On December 8 the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act H.R. 1633 a bill to protect producers of resource-based products including aggregates as well as farmers and ranchers from increased regulation of a naturally occurring substance. The bill passed with a vote of 258 to 150 with 33 Democrats joining all Republicans in favor. Read More

The Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) Maryland Chapter has awarded its Deal of the Year Award to Ellicott Dredge Enterprises LLC for its purchase of selected assets from Rohr Corporation. Read More

The Western Dredging Association (WEDA) Pacific Chapter met in Portland Oregon on October 26 through 28 presenting Corps of Engineers contracts planned for 2012 and a full schedule of technical talks about dredging projects in the region. About 160 people attended the conference 40 more than were expected. Allen Churchill incoming president urged those planning to attend the 2012 meeting in Alaska to register early even if they are just probably coming as accurate numbers will be important in that remote area.Wednesday October 26th was devoted to a Corps/dredging Read More

On November 10 2011 DSC Dredge LLC and Supreme Dredge & Processing LLC form a new company Supreme-DSC Dredge LLC a Louisiana-based corporation with its major manufacturing component in Stoneboro Pennsylvania. The company allows the two companies to combine forces to complement each others product lines and build clamshell dredges for aggregate mining. Read More

Katie Worth has joined the International Dredging Review (IDR) staff as reporter for Central and South America starting with the January/February 2012 issue.From her residence in Santiago Chile she will cover dredging-related news in Central and South America. Her first article on expansion of the Rio de la Plata river system appears in this issue. She will write a roundup of short items of dredging news in Latin America to appear in each issue. Read More

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health Joseph A. (Joe) Main has been involved in mining and mine safety since he began working in coal mines in 1967. He is a native of Greene County Pennsylvania which leads the state in coal production. From the outset of his career he has been an advocate for miners safety and health. He was nominated by President Barack Obama as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health (MSHA) and confirmed by the Senate on October 21 2009. Read More

LeTourneau Technologies a Cameron company. Thats how switchboard operators are answering the phone at LeTourneau for now as its integration into Cameron International (formerly known as Cooper Cameron Corporation) became complete in the fourth quarter of 2011. The sign on the building outside said only Cameron the operator said. The employees have been receiving internal communications on the integration which has been covered by financial and business publications but the company has not yet issued a press release on the final naming. For now LeTourneau is keeping its own Web site with a special banner link to a Web site called www.CameronAcquiresLeTourneauDrilling.com Read More