This article reviews the application of environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedures and practices to three watershed
modification projects situaled in western Canada. These ventures were justified for accelerating regional economic development,
and cover the period during which public concerns for protecting the environment rapidly made their way into the national
political agenda. An historical account and analysis of the situation, therefore, seems desirable in order to understand the
development of EIA processes, practices, and methodologies since the start of construction of the first project in 1961. This
study concludes that there has been good progress in predicting and evaluating environmental and related social impacts of
watershed modification proposals. However, a number of obstacles need to be overcome before EIA can firmly establish itself
as an effective planning tool. These difficulties include jurisdictional confusions and conflicts, division of authority and
responsibility in designing and implementing appropriate mitigative and monitoring measures, lack of tested EIA methodologies,
and limited availability of qualified human resources. A number of conclusions and suggestions are offered so that future
watershed modification proposals may be planned and implemented in a more environmentally sustainable fashion. These include:
(1) EIA processes must be completed before irrevocable decisions are made. (2) Any major intrusion into a watershed is likely
to impact on some major components of the ecosystem(s). (3) Mitigation costs must form part of the benefit-cost analysis of
any project proposal. (4) Interjurisdictional cooperation is imperative where watersheds cross political boundaries. (5) The
EIA process is a public process, hence public concerns must be dealt with fairly. (6) The role of science in the EIA process
must be at arms length from project proponents and regulators, and allowed to function in the interest of the protection of
the environment and public health and safety.
The views expressed here are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect those of FEARO and/or other government agencies
and officials involved in the review of these projects. 相似文献
The present work focuses on the fate of two cancerostatic platinum compounds (CPC), cisplatin and carboplatin, as well as of two inorganic platinum compounds, [PtCl4]2− and [PtCl6]2− in biological wastewater treatment. Laboratory experiments modelling adsorption of these compounds onto activated sludge showed promising specific adsorption coefficients KD and KOC and Freundlich adsorption isotherms. However, the adsorption properties of the investigated substances were differing significantly. Adsorption decreased following the order cisplatin > [PtCl6]2− > [PtCl4]2− > carboplatin. Log KD-values were ranging from 2.5 to 4.3 , log KOC from 3.0 to 4.7.
A pilot membrane bioreactor system (MBR) was installed in a hospital in Vienna and fed with wastewater from the oncologic in-patient treatment ward to investigate CPC-adsorption in a sewage treatment plant. During three monitoring periods Pt-concentrations were measured in the influent (3–250 μg l−1 Pt) and the effluent (2–150 μg l−1 Pt) of the treatment plant using ICP-MS. The monitoring periods (duration 30 d) revealed elimination efficiencies between 51% and 63% based on averaged weekly input–output budgets. The derived log KD-values and log KOC-values ranged from 2.4 to 4.8 and from 2.8 to 5.3, respectively. Species analysis using HPLC-ICP-MS proofed that mainly carboplatin was present as intact drug in the influent and – due to low log KD – in the effluent of the MBR. 相似文献