Developing Effective Decision Support for the Application of “Gentle” Remediation Options: The GREENLAND Project

Gentle remediation options (GRO) are risk management strategies/technologies that result in a net gain (or at least no gross reduction) in soil function as well as risk management. They encompass a number of technologies, including the use of plant (phyto‐), fungi (myco‐), and/or bacteria‐based methods, with or without chemical soil additives or amendments, for reducing contaminant transfer to local receptors by in situ stabilization, or extraction, transformation, or degradation of contaminants. Despite offering strong benefits in terms of risk management, deployment costs, and sustainability for a range of site problems, the application of GRO as practical on‐site remedial solutions is still in its relative infancy, particularly for metal(loid)‐contaminated sites. A key barrier to wider adoption of GRO relates to general uncertainties and lack of stakeholder confidence in (and indeed knowledge of) the feasibility or reliability of GRO as practical risk management solutions. The GREENLAND project has therefore developed a simple and transparent decision support framework for promoting the appropriate use of gentle remediation options and encouraging participation of stakeholders, supplemented by a set of specific design aids for use when GRO appear to be a viable option. The framework is presented as a three phased model or Decision Support Tool (DST), in the form of a Microsoft Excel‐based workbook, designed to inform decision‐making and options appraisal during the selection of remedial approaches for contaminated sites. The DST acts as a simple decision support and stakeholder engagement tool for the application of GRO, providing a context for GRO application (particularly where soft end‐use of remediated land is envisaged), quick reference tables (including an economic cost calculator), and supporting information and technical guidance drawing on practical examples of effective GRO application at trace metal(loid) contaminated sites across Europe. This article introduces the decision support framework. ©2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A synoptic survey of select wastewater-tracer compounds and the pesticide imidacloprid in Florida’s ambient freshwaters

Current wastewater treatment technologies do not remove many unregulated hydrophilic compounds, and there is growing interest that low levels of these compounds, referred to as emerging contaminants, may impact human health and the environment. A probabilistic-designed monitoring network was employed to infer the extent of Florida’s ambient freshwaters containing the wastewater (Includes reuse water, septic systems leachate, and wastewater treatment effluent.) indicators sucralose, acetaminophen, carbamazepine, and primidone and those containing the widely used pesticide imidacloprid. Extent estimates with 95% confidence bounds are provided for canals, rivers, streams, small and large lakes, and unconfined aquifers containing ultra-trace concentrations of these compounds as based on analyses of 2015 sample surveys utilizing 528 sites. Sucralose is estimated to occur in greater than 50% of the canal, river, stream, and large lake resource extents. The pharmaceuticals acetaminophen, carbamazepine, and primidone are most prevalent in rivers, with approximately 30% of river kilometers estimated to contain at least one of these compounds. Imidacloprid is estimated to occur in 50% or greater of the canal and river resource extents, and it is the only compound found to exceed published toxicity or environmental effects standards. Geospatial analyses show sucralose detection frequencies within Florida’s drainage basins to be significantly related to the percentage of urban land use (R²?=?0.36, p?<?0.001), and imidacloprid detection frequencies to be significantly related to the percentage of urban and agricultural land use (R²?=?0.47, p?<?0.001). The extent of the presence of these compounds highlights the need for additional emerging contaminant studies especially those examining effects on aquatic biota.     

Attributes of reliable long-term landscape-scale studies: Malpractice insurance for landscape ecologists

Monitoring long-term change in forested landscapes is an intimidating challenge with considerable practical, methodological, and theoretical limitations. Current field approaches used to assess vegetation change at the plot-to-stand scales and nationwide forest monitoring programs may not be appropriate at landscape scales. We emphasize that few vegetation monitoring programs (and, thus, study design models) are designed to detect spatial and temporal trends at landscape scales. Based primarily on advice from many sources, and trial and error, we identify 14 attributes of a reliable long-term landscape monitoring program: malpractice insurance for landscape ecologists. The attributes are to: secure long-term funding and commitment; develop flexible goals; refine objectives; pay adequate attention to information management; take an experimental approach to sampling design; obtain peer-review and statistical review of research proposals and publications; avoid bias in selection of long-term plot locations; insure adequate spatial replication; insure adequate temporal replication; synthesize retrospective, experimental, and related studies; blend theoretical and empirical models with the means to validate both; obtain periodic research program evaluation; integrate and synthesize with larger and smaller scale research, inventory, and monitoring programs; and develop an extensive outreach program. Using these 14 attributes as a guide, we describe one approach to assess the potential effect of global change on the vegetation of the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies. This self-evaluation helps identify strengthes and weaknesses in our program, and may serve the same role for other landscape ecologists in other programs.     

Prenatal diagnosis of the fragile X using thymidine induction

Eleven pregnancies in ten patients at risk for the fragile X were monitored by amniocentesis or chorion villus biopsy and induction of the fragile site using thymidine, methotrexate and FUdR. Three female fetuses and one male fetus were found to have the fragile X. The results obtained using thymidine induction were superior to those using methotrexate induction and probably better than those obtained using FUdR induction.     

