A History of the Production and Use of Carbon Tetrachloride,Tetrachloroethylene, Trichloroethylene and 1,1,1-Trichloroethane in the United States: Part 1--Historical Background; Carbon Tetrachloride and Tetrachloroethylene

Carbon tetrachloride (CTC), tetrachloroethylene (PCE), trichloroethylene (TCE) and 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCA) were four of the most widely used cleaning and degreasing solvents in the United States. These compounds were also used in a wide variety of other applications. The history of the production and use of these four compounds is linked to the development and growth of the United States' synthetic organic chemical industry, and historical events that affected the development and use of chlorinated solvents in general. Part 1 of this article includes a discussion of the historical background common to each of the four solvents, followed by discussion on the history of CTC and PCE. In the early years of the 20th century, CTC became the first of the four solvents to come into widespread use. CTC was used as a replacement for petroleum distillates in the dry-cleaning industry, but was later replaced by PCE. In the 1990s, CTC was phased out under the Montreal Protocol due to its role in stratospheric ozone depletion.     

Estimating the Cumulative Ecological Effect of Local Scale Landscape Changes in South Florida

Ecosystem restoration in south Florida is a state and national priority centered on the Everglades wetlands. However, urban development pressures affect the restoration potential and remaining habitat functions of the natural undeveloped areas. Land use (LU) planning often focuses at the local level, but a better understanding of the cumulative effects of small projects at the landscape level is needed to support ecosystem restoration and preservation. The South Florida Ecosystem Portfolio Model (SFL EPM) is a regional LU planning tool developed to help stakeholders visualize LU scenario evaluation and improve communication about regional effects of LU decisions. One component of the SFL EPM is ecological value (EV), which is evaluated through modeled ecological criteria related to ecosystem services using metrics for (1) biodiversity potential, (2) threatened and endangered species, (3) rare and unique habitats, (4) landscape pattern and fragmentation, (5) water quality buffer potential, and (6) ecological restoration potential. In this article, we demonstrate the calculation of EV using two case studies: (1) assessing altered EV in the Biscayne Gateway area by comparing 2004 LU to potential LU in 2025 and 2050, and (2) the cumulative impact of adding limestone mines south of Miami. Our analyses spatially convey changing regional EV resulting from conversion of local natural and agricultural areas to urban, industrial, or extractive use. Different simulated local LU scenarios may result in different alterations in calculated regional EV. These case studies demonstrate methods that may facilitate evaluation of potential future LU patterns and incorporate EV into decision making.     

Water quality characteristics of discharge from reforested loose-dumped mine spoil in eastern Kentucky

Surface mining is a common method for extracting coal in the coal fields of eastern Kentucky. Using the Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA), which emphasizes the use of minimally compacted or loose-dumped spoil as a growth medium for trees, reclamation practitioners are successfully reestablishing forests. Yet, questions remain regarding the effects FRA has on the quality of waters discharged to receiving streams. To examine the effect of FRA on water quality, this study compared waters that were discharged from three types of spoils: predominantly brown, weathered sandstone (BROWN); predominantly gray, unweathered sandstone (GRAY); and an equal mixture of both aforementioned sandstones and shale (MIXED). The water quality parameters pH, EC, Ca, K, Mg, Na, NO-N, NH-N, SO, Cl, TC, suspended sediment concentration (SSC), settleable solids (SS), and turbidity were monitored over a 2-yr period on six 0.4-ha plots (two replications per spoil type). Generally, levels of Cl, SO, Ca, NO-N, NH-N, SS, SSC, and turbidity decreased over time. The pH for all spoils increased from about 7.5 to 8.5. The EC remained relatively level in the BROWN spoil, whereas the GRAY and MIXED spoils had downward trajectories that were approaching 500 μS cm. The value of 500 μS cm has been reported as the apparent threshold at which certain taxa such as Ephemeroptera (e.g., Mayfly) recolonize disturbed headwater streams of eastern Kentucky and adjacent coal-producing Appalachian states.     

