Delimitation of arsenic-contaminated groundwater using risk-based indicator approaches around blackfoot disease hyperendemic areas of southern Taiwan

This work determined scopes of arsenic(As)-contaminated groundwater using risk-based indicator classification approaches in blackfoot disease hyperendemic areas of southern Taiwan. Indicator kriging was first used to establish a conditional cumulative distribution function at each cell. Three approaches--the p-quantile estimate, the E-type estimate and the minimization of the expected loss--were then adopted to delimit contaminated regions for a regulated standard of As concentrations in groundwater. According to a risk assessment model established in our previous research, the standard was set to 250 microg/l for aquacultural use, corresponding to the 77.1th percentile of observed concentrations. Misclassification risks and uncertainty were examined for the classification approaches. The analyzed results reveal that contaminated areas are the largest using the 0.771-quantile estimate, whereas they are the smallest using the minimization of the expected loss. Proportions of credible polluted areas with low risks to false positives maintain a constant, 12.9-13.2%, for the classification approaches. To reduce a great impact on human health, As-polluted groundwater should be strictly prohibited to cultivate fish in credible polluted zones and monitored persistently in polluted zones with high risks to false positives.     

江苏省突发性环境污染事故应急监测支持系统建设框架

阐述了江苏省突发性环境污染事故应急监测支持系统的建设原则、总体目标和建设内容。提出突发性环境污染事故应急监测支持系统建设的总体目标是 :建立突发性环境污染事故的应急监测风险源动态档案 ,建立应急监测的组织保障系统和应急监测的技术支持系统     

The U.S.-China Supply Competition for Rare Earth Elements: a Dynamic Game View

Environmental Modeling & Assessment - Rare earth elements govern today’s high-tech world and are deemed to be essential for the attainment of sustainable development goals. Since the...     

Social goals and the valuation of natural capital

Valuation ultimately refers to the contribution of an item to meeting a specific goal or objective. Conventional economic valuation is based on the goal of allocative efficiency. But other social goals may be equally, if not more, important. For example, the goals of social fairness and ecological sustainability have been identified as being at least of the samelevel of importance as allocative efficiency. This paper looks atthe role of social goals in determining the basis for valuation ofnatural capital and ecosystem services, and sketches the characteristics of a system of valuation that would give equal weight to all three of the major social goals mentioned above. It also places these goals within a more comprehensive conceptualmodel of the economy and its relationship to the ecological lifesupport system in which it is embedded.     

制订我国污染场地土壤风险筛选值的几点建议

近年来,我国大中城市陆续开展污染企业搬迁,环境管理上要求对搬迁场地进行商业开发前必须开展场地环境调查、风险评估和修复,客观上要求有一套场地环境评价标准和污染土壤修复标准.针对目前国内污染场地标准缺失及盲目引用国外相关筛选值出现的误区,分析了美国、荷兰和英国土壤筛选值差异的主要原因,为合理借鉴国外土壤筛选值及其制定方法学...     

Combinatorial optimization of elk habitat effectiveness and timber harvest volume

Forest resource planning processes in the western United States have been placing an increasing emphasis on wildlife and fish habitat goals. With this in mind, we developed a method that incorporates a Habitat Effectiveness Index (HEI) for Roosevelt elk (Cervus elaphus roosevelti) into the objective function of a mathematical forest planning model. In addition, a commodity production goal is proposed (maximum timber production), and the habitat and commodity production goals are allowed to act as goals in a multi-objective goal programming planning problem. A heuristic programming technique (tabu search) is used to develop feasible solutions to the resulting non-linear, integer programming problem. Using a hypothetical example, we illustrate results of five scenarios, where the emphasis of the achievement of one or both goals is altered. The main contribution of this approach is the ability to measure and evaluate the trade-offs among achieving a certain level of a complex wildlife goal and achieving commodity production goals. These trade-offs are measured using a flexible model, allowing planners to formulate non-linear spatial goals as objectives of a problem, rather than forcing them to rely on posterior evaluations of the suitability of management plans to goals such as elk HEI.     

