1. May 2011
SPECIAL
REPORT
Inside this Issue:
President’s 1
Message At the time of publication I am currently on my fifth trip to Ghana with the
Hazardous Waste 1 University of North Florida student chapter of Engineers Without Borders –
Clean Up Project in USA. I find myself reflecting back to my first trip in 2005. Six years ago,
Nigeria almost to the day, I stepped into another world, a world that changed my
entire perspective. The truths that I learned in that first experience are still
Upcoming Events 1 poignant today. Ghana is a country of hope, with a rich culture and vibrant
people, but also a country in desperate need. Many people live without clean
UNF Ghana 2 water and adequate sanitation, and thousands of children die from prevent-
Project Update able diseases, such as malaria and diarrhea. Meeting these basic needs
through sustainable engineering solutions is the vision of EWB-USA.
Visibakvitz, 2
Guatemala Project The Jacksonville Professional Chapter has grown into a strong chapter since its formation in January
Update 2009. We are working on our third project in Guatemala, and we have mentored the UNF student
chapter through their first project in Ghana in 2009, and their second project this year.
We have also become an active chapter in the Southeast region. We are hosting the two-day regional
Become a Member! workshop this October, which will serve as an educational and networking event for the 48 chapters in
the 10 state region.
www.ewb-usa.org
OR EWB-USA is growing nationally and locally to work towards the vision of meeting basic human needs
If you are an ASCE through sustainable engineering. This vision seemed abstract before I meet individuals who experience
member, you get a dis- these needs on a daily basis. My friends in Ghana face challenges for which we have the skills to help
count by joining through them find a solution. Our chapter is looking for people who are passionate about making a difference.
www.asce.org Read the articles in this report to get a feel for what we are doing, and consider joining in!
Sincerely,
Get Connected!
Website: www.ewb-usa-jacksonville.org
Upcoming Events: Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/4k9kz9o
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/EWBJAX
Executive Board Linkedin: http://tinyurl.com/4efl8y9
Meetings: Katrina Myers
5:30– 7:00 E-mail: ewb.jax@gmail.com
Chapter President
June 8
July 13
August 10 Hazardous Waste Clean Up in Nigeria
General Meetings: Following a request distributed last year by hara creating a haze across
5:30-6:30 EWB-USA national office, local EWB-USA JAX the countryside. To wit,
June 15 professional member Bill Huffman journeyed to Anka is hot, dry and dusty.
August 17 Anka Location in northwestern Nigeria for a gold The region is characterized
ore processing related hazardous waste cleanup. by subsistence farming of
Project Meetings: The Problem corn, beans and forage crops
Weekly—contact Rich Anka Location is within Africa’s Sahel Region to augment pastoral herding.
Roberts on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. Day- Potable water is supplied by
wells and there is no crop
rroberts@earthsys.net time temperatures can exceed 100°F with single
digit humidity. Survival is dependent on the two- irrigation. The local culture
904-247-0740 month long summer rainy season. In other sea-
is Muslim, the ethnic group is Hausa and the
sons, Harmattan winds carry fine dust off the Sa- people live in villages of
(continued on page 2)
Page | 1

2. May 2011
UNF Ghana Project Update
The Ghana Project Team has been hard at The children of the home suffer from deadly preventable dis-
work making our vision of providing the eases and conditions such as malaria and diarrhea. The home
Tamale Children’s Home with reliable wa- lacks sufficient infrastructure for to meet their basic human
ter and an improved cooking conditions a needs. Our team plans to mitigate these preventable diseases and
reality. The Ghana conditions with sustainable engineering solutions. Right now,
Project is an ongo- the team is in Africa implementing their latest plans to provide a
ing relationship reliable source of water for the home’s kitchen building, a pro-
with the Tamale pane fueled cooking solution, and a new infiltration drainage pit.
Children’s Home A project of this magnitude would not be possible without the
that began in 2001 technical, financial, and institutional support of the UNF faculty,
with the first UNF Honors Program mentors, and donors. The EWB-UNF team would like to thank
Transformational Learning Opportu-
you for making this project a reality!
nity Trip. From there, the project has
grown in scale, incorporating its first
construction component in 2007 and Follow the travel team’s daily blog!!
finally becoming an EWB-USA pro- http://ghanaprojectunf.blogspot.com
ject in 2009.
Visibakvitz, Guatemala Project Update
EWB-USA JAX has completed the Visibakvitz Water Distribu- the villagers of Visibakvitz will
tion System design, which will be constructed in the town of have access to clean water without
Visibakvitz in May and June 2011. The town of Visibakvitz leaving their homes.
consists of approximately 25 homes which receive water from a EWB-USA JAX submitted a Pre-
spring that flows through underground
Implementation Report, which out-
piping to a 5000-liter holding tank lo- lined the details of the Visibakvitz
cated downhill from the town. To access Water Distribution System project,
potable water, the villagers must pres-
to the EWB-USA office in March
ently hike downhill to the tank and carry and will travel on three implemen-
buckets of water back uphill to their tation trips, each approximately
homes. EWB-USA JAX designed a one week long and consisting of 4-
pumping system that will transport water 8 volunteers from EWB-USA JAX
from the existing holding tank to a new
to Guatemala in May and June.
