forum for participating companies to share information
on HAPs emissions and control-technology development.
In 2010, participation is free to members of the Power
Plant Multimedia Toxics Characterization program and the
Integrated Environmental Controls program. Formerly called
the Mercury Characterization and Control Interest Group
(MerCCIG), the group has expanded its scope in response
to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Information
Collection Request for all listed HAPs. For more information,
contact Paul Chu, (650) 855-2362, pchu@epri.com,
or George Offen, (650) 855-8942, goffen@epri.com. |
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| Program 53: Water Quality Criteria Development
and Assessment |
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EPRI’s John Goodrich-Mahoney recently met with staff
in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s)
Health and Ecological Criteria Division to discuss the
development of an episodic version of EPRI’s Biotic
Ligand Model. |
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| Program 54: Fish Protection at Steam
Electric Power Plants |
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A key research project in EPRI’s Fish Protection
program has been the evaluation of the performance of
various types of fine-mesh traveling screens for protecting
early life stages (larvae and juveniles) of fish. |
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| Program 58: Waterpower |
| . EPRI is seeking
additional potential demonstration sites at existing and
new hydropower developments to install and evaluate the
fish-friendly Alden turbine. |
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| Program 51: T&D Facilities &
Equipment: Environmental Issues |
| Project on Oil Spill Adsorbents Under Way.
Phase 1 of a project on oil spill adsorbents has
begun with the identification of more than 20 materials
for evaluation. Researchers will test the basic adsorptive
properties of these materials and summarize the findings,
along with general information on each material, in a
Technical Update to be published in December. Phase 2
of the project, scheduled for 2011, will include a more
detailed assessment of the performance and environmental
characteristics of materials used. For more information,
contact Jeff Clock, (845) 608-0642, jclock@epri.com. |
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| Program 57: ROW: Siting, Vegetation Management,
and Avian Issues |
| . The workshop will provide ROW managers
with tools to comply, in a cost-effective and practical
manner, with regulations pertaining to invasive plant
species throughout the United States. |
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| Program 60: EMF and RF Health Assessment
and Safety |
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| Visit the EMF and RF Health Assessment and Safety Webpage
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| . In
this study, average magnetic fields were significantly
higher in apartments located above internal transformer
stations than in apartments elsewhere in the same Israeli
buildings. |
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| EPRI Comments on a Study of Power-Frequency
Magnetic Fields and Childhood Brain Tumors in Japan.
Saito, T, et al. “Power-frequency magnetic
fields and childhood brain tumors: A case-control study
in Japan,” Journal of Epidemiology, 2010;
20(1): 54–61. EPRI evaluated the strengths
and limitations of this epidemiologic study, whose authors
report a positive association between magnetic field exposures
above 0.4 µT and risk of childhood brain tumors.
Comments
(EPRI Product 1021272) are available on epri.com.
For more information, contact Gabor Mezei, (650) 855-8908,
gmezei@epri.com. |
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| . Prepared by an advisory board of the
U.S. National Cancer Institute for President Obama’s
review, this 240-page report devotes 7 pages to electromagnetic
fields (EMF) as one of several “environmental exposures
related to modern lifestyles” that may be associated
with increased cancer risk. |
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OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY |
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| Program 62: Occupational Health and Safety |
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EPRI’s Sharan Campleman presented an electric
industry research perspective on making green jobs safe
and healthy at a National Institute of Occupational Safety
and Health workshop conducted during the “Good Jobs,
Green Jobs National Conference” held May 4–6
in Washington, DC. |
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| NEW SUPPLEMENTAL PROJECT
OPPORTUNITIES |
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| NEW MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS |
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| UPCOMING EVENTS |
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denotes EPRI sponsored or cosponsored event |
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| Environment Sector |
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Environment Sector and Area Council Advisory Meetings
Sep. 27–30, San Antonio, TX. Contact: Marsha Grossman,
(650) 855-8760, mgrossma@epri.com.
