Future solutions for the treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes in China

The current status of the treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes in China is summarized on the basis of the results of the Declaring and Registration Project initiated nationally in 1995. A principle framework for the sound management of hazardous wastes is proposed, which includes three levels of technical solutions. Large-scale enterprises are encouraged to recycle, to treat, and to dispose of wastes by means of constructing facilities, and to have their extra capacities available to the public for a reasonable fee. Municipal governments, provincial governments, and the Central Government are to plan and construct centralized facilities to recycle, treat, and dispose of wastes. For a solution at the manufacturing level, recycling is identified as the main approach. Centralized facilities at the municipal level will mainly focus on special wastes that are unsuitable to transport and store, such as hospital waste, and for the technical solution at this level, incineration and recycling are identified as the main approaches. For the technical solution at the provincial and national levels, landfill and incineration are identified as the main approaches. Based on this principle and the current available data on hazardous wastes, a preliminary plan for the spatial distribution of cross-provincial centralized treatment and disposal facilities of hazardous wastes is presented. The construction of approximately nine cross-provincial comprehensive facilities is proposed. A priority list for the construction of these planned facilities is also presented.     

Pinelands national reserve: An intergovernmental approach to nature preservation

The Pinelands National Reserve was created in 1978 when private interests and federal, state, and local governments allied to protect 378,000 ha (935,000 acres) of New Jersey's Pine Barrens from encroaching development. An intergovernmental authority, the Pinelands Commission, manages the reserve by implementing a regional plan to guide development away from environmentally sensitive areas and into designated growth centers. Through transferable development rights, financial gains from development in growth centers are used to compensate owners and localities in the reserve who might otherwise have developed their lands. The national reserve strategy contrasts with other federal strategies for preserving unique environments in which the federal government exercises exclusive control (e.g., national parks, monuments, and recreation areas). This article describes the strategy applied in the Pinelands and discusses the conditions in which it may be more or less effective than other strategies used to protect unique or valued landscapes. It then compares the Pinelands model with the strategies and conditions of california's Redwood National Park and Point Reyes National Seashore to develop propositions about the circumstances in which one or another strategy is more likely to be viable. Finally, it applies these propositions to the possibilities for future forest preservation in New England.     

An Innovative Index for Evaluating Water Quality in Streams

A water quality index expressed as a single number is developed to describe overall water quality conditions using multiple water quality variables. The index consists of water quality variables: dissolved oxygen, specific conductivity, turbidity, total phosphorus, and fecal coliform. The objectives of this study were to describe the preexisting indices and to define a new water quality index that has advantages over these indices. The new index was applied to the Big Lost River Watershed in Idaho, and the results gave a quantitative picture for the water quality situation. If the new water quality index for the impaired water is less than a certain number, remediation—likely in the form of total maximum daily loads or changing the management practices—may be needed. The index can be used to assess water quality for general beneficial uses. Nevertheless, the index cannot be used in making regulatory decisions, indicate water quality for specific beneficial uses, or indicate contamination from trace metals, organic contaminants, and toxic substances.     

The Science of Politics/The Politics of Science: Examining the Snowmobile Controversy in Yellowstone National Park

The snowmobile controversy in Yellowstone National Park not only pits snowmobilers against environmentalists, but it also pits the Bush Administration against the Clinton Administration. Caught in the middle are the National Park Service, scores of natural and social scientists, and Yellowstones permanent residents—the flora and fauna. The controversys political aspects are the focus of this paper; specifically, the tenuous relationship among research scientists, whose job it is to inform management and policy decisions; politicians, whose job it is to formulate those same decisions in the public arena; and public land management agencies, whose job it is to implement the decisions. The crux of the paper concerns the politicization of natural resource policy and ways in which research scientists tend to get caught up in it. Lessons learned from this Yellowstone episode regarding the role of science in policy-making processes are also considered. Two recent federal court rulings shed additional light on the politics surrounding Yellowstones snowmobile controversy, as does the importance of governmental checks and balances in resolving natural resource management disputes.     

