Approaches and Methods of Siting Locally Unwanted Waste Facilities

The siting of waste facilities is a popular subject but one constrained by a tendency to advocate a single solution regardless of context. This effort to address the siting of waste facilities from a broader perspective describes three major siting approaches and a range of site selection methods. The application of siting approaches and methods in 10 waste siting examples are described, general conclusions are advanced and suggestions for further initiatives are offered.     

A method for determining volatile organic solvents in chalk pore waters (Southern and Eastern England) and its relevance to the evaluation of groundwater contamination

Conventional methods of sampling groundwater in Chalk aquifers sample the mobile water in the fissures only and not the non-mobile water held in the microporous matrix. However, the microporous matrix can play an important role in modifying groundwater quality by attenuating contaminant migration through diffusion exchange and, in the long term, by acting as a reservoir for contaminant retention.A method for extracting and analysing chalk pore waters for chlorinated solvents has been developed. Chalk pore water-depth profiles at the site of a spillage of tetrachloroethene demonstrated that the immiscible phase of the solvent had migrated to depths of 50 m, producing solvent concentrations in the matrix pore waters of up to 40,000 μg L⁻¹.In addition, the pore water-depth profile indicated that the immiscible phase had ponded upon a less permeable horizon within the Chalk aquifer at shallow depths.     

Gender and drought: experiences of Australian women in the drought of the 1990s

A unique collaborative, sociological study undertaken during 1995-7, explored the social construction of drought as a disaster, looking at farm families in two Australian states: Queensland (beef producers) and New South Wales (sheep/wheat producers). A decision was made to interview the women and men separately to test our hypothesis that there would be gender issues in any analysis of a disaster, but particularly one which has had so much long-term impact on individuals, families and communities, such as drought. Interviews were conducted with over 100 individuals male and female. We conclude that drought as a disaster is a gendered experience. The paper draws on the narratives of some women involved in the study to identify 'themes of difference' which confirm the necessity to maintain gender as a variable in all studies of the social impacts of disaster.     

A NET BENEFIT MODEL FOR RECREATION PLANNING AT DRINKING WATER RESERVOIRS1

A management model was developed for determining levels of recreation activities at public drinking water reservoirs. Quabbin Reservoir, located in central Massachusetts, served as a case study for the model. An interdisciplinary research team was formed to study the impact of selected recreation activities on water quality, public demand and willingness to pay for selected recreation activities, carrying capacity constraints, and the economic cost/benefits associated with increases in recreation at the Quabbin Reservation. Study variables were integrated into a quadratic programming model, producing the number of participants that corresponds to maximum net benefits for specific development packages on design days. The recreation mix associated with maximum net economic benefits was found to be cost-effective (assuming the use of reasonable entrance fees) and not deleterious to water quality. However, as a result of the findings of a related study, it was recommended that nutrients, particularly from wastewater, not be permitted to enter the reservoir, since the current phosphorous level may be at a critical point. Management techniques that would safeguard against this occurrence were recommended. The model was sensitive to management objectives; recommendations were limited to activities that would not lower the existing high quality of Quabbin water.     

Reconstructed Stream Flow for the Salt and Verde Rivers From Tree-Ring Data1

ABSTRACT: The Salt and Verde Rivers of central Arizona provide the water supply for metropolitan Phoenix and a considerable acreage of irrigated agriculture. Rapid urbanization has caused concern over future water supply and aggravated flooding in the already flood-prone Salt River Valley. Tree-ring data were used as a proxy source to extend the annual and seasonal runoff records back to A.D. 1580 and thus to determine whether the period of record for annual discharge adequately represents the long term flow characteristics of the two rivers. Results show that several periods of extended low flow have occurred during the past 400 years, many of which were more severe then any comparable period since 1890. The low flow periods appear to have a recurrence interval of about 22 years. Also the gaged records contain an above average number of high seasonal and annual flows when compared to the entire 400 years. The reconstructions contain important implications for future water supply and flood potentials in the Salt River Valley.     