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| Energy Sustainability |
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Webcast: Ecomiles and Employee Programs at Northeast
Utilities
Jun. 23, 10 a.m. PDT. Contact: Todd Maki, (650) 855-2162,
tmaki@epri.com, or Kitty
Vroom, (650) 855-2255, kvroom@epri.com.
The webcast is open to members of the Energy Sustainability
Interest Group.
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Environmental Aspects of Renewable Energy Workshop
Jul. 1, San Francisco, CA. Contact Todd Maki, (650) 855-2162,
tmaki@epri.com, or Kitty
Vroom, (650) 855-2255, kvroom@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website. The workshop is open to members of the Environmental
Aspects of Renewable Energy Interest Group.
*
Webcast: Valuing Ecosystem Services Presented
by Resources For the Future
Jul. 7, 10 a.m. PDT. Contact: Todd Maki, (650) 855-2162, tmaki@epri.com,
or Kitty Vroom, (650) 855-2255, kvroom@epri.com.
The webcast is open to members of the Energy Sustainability
Interest Group.
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| Air Quality |
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| Air & Waste Management
Association 103rd Annual Conference & Exhibition
Jun. 22–25, Calgary, Canada. Contact: Naresh Kumar,
(650) 855-2990, nkumar@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
Joint ICACGP–IGAC Conference—Atmospheric
Chemistry: Challenging the Future
Jul. 11–16, Halifax, Canada. Contact: Eladio Knipping,
(202) 293-6343, eknippin@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
2010 Joint Conference of International Society
of Environmental Epidemiology and International Society of
Exposure Science
Aug. 28–Sep. 1, Seoul, Korea. Contact: Annette Rohr,
(425) 298-4374, arohr@epri.com.
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Power Plant Air Pollutant
Control “MEGA” Symposium
Aug. 30–Sep. 2, Baltimore, MD. Contact: Leonard Levin,
(650) 855-7929, llevin@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
9th Annual Community Modeling and Analysis System
Conference
Oct. 11–13, Chapel Hill, NC. Contact: Naresh Kumar,
(650) 855-8758, nkumar@epri.com.
More information is available at the CMAS
website.
National Atmospheric Deposition Program 2010 Annual
Meeting and Scientific Symposium
Oct. 19–21, Lake Tahoe, CA. Contact: Leonard Levin,
(650) 855-7929, llevin@epri.com,
or Arnout Ter Schure, (650) 855-2281, aterschu@epri.com.
More information is available at the NADP
website.
American Association for Aerosol Research 29th
Annual Conference
Oct. 25–29, Portland, OR. Contact: Eladio Knipping,
(202) 293-6343, eknippin@epri.com.
Air & Waste Management Association Symposium
on Air Quality Measurement Methods and Technology
Nov. 2–4, Los Angeles, CA. Contact: Stephanie Shaw,
(650) 855-2353, sshaw@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
American Geophysical Union 2010 Fall Meeting
Dec. 13–17, San Francisco, CA. Contact: Stephanie Shaw,
(650) 855-2353, sshaw@epri.com.
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10th International Conference
on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP)
Jul. 24–29, 2011, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Contact:
Leonard Levin, (650) 855-7929, llevin@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
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Air Quality VIII Conference
Oct. 24–27, 2011, Arlington, VA. Contact: Leonard Levin,
(650) 855-7929, llevin@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
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| Global Climate |
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| International Agricultural
Trade Research Consortium’s Public Trade Policy Research
and Analysis Symposium—Climate Change in World Agriculture:
Mitigation, Adaptation, Trade and Food Security
Jun. 27–29, Stuttgart, Germany. Contact: Steven Rose,
(202) 293-6183, srose@epri.com.
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10th Annual IEA-EPRI-IETA
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Workshop
Sep. 20–21, Paris, France. Contact: Adam Diamant, (510)
260-9105, adiamant@epri.com.
