A retrospective evaluation of 316(b) mitigation options using a decision analysis framework

Choosing the best 316(b) mitigation option is a daunting task. Decision analysis (DA) provides an objective framework that can be used to choose among several mitigation strategies where there are multiple objectives and numerous uncertainties. This paper has two objectives: (1) to illustrate the use of the DA framework for making a 316(b) decision (using the Chalk Point Power Station as a case study); and (2) to show that DA is also useful for quantifying the benefits of a previous decision. The Chalk Point case, resolved in 1990, centered around the mitigation of adverse environmental impacts of a cooling water intake structure (CWIS) as a result of fish and blue crab losses associated with impingement and entrainment. Barrier nets and fishery enhancement programs were used to mitigate the losses. We compare the costs and benefits of the mitigation options actually employed to those of other options. The costs and benefits were estimated numerically using standard DA methods. Valuations and probabilities were derived largely by professional judgment based upon the original Chalk Point 316(b) studies and ongoing monitoring. DA indicated that the optimal strategy and expected utility were functions of the weighting of environmental benefits relative to cost.     

The asteroid and comet impact hazard: risk assessment and mitigation options

The impact of extraterrestrial matter onto Earth is a continuous process. On average, some 50,000 tons of dust are delivered to our planet every year. While objects smaller than about 30 m mainly disintegrate in the Earth’s atmosphere, larger ones can penetrate through it and cause damage on the ground. When an object of hundreds of meters in diameter impacts an ocean, a tsunami is created that can devastate coastal cities. Further, if a km-sized object hit the Earth it would cause a global catastrophe due to the transport of enormous amounts of dust and vapour into the atmosphere resulting in a change in the Earth’s climate. This article gives an overview of the near-Earth asteroid and comet (near-Earth object-NEO) impact hazard and the NEO search programmes which are gathering important data on these objects. It also points out options for impact hazard mitigation by using deflection systems. It further discusses the critical constraints for NEO deflection strategies and systems as well as mitigation and evacuation costs and benefits. Recommendations are given for future activities to solve the NEO impact hazard problem.     

天然类固醇雌激素源解析、环境行为及其污染控制

天然类固醇雌激素是一种在生物体内具有极强雌激素效应的内分泌干扰物,其在环境中的广泛存在严重影响野生动物尤其是鱼类的正常生长和发育,对环境生态系统所产生的破坏也日趋严重,然而其危害依然没有引起足够的重视。文章研究在阐述天然类固醇雌激素基本理化性质和环境存在形态的基础上,解析其在人类和畜禽的环境来源,分析其在地表水和地下水的污染状况以及环境迁移和生物积累等环境行为,并综合探讨了现今较为常见的如活性污泥法、光降解法以及微滤、纳滤和反渗透等与天然类固醇雌激素相关的污染控制技术,以期为天然类固醇雌激素的毒理性质、污染现状及相关控制方法的深入研究提供支撑。在此基础上,提出深入天然类固醇雌激素微量检测技术研究、加强国家行政管理层面上的污染控制等已十分急迫。     

Waste site hazard assessment: a taxonomy of current methods and criteria

Dozens of schemes have been developed for assessing the hazards and implicit risks posed by waste disposal sites in the United States. Effective hazard-assessment processes guide decision makers, policy makers, and the public toward more appropriate risk management solutions. Just as in quantitative risk assessment, however, the utility of a hazard assessment scheme depends upon the applicability and totality of the parameters, as well as upon the validity of the assumptions and logic underlying that process. Examination of the range of hazard assessment methods that have been employed reveals some common limitations and a universe of applicable parameters. Understanding the scope of United States efforts is vital to the effective transfer of hazard assessment technology to waste site stakeholders in other industrialized countries. A useful set of modeling criteria is provided as a foundation for future application of the hazard assessment concept at the thousands of waste sites worldwide where hazards are yet to be investigated.     

