Using community relations to reduce costs during remediation projects

Almost everyone who has been involved in a site remediation project has seen schedules slip and costs escalate due to political pressure from the public or the press. While focusing on remediation technologies and containment techniques to control costs, many organizations have neglected a major cost driver—public opinion. This article examines community relations from the perspective of an organization trying to control costs during a site remediation project. It details the strong correlation between the cost of a site cleanup and the level of public dissatisfaction and provides an organization with specific strategies on how to use proven communications techniques to lower costs. Examination of several case studies is provided, including a study involving a site in which community representatives actively worked to reduce project costs. It is clear that any responsible cleanup must be protective of public health and the environment. But it is becoming increasingly apparent that wise allocation of available resources has a profound effect on the program's ability to ensure public and environmental safety. In many cases, it has been proven that some costly cleanups—for example, involving excavation—sometimes actually increase risk by creating an exposure pathway where none existed before. In turn, such cleanups waste resources that are needed elsewhere. The challenge in dealing with this complicated issue is to help stakeholders understand the true ramifications of the choices that are faced at each site. If these stakeholders feel uninformed, powerless, or excluded from the process, it is likely that they will be unable to enter a productive discussion. The community relations programs outlined in documents such as a Superfund guidance can be helpful in familiarizing the community with site-related issues and with gathering public input. These activities act as a baseline for the programs discussed in this article. However, existing programs are not focused on providing a strategic advantage in reaching cleanup solutions and balancing health and environmental considerations with economic considerations.     

Multiple sex-chromosome system and other karyological characterizations of Pterotrachea hippocampus (Mollusca: Mesogastropoda)

Two modal diploid numbers of chromosomes were found for Pterotraches hippocampus Philippi (Mollusca: Mesogastropoda) collected from the Gulf of Palermo in 1990: 2n=31 and 32 for males and females, respectively. This, along with other karyological characteristics such as the occurrence of a trivalent configuration at diakinesis and two types of metaphase-II spreads in spermatocytes, supports the notion that a X₁X₂Y/X₁X₁X₂X₂ sex mechanism operates in the species investigated here. Silver nitrate procedure revealed an intraindividual variation in the Ag-staining pattern occurring in this species. The majority of the chromosome pair displayed terminal and/or interstitial heterochromatic blocks after C-banding.     

Global variability of food waste chemical composition and its consequences on the production of biofuels and chemical compounds

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - The use of food waste (FW) for the production of biofuels and value-added compounds is growing worldwide. However, the significant chemical...     

Composites Produced from Natural Rubber and Chrome-Tanned Leather Wastes: Evaluation of their In Vitro Toxicological Effects for Application in Footwear and Textile Industries

A new composite has been developed from natural rubber and chrome-tanned leather waste for use in footwear and textile industries. The contribution of this material to environmental quality and sustained development should be highligh because chrome tanned leather wastes, a major environmental problem, can be recycled. However, the safety of this new material for human use is questionable, as it is already well reported in the literature that chromium, particularly in its hexavalent oxidation state, can be genotoxic and carcinogenic to living beings. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate in vitro biocompatibility of this composite material for possible use in the footwear and textile industries, through cytotoxicity, cell adhesion, and genotoxicity tests. Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) was used to measure both concentrations of total and hexavalent chromium. Based on the findings, it was concluded that the composite exhibits low levels of cytotoxicity and genotoxicity, and possesses favorable properties for initial cell adhesion. Furthermore, it was verified that the composites released low concentrations of chromium and that the predominant species released would be trivalent chromium. The results of the present study open the possibility of the incorporation of solid residues of tanned leather into chromium without necessarily the chromium contained in these residues influences the toxicity and genotoxicity of this new material.     

Model of the Long-Term Transport and Accumulation of Radionuclides in Future Landscapes

Assessments of radiological impacts on humans and other biota from potential releases to the biosphere from a deep geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel are associated with several challenges. Releases, if any, will likely occur in a far future and to an environment that will have experienced substantial transformations. Such releases would occur over very long periods during which environmental conditions will vary continuously due to climate change and ecosystem succession. Assessments of radiological impacts must therefore be based on simulations using models that can describe the transport and accumulation of radionuclides for a large variety of environmental conditions. In this paper we describe such a model and show examples of its application in a safety assessment, taking into account results from sensitivity and uncertainty analyses of the model predictions.     

