UK Business Briefs: petrol leaks, software, geopark, calling all waste experts

Petrol company TOTAL has signed a voluntary agreement with the Environment Agency that will boost the company’s environmental practices, including wetstock monitoring of underground fuel tanks. TOTAL will adopt new pollution prevention measures, targeting filling stations in vulnerable areas – near nature reserves or above groundwater. TOTAL will also help develop standards for fuelling stations to reduce petrol contamination of groundwater.

Wallingford Software has launched a new management information system, InfoNet, for the water and wastewater industries. Designed for operations managers, engineers and planners, InfoNet enables users to analyze their network data and check network infrastructure and performance.

Jamie Robinson, regional associate with Parsons Brinckerhoff Ltd, has qualified as a Specialist in Land Condition (SiLC) after successfully completing the examination set by the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment.

Robinson is one of only 21 registered SiLCs in the UK, and will now join the panel that assesses SiLC candidates. Only registered SiLCs can approve Land Condition Records used to certify contaminated land.

Green Business Network has won the Biffaward 2002 award for Sustainable Resource Use. The group won the £2,500 prize for its project, ‘Wool Scourers Composting Scheme’, which deals with sludge waste from the wool industry.

A £5 million Geoenvironmental Research Park, just opened in South Wales, will develop technologies to regenerate brownfield land and design sustainable methods of managing waste. The park’s collaborators include the Welsh Development Agency, BP Chemicals Ltd, Excel Fibre Technology Ltd, and the consortium of Welsh environmental science companies – The Hafren Group.

The Forum for Waste and Resources R&D, FORWARRD, is making a national call to waste research and development professionals to attend its launch on Monday 2 December at Regents College, London. The morning talks will cover two new initiatives aimed at promoting R&D in waste and resources.