Environment drives financial performance: The Jury is in

In a single day, June 13, 1994, the total stock market capitalization of Exxon dropped by a full 5 percent, with news of the company's exposure to additional legal damages from the Exxon Valdez disaster. Despite what should have been a jarring wake-up call, however, Wall Street investors and company CEOs continue for the most part to conduct business as usual, unpersuaded that environmental considerations are anything more than a superficial and temporary blip on their Bloomberg screens. There is mounting evidence that they're dead wrong. In this article, the authors contend what they're currently sleeping through is nothing less than the beginnings of a profound, worldwide industrial restructuring.     

Valuation of Irrigation Water by the Hedonic Price Method: A Case Study in Chalkidiki,Greece

The design of efficient water allocation systems depends, among other factors, on economic issues and, above all, on a reliable estimate of the economic value of water. In this paper the hedonic price method is utilized to reveal the implicit value of irrigation water by analyzing agricultural land values in Chalkidiki, a typical rural area in Greece. The method was applied to a sample of both irrigated and nonirrigated properties and the value of irrigation water was estimated by disaggregating the total price of each parcel of land, obtained through a local survey. Results show that, apart from typical value attributes, the agricultural characteristics of the land, including irrigation water availability, have a significant influence on land prices.     

Assessment of Soil Cover Degradation and Desertification in Northern Lowland Dagestan

New principles of the assessment of soil cover degradation and desertification, the scale and intensity of destructive processes manifestation are determined.     

Scale-up considerations for a hollow-fiber-membrane bioreactor treating trichloroethylene-contaminated water.

Scale-up of a hollow-fiber-membrane (HFM) bioreactor treating trichloroethylene- (TCE-) contaminated water via co-metabolism with the methanotroph Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b PP358 was investigated through cost comparisons, bioreactor experiments, and mathematical modeling. Cost comparisons, based on a hypothetical treatment scenario of 568-L/min (150-gpm) flowrate with an influent TCE concentration of 100 microg/L, resulted in a configuration of treatment trains with two HFM modules in series and an overall annual cost of US dollar 0.36/m3 treated. Biological experiments were conducted with short lumen and shell residence times, 0.16 and 0.40 min, respectively, as a result of the cost comparisons. A new variable, specific transformation, was defined for characterizing the cometabolic transformation in continuous-flow systems, and values as large as 38.5 microg TCE/mg total suspended solids were sustainable for TCE treatment. Using mathematical modeling, HFM bioreactor system design was investigated, resulting in a five-step system design strategy to facilitate sizing of the unit processes.     

Dissolved Ions of Trace and Major Elements and in Suspended Sediments in the Nile, Egypt

Dissolved ions and suspended participates from twelve water samples from Sohag (different localities) and Aswan (behind and below the High Dam) areas were collected along the River Nile, upper Egypt, which is at present affected seriously by pressure of population, intense industrial and agricultural activities, and atmospheric fallout. Eighteen trace and nine major ions in solution and fourteen metals in suspension were analyzed to establish whether elements are of anthropogenic or natural origin. Results of this study show that the Nile water was contaminated with high concentrations of dissolved lead, and with copper, nickel and mercury to a lesser extent, suggesting that these contaminants are generated from anthropogenic activities. the other dissolved ions in the Nile are of natural origin because their metal concentrations fall within the range of the normal background and average world dissolved values for inland waters. Results show that the usual constituents of suspended particulates in the Nile seem to be some metals (Cu and Zn) adsorbed on iron and manganese oxide/hydroxide. the results also reveal that most trace and major metal particulates increase from south to north due to activities associated with the dense population living along the Nile banks. No significant differences were observed between the chemical composition of trace and major elements taken on the east and west river Nile banks.     

Germination,Growth, and Nodulation of Sesbania rostrata Grown in Pb/Zn Mine Tailings

Sesbania rostrata in pure and amended Pb/Zn tailings. About 90% of seeds of S. rostrata germinated in pure Pb/Zn tailings, which contained high concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cu, and Cd. Although seedling growth suffered from the adverse environment of Pb/Zn tailings, they became established on tailings stands, in the greenhouse, as well as on the actual tailings dam, and completed their life cycle in 4 months. Dry matter production and nitrogen accumulation was 3200 kg/ha and 69.4 kg/ha, respectively in the actual tailings dam. Applying inorganic fertilizer to Pb/Zn tailings led to no obvious improvement in growth and nodulation of S. rostrata, while tailings amended by river sediment or domestic refuse rich in organic matter improved the growth and nodulation of the species. Azorhizobium caulinodans survived and formed N-fixing stem and root nodules in S. rostrata grown in pure Pb/Zn tailings with a nodule biomass exceeding 300 mg fresh matter per plant.