An Ex Post Evaluation of Ohio’s Great Miami Water Quality Trading Program1

Newburn, David A. and Richard T. Woodward, 2011. An Ex Post Evaluation of Ohio’s Great Miami Water Quality Trading Program. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(1): 156‐169. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00601.x Abstract: Market‐based approaches to address water quality problems have resulted in only limited success, especially in trading programs involving both point and nonpoint sources. We analyze one of the largest point‐nonpoint trading programs – the Great Miami Trading Program in Ohio, administered by the Miami Conservancy District (MCD). Our evaluation focuses on the economic and institutional aspects of the program, including cost effectiveness, efficiency of bidding, transaction costs, trading ratios, and innovation. We use a unique dataset consisting of all bids from agricultural nonpoint sources and interviews of soil and water conservation district (SWCD) agents in the watershed. We find that the MCD’s reliance on county‐level SWCD offices to recruit and advise farmers has been essential to achieve relatively high rates of farmer participation. Additionally, the MCD is able to partly free ride on the administrative costs that SWCD offices receive to assist federal conservation programs, which is helpful to lower costs for a fledgling trading program. However, the involvement of SWCD offices reduced the potential cost savings from the reverse auction structure because some agents were able to learn about the threshold price over the six rounds of bidding and help farmers bid strategically. Overall, the program structure serves as an effective model for future trading programs in other regions that seek to involve agricultural nonpoint sources.     

Responses of Hyalella azteca and phytoplankton to a simulated agricultural runoff event in a managed backwater wetland

We assessed the aqueous toxicity mitigation capacity of a hydrologically managed floodplain wetland following a synthetic runoff event amended with a mixture of sediments, nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), and pesticides (atrazine, S-metolachlor, and permethrin) using 48-h Hyalella azteca survival and phytoplankton pigment, chlorophyll a. The runoff event simulated a 1 h, 1.27 cm rainfall event from a 16 ha agricultural field. Water (1 L) was collected every 30 min within the first 4 h, every 4 h until 48 h, and on days 5, 7, 14, 21, and 28 post-amendment at distances of 0, 10, 40, 300 and 500 m from the amendment point for chlorophyll a, suspended sediment, nutrient, and pesticide analyses. H. azteca 48-h laboratory survival was assessed in water collected at each site at 0, 4, 24, 48 h, 5 d and 7 d. Greatest sediment, nutrient, and pesticide concentrations occurred within 3 h of amendment at 0 m, 10 m, 40 m, and 300 m downstream. Sediments and nutrients showed little variation at 500 m whereas pesticides peaked within 48 h but at <15% of upstream peak concentrations. After 28 d, all mixture components were near or below pre-amendment concentrations. H. azteca survival significantly decreased within 48 h of amendment up to 300 m in association with permethrin concentrations. Chlorophyll a decreased within the first 24 h of amendment up to 40 m primarily in conjunction with herbicide concentrations. Variations in chlorophyll a at 300 and 500 m were associated with nutrients. Managed floodplain wetlands can rapidly and effectively trap and process agricultural runoff during moderate rainfall events, mitigating impacts to aquatic invertebrates and algae in receiving aquatic systems.     

Detecting diclofenac in livestock carcasses in India with an ELISA: a tool to prevent widespread vulture poisoning

Diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), has caused catastrophic vulture declines across the Indian sub-continent. Here, an indirect ELISA is used to detect and quantify diclofenac in 1251 liver samples from livestock carcasses collected across India between August 2007 and June 2008, one to two years after a ban on diclofenac manufacture and distribution for veterinary use was implemented. The ELISAs applicability was authenticated with independent data obtained using LC-ESI/MS. Of 1251 samples, 1150 (91.9%) were negative for diclofenac using both methods, and 60 (4.8%) were positive at 10-4348 and 10-4441 μg kg(-1) when analysed by ELISA and LC-ESI/MS, respectively. The residue level relationship in the 60 positive samples was highly significant (p < 0.001, r(2) = 0.644). Data suggest that this immunological assay could be used not only for cost effective sample screening, but also for residue level semi-quantification.     

The importance of context for effective public engagement: learning from the governance of waste

This paper takes a new look at the importance of context – institutional and political – in effective public engagement processes. It does so through a rare comparative opportunity to examine the effectiveness of processes of public engagement in two UK waste authorities, where the same waste company was involved as both the primary contractor for the delivery of the waste management service (including new energy-from-waste facilities) and, furthermore, the same staff delivered the public engagement. Interrogating these cases affords the opportunity to place flesh on the bones of the sometimes ‘abstract’ skeleton of context. While engagement processes support effective local governance in an era of partnerships and deliberative democracy, the paper identifies that the methods adopted cannot be played out devoid of detailed understanding and response to local context, including the strength of partnership working between the public and private sector, the degree of political support for engagement, and the extent to which a traditional institutional paternalism still dominates.