Baseline requirements can hinder trades in water quality trading programs: Evidence from the Conestoga watershed

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are promoting point/nonpoint trading as a way of reducing the costs of meeting water quality goals. Farms can create offsets by implementing management practices such as conservation tillage, nutrient management and buffer strips. To be eligible to sell offsets or credits, farmers must first comply with baseline requirements. USEPA guidance recommends that the baseline for nonpoint sources be management practices that are consistent with the water quality goal. A farmer would not be able to create offsets until the minimum practice standards are met. An alternative baseline is those practices being implemented at the time the trading program starts, or when the farmer enters the program. The selection of the baseline affects the efficiency and equity of the trading program. It has major implications for which farmers benefit from trading, the cost of nonpoint source offsets, and ultimately the number of offsets that nonpoint sources can sell to regulated point sources. We use a simple model of the average profit-maximizing dairy farmer operating in the Conestoga watershed in Pennsylvania to evaluate the implications of baseline requirements on the cost and quantity of offsets that can be produced for sale in a water quality trading market, and which farmers benefit most from trading.     

Copper release from chemical root-control baskets in hardwood tree production

The City of Montreal, Canada, evaluated the environmental impact and usefulness of in-ground copper (Cu)-treated baskets in controlling root growth of hardwood trees in nursery culture. Using baskets planted with 5-yr-old Norway maple (Acer platanoides L.) trees, the amount and temporal pattern of Cu release from the basket surface into soil was determined for two copper formulations: Cu metal powder and Cu(OH)2. Release of both Cu formulations from the basket surface decreased exponentially over time, with Cu concentration at the basket surface dropping to 2% of the initial Cu applied by the end of the second field season. Total Cu content increased significantly in the soil around the baskets (from 7 to 28 mg Cu kg(-1) soil) and in the baskets (from 7 to 50-70 mg Cu kg(-1) soil) over the two years of the study. Three levels of phosphorus application (33, 66, and 100% of the regular nursery rate of 465 kg ha(-1) yr(-1)) did not affect release of Cu from the basket surface. The release of Cu metal at 28 and 105 d in the field was significantly increased by inoculation with the symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF) Glomus intraradices Schenck & Smith; however, AMF inoculation had no affect on Cu(OH)2 release. Trees grown in Cu-treated baskets and inoculated with G. intraradices had similar colonization to non-inoculated trees, suggesting that inoculation was not very effective and that AMF inoculum was already present in the root ball of the trees at planting. After two years, copper basket-grown trees had significantly less root colonization than isolated control trees growing in the open field. This strongly suggests that conditions inside the baskets were not favorable to AMF.     

Successful intrauterine shunting of a sacrococcygeal teratoma (SCT) causing fetal bladder obstruction

We report a case of a sacrococcygeal teratoma (SCT) diagnosed at 22 weeks with a substantial intrapelvic cystic extension leading to bladder outlet obstruction and hydronephrosis at 27 weeks. Prenatal percutaneous shunting of the cystic teratoma was performed at 28 weeks to avoid prolonged fetal pelvic compression by the tumour that could have adverse effects by stretching the pelvic plexus and sacral nerves. Urinary dilatation resolved completely after shunting and a 3880 g baby girl was delivered at 39 weeks. The potential benefits of in utero shunting to avoid urological complications of SCTs with intrapelvic extension are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Shellfish Conflict in Baynes Sound: A Strategic Perspective

The shellfish aquaculture industry (SAI) has operated in Baynes Sound, British Columbia (BC) since the early 1900s. Recognizing the economic potential of the area, the industry has requested additional farming opportunities. However, Baynes Sound upland residents and many other stakeholders have expressed concerns that SAI activities are having a negative impact on the environment, quality of life, and other nonaquaculture resource uses in the area. In order to address these issues, the Action Plan was initiated by a BC government interagency project team in November 2001. To assist in assessing the strategic aspects of this conflict, the decision support system GMCR II is employed here to apply a new methodology, the graph model for conflict resolution, to systematically analyze the ongoing conflict over shellfish aquaculture development in Baynes Sound within a social, economic, and environmental framework. Valuable insights are procured to guide decision-makers toward sustainability of the shellfish industry.     