Integrating fisheries into the national development plans of Small Island Developing States (SIDS): Ten years on from Barbados

The development and effective introduction of strategies designed to ensure the ecologically and economically sustainable utilization of coastal and marine resources is perhaps the major challenge for Small Island Developing States (SIDS). In response, the 1994 Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA) called upon the SIDS to implement appropriate coastal and marine strategies and, crucially, ensure that such strategies were integrated into sustainable national development plans (NDPs). This article examines the extent to which contemporary NDPs and donor support programmes have incorporated the fisheries sector — arguably the most important coastal/marine resource for many SIDS — into such documents. Applying an assessment methodology, originally developed to identify levels of environmental mainstreaming within World Bank country assistance strategies to NDPs and donor support programmes, we are able to identify those SIDS who have most effectively integrated the fisheries sector into such documents. Comparison with data indicating the importance of the sector to the national economy (in terms of generating foreign exchange, employment generation and/or supporting domestic protein consumption levels) enables us to pinpoint those countries with substantial fisheries sectors, but a correspondingly lower than expected degree of sectoral mainstreaming. We suggest that the January 2005 review of the BPoA offers an opportune moment for such countries to redress these omissions.     

Estimating the economic burden from illnesses associated with recreational coastal water pollution--a case study in Orange County, California

A cost-of-illness framework was applied to health and income data to quantify the health burden from illnesses associated with exposure to polluted recreational marine waters. Using data on illness severity due to exposure to polluted coastal water and estimates of mean annual salaries and medical costs (adjusted to 2001 values) for residents of Orange County, California, we estimated that the economic burden per gastrointestinal illness (GI) amounts to 36.58 dollars, the burden per acute respiratory disease is 76.76 dollars, the burden per ear ailment is 37.86 dollars, and the burden per eye ailment is 27.31 dollars. These costs can become a substantial public health burden when millions of exposures per year to polluted coastal waters result in hundreds of thousands of illnesses. For example, exposures to polluted waters at Orange County's Newport and Huntington Beaches were estimated to generate an average of 36,778 GI episodes per year. At this GI illness rate, one can also expect that approximately 38,000 more illness episodes occurred per year of other types, including respiratory, eye, and ear infections. The combination of excess illnesses associated with coastal water pollution resulted in a cumulative public health burden of 3.3 million dollars per year for these two beaches. This paper introduces a public health cost variable that can be applied in cost-benefit analyses when evaluating pollution abatement strategies.     

Elemental concentrations and in vitro bioaccessibility in Canadian background soils

Elemental concentrations and bioaccessibility were determined in background soils collected in Canada as part of the North American Geochemical Landscapes Project. The concentrations of As, Cr, Cu, Co, Ni and Zn were higher in the C-horizon (parent material) compared to 0–5 cm (surface soil), and this observation along with the regional distribution suggested that most of the variability in concentrations of these elements were governed by the bedrock characteristics. Unlike the above-stated elements, Pb and Cd concentrations were higher in the surface layer reflecting the potential effects of anthropogenic deposition. Elemental bioaccessibility was variable decreasing in the order Cd > Pb > Cu > Zn > Ni > Co > As > Cr for the surface soils. With the exception of As, bioaccessibility was generally higher in the C-horizon soils compared to the 0–5 cm soils. The differences in metal bioaccessibility between the 0–5 cm and the C-horizon and among the provinces may reflect geological processes and speciation. The mean, median or 95th percentile bioaccessibility for As, Cr, Cu, Co, Ni and Pb were all below 100 %, suggesting that the use of site-specific bioaccessibility results for these elements will yield more accurate estimation of the risk associated with oral bioavailability for sites where soil ingestion is the major contributor of human health risk.     

Filtering with a drill pump: an efficient method to collect suspended sediment

Water quality monitoring programs across multiple disciplines use total suspended solids (TSS), and volatile suspended solids (VSS), to assess potential impairments of surface water and groundwater. While previous methods for instream filtering have been developed, the need for rapid, cost‐effective, high volume sampling has increased with the need to verify and supplement data produced by sondes and instantaneous data loggers. We present an efficient method to filter water instream with a portable drill pump that results in reduced sample processing time, and potentially reduced error associated with sample transportation, preservation, contamination, and homogenization. This technical note outlines the advantages of filtering instream vs. in the laboratory. It also compares TSS and VSS concentrations filtered with a drill pump vs. standard filtration methods with a vacuum pump as outlined by USEPA methods 160.2 and 160.4. Samples were collected at 4 sites and filtered in the field, or transported to the laboratory and filtered within 12 or 24 h of collection. Overall TSS and VSS samples filtered instream with a drill pump vs. in the laboratory produced similar concentrations with a similar range in variability for each method. Sample filtering with a drill pump decreased processing time by five minutes per sample.     

The climate adaptation imperative: local choices targeting global problems?

When confronted with the demands of global climate change, what causes some policy-makers to move the climate adaptation agenda forward in their communities, while others seemingly get little accomplished? To answer this question, we first discuss work on policy-drivers in a coupled human–natural systemic context. This summary review of past research helps us develop a set of competing and complementary explanations for why some communities aggressively pursue climate adaptation policies, while others do less. Following the discussion of policy-drivers, we then undertake an aggregate-level analysis of data collected across the 169 towns in Connecticut regarding climate adaptation, thus linking policy to its fundamental global cause. The quantitative data are augmented with interview data from policy-makers and activists from around the New England region.