Cross-Cultural Management of Pest Animal Damage: A Case Study of Feral Buffalo Control in Australia’s Kakadu National Park

Government agencies responsible for pest animal management often assume that their views and assumptions about the benefits of control are widely shared, especially if these pests are exotics. This was certainly the case when tens of thousands of feral Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) were to be culled in Australias Kakadu National Park as part of a national Brucellosis and Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign (BTEC). Implementation of the campaign sparked considerable dispute between officials and aboriginal and non-aboriginal interests about the risks posed by buffalo relative to their value as a potential resource. Drawing upon a variety of written and oral sources relating to the era of buffalo control in Kakadu, this paper critically analyzes the way in which detriment caused by buffalo was appraised and managed under the BTEC program. In particular, the paper focuses the ways in which the BTEC program affected aboriginal people in Kakadu, who view buffalo as a source of customary and economic benefit as well as a source of change on their lands. The paper then considers what lessons can be learned from the BTEC for the development of sensible feral management objectives and strategies. It is argued that effective management of feral animals such as buffalo will require environmental managers to engage with local people and involve them in the definition and management of pest animal damage and methods of control.     

Increases in Nitrate Concentrations in the River Frome (Dorset) Catchment Related to Changes in Land Use, Fertiliser Applications and Sewage Input

Nitrate concentrations and nitrate loads throughout the River Frome catchment (Dorset) are compared for the periods 1970-71 and 1984-86. Nitrate concentrations and loads have increased at every site, the increase in mean nitrate concentrations varying from 31% to 123%. These increases in nitrate concentrations are related to changes in land use and fertiliser applications and also to an increase in sewage effluent entering the river.     

Predicting mosaics and wildlife diversity resulting from fire disturbance to a forest ecosystem

A model for predicting community mosaics and wildlife diversity resulting from fire disturbance to a forest ecosystem is presented. It applies an algorithm that delineates the size and shape of each patch from grid-based input data and calculates standard diversity measures for the entire mosaic of community patches and their included animal species. The user can print these diversity calculations, maps of the current community-type-age-class mosaic, and maps of habitat utilization by each animal species. Furthermore, the user can print estimates of changes in each resulting from natural disturbance. Although data and resolution level independent, the model is demonstrated and tested with data from the Lewis and Clark National Forest in Montana.     

基于3S技术的生态安全动态监测——以秦皇岛为例

遥感技术（RS）、地理信息系统（GIS）、全球定位系统（GPS），即3S技术，在生态安全评价研究中能够快速获取动态变化信息，并进行空间叠加分析，比传统方法更具优越性。通过论述基于3S技术的生态安全评价的理论和方法，对秦皇岛市的生态环境进行动态监测和分析，包括土地利用、植被指数和植被覆盖度、土壤侵蚀等，评价结果比较符合实际。     

The mining industry in the European Union: Analysis of inter-industry linkages using input–output analysis

Input–output modelling is a useful tool in policy analysis and economic planning. This methodology is used to detect the inter-industry linkages known as forward and backward linkages. Examination of these measures provides one mechanism for identifying “key” or “leading” sectors. The main objective of this paper is to measure the linkages of the mining and quarrying industry in the European Union (EU) and to determine if any of the industry subsectors can be considered key sectors. The paper shows that three subsectors can be considered key sectors: the mining of coal and lignite and extraction of peat in Germany; mining of metal ores in Sweden; and other mining and quarrying in Austria, Denmark and Spain. These sectors are more stimulated by overall industry growth than other sectors and have greater impacts in terms of investment expenditures on the national economy than other sectors. The values of the forward and backward linkages show that the mining and quarrying is an industry that would be stimulated by an increase in a regional economy's production more than other sectors, while an increase in the mining and quarrying industry's output would not stimulate this regional economy more than an increase in other sectors.     

煤焦化生产过程甲烷排放初步研究

本研究选取山西省具有代表性的焦化厂,通过在废气排放烟囱上采集燃烧室废气和装煤/出焦废气,初步研究了煤焦化过程甲烷排放特征。结果显示燃烧室废气中CH4占∑(CH4+NMHC)的比例远高于装煤和出焦废气。基于EPA AP-42排放因子的计算方法,煤焦化三个工段的CH4排放因子为228.5±56.1g/t。结合中国机械炼焦炉焦炭产量,2004年中国机械炼焦CH4排放为0.03Tg/a,占中国总CH4排放的0.1%,可能是山西省除煤炭开采外的重要甲烷排放源,该值还需再进一步的工作中完善和验证。