Analysis of waste management issues arising from a field study evaluating decontamination of a biological agent from a building

The Bio-response Operational Testing and Evaluation (BOTE) Project was a cross-government effort designed to operationally test and evaluate a response to a biological incident (release of Bacillus anthracis [Ba] spores, the causative agent for anthrax) from initial public health and law enforcement response through environmental remediation. The BOTE Project was designed to address site remediation after the release of a Ba simulant, Bacillus atrophaeus spp. globigii (Bg), within a facility, drawing upon recent advances in the biological sampling and decontamination areas. A key component of response to a biological contamination incident is the proper management of wastes and residues, which is woven throughout all response activities. Waste is generated throughout the response and includes items like sampling media packaging materials, discarded personal protective equipment, items removed from the facility either prior to or following decontamination, aqueous waste streams, and materials generated through the application of decontamination technologies. The amount of residual contaminating agent will impact the available disposal pathways and waste management costs. Waste management is an integral part of the decontamination process and should be included through “Pre-Incident” response planning. Overall, the pH-adjusted bleach decontamination process generated the most waste from the decontamination efforts, and fumigation with chlorine dioxide generated the least waste. A majority of the solid waste generated during pH-adjusted bleach decontamination was the nonporous surfaces that were removed, bagged, decontaminated ex situ, and treated as waste. The waste during the two fumigation rounds of the BOTE Project was associated mainly with sampling activities. Waste management activities may represent a significant contribution to the overall cost of the response/recovery operation. This paper addresses the waste management activities for the BOTE field test.Implications: Management of waste is a critical element of activities dealing with remediation of buildings and outdoor areas following a biological contamination incident. Waste management must be integrated into the overall remediation process, along with sampling, decontamination, resource management, and other important response elements, rather than being a stand-alone activity. The results presented in this paper will provide decision makers and emergency planners at the federal/state/tribal/local level information that can be used to integrate waste management into an overall systems approach to planning and response activities.     

Effects of aeration frequency on leachate quality and waste in simulated hybrid bioreactor landfills

Research has been conducted to investigate the effects of daily aeration frequency on leachate quality and waste settlement in simulated hybrid landfill bioreactors. Four laboratory-scale reactors were constructed and operated for about 10 months to simulate different bioreactor operations, including one anaerobic bioreactor and three hybrid bioreactors with different aeration frequencies (one, two, and four times per day). Chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅) reduced more than 96% of the initial concentrations in all aerated bioreactors. The differences of COD and BOD₅ reductions among tested aeration frequencies were relatively small. For ammonia nitrogen, the higher aeration frequency (two or four times per day) resulted in the quicker reduction. Overall, the concentrations of heavy metals (Cr, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, and Zn) decreased over time except Cd and Pb. The reduction of redox-sensitive metal concentrations (Mn, Co, Ni, and Cu) was greater in aerated bioreactors than in anaerobic bioreactor. Settlement of municipal solid waste (MSW) was enhanced with higher frequency of aeration events (four times per day).

Implications: In recent years, hybird bioreactor landfill technology has gained a lot of attention. Appropriate aeration rate is crucial for hybrid bioreactor operation, but few studies have been done and different results were obtained. Research was conducted to investigate the effects of daily aeration frequency on leachate quality and waste settlement. Results indicated that aeration can effectively accelerate waste stabilization and remove organic carbon concentration and total nitrogen in the leachate.     

Nuclear power in the 21st century: Challenges and possibilities

The current situation and possible future developments for nuclear power—including fission and fusion processes—is presented. The fission nuclear power continues to be an essential part of the low-carbon electricity generation in the world for decades to come. There are breakthrough possibilities in the development of new generation nuclear reactors where the life-time of the nuclear waste can be reduced to some hundreds of years instead of the present time-scales of hundred thousand of years. Research on the fourth generation reactors is needed for the realisation of this development. For the fast nuclear reactors, a substantial research and development effort is required in many fields—from material sciences to safety demonstration—to attain the envisaged goals. Fusion provides a long-term vision for an efficient energy production. The fusion option for a nuclear reactor for efficient production of electricity has been set out in a focussed European programme including the international project of ITER after which a fusion electricity DEMO reactor is envisaged.     

Changing ideas in forestry: A comparison of concepts in Swedish and American forestry journals during the early twentieth and twenty-first centuries

By combining digital humanities text-mining tools and a qualitative approach, we examine changing concepts in forestry journals in Sweden and the United States (US) in the early twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Our first hypothesis is that foresters at the beginning of the twentieth century were more concerned with production and less concerned with ecology than foresters at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Our second hypothesis is that US foresters in the early twentieth century were less concerned with local site conditions than Swedish foresters. We find that early foresters in both countries had broader—and often ecologically focused—concerns than hypothesized. Ecological concerns in the forestry literature have increased, but in the Nordic countries, production concerns have increased as well. In both regions and both time periods, timber management is closely connected to concerns about governance and state power, but the forms that governance takes have changed.     