粤东揭阳市环境污染控制对策研究

当前,粤东揭阳市生态环境问题突出,主要表现为水体污染和固体废物污染严重、局部空气质量差、生态系统可持续发展能力较差、环境能力建设薄弱和潜在的环境危害日趋严重,未来环境保护工作面临巨大压力,解决地区环境污染的控制对策应主要从以下五方面着手：产业布局及污染控制、清洁生产与循环经济、饮用水源地保护、生态环境保护与完善环境管理能力建设。     

Effects of spatial resolution of remotely sensed data on estimating urban impervious surfaces

Impervious surfaces are the result of urbanization that can be explicitly quantified, managed and controlled at each stage of land development. It is a very useful environmental indicator that can be used to measure the impacts of urbanization on surface runoff, water quality, air quality, biodiversity and microclimate. Therefore, accurate estimation of impervious surfaces is critical for urban environmental monitoring, land management, decision-making and urban planning. Many approaches have been developed to estimate surface imperviousness, using remotely sensed data with various spatial resolutions. However, few studies, have investigated the effects of spatial resolution on estimating surface imperviousness. We compare medium-resolution Landsat data with high-resolution SPOT images to quantify the imperviousness in Beijing, China. The results indicated that the overall 91% accuracy of estimates of imperviousness based on TM data was considerably higher than the 81% accuracy of the SPOT data. The higher resolution SPOT data did not always predict the imperviousness of the land better than the TM data. At the whole city level, the TM data better predicts the percentage cover of impervious surfaces. At the sub-city level, however, the ring belts from the central core to the urban-rural peripheral, the SPOT data may better predict the imperviousness. These results highlighted the need to combine multiple resolution data to quantify the percentage of imperviousness, as higher resolution data do not necessarily lead to more accurate estimates. The methodology and results in this study can be utilized to identify the most suitable remote sensing data to quickly and efficiently extract the pattern of the impervious land, which could provide the base for further study on many related urban environmental problems.     

溶剂系统结垢危害与清洗工艺

分析溶剂系统结垢的主要危害, 介绍水冲洗及系统试压、碱洗、酸洗、漂洗、中和钝化等化学清洗工艺步骤,应用后取得了良好的效果.     

The relationship between adaptation and mitigation in managing climate change risks: a regional response from North Central Victoria,Australia

This two-part paper considers the complementarity between adaptation and mitigation in managing the risks associated with the enhanced greenhouse effect. Part one reviews the application of risk management methods to climate change assessments. Formal investigations of the enhanced greenhouse effect have produced three generations of risk assessment. The first led to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), First Assessment Report and subsequent drafting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The second investigated the impacts of unmitigated climate change in the Second and Third IPCC Assessment Reports. The third generation, currently underway, is investigating how risk management options can be prioritised and implemented. Mitigation and adaptation have two main areas of complementarity. Firstly, they each manage different components of future climate-related risk. Mitigation reduces the number and magnitude of potential climate hazards, reducing the most severe changes first. Adaptation increases the ability to cope with climate hazards by reducing system sensitivity or by reducing the consequent level of harm. Secondly, they manage risks at different extremes of the potential range of future climate change. Adaptation works best with changes of lesser magnitude at the lower end of the potential range. Where there is sufficient adaptive capacity, adaptation improves the ability of a system to cope with increasingly larger changes over time. By moving from uncontrolled emissions towards stabilisation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, mitigation limits the upper part of the range. Different activities have various blends of adaptive and mitigative capacity. In some cases, high sensitivity and low adaptive capacity may lead to large residual climate risks; in other cases, a large adaptive capacity may mean that residual risks are small or non-existent. Mitigative and adaptive capacity do not share the same scale: adaptive capacity is expressed locally, whereas mitigative capacity is different for each activity and location but needs to be aggregated at the global scale to properly assess its potential benefits in reducing climate hazards. This can be seen as a demand for mitigation, which can be exercised at the local scale through exercising mitigative capacity. Part two of the paper deals with the situation where regional bodies aim to maximise the benefits of managing climate risks by integrating adaptation and mitigation measures at their various scales of operation. In north central Victoria, Australia, adaptation and mitigation are being jointly managed by a greenhouse consortium and a catchment management authority. Several related studies investigating large-scale revegetation are used to show how climate change impacts and sequestration measures affect soil, salt and carbon fluxes in the landscape. These studies show that trade-offs between these interactions will have to be carefully managed to maximise their relative benefits. The paper concludes that when managing climate change risks, there are many instances where adaptation and mitigation can be integrated at the operational level. However, significant gaps between our understanding of the benefits of adaptation and mitigation between local and global scales remain. Some of these may be addressed by matching demands for mitigation (for activities and locations where adaptive capacity will be exceeded) with the ability to supply that demand through localised mitigative capacity by means of globally integrated mechanisms.     

