Using EH&S management systems to improve corporate profits

An environmental management system (EMS) approach can improve overall corporate performance and demonstrate this improvement to top management in “dollars and cents” language. This article illustrates the importance of a financial management approach to justify investments in environmental, health, and safety (EH&S) excellence. It also describes in detail the elements of the EH&S management assessment and improvement process.     

The use of terrestrial ecoregions as a regional-scale screen for selecting representative reference sites for water quality monitoring

A process has been developed to select watersheds that are representative of terrestrial ecoregions and that are relatively undisturbed by human activity. Using an existing land classification system at two hierarchical levels of resolution, representative subsets (ecodistricts) of large-scale ecoregions were selected, on the basis of their physiographic, biological, and climatological attributes, to represent the ecoregions. This was achieved using a frequency distribution analysis of existing attribute data and choosing the ecodistrict most closely resembling the most common set of conditions for that ecoregion. Within each ecodistrict, river basins were selected through a best-judgement evaluation of land use, coupled with an assessment of the size and location of each river basin, in order to meet the condition of minimal human impact. Preliminary assessment of water quality data collected from six watersheds selected in this way suggests that the process is effective in targeting regional scale river basins exhibiting the desired characteristics.     

FIELD EVALUATION OF SOME PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT TECHNIQUES1

ABSTRACT: Public involvement in water resources planning is receiving much current attention, and there is a need to examine systematically how different public involvement techniques work in practice. The following techniques were among those used to involve the public in a recent Corps of Engineers’study of flooding on San Pedro Creek in Pacifica, California: a public workshop, citizen information bulletins (CIBs) and questionnaries. Interviews were held with 75 study participants to evaluate the effectiveness of these techniques. The interviews indicated that various study participants felt positively about the particular workshop format employed and about the use of a communications specialist to train workshop leaders. There were mixed reactions to the effectiveness of the CIBs and questionnaires. Although many individual citizens felt that the CIBs and questionnaires were useful, some of the Corps planners felt that CIBs and questionnaires would only be “cost-effective” on large studies and/or where the questionnaire response rate was high. The interviews led to a number of specific suggestions regarding how the extent of public involvement could be increased in future water resources planning studies.     

DESALTING SALINE WATER FOR IRRIGATION A CASE STUDY,COACHELLA AREA,CALIFORNIA1

ABSTRACT .A case study was performed to evaluate potential applications of desalted saline water for agriculture using 2 distillation type processes and 2 membrane type processes. The investigation determined the costs and benefits associated with desalting saline water at concentrations of 1,500, 900, 400, 200, and 50 ppm. Benefits from desalting are generated by shifts to more profitable crops, reduced costs for drainage, and reduction in fertilizer and labor requirements with better quality water. Costs are based on the project features such as desalting plants, raw water diversion facilities, storage reservoirs, conveyance and distribution systems, brine disposal, blending facilities, and gypsum addition systems. Hydrologic studies determined the crop irrigation requirements, water demand schedules, desalted water storage requirements, brine disposal requirements, and size of facilities required. Reconnaissance design layouts were made for producing desalted water using a combination of 14 schemes. The study also included a review of irrigation practices. The benefit-cost ratios range from 0.4 to 1.0 for 1,500 ppm irrigation water to 0.8 to 1.0 for 50 and 200 ppm water. Investment costs per acre are high, ranging from $12,900 to $20,900. Irrigation benefits are based on the increase in production from a desert condition with no water supply to the irrigation conditions studied.     

MaryPODS revisited: updated crash analysis and implications for screening program implementation

PROBLEM: Due to the relative scarcity of crashes, there has consistently been a problem with analyses that use crashes as a criterion measure in their analyses. METHOD: Previous analyses of the relationships between functional capacity measures and at-fault crash involvement for older drivers as reported in the NHTSA Model Driver Screening and Evaluation Program Final Technical Report have been updated to include one additional year of driving experience. Eighteen new at-fault crashes involving drivers who previously had no crash involvement were recorded for the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) test sample during this interval. The method of odds ratio (OR) calculation was used to examine the relationships between functional status predictors and the most salient among the safety outcome measures identified in the Maryland research. Peak valid OR values for the prior and current analyses were contrasted, and the stability of candidate pass-fail cut-points for each predictor relative to values identified in the Final Technical Report was examined. RESULTS: Results indicate that the predictive value of functional tests appears to decrease over time, particularly for the perceptual-cognitive measures. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: The impact of these findings on programs and policies is to underscore a need for periodic reevaluation, spaced at the shortest practical intervals but not more than 2 years apart, in order for functional capacity screening to be applied effectively by licensing authorities, health care professionals, and others to reduce personal risk and enhance public safety.     

137Cs in marine samples from the Brazilian southeastern coastal region

The present work presents the results of ¹³⁷Cs concentration in seawater, fish and sediments samples collect in 11 sampling points, crossing the Brazilian Southeastern coastal region, from Vitória (ES) to Santos (SP), on a routine basis from 1997 to 2002. This monitoring program was carried out by the Instituto de Radioproteção e Dosimetria (IRD/CNEN/MCT), in cooperation with the Instituto de Estudos do Mar Almirante Paulo Moreira (IEAPM/Brazilian Navy), aiming at determining artificial radionuclides in marine samples. Additionally to the ¹³⁷Cs results, ⁹⁰Sr concentrations in fish samples from 1998 to 2002 are also reported.The ¹³⁷Cs in seawater follows a lognormal distribution, with a geometric mean of 1.8 Bq m^-3 and a geometric standard deviation of 1.4 (n=54), decay corrected to June/2002. For ¹³⁷Cs levels in fish samples a geometric mean of 0.19 Bq kg⁻¹ and a geometric standard deviation of 2.9 (n=39), decay corrected to June/2002, with a range of 0.03 to 1.7 Bq kg⁻¹, were obtained. Based on the ¹³⁷Cs mean concentration in fish as well as in seawater, a transfer factor of 1 × 10² was calculated, which is quite in agreement with the recommended value found in the Safety Report Serie 19.     

MULTIVARIATE CLASSIFICATION OF SMALL ORDER WATERSHEDS IN THE QUABBIN RESERVOIR BASIN,MASSACHUSEVFS1

ABSTRACT: A multivariate approach was used to analyze hydrologic, geologic, geographic, and water-chemistry data from small order watersheds in the Quabbin Reservoir Basin in central Massachusetts. Eighty three small order watersheds were delineated and landscape attributes defining hydrologic, geologic, and geographic features of the watersheds were compiled from geographic information system data layers. Principal components analysis was used to evaluate 11 chemical constituents collected bi-weekly for 1 year at 15 surface-water stations in order to subdivide the basin into subbasins comprised of watersheds with similar water quality characteristics. Three principal components accounted for about 90 percent of the variance in water chemistry data. The principal components were defined as a biogeochemical variable related to wet. land density, an acid-neutralization variable, and a road-salt variable related to density of primary roads. Three subbasins were identified. Analysis of variance and multiple comparisons of means were used to identify significant differences in stream water chemistry and landscape attributes among subbasins. All stream water constituents were significantly different among subbasins. Multiple regression techniques were used to relate stream water chemistry to landscape attributes. Important differences in landscape attributes were related to wetlands, slope, and soil type.     

西印度洋地区海草生态系统

海草是海洋被子植物,广泛分布在温带和热带的海岸带水域,是地球上水生生态系统中最具生产力的生物之一.     

Nondestructive pigment analysis in paint layers using ion-beam methods on air

This study was supported by the Bundesministerium für Förschung und Technologie (BMFT), core program Einsatz neuer Technologien in den Geisteswissenschaften.