Reducing the risk of invasive forest pests and pathogens: Combining legislation,targeted management and public awareness

Intensifying global trade will result in increased numbers of plant pest and pathogen species inadvertently being transported along with cargo. This paper examines current mechanisms for prevention and management of potential introductions of forest insect pests and pathogens in the European Union (EU). Current European legislation has not been found sufficient in preventing invasion, establishment and spread of pest and pathogen species within the EU. Costs associated with future invasions are difficult to estimate but past invasions have led to negative economic impacts in the invaded country. The challenge is combining free trade and free movement of products (within the EU) with protection against invasive pests and pathogens. Public awareness may mobilise the public for prevention and detection of potential invasions and, simultaneously, increase support for eradication and control measures. We recommend focus on commodities in addition to pathways, an approach within the EU using a centralised response unit and, critically, to engage the general public in the battle against establishment and spread of these harmful pests and pathogens.     

Nitrogen dynamics in managed boreal forests: Recent advances and future research directions

Nitrogen (N) availability plays multiple roles in the boreal landscape, as a limiting nutrient to forest growth, determinant of terrestrial biodiversity, and agent of eutrophication in aquatic ecosystems. We review existing research on forest N dynamics in northern landscapes and address the effects of management and environmental change on internal cycling and export. Current research foci include resolving the nutritional importance of different N forms to trees and establishing how tree–mycorrhizal relationships influence N limitation. In addition, understanding how forest responses to external N inputs are mediated by above- and belowground ecosystem compartments remains an important challenge. Finally, forestry generates a mosaic of successional patches in managed forest landscapes, with differing levels of N input, biological demand, and hydrological loss. The balance among these processes influences the temporal patterns of stream water chemistry and the long-term viability of forest growth. Ultimately, managing forests to keep pace with increasing demands for biomass production, while minimizing environmental degradation, will require multi-scale and interdisciplinary perspectives on landscape N dynamics.     

过硫酸钾-偶氮复合引发体系合成杂化高分子絮凝剂PACS-PAM及其表征

采用过硫酸钾(K2S2O8)-偶氮二异丁咪唑啉盐酸盐(VA-044引发剂)复合引发体系合成了聚硫氯化铝-聚丙烯酰胺(PACS-PAM)杂化高分子絮凝剂。以特性黏度为指标,考察了引发剂配比、引发剂总用量、单体质量浓度、总铝浓度(AlT)、反应温度和反应时间等因素对杂化絮凝剂PASC-PAM的合成影响,结果表明,杂化絮凝剂PACS-PAM的最佳合成条件为引发剂K2S2O8与偶氮VA-044质量比为3:1、引发剂总用量为单体总质量的0.2%、单体质量浓度为0.21 g/mL、总铝浓度(AlT)为0.15 mol/L、反应温度为50 ℃、反应时间为3 h,在最佳条件下合成的杂化高分子的特性黏度为14.70 dL/g。电导率分析、红外光谱(FTIR)分析和热重-差热(DTA-TGA)分析表明,杂化絮凝剂中有机组分同无机组分是通过PAM分子链端的硫酸根离子(—SO42-)的桥连作用以离子键形式连接的。对黄泥悬浊液的絮凝效果研究表明,杂化絮凝剂PASC-PAM的絮凝效果优于复配絮凝剂PASC-PAM。     

常温还原铁氧体法处理含铬废水

实验探究了常温还原铁氧体法处理含铬废水的最优工艺条件,研究了不同亚铁盐及氨氮和COD对处理效果的影响,对沉淀进行了化学分析与材料表征。实验表明,在n(Fe2+):n(Cr6+)=6,共沉淀pH=10.0,还原时间为2 min,共沉淀时间为15 min条件下,处理含铬废水可达最好效果,总铬浓度从1 600 mg/L降至1.5 mg/L以下,符合国家《污水综合排放标准》(GB 8978-1996)的要求,实现了常温条件下铁氧体法对含铬废水的处理。对于不同亚铁盐,氯化亚铁处理废水的性能要强于硫酸亚铁,沉降速率快且沉淀致密。一般浓度的氨氮(50 mg/L)与COD(500 mg/L)对处理效果没有明显影响。对沉淀进行酸稳定性分析和XRD表征,确定生成了稳定的含铬复合铁氧体。