The Past,Present, and Future of Environmental Insurance Including a Case Study of MTBE Litigation

Environmental insurance policies and the success of claims brought under them depend upon the intersection of both the legal and technical issues involved. The evolution of environmental insurance policies, from their origin in the Commercial General Liability policies up to the creation of new insurance products designed to cover specifically environmental concerns are addressed in this work. Both scientists and attorneys will have to develop a fuller understanding of environmental damage and assessments. The intent of this article is to provide a starting point for members of both disciplines in their quest for a fuller understanding of the legal and technical issues involved in environmental claims.     

PCDD/F concentrations in soil and vegetation in the vicinity of a municipal waste incinerator after a pronounced decrease in the emissions of PCDD/Fs from the facility

Emission of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) by municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWI) is an issue of great concern. In 1997, an adaptation to the EU legislation on pollutant emissions from the stack was carried out in an MSWI from Tarragona (Catalonia, Spain). As a result, PCDD/F emissions were significantly reduced. The aim of this study was to determine the current levels of PCDD/Fs in soil and vegetation samples collected near the facility and to compare these levels with those obtained in previous surveys (1996 and 1997). In the period 1997-1999, PCDD/F concentrations in vegetation samples were significantly decreased (60%). By contrast, the levels of PCDD/Fs in soil samples increased slightly (14%, P > 0.05) during the same period. An exhaustive analysis of the present data indicates that other emission sources of PCDD/Fs have also a notable environmental impact on the area under direct influence of the MSWI.     

Endocrine disrupting chemicals in New Orleans surface waters and Mississippi Sound sediments

Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), represented by steroid hormones, organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and bisphenol A have been determined in four sediment cores from the Gulf of Mexico, from New Orleans surface water (Lake Pontchartrain and Mississippi River), and from the influent and effluent of a New Orleans municipal sewage treatment plant. During the five-month monitoring of selected EDCs in the Mississippi River (MR) and Lake Pontchartrain (LP) in 2008, 21 of 29 OCPs in MR and 17 of 29 OCPs in LP were detected; bisphenol A was detected in all of the samples. Steroid hormones (estrone, 17β-estradiol and 17α-ethinylestradiol) were detected occasionally. Total EDC (OCPs + PCBs + steroid hormones + bisphenol A) concentrations in the two surface water samples were found to vary from 148 to 1112 ng L(-1). Strong correlation of the distribution of total OCPs, total PCBs and total EDCs between solid and water phases was found in LP, while moderate or no correlation existed in MR. OCPs, PCBs, steroid hormones, and bisphenol A were all detected in the ocean sediments, and total EDCs were measured in the range of 77 to 1796 ng g(-1) dry sediment weight. The EDCs were also found in untreated and treated municipal sewage samples with a removal efficiency of 83% for OCPs but no removal efficiency for 17α-ethinylestradiol.     

Distribution and temporal variation of trace metal enrichment in surface sediments of San Jorge Bay, Chile

Cu, Pb, and Hg concentrations were determined in surface sediment samples collected at three sites in San Jorge Bay, northern Chile. This study aims to evaluate differences in their spatial distribution and temporal variability. The highest metal concentrations were found at the site “Puerto”, where minerals (Cu and Pb) have been loaded for more than 60 years. On the other hand, Hg does not pose a contamination problem in this bay. Cu and Pb concentrations showed significant variations from 1 year to another. These variations seem to be a consequence of the combination of several factors, including changes in the loading and/or storage of minerals in San Jorge Bay, the dredging of bottom sediments (especially at Puerto), and seasonal changes in physical–chemical properties of the water column that modify the exchange of metals at the sediment–water interface. Differences in the contamination factor and geoaccumulation index suggest that pre-industrial concentrations measured in marine sediments of this geographical zone, were better than geological values (average shale, continental crust average) for evaluating the degree of contamination in this coastal system. Based on these last two indexes, San Jorge Bay has a serious problem of Cu and Pb pollution at the three sampling locations. However, only Cu exceeds the national maximum values used to evaluate ecological risk and the health of marine environments. It is suggested that Chilean environmental legislation for marine sediment quality—presently under technical discussion—is not an efficient tool for protecting the marine ecosystem.     

Flooding impacts on responses of a riparian consumer to cross-ecosystem subsidies

Landscape-driven processes impact the magnitude and direction of cross-ecosystem resource subsidies, but they may also control consumers' numerical and functional responses by altering habitat availability. We investigated effects of the interaction between habitat availability and subsidy level on populations of a riparian fishing spider, Dolomedes aquaticus, using a flood disturbance gradient in the Waimakariri River catchment, New Zealand. D. aquaticus predominantly eat aquatic prey as they hunt from the water surface. However, D. aquaticus biomass peaked at rivers with intermediate flood disturbance, rather than at less flood-prone rivers where the biomass of aquatic insect prey was markedly higher. Flooding positively influenced spider habitat quality, and an experimental manipulation at stable rivers indicated that unembedded cobbles, preferred D. aquaticus habitat, were a limiting factor, preventing response to the increased prey resource at stable sites. Potential terrestrial prey abundance was low, did not vary across the disturbance gradient, and is likely to have been a much smaller component of the fishing spiders' diet than aquatic insect prey. Thus landscape-driven factors not only controlled the magnitude of resource subsidies, but also influenced the ability of consumers to respond to them by altering the physical nature of the ecosystem boundary.     

