On the Role of Spatial,Temporal, and Climatic Forces on Stream Sediment Loading from Rural and Urban Ecosystems

In this study, we characterize the greatest sediment loading events by their sediment delivery behavior; dominant climate, watershed, and antecedent conditions; and their seasonal distribution for rural and urban land uses. The study area is Paradise Creek Watershed, a mixed land use watershed in northern Idaho dominated by saturation excess processes in the upstream rural area and infiltration excess in the downstream urban area. We analyzed 12 years of continuous streamflow, precipitation, and watershed data at two monitoring stations. We identified 137 sediment loading events in the upstream rural section of the watershed and 191 events in the downstream urban section. During the majority of these events conditions were transport limited and the sediment flush occurred early in the event, generally in the first 20% of elapsed event time. Statistical analysis including two dozen explanatory variables showed peak discharge, event duration, and antecedent baseflow explained most of the variation in event sediment load at both stations and for the watershed as a whole (R² = 0.73‐0.78). In the rural area, saturated soils combined with spring snowmelt in March led to the greatest loading events. The urban area load contribution peaked in January, which could be a re‐suspension of streambed sediments from the previous water year. Throughout the study period, one event contributed, on average, 33% of the annual sediment load but only accounted for 2% of the time in a year.     

Mass flows of endocrine disruptors in the Glatt River during varying weather conditions

This study focused on the occurrence and behaviour in wastewater and surface waters of several phenolic endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) including parabens, alkylphenolic compounds, phenylphenol (PhP) and bisphenol A (BPA). Analytical procedures using solid-phase-extraction and LC-MS/MS techniques were applied to samples of influents and effluents of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) discharging into the Glatt River (Switzerland) as well as to river water samples. A mass flow analysis provided insight into the main sources and the fate of these contaminants during different weather conditions. Concentrations in influents were in the low μg/L range for most analytes. Removal of parabens in the WWTPs was mostly above 99%. Nonylphenol polyethoxylates (A₉PEO) removal amounted to 98%, but in some cases nonylphenoxy acetic acid (A₉PEC) or nonylphenols (NP) were formed. In effluents, concentrations were highest for the A₉PEC, A₉PEO and NP. Concentrations in river water were in the high ng/L range for alkylphenolic compounds and in the low ng/L range for BPA, PhP and the parabens. During the sampling period, in which several rain events occurred, both water flows and mass flows varied strongly. Mass flows in WWTP effluents and in the river increased with increasing water flows for most compounds indicating that higher water flows do not lead necessarily to a proportional dilution of the pollutants. Throughout the low water flow period, mass flows predicted from the known inputs were similar to the actual mass flows at the end of the river for most analytes. For none of the EDCs, significant in-stream removal could be observed. In the periods with high water flows, mass flows in the river were much higher than can be explained by the initially defined sources. Discharge of untreated wastewater influent into the river was assessed as an additional source. Adding this source improved the mass balance for some, but not all of the analytes.     

Modelling accidental releases of dangerous gases into the lower troposphere from mobile sources

The article reports the results of different methods of modelling releases and dispersion of dangerous gases or vapours in cases of major accidents from road and rail transportation in urban zones. Transport accidents of dangerous substances are increasingly frequent and can cause serious injuries in densely inhabited areas or pollution of the environment. For quantitative risk assessment and mitigation planning, consequence modelling is necessary.

The modelling of dangerous substance dispersion by standard methods does not fully represent the behaviour of toxic or flammable clouds in obstructed areas such as street canyons. Therefore the predictions from common software packages as ALOHA, EFFECTS, TerEx should be augmented with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models or physical modelling in aerodynamic tunnels, and further studies are planned to do this.

The goal of this article is to present the results of the first approach of modelling using these standard methods and to demonstrate the importance of the next development stage in the area of transport accident modelling of releases and dispersions of dangerous substances in urban zones in cases of major accident or terrorist attacks.     

Economic valuation of damages originated by major accidents in port areas

Due to special features of ports – variety of activities: storage and loading/unloading of hazardous materials; circulation of ships, lorries and trains; proximity to urban zones; etc. – major accidents can be associated with severe damages. The cost of such accidents must be known to allow for compensation to people and companies. A procedure is presented to estimate the cost of damages suffered by people, equipment and environment. Criteria to assess the cost of damage to people – a controversial issue – are discussed, establishing a method to predict the number of people killed, injured and evacuated. Economic compensation is proposed. Environmental damages are also considered. These include potential damage to the atmosphere, soil, water and fauna. Estimates of the cost of the equipment and buildings affected by the accident are proposed. Finally, an assessment of the loss of profits due to activity breakdown and indirect costs is analysed. The methodology presented can easily be extended to general, inland process and storage sites.     