Triple tracks in CR-39 as the result of Pd–D Co-deposition: evidence of energetic neutrons

Since the announcement by Fleischmann and Pons that the excess enthalpy generated in the negatively polarized Pd–D-D₂O system was attributable to nuclear reactions occurring inside the Pd lattice, there have been reports of other manifestations of nuclear activities in this system. In particular, there have been reports of tritium and helium-4 production; emission of energetic particles, gamma or X-rays, and neutrons; as well as the transmutation of elements. In this communication, the results of Pd–D co-deposition experiments conducted with the cathode in close contact with CR-39, a solid-state nuclear etch detector, are reported. Among the solitary tracks due to individual energetic particles, triple tracks are observed. Microscopic examination of the bottom of the triple track pit shows that the three lobes of the track are splitting apart from a center point. The presence of three α-particle tracks outgoing from a single point is diagnostic of the ¹²C(n,n′)3α carbon breakup reaction and suggests that DT reactions that produce ≥9.6 MeV neutrons are occurring inside the Pd lattice. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the production of energetic (≥9.6 MeV) neutrons in the Pd–D system. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Levels of community participation and satisfaction with decentralized wildlife management in Idodi-Pawaga Wildlife Management Area,Tanzania

Participatory approaches to conservation are viewed as a plausible alternative to the old ‘fortress conservation’ approach. The design and implementation of these approaches in developing countries have tended to embrace community participation through decentralized governance mechanisms in the past three decades. However, sustainable conservation approaches that maintain community livelihoods while conserving biodiversity are challenged with meeting both objectives. In addressing this challenge, little attention has been given to an empirical analysis of community’s satisfaction levels on how they participated in the design and implementation of this approach. In this article, we use a mixed method approach using both quantitative and qualitative data to examine levels of satisfaction and participation of local communities in the Idodi-Pawaga Wildlife Management Area (WMA), south-western Tanzania. We find that social economic factors (e.g. age, household size, gender, number of years living in the same location and participation/non-participation) influence, in different ways, the satisfaction levels of community’s participation towards the WMA creation. Due to inadequate participation, we find that the WMA design and implementation process failed from the beginning to actively involve the local communities and this has resulted in the near absence of the promised economic benefits from wildlife conservation. We suggest that participation should go beyond the simple information sharing to actively engage the local communities in key planning activities from the beginning of any WMA programme. It is also important to take into consideration their levels of satisfaction with the process of decision-making if meaningful decentralized governance is to be achieved.     

Fate of turbid glacial inflows in a hydroelectric reservoir

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - Turbidity from glacial meltwater limits light penetration with potential ecological consequences. Using profiles of temperature, conductivity, and turbidity, we...     

Human disturbance and shifts in vertebrate community composition in a biodiversity hotspot

Understanding how human modification of the landscape shapes vertebrate community composition is vital to understanding the current status and future trajectory of wildlife. Using a participatory approach, we deployed the largest camera-trap network in Mesoamerica to date to investigate how anthropogenic disturbance shapes the occupancy and co-occurrence of terrestrial vertebrate species in a tropical biodiversity hotspot: the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. We estimated species richness in different categories of land protection with rarefaction analysis and estimated the expected occupancy with a joint species distribution model that included covariates for anthropogenic disturbance, land protection, habitat quality, and habitat availability. Areas with the most stringent land-use protections (e.g., Corcovado National Park, 24 species [95% CI 23–25]) harbored significantly more species than unprotected areas (20 species [19.7–20.3]), mainly due to a reduced presence of large-bodied species of conservation concern in unprotected areas (e.g., jaguar Panthera onca and white-lipped peccary Tayassu pecari). Small-bodied generalist species, such as opossums (Didelphidae) and armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus), in contrast, were more common at disturbed sites, resulting in a significant difference in vertebrate community composition between sites with low and high disturbance. Co-occurrence of species was also mainly associated with response to disturbance. Similar responses to disturbance create two groups of species, those whose site-level occupancy usually increased as anthropogenic disturbance increased and those whose estimated occupancy decreased. The absence of large-bodied species entails an important loss of ecological function in disturbed areas and can hinder forest development and maintenance. Efforts to protect and restore forested landscapes are likely having a positive effect on the abundance of some threatened species. These efforts, however, must be sustained and expanded to increase connectivity and ensure the long-term viability of the wildlife community.