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| Land and Groundwater |
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| Air & Waste Management
103rd Annual Conference & Exhibition
Jun. 22–25, Calgary, Canada. Contact: Naresh Kumar,
(650) 855-2990, nkumar@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
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Second International
Conference on Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies
Jun. 28–30, Unversità Politecnica delle Marche,
Ancona, Italy. Contact: Ken Ladwig, (262) 754-2744, keladwig@epri.com.
Ken Ladwig will present a paper and chair a session on using
fly ash in sustainable construction. More information is available
at the event
website.
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MGP Fall Meeting
Aug. 10–11, West Point, NY. Contact: Jeff Clock,
(845) 608-0642, jclock@epri.com,
or Jim Lingle, (414) 355-5559, jlingle@epri.com.
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Power Plant Air Pollutant
Control “MEGA” Symposium
Aug. 30–Sep. 2, Baltimore, MD. Contact: Leonard Levin,
(650) 855-7929, llevin@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
Sixth International Conference on Remediation
of Contaminated Sediments
Feb. 7–10, 2011, New Orleans, LA. Contact: Jeff Clock,
(845) 608-0642, jclock@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
World of Coal Ash Conference
May 9–12, 2011, Denver, CO. Contact: Ken Ladwig, (262)
754-2744, keladwig@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
In Situ and On-Site Bioremediation: The Eleventh
International Symposium
Jun. 27–30, 2011, Reno, NV. Contact: Jeff Clock, (845)
608-0642, jclock@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
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10th International Conference
on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP)
Jul. 24–29, 2011, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Contact:
Leonard Levin, (650) 855-7929, llevin@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
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Air Quality VIII Conference
Oct. 24–27, 2011, Arlington, VA. Contact: Leonard Levin,
(650) 855-7929, llevin@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
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| Water and Ecosystems |
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Summer Water & Ecosystem
Area Council Meeting
Jun. 23–25, Whitefish, MT. Contact: Katie Vroom, (650)
855-2417, kavroom@epri.com.
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Webcast: Ohio River
Trading Project Quarterly Update
Aug. 18, 10 a.m. PDT. Contact: Katie Vroom, (650) 855-2417,
kavroom@epri.com.
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Symposium: Hydrokinetic
Electricity Generation and Fish: Asking the Right Questions,
Getting Useful Answers
Sep. 12–16, exact date TBD, Pittsburgh, PA. Contact: Paul
Jacobson, (410) 489-3675, pjacobson@epri.com.
This symposium will be held as part of the American Fisheries
Society Annual Meeting.
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Webcast: Ohio River
Trading Project Quarterly Update
Nov. 17, 10 a.m. PDT. Contact: Katie Vroom, (650) 855-2417,
kavroom@epri.com.
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| T&D Environmental Issues |
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Containing the Spread
of Non-indigenous Invasive Plant Species on Electric Utility
Rights-of-Way
Jun. 29–30, Milwaukee, WI. Contact: John W. Goodrich-Mahoney,
(202) 293-7516, jmahoney@epri.com.
This workshop is open to members of the ROW: Siting, Vegetation
Management, and Avian Issues program (57).
Progress In Electromagnetics Research Symposium
(PIERS)
Jul. 5–8, Cambridge, MA. Contact: Gabor Mezei, (650)
855-8908, gmezei@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
International Society of Arboriculture 86th Annual
Conference & Trade Show
Jul. 23–28, Chicago, IL. Contact: John W. Goodrich-Mahoney,
(202) 293-7516, jmahoney@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
* 2010
EMF Scientific Advisory Committee Meeting
Aug. 16–17, New York, NY. Contact: Gabor Mezei, (650)
855-8908, gmezei@epri.com.
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Together…Shaping
the Future of Electricity. |
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Electric
Power Research Institute
3420
Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94304-1338 • PO Box 10412,
Palo Alto, California 94303-0813 USA
800.313.3774 • 650.855.2121 • askepri@epri.com
• www.epri.com
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