Regulatory resistance to environmental law in rural Australia: land clearing,murder and the media

ABSTRACT

In 2014 an Australia public servant was killed in a confrontation over illegal land clearing. The perpetrator was a land holder with a history of non-compliance with environmental regulations and had been subject to a series of prosecutions. Political suggestions that the crime was somehow justified drew attention to the growing prevalence of law breaking linked to environmental law and policy in rural Australia. This paper investigated the social construction of both the crime and the community response through a qualitative media content analysis. Utilising the “Recipe for Criminalisation” framework developed by Amnesty International, the analysis identified a contest between media discourses of legitimacy in regards to the actions taken by the perpetrator, the public servant and ultimately, the regulatory framework itself. The analysis revealed that the link between media references to illegitimate legislation, excessive regulation, over-zealous compliance and strong social norms of rural independence and economic survival created a persuasive story of justified resistance to unwelcome environmental legislation in this case. Understanding how affected communities respond to instances of policy failure, civil and criminal law breaking and environmental compliance is a crucial factor in designing more legitimate and effective governance regimes. How media narratives are constructed, by whom and in whose interests remains an important analytic question for the study of resistance to environmental law and policy around the world.     

Sequential extraction analysis of heavy metals in sediments of variable composition using nitrilotriacetic acid to counteract resorption

Artificial sediments were made that contained variable amounts (up to 20% by weight) of feldspar, calcite, Fe-oxide or organic matter. Analysis of samples spiked with Pb and Zn in the presence and absence of nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) showed that 400 mg l(-1) of chelating agent greatly reduced or eliminated sorption in each case. Further study showed that this NTA concentration did not cause significant mineral dissolution. Resorption during sequential extraction analysis of artificial sediments is indicated by the fact that with NTA, levels of metals are higher in the first step and lower during subsequent steps, compared with levels obtained without NTA. However, the addition of 400 mg l(-1) of NTA to each extracting solution in the sequence appears to be effective for counteracting resorption in feldspathic, calcareous, ferruginous and carbonaceous sediments.     

Application of the ERICA Integrated Approach to the Drigg coastal sand dunes

The EC-funded project 'Environmental Risks from Ionising Contaminants: Assessment and Management' (ERICA) developed an 'Integrated Approach' for assessing the impact of ionising radiation on ecosystems. This paper presents the application of the ERICA Integrated Approach, supported by a software programme (the ERICA Tool) and guidance documentation, to an assessment of the Drigg coastal sand dunes (Cumbria, UK). Targeted sampling provided site-specific data for sand dune biota, including amphibians and reptiles. Radionuclides reported included (90)Sr, (99)Tc, (137)Cs, (238)Pu, (239+240)Pu and (241)Am. Site-specific data were compared to predictions derived using the ERICA Tool. Some under- and over-predictions of biota activity concentrations were identified but can be explained by the specific ecological characteristics and contamination mechanism of the dunes. Overall, the results indicated no significant impact of ionising radiation on the sand dune biota and the Integrated Approach was found to be a flexible and effective means of conducting a radiation impact assessment.     

Modelling radioiodine transport across a capillary fringe

Due to its long radioactive half-life, iodine-129 is considered to be an important radionuclide in the context of underground radioactive waste disposal safety assessment. Iodine speciates as iodide (I-) in reducing conditions and iodate (IO3-) in oxidizing conditions. As iodate is more reactive, it is much less mobile than iodide. Consequently, in considering vertically upward transport within a soil profile, iodine will tend to accumulate at the top of the capillary fringe. In this paper, a model of iodine transport across a capillary fringe is developed by coupling equations for variably saturated flow, oxygen dynamics and rate-limited sorption. Model parameters are obtained by consideration of literature values, calibration on soil column data and other supporting laboratory experiments. The results demonstrate the importance of rate kinetics on the migration and bioavailability of radioiodine in the near-surface environment.     

Frequent colony fusions provide opportunities for helpers to become reproductives in the termite Zootermopsis nevadensis

In many termite taxa, colonies occupying the same nesting resource can meet, interact, and merge with unrelated conspecific neighbors. Because proto-termite ancestors likely also co-inhabited resources and experienced interactions with neighboring conspecific families, extant species that form fused colony units may offer fundamental clues to explaining the origins of eusociality in Isoptera, particularly if both original families retain the potential for reproduction. We allowed entire colonies of Zootermopsis nevadensis (Archotermopsidae) to interact, merge, and develop in the lab, then used genetic markers to determine the family of origin of reproductives, soldiers, and helpers. Persisting and new members of all castes arose from both original colonies and in some cases were hybrids of the two original lineages. We also measured the frequency of mixed-family colonies in natural settings. Ten out of 30 field sampled colonies contained mixed families, demonstrating that interactions and fusions are common in nature. We discuss the implications of our findings as a model system for understanding the evolution of eusociality in termites, highlighting the importance of ecological circumstances impacting direct, indirect, and colony-level fitness.     