Human Risk Assessment for Heavy Metals and as Contamination in the Abandoned Metal Mine Areas, Korea

Cleanup goals for the contaminated sites are established on the basis of risk assessments and rely on the estimated toxicity of the chemicals of concern (COC). Toxicity estimates are based on bioavailability causing risk of adverse health effects on humans. In this study, bioavailability of As, Cu, Pb and Zn in soil was determined by SBET (Simple Bioavailability Extraction Test), and chemical analysis for groundwater and stream water collected from the abandoned mine areas (Dukeum, Dongil, Dongjung, Myungbong and Songchun mine areas) was conducted. High values of cancer risk for As (1.16×10⁻⁵) were detected through soil ingestion pathways in the Songchun mine area and assessed through water exposure pathways in the all mines except Dukeum. The hazard index value for As in the Songchun mine area (3.625) exceeded 1.0. The results indicated that the ingestion of As-contaminated soil and water by local inhabitants can pose a potential health threat in these mine areas.     

Regulation of pesticide discharge into surface and groundwater under uncertainty: A model for environmental risk‐profitability tradeoffs and policy selection

The presence of contaminants in environmental media as well as the desire to maintain a high level of economic activity has led to an important and difficult decision‐making problem for both public policy decision makers and the general public. In one sense, all of the interested parties are likely to be concerned about the potential health risks posed by the presence of contaminants in environmental media and the need to design/implement policies for their mitigation and/or removal. At the same time, however, there also appear to be concerns about the cost of these policies. These costs could be measured in terms of the potential losses in economic activity that are likely to occur when a policy is adopted. The policy can be selected from a range of alternatives, with the choice being driven in part by the stakeholders represented in the policy decision problem. In this case, two general goals might be considered: minimizing environmental risk and minimizing the economic impact of the policy considered. These two objectives are likely to be viewed as conflicting goals, and the nature of the tradeoffs between them must be taken into account in the policy selection process. This paper presents the development of a zero–one weighted goal programming model that can be used to select a preferred policy that minimizes surface and groundwater contamination as well as the economic costs of environmental policy selection. A safety rule model is developed first and then extended to the zero–one weighted goal programming formulation. The stochastic aspects of these structures are emphasized throughout. The paper also addresses a number of issues related to implementation of the model.     

The role of SEA in integrating and balancing high policy objectives in European cohesion funding programmes

Funding programmes for European cohesion policy are a crucial tool to support the sustainability goals of the European Union and national policies of its member states. All these funding programmes require a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to enhance sustainable development. This article compares five first SEA applications at cohesion policy level to discuss challenges, limitations and benefits of this instrument. In order to support the SEA-process a “Handbook on SEA for Cohesion Policy 2007–13” (GRDP 2006) was developed. The paper examines the special requirements and challenges at the programme level given the special conditions for stakeholder involvement, integration of SEA in the programme development process and strategies to cope with uncertainties to ensure real compatibility with policy goals. Using action research and in-depth interviews with SEA planners and programme managers enabled us to analyse the suitability of the methodology proposed by the handbook. The results show that some recommendations of the handbook should be changed in order to increase the transparency and to enhance the standard and comparability of the SEA-documents.Overall the SEA proved to be a rather successful tool for the integration of sustainability goals at the EU and national policy levels. Its particular strengths emerged as the process makes uncertainties visible and leads to possible redefinitions while maintaining actual policy goals.     

Principles for the monitoring and evaluation of wetland extent,condition and function in Australia

The monitoring of resource condition is receiving renewed attention across several levels of government in Australia. This interest is linked to substantial investment in environmental remediation and aquatic ecosystem restoration in particular. In this context, it is timely to consider principles which ought to guide the development and implementation of monitoring programmes for wetland ecosystems. A framework is established which places monitoring in the context of the strategic adaptive management of wetlands. This framework requires there has to be clear goals for the extent and condition of the resource, with these goals being defined within thresholds of acceptable variability. Qualitative and, where possible, quantitative conceptual models linking management interventions to management goals should be the basis of indicator selection and assessment. The intensity of sampling ought to be informed by pilot surveys of statistical power in relation to the thresholds of acceptable variability identified within the management plan.