Radiocarbon behaviour in seawater and the brown algae Fucus serratus in the vicinity of the COGEMA La Hague spent fuel reprocessing plant (Goury)--France

Extensive studies of the radiocarbon (14C) distribution and transfer in the marine environment of the North-Cotentin peninsula and along the English Channel have been carried out. The main aims of these studies have been to estimate the spatial and temporal variation of the 14C concentration in seawater and to calculate 14C concentration factors for some biological species. Such information will be helpful in order to calculate precisely radiation doses to humans. First results obtained in the vicinity of the COGEMA La Hague nuclear plant (Goury) indicate a 14C labelling of the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in seawater (8.0-26.2 Bq.m(-3)) and a tight relationship between the 14C in the liquid releases from the plant and the 14C concentrations in DIC. The particulate organic carbon (POC) is also labelled. The concentration factor calculations for the brown algae (Fucus serratus) sampled from Goury, and also along the English Channel, give 14C values around 3000 Bq.kg(-1) fresh weight / Bq.L(-1).     

Is Multilateralism the Future? Sustainable Development or Globalisation as ‘A Comprehensive Vision of the Future of Humanity’

This paper provides an overall evaluation of the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which took place in Johannesburg from 26 August to 4 September 2002, in a historical perspective, against the background of earlier major United Nations conferences and General Assembly resolutions on environment and development. It focuses on the political and institutional context of the WSSD and its preparatory process and explores its policy implications for future international cooperation on sustainable development in a globalizing world. Both the results of the formal intergovernmental negotiations and the new phenomenon of partnerships for sustainable development between governments, international organizations, the private sector and other major groups are analysed. The Johannesburg Declaration and the WSSD Plan of Implementation are shown to contain little in the way of political vision, credible new commitments and innovative approaches, likely to reinvigorate the implementation of the objectives of sustainable development as formulated in Rio. Though ostensibly designed to give a new political impetus to multilateralism, the WSSD rather revealed the inadequacy of intergovernmental political governance structures to address the social and environmental consequences of economic globalization.     

Hormesis and stage specific toxicity induced by cadmium in an insect model,the queen blowfly,Phormia regina Meig

Hormesis is an adaptive response, commonly characterized by a biphasic dose-response that can be either directly induced, or the result of compensatory biological processes following an initial disruption in homeostasis [Calabrese and Baldwin, Hum. Exp.Toxicol., 21 (2002), 91]. Low and environmentally relevant levels of dietary cadmium significantly enhanced the pupation rate of blowfly larvae, while higher doses inhibited pupation success. However, dietary cadmium at all exposure levels adversely affected the emergence of the adult fly from the pupal case. Such findings represent the first report of a heavy metal displaying a hormetic-like biphasic response for pupation success, while at the same time displaying stage-specific toxicity at a later developmental period.These conclusions are based on substantial experimentation of over 1750 blowflies, in seven replicate experiments, involving 10 concentrations per experiment. These findings indicate the need to assess the impact of environmental stressors over a broad range of potential exposures as well as throughout the entire life cycle.     

IMPACTS OF WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ON SITE VISITATION: A PROBABILISTIC MODELING APPROACH1

ABSTRACT: The influence of perceptions of water quality on the likelihood of recreating at a particular recreation site is investigated using a logit model. The model is estimated for St. Albans Bay, Vermont. A hypothetical improvement in water quality was shown to greatly increase the probability of at least one visit to the bay during a season. This implies that many recreationists who do not use the bay at present will do so if water quality improves. A demand model for predicting site visitation must, therefore, include current nonusers in the sample. Failure to do so would result in misleading predictions about future demand for the bay.