Phylogeography of the Indo-Pacific parrotfish Scarus psittacus: isolation generates distinctive peripheral populations in two oceans

Phylogenetic, phylogeographic, population genetic and coalescence analyses were combined to examine the recent evolutionary history of the widespread Indo-Pacific parrotfish, Scarus psittacus, over a geographic range spanning three marine biogeographic realms. We sequenced 164 individuals from 12 locations spanning 17,000 km, from 55oE to 143oW, using 322 base pairs of mitochondrial control region (D-loop). S. psittacus displayed high haplotype (h = 0.83–0.98), but low nucleotide (<1%) diversity. Most (>83%) genetic variation was within populations. AMOVA revealed significant partitioning and identified five geographic groups. These included one central population and four populations peripheral to the centre. The central population occupied reefs from Western Australia to Tahiti and represented the central Indo-Pacific biogeographic realm. Cocos Keeling was distinct from central and western Indo-Pacific biogeographic realms occupying a position intermediate to these. Peripheral populations (Hawaii, Marquesas) represented the eastern Indo-Pacific biogeographic realm, while Seychelles represented the western Indo-Pacific biogeographic realm. All but the central population expanded (<163 kya). Whilst all populations experienced major sea level and SST changes associated with Pleistocene glaciation cycles, the genetic structure of the central population was relatively homogenous unlike the remaining genetically distinctive populations.     

Using a fisheries ecosystem model with a water quality model to explore trophic and habitat impacts on a fisheries stock: A case study of the blue crab population in the Chesapeake Bay

Recent calls for the development of ecosystem-based fisheries management compel the development of resource management tools and linkages between existing fisheries management tools and other resource tools to enable assessment and management of multiple impacts on fisheries resources. In this paper, we describe the use of the Chesapeake Bay Fisheries Ecosystem Model (CBFEM), developed using the Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) software, and the Chesapeake Bay Water Quality Model (WQM) to demonstrate how linkages between available modeling tools can be used to inform ecosystem-based natural resource management. The CBFEM was developed to provide strategic ecosystem information in support of fisheries management. The WQM was developed to assess impacts on water quality. The CBFEM was indirectly coupled with the WQM to assess the effects of water quality and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) on blue crabs. The output from two WQM scenarios (1985-1994), a baseline scenario representing actual nutrient inputs and another with reduced inputs based on a tributary management strategy, was incorporated into the CBFEM. The results suggested that blue crab biomass could be enhanced under management strategies (reduced nutrient input) when the effective search rate of blue crab young-of-the-year's (YOY's) predators or the vulnerability of blue crab YOY to its predators was adjusted by SAV. Such model linkages are important for incorporating physical and biological components of ecosystems in order to explore ecosystem-based fisheries management options.     

Reactive barriers for Cs retention

¹³⁷Cs was dispersed globally by cold war activities and, more recently, by the Chernobyl accident. Engineered extraction of ¹³⁷Cs from soils and groundwaters is exceedingly difficult. Because the half-life of ¹³⁷Cs is only 30.2 years, remediation might be more effective (and less costly) if ¹³⁷Cs bioavailability could be demonstrably limited for even a few decades by use of a reactive barrier. Essentially permanent isolation must be demonstrated in those few settings where high nuclear level wastes contaminated the environment with ¹³⁵Cs (half-life 2.3×10⁶ years) in addition to ¹³⁷Cs. Clays are potentially a low-cost barrier to Cs movement, though their long-term effectiveness remains untested. To identify optimal clays for Cs retention, Cs desorption was measured for five common clays: Wyoming Montmorillonite (SWy-1), Georgia Kaolinites (KGa-1 and KGa-2), Fithian Illite (F-Ill), and K-Metabentonite (K-Mbt). Exchange sites were pre-saturated with 0.16 M CsCl for 14 days and readily exchangeable Cs was removed by a series of LiNO₃ and LiCl washes. Washed clays were then placed into dialysis bags and the Cs release to the deionized water outside the bags measured. Release rates from 75 to 139 days for SWy-1, K-Mbt and F-Ill were similar; 0.017% to 0.021% sorbed Cs released per day. Both kaolinites released Cs more rapidly (0.12% to 0.05% of the sorbed Cs per day). In a second set of experiments, clays were Cs-doped for 110 days and subjected to an extreme and prolonged rinsing process. All the clays exhibited some capacity for irreversible Cs uptake. However, the residual loading was greatest on K-Mbt (0.33 wt.% Cs). Thus, this clay would be the optimal material for constructing artifical reactive barriers.     

Pre-instrumental perspectives on Arkansas River cross-watershed flow variability

We present four reconstruction estimates of Arkansas River baseflow and streamflow using a total of 78 tree-ring chronologies for three streamflow gages, geographically spanning the headwaters in Colorado to near the confluence of the Arkansas-Mississippi rivers. The estimates represent different seasonal windows, which are dictated by the shared limiting forcing of precipitation on seasonal tree growth and soil moisture—and subsequently on the variability of Arkansas River discharge. Flow extremes that were higher and lower than what has been observed in the instrumental era are recorded in each of the four reconstructions. Years of concurrent, cross-basin (all sites) low flow appear more frequently during the 20th and 21st Centuries compared to any period since 1600 A.D., however, no significant trend in cross-basin low flow is observed. As the most downstream major tributary of the Mississippi River, the Arkansas River directly influences flood risk in the Lower Mississippi River Valley. Estimates of extreme high flow in downstream reconstructions coincide with specific years of historic flooding documented in New Orleans, Louisiana, just upstream of the Mississippi River Delta. By deduction, Mississippi River flooding in years of low Arkansas River flow imply exceptional flooding contributions from the Upper Mississippi River catchments.