10,000-liter tank that will be constructed
on a hill above the town. Water will flow For more information regarding
by gravity from the elevated tank this project (or to get involved in
through underground piping to taps upcoming projects), please contact Richard Roberts at
which will be installed in each home. As a result of this project, rroberts@earthsys.net.
Hazardous Waste Clean Up in Nigeria (continued)
multi-family adobe brick compounds clustered around the washing activities release toxic amounts of bound up lead in the
mosques and wells. As Muslims, except for planting and har- ore.
vest times, most women and children stay cloistered within the
The Players and The Timeline
family compounds.
For decades, Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Fron-
Gold ore has always been available in Anka. First the Arabs and
tieres – MSF) has intermittently run clinics in Anka during ma-
later the British established hegemony over the Hausa tribes and
operated scattered gold mines on a commercial scale. The laria and cholera outbreaks. There in Spring 2010 during a sus-
mines finally ran out in the 20th century and their worth to the pected malaria outbreak, they found the usual medicines were
government was replaced by oil, “black gold” from Nigeria’s ineffective. Hundreds of children were dying despite treatment.
Delta region. During the 21st century, the market price of gold MSF alerted the Nigerian government of the excessive mortal-
soared again and poor farmers gain additional income from gold ity, who requested help from the UN World Health Organization
traders by processing trace amount gold ore within their living (WHO) and the US Center for Disease Control (CDC). A field
compounds. Unbeknownst to anyone, crushing, grinding and assessment report by CDC in June, 2010
(continued on page 3)
Page | 2

3. May 2011
Hazardous Waste Clean Up in Nigeria (continued)
confirmed an epidemic of lead poisoning. The Nigerian au- ppm required excavation and replacement with a clean soil cap.
thorities issued a ban on ore processing within the villages with The hand excavated soils were bagged
marginal effect. After the Emir of Anka, the most influential and hauled to the landfill for disposal.
local Islamic official, stated his support of the ban, ore process-
Excavation and disposal crews handling
ing ceased immediately. The Emir’s continued support became
contaminated soils were issued project
a key factor in the success of the project. MSF and WHO con- overalls and disposable dust masks.
tacted the Blacksmith Institute for assistance. Based in New Clean and contaminated tools were segre-
York City, Blacksmith Institute is an NGO specializing in haz- gated. Washing facilities were provided
ardous waste cleanups worldwide. Blacksmith swung into ac- for personal end-of-shift decontamination
tion; it secured funding from UNICEF, engaged technical ser-
and the overalls collected and laundered
vices from TerraGraphics, an Idaho environmental engineering overnight for re-issue the next day. De-
firm specializing in lead waste cleanup, and contacted EWB- pending on the size of the village and
USA for help finding additional “ground troops”. EWB-USA extent of contamination, 50 – 125 managers, supervisors, techni-
forwarded Blacksmith’s request for volunteers to its members cal advisors and local workers would be on-duty in a village any
and it was to this call that Huffman responded.
given work day. A hot meal of rice and beans was provided to
The Work all workers and staff before mid-day prayers. Multiple villages
The Nigerian Ministry of Health, Ministry of Environment and were remediated concurrently using a six day work week.
Ministry of Local Government provided managers and supervi- The Results
sors while laborers were hired to work within their individual
Lead poisoning affects the nervous system and is evident from
villages. Blacksmith Institute, TerraGraphics and EWB-USA headaches, fever and, ultimately, for higher blood lead levels
contributed expatriate technical advisors. All Nigerian staff (BLL), convulsions and death. Children under five are most
drew pay from the UNICEF and other donor funding. Vehicles affected; they have lower body weight and in the primary age of
came from the Ministry of Local Government and the Emir of
body growth and development. Play habits also make them
Anka’s motor pools. Overall project management was the re-
more vulnerable. Hand to mouth activity universally peaks at
sponsibility of Blacksmith. this age and ingestion is a primary exposure vector. As most
Landfills for parents know, anything that touches a toddler’s hand is headed
each village for the mouth. In Anka, the dirty hands contained slow poison.
were excavated BBL’s over 10 ppm cause nervous system damage, over 20 ppm
to a depth of 16 BLL requires medical intervention (chelating) while 45 ppm are
feet (5 M) plac- considered deadly. CDC reported in June that sampled children
ing the bottom tests indicated 97% had BLL’s over 45 ppm with readings as
above the esti- high as 445 ppm.