Tracking habitat and resource use for the jumbo squid Dosidicus gigas: a stable isotope analysis in the Northern Humboldt Current System

To determine the habitat and resource use of Dosidicus gigas in the Northern Humboldt Current System, we analysed carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of 234 individuals collected during 2008–2010. Large variations in mantle stable isotope ratios were recorded, with values ranging from −19.1 to −15.1 ‰ (δ¹³C) and from 7.4 to 20.5 ‰ (δ¹⁵N). Most of the variation was explained by latitude, followed by distance to shelf break for carbon and by squid size for nitrogen. Latitudinal variations with increasing values from north to south were also found in zooplankton samples and were related to changes in isotope baseline values probably due to oxygen minimum zones that occur off Peru. This similar latitudinal trend in both zooplankton and D. gigas samples reveals that D. gigas is a relatively resident species at the scale of its isotopic turnover rate (i.e. a few weeks), even if this is not necessarily the case at the scale of its life. A small but significant size effect on δ¹³C values suggests that jumbo squid perform offshore–onshore ontogenic migration, with juveniles distributed offshore. For nitrogen, the high inter-individual variability observed with mantle length indicates that D. gigas can prey on a high variety of resources at any stage of their life cycle. This large-scale study off the coast of Peru provides further evidence that D. gigas have the capability to explore a wide range of habitats and resources at any stage of their life.     

Modelling potential habitat for cougars in midwestern North America

Cougars (Puma concolor) are of considerable interest to wildlife biologists and the general public in midwestern North America, yet no researchers have modelled potential habitat in the region. We created a model of potential cougar habitat in 9 midwestern states using geospatial data, expert-opinion surveys, the analytical hierarchy process, and a GIS. About 8% of the study region contained highly favorable habitat (with favorability scores ≥75%) for cougars; the states of Arkansas (19%) and Missouri (16%) contained the highest proportions of potentially favorable habitat. We identified 6 large (≥2500 km² in size), contiguous areas of highly favorable habitat for cougars. Model testing procedures indicated a valid model when compared to an independent set of cougar locations, a null dataset, and similar studies. Our model is useful as a planning tool to proactively address future human-cougar conflicts should cougars re-colonize the Midwest via subadult dispersal.     

Reproductive dominance and differential ovicide in the communally breeding burying beetle Nicrophorus tomentosus

Communal breeding can be characterized by the division of reproduction among cooperating individuals and, if the distribution of reproduction is inequitable, by the mechanisms for achieving skewed reproductive success. The burying beetle (Nicrophorus tomentosus) is a facultative communal breeder. Unrelated adults, especially females, provide extensive parental care to broods of mixed parentage. The frequency and degree of reproductive skew between two females were examined experimentally. On medium-size carcasses, the proportion of eggs attributed to each female was not significantly different from random in 42% of the broods, skewed in 42% and not shared in 16%. Although reproduction was usually skewed in favor of the larger female, the relative sizes of the two females did not predict the degree of skew. On large carcasses, the proportion of eggs attributed to each female was not different from random in 87% of the broods and weakly skewed in 13%. Several mechanisms for biasing reproductive success were investigated. Females increase the proportion of their offspring in the brood by committing differential ovicide. Secondly, burying and preparing a carcass cooperatively stimulates ovarian development of the larger female and slows it for the smaller female, reducing or delaying oviposition by the subordinate. Thirdly, larger females are more likely to be dominant and are more fecund than smaller females. Received: 20 July 1996 / Accepted after revision: 30 November 1996     

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Nicotiana attenuata, a model ecological expression system

Summary. Research into the genetic basis of the ecological sophistication of plants is hampered by the availability of transformable systems with a wealth of well-described ecological interactions. We present an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system for the model ecological expression system, Nicotiana attenuata, a native tobacco that occupies the post-fire niche in the Great Basin Desert of North America. We describe a transformation vector and a transformation procedure that differs from the standard cultivated tobacco transformation protocols in its use of selectable markers, explants, media and cultivation conditions. We illustrate its utility in the transformations with genes coding for key enzymes in the oxylipin cascade (lipoxygenase, allene oxide synthase, hydroperoxide lyase) in antisense orientations and present high-throughput screens useful for the detection of altered phenotypes for the oxylipin cascade (green leaf volatiles and jasmonic acid after wounding). Received 14 March 2002; accepted 10 May 2002