某水电站项目部预防处置突发事件和群体性事件应急预案的分析

阐述了预防处置突发事件和群体性事件是保证项目部人身安全的首要任务，详细介绍了葛洲坝集团吉沙水电站项目部在加强预防处置突发事件和群体性事件的工作方法和原则，通过采取预防手段，加强了全体员工的安全防范意识，使各类事件达到可控、能控、在控，树立起确保人身安全是安排各项工作的前提，确保人身安全是保证正常生产的重点，在紧急情况下可起到应急作用，使各类突发事件和群体性事件得到有效的遏制。     

输变电工程电磁场引起公众风险感受调查分析

为了解和掌握输变电工程运行产生电磁场引起公众风险感受的心理状态,以制定出合理的策略来缓解和降低这种恐慌情绪,采用社会心理学的调查研究方法,在开展对公众定性访谈的基础上,归纳总结获取的信息、设计问卷,以实现对更大范围的公众进行风险感受相关信息的调查与统计。数据分析表明,公众对电磁场原理及相关信息的不了解,是使得这一风险事件具有群体性特征,进而导致其蔓延和激化的主要原因,建议在制定宣传策略的同时,加强对输变电工程相关信息公平、公正、公开的管理,以营造和谐与信任的沟通氛围。     

Ageing management and monitoring of critical equipment at Seveso sites: An ontological approach

A safe “ageing” of Seveso establishments is a challenge for both operators and regulators. To this scope, Seveso III Directive required to integrate the equipment integrity issue into the safety management system for the major accident prevention; at the same time, the Italian Authority adopted a short-cut method for a quick ageing evaluation, which awards the application of the best techniques to control integrity and prevent deterioration-related failures. In this paper, the use of the ontology has been proposed to support decision-making about the implementation of technical solutions to control equipment ageing and comply the requirements of the Seveso legislation. To contrast deterioration mechanisms, the rapid development of data intensive smart sensors should be exploited and, in this frame, the automated on-line direct monitoring of equipment conditions, based on innovative low-cost sensors, is a novelty and promising solution. The developed ontology-based system points towards the adoption, when possible, of on-line monitoring. This solution provides much more data than traditional measurements and it is essential for the operators to understand how to merge concurrent information and data and to adequately control equipment deterioration. The ontology-based approach appears a viable solution even for this purpose. To demonstrate its potentiality, a real use-case has been used, where the model has been tested in finding the best technical solutions to improve the ageing management of an atmospheric distillation unit of a refinery in order to comply with safety requirements. A further use-case is given to show how the model can be used to react, after real-time damage signals, to restore safety conditions by means of an adequate decision-making.     

近50年湖北省降水变化特征分析

在气候变化背景下，区域降水变化波动较大。湖北地处亚热带，位于典型的季风区内，旱涝灾害比较突出，特别是水患，历来是威胁湖北的一大灾害，因此对降水时空变化进行分析研究，有很现实的意义。利用1961年以来全省65站逐日降水观测资料为基础，根据气候特征和行政区划将湖北省进行区域划分，利用多种统计分析方法，以揭示在全球气候变暖背景下湖北省各区域的降水变化事实。结果表明：湖北省平均年降水量鄂西北最少，鄂东南最多，秋季降水量的减少和冬季降水量的增加最为显著；极端降水事件的变化中，鄂西北发生站次最多，江汉平原其次，鄂西南和鄂东南最少。该结论为湖北各区域的旱涝变化趋势预估、为水资源管理和防汛抗旱工作提供科学的参考     

石家庄某机械制造企业搬迁遗留土壤调查及污染成因分析

以石家庄某机械制造企业搬迁遗留场地为例,结合分区与专业判断进行土壤调查与分析。结果表明:27个点位不同深度土壤样品中,氰化物、六价铬及多氯联苯均未检出。检出重金属6种,总石油烃2种、苯系物3种,但均未超标。污染主要来源是原辅材料堆存和在工艺过程中遗撒、泄漏迁移所致。     

2009年9-10月国内环境事件

简要统计了2009年9-10月国内发生的各种环境事件94起,包括沙尘天气5起,污染事件13起,地震47起,山体滑坡和泥石流15起,旱灾3起以及其他自然灾害11起.