Radionuclide migration in forest ecosystems--results of a model validation study

The primary objective of the IAEA's BIOMASS Forest Working Group (FWG) was to bring together experimental radioecologists and modellers to facilitate the exchange of information which could be used to improve our ability to understand and forecast radionuclide transfers within forests. This paper describes a blind model validation exercise which was conducted by the FWG to test nine models which members of the group had developed in response to the need to predict the fate of radiocaesium in forests in Europe after the Chernobyl accident. The outcomes and conclusions of this exercise are summarised. It was concluded that, as a group, the models are capable of providing an envelope of predictions which can be expected to enclose experimental data for radiocaesium contamination in forests over the time scale tested. However, the models are subject to varying degrees of conceptual uncertainty which gives rise to a very high degree of divergence between individual model predictions, particularly when forecasting edible mushroom contamination. Furthermore, the forecasting capability of the models over future decades currently remains untested.     

Estimation of radiation doses from (137)Cs to frogs in a wetland ecosystem

Currently, there is no established methodology to estimate radiation doses to non-human biota. Therefore, in this study, various dose models were used to estimate radiation doses to moor frogs (Rana arvalis) in a wetland ecosystem contaminated with (137)Cs. External dose estimations were based on activity concentrations of (137)Cs in soil and water, considering changes in habitat over a life-cycle. Internal doses were calculated from the activity concentrations of (137)Cs measured in moor frogs. Depending on the dose model used, the results varied substantially. External dose rates ranged from 21 to 160 mGy/y, and internal dose rates varied between 1 and 14 mGy/y. Maximum total dose rates to frogs were below the expected safe level for terrestrial populations, but close to the suggested critical dose rate for amphibians. The results show that realistic assumptions in dose models are particularly important at high levels of contamination.     

Addressing uncertainties in the ERICA Integrated Approach

Like any complex environmental problem, ecological risk assessment of the impacts of ionising radiation is confounded by uncertainty. At all stages, from problem formulation through to risk characterisation, the assessment is dependent on models, scenarios, assumptions and extrapolations. These include technical uncertainties related to the data used, conceptual uncertainties associated with models and scenarios, as well as social uncertainties such as economic impacts, the interpretation of legislation, and the acceptability of the assessment results to stakeholders. The ERICA Integrated Approach has been developed to allow an assessment of the risks of ionising radiation, and includes a number of methods that are intended to make the uncertainties and assumptions inherent in the assessment more transparent to users and stakeholders. Throughout its development, ERICA has recommended that assessors deal openly with the deeper dimensions of uncertainty and acknowledge that uncertainty is intrinsic to complex systems. Since the tool is based on a tiered approach, the approaches to dealing with uncertainty vary between the tiers, ranging from a simple, but highly conservative screening to a full probabilistic risk assessment including sensitivity analysis. This paper gives on overview of types of uncertainty that are manifest in ecological risk assessment and the ERICA Integrated Approach to dealing with some of these uncertainties.     

A conceptual framework for analyzing deltas as coupled social–ecological systems: an example from the Amazon River Delta

At the nexus of watersheds, land, coastal areas, oceans, and human settlements, river delta regions pose specific challenges to environmental governance and sustainability. Using the Amazon Estuary-Delta region (AD) as our focus, we reflect on the challenges created by the high degree of functional interdependencies shaping social–ecological dynamics of delta regions. The article introduces the initial design of a conceptual framework to analyze delta regions as coupled social–ecological systems (SES). The first part of the framework is used to define a delta SES according to a problem and/or collective action dilemma. Five components can be used to define a delta SES: social–economic systems, governance systems, ecosystems-resource systems, topographic-hydrological systems, and oceanic-climate systems. These components are used in association with six types of telecoupling conditions: socio-demographic, economic, governance, ecological, material, and climatic-hydrological. The second part of the framework presents a strategy for the analysis of collective action problems in delta regions, from sub-delta/local to delta to basin levels. This framework is intended to support both case studies and comparative analysis. The article provides illustrative applications of the framework to the AD. First, we apply the framework to define and characterize the AD as coupled SES. We then utilize the framework to diagnose an example of collective action problem related to the impacts of urban growth, and urban and industrial pollution on small-scale fishing resources. We argue that the functional interdependencies characteristic of delta regions require new approaches to understand, diagnose, and evaluate the current and future impacts of social–ecological changes and potential solutions to the sustainability dilemmas of delta regions.     

Environmental risk assessment in five rivers of Parana River basin,Southern Brazil,through biomarkers in Astyanax spp.

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In the current study, water quality of five river sites in Parana River basin (Brazil), utilized for public water supply, was assessed through a set...