对氨氮废水处理工艺路线的选择

分析了目前国内常规的对氨氮废水的处理方法,提出针对不同浓度的氨氮废水,采用不同组合的处理工艺,在使处理后的氨氮废水满足环保要求的前提下,做到工程的初期投资较少,管理运行费用较低,较好地达到经济和环境效益的统一。     

跨流域调水社会评价的定量化探讨--以改善氟病区生活饮用水为例

本文建立一个用跨流域调水来改善氟病区生活饮用水水质所带来的环境经济效益的评价和估算的经济数学方法.从而揭示水作为一种资源用于改善自然环境,提高人民健康水平,可创造经济价值,带来社会效益.     

Design issues for improved environmental performance of dye-sensitized and organic nanoparticulate solar cells

Though environmental improvement has been claimed for the application of nanotechnology to solar cells, several characteristics of the fullerene-based organic, and the dye-sensitized nanoparticulate, solar cell are not conducive to such improvement. These include relatively high energy and materials inputs in the production of nanoparticles, a relatively low solar radiation to electricity conversion efficiency, a relatively short service life, the use of relatively scarce metals and relatively poor recyclability, if compared with the multicrystalline Si solar cell which currently is the market leader. Moreover, the lack of data and the inability of current methods to handle hazards of nanoparticles generate problems in conducting comparative life cycle assessment of nanoparticulate solar cells. So far, the claimed environmental advantage can not be substantiated for fullerene-based and dye-sensitized nanoparticulate solar cells. There are options for the environmental improvement of these nanoparticulate solar cells, but actual development does not seem to focus on environmental improvement.     

Outline and management of industrial wastewater in China

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二氧化氯消毒无机消毒副产物控制技术进展研究

日常生活、生产中,饮用水消毒剂受到广泛关注.中国《生活饮用水卫生标准》(GB 5749-2006)规定二氧化氯可作为饮用水消毒剂,但其在消毒过程中所产生的无机消毒副产物,对人类健康存在潜在的危害.随着检测和控制技术水平的发展,对饮用水中无机消毒副产物的研究已成为热点.文章参考大量文献,对饮用水中无机消毒副产物的控制技术进行了详细讨论.     

江安河武侯区段水质改善的环境经济效益研究

根据成都市江安河武侯区段2010年11月-2011年3月的水质监测数据,结合中国地表水环境质量标准(GB3838-2002)和四川省实际确定水体中各污染物因子的本底浓度对该区段污水处理环境效益进行了分析。首先通过污染经济损失模型计算COD、BOD5、NH3-N、TP、SS和硫化物对水经济价值的损失率,然后在讨论COD、NH3-N、TP和硫化物减排情况的基础上计算了各种污染指标减排至达标后所产生的环境经济效益。研究结果表明,江安河武侯区段水体污染的综合污染损失率高达99.99%,如果各种污染物减排达标至IV类标准产生的环境经济效益14 912万元人民币/a,而减排达标至III类标准产生的环境经济效益更是高达15 786万元人民币/a。     

洪泽湖主要水生植物群落水环境效益研究

洪泽湖湿地为我国典型的湖泊湿地,有着丰富的水生植物资源,这些水生植物群落在生长过程中与洪泽湖水体相互作用相互影响。由于自身生长习性的不同,对水体产生了不同的水环境效益。此次选取了洪泽湖主要水生植物群落,并对这些群落的总氮、总磷、化学需氧量等指标进行检验。采用因子分析统计手段和综合营养状态指数法对各群落水体的水质状况加以分析,从而发现了不同水生植物群落不同的水环境效益,其中菹草群落与芦苇群落的水环境效益较好,而水葱群落与水花生群落的水环境效益较差。     