mated high When children were seen at the village’s weekly MSF clinic,
groundwater those who had excessive BLL were quarantined outside the con-
level and allow- taminated villages for months, often with the mother as care-
ing for 3 feet (1
taker, until remediation of the entire village was complete. This
M) of soil cover
was a huge
over the disposed materials. They were unlined due to the ex- imposition on
treme impermeability of the region’s deep clay layers that had the remaining
been deposited over millennia by the dusty Harmattan. Lead in family mem-
most chemical states is insoluble and should not leach from the
bers and there
landfill regardless.
was urgency to
The family compounds and common village areas were get families
mapped and tested for lead contamination using portable X- reunited again
Ray Fluorescence Spectrometers (XRFs). Only the top few and mutually
inches of soil appeared to be contaminated. Remediation pro- supportive.
tocol was to excavate and dispose of that soil layer and replace Initial opera-
it with clean soil. Soils with lead content less than 400 ppm
tions began in June 2010 and progress was made in 2 of the 9
lead were deemed acceptable to be left in place, up to 1,000
villages identified for remediation. Operations were suspended
ppm required a 3-inch (8 cm) clean soil cap and over 1,000 in July when the rains rendered the dirt (continued on page 4)
Page | 3

4. May 2011
Hazardous Waste Clean Up in Nigeria (continued)
roads impass- of gold ore, village based water sources and cheap muscle power
able. Work residing in the family compounds, greed will inevitably triumph
resumed in over any administrative controls and ore processing will return
September to the villages in years to come. Caught processing ore despite
and, except the ban, a local Ankan said “My problem isn’t lead poisoning;
for a week my problem is I’m poor.”
break during
Comparison to a Typical EWB-USA Project
the Muslim
Sallah holi- This project is an emergency response and would not conform to
day in No- EWB-USA guidelines for sustainable development. Project
vember, pro- approval for a chapter would be unlikely by EWB-USA’s staff
c e e d e d or its Technical Advisory Committee. EWB-USA assisted only
through most as a source of individual volunteers for Blacksmith.
of December EWB-USA requires its chapters to make a 5 year commitment
when the expat advisors, including Huffman, returned to the to a village or region, spend sufficient time (often a year) inves-
USA for Xmas. By then, seven of the nine villages were sub- tigating the village’s core problems, their capabilities and their
stantially remediated. Work resumed in February 2011 with desired outcomes, involve the village level leaders in the plan-
other expat tech advisors anticipating completion in April 2011. ning and design alternatives, design a best solution, raise nomi-
A potential delay will occur during the quadri-annual national nal funds and implement the design using a maximum amount
elections which can be “energetic” in a country which is half of local resources, usually in multiple stages.
Christian half Islamic. The project was on schedule for com-
For a project to be truly successful, it must meet the locally
pletion as of this writing.
stated needs and be self sustaining.
The Prospects
As an emergency response, this million dollar project success- About The Author
fully met its intended goals of cleaning up the village living
Bill Huffman, PE, is a member
spaces. Additional health awareness and training on safer proc- of EWB-USA JAX and a for-
essing methods are expected to be undertaken by the local au- mer Peace Corps volunteer in
thorities with outside expert assistance as available. Unfortu- Kenya. His other emergency
nately, the local government leaders perceived the giant cleanup responses include Rwanda and
project as a patronic public works program and took it as an Panama. He is a self em-
opportunity for personal financial gain. Absent any outside do- ployed engineering and con-
nor funding, follow-up local efforts are in jeopardy, at best. struction consultant.
The local subsistence farmers are still vulnerable to seasonal Please send comments to:
rains and insecure crop yields. The lure of additional income huffmanwhllc@gmail.com
will be irresistible. Huffman suspects that with the availability
EWB-USA JAX 2011 Leaders
Katrina Myers President kmyers@taylorengineering.com
Ashley Evans President Elect Ashley.evans@hdrinc.com
Michael Taylor Treasurer & Fundraising mikeataylor@gmail.com
Amanda Lavigne Secretary Amanda.b.lavigne@usace.army.mil
Dana Arnouil Past President darnouil91@gmail.com
Erik Mueller Membership Chair muellman78@yahoo.com
Rich Roberts Project Chair rroberts@earthsys.net
Bill Huffman Webmaster huffmanwhllc@gmail.com
Jennifer Klich Marketing Chair jklich@taylorengineering.com
Seth Collie Newsletter Editor seth@meskelengineering.com
Chris Sabourin Newsletter Editor csabourin@lp-a.com
Crystal Markley Prof. Associations Liaison crystal@czoe.net
Michael Krepsik Prof. Associations Liaison m.krepsik@ellisassoc.com
Carlos Cepero Prof. Associations Liaison ccepero@csi-geo.com
Page | 4