The potential benefits of on-farm mitigation scenarios for reducing multiple pollutant loadings in prioritised agri-environment areas across England

Mitigation of diffuse water pollution from agriculture is a key national environmental policy objective in England. With the recent introduction of the new agri-environment scheme, Countryside Stewardship, there is an increased emphasis on the macro-spatial targeting of on-farm mitigation measures to reduce pollutant pressures, and a concomitant need to forecast the technically feasible impacts of on-farm measures detailed in current policy and their associated costs and benefits. This paper reports the results of a modelling application to test these limits in the context of the associated costs and benefits for the reduction of diffuse water pollution from agriculture for each Water Framework Directive (WFD) water management catchment (WMC) and nationally. Four mitigation scenarios were modelled, including pollutant source control measures only (SC), mobilisation control measures only (MC), delivery control measures only (DC) and measures for source, mobilisation and delivery control (SMDC) combined. Projected impacts on nitrate, phosphorus and sediment export to water, ammonia, methane and nitrous oxide emissions to the atmosphere, together with the associated costs to the agricultural sector were estimated for each WFD WMC and nationally. Median WMC-scale reductions (with uncertainty ranges represented by 5th–95th percentiles) in current agricultural emissions, were predicted to be highest for the SMDC scenario; nitrate (18%, 11–23%), phosphorus (28%, 22–37%), sediment (25%, 18–43%), ammonia (26%, 17–32%), methane (13%, 7–18%) and nitrous oxide (18%, 16–20%). The median benefit-to-cost ratios (with uncertainty ranges represented by 5th–95th percentiles) were predicted to be in the following order; DC (0.15, 0.09–0.65), MC (0.19, 0.09–0.95), SMDC (0.31, 0.20–1.39) and SC (0.44, 0.19–2.48). Of the four scenarios simulated, the SC and SMDC suites of measures have the greatest potential to deliver reductions in BAU emissions from agriculture, and the best benefit:cost ratio.     

淮南矿区高矿化度矿井水淡化工艺实例

为充分利用水资源,提高矿井水回用率,淮南矿区谢桥煤矿对高矿化度矿井水进行淡化处理。根据现场运行数据、现场试验,简述了高矿化度矿井水应用反渗透(RO)工艺过程和淡化技术要领。工程运行结果表明:反渗透工艺在煤矿高矿化度矿井水淡化处理中产生了良好的经济、社会和环境效益。     

选煤浮选机用于处理含油废水的模拟实验研究

对被淘汰的老型选煤浮选机作为气浮法处理含油污水设备进行了可行性分析,并作了含油污水处理的实验模拟,实验结果表明,可以用煤炭浮选机作为气浮法污水处理设备,且处理含油污水效果较好,废物的再开发利用程度高,具有较好的环境效益和经济效益。     

太湖蓝藻水华灾害程度评价方法

通过对太湖蓝藻水华灾害分析,借鉴赤潮灾害评价指标,采取蓝藻水华面积和Chla浓度作为灾害程度分级评价指标,应用层次分析法确定权重,结合隶属度函数,采用模糊综合评价建立太湖蓝藻水华灾度分级评价方法,定量描述蓝藻水华灾害程度.结合2008年太湖蓝藻水华灾害事件对该方法进行验证.结果表明,2008年太湖蓝藻水华灾害规模主要为小型、中型和大型,无重大和特大蓝藻水华灾害发生;其中小型蓝藻水华灾害在各月都有分布,中型和大型蓝藻水华灾害主要分布在5月和7~9月.评价结果表明该方法具有一定的科学性和适用性.     

小型矿山地质灾害危险性评估技术探讨

矿山的开采为国家带来了很多资源和经济效益,但同时也引发了很多地质灾害,如何减少和避免灾害的发生是一件至关重要的事.本文以云南省龙井沟铜矿矿山地质灾害危险性评估为例,对类似小型矿山地质灾害危险性评估的方法和主要技术问题进行探讨,力求为类似小型矿山的地质灾害评估提供一点借鉴之处.