Green taxes, blue taxes

Central governments are facing increasingly stringent demands to lead the clean-up of public resources. Historically, governments have chosen legislation and regulation to address these concerns and achieved mixed results, but another tool of public policy holds significant promise and is gaining ground in the policy debate: 'green' taxes. The potential of a tax system to mitigate environmental externalities is explored. The theory of pollution tax is reviewed and a comparison of two country cases where taxes have been designed explicitly to reduce industrial effluents and improve the quality of fresh water resources is presented. If structures to approximate social costs are federally mandated and regionally implemented, a comprehensive tax system can constitute an integral part of an effective response to private spoliation of the commons.     

Arsenic contamination of natural waters in San Juan and La Pampa, Argentina

Arsenic (As) speciation in surface and groundwater from two provinces in Argentina (San Juan and La Pampa) was investigated using solid phase extraction (SPE) cartridge methodology with comparison to total arsenic concentrations. A third province, Río Negro, was used as a control to the study. Strong cation exchange (SCX) and strong anion exchange (SAX) cartridges were utilised in series for the separation and preservation of arsenite (As^III), arsenate (As^V), monomethylarsonic acid (MA^V) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA^V). Samples were collected from a range of water outlets (rivers/streams, wells, untreated domestic taps, well water treatment works) to assess the relationship between total arsenic and arsenic species, water type and water parameters (pH, conductivity and total dissolved solids, TDS). Analysis of the waters for arsenic (total and species) was performed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in collision cell mode. Total arsenic concentrations in the surface and groundwater from Encon and the San José de Jáchal region of San Juan (north-west Argentina within the Cuyo region) ranged from 9 to 357 μg l^?1 As. Groundwater from Eduardo Castex (EC) and Ingeniero Luiggi (LU) in La Pampa (central Argentina within the Chaco-Pampean Plain) ranged from 3 to 1326 μg l^?1 As. The pH range for the provinces of San Juan (7.2–9.7) and La Pampa (7.0–9.9) are in agreement with other published literature. The highest total arsenic concentrations were found in La Pampa well waters (both rural farms and pre-treated urban sources), particularly where there was high pH (typically > 8.2), conductivity (>2,600 μS cm^?1) and TDS (>1,400 mg l^?1). Reverse osmosis (RO) treatment of well waters in La Pampa for domestic drinking water in EC and LU significantly reduced total arsenic concentrations from a range of 216–224 μg l^?1 As to 0.3–0.8 μg l^?1 As. Arsenic species for both provinces were predominantly As^III and As^V. As^III and As^V concentrations in San Juan ranged from 4–138 μg l^?1 to <0.02–22 μg l^?1 for surface waters (in the San José de Jáchal region) and 23–346 μg l^?1 and 0.04–76 μg l^?1 for groundwater, respectively. This translates to a relative As^III abundance of 69–100% of the total arsenic in surface waters and 32–100% in groundwater. This is unexpected because it is typically thought that in oxidising conditions (surface waters), the dominant arsenic species is As^V. However, data from the SPE methodology suggests that As^III is the prevalent species in San Juan, indicating a greater influence from reductive processes. La Pampa groundwater had As^III and As^V concentrations of 5–1,332 μg l^?1 and 0.09–592 μg l^?1 for EC and 32–242 μg l^?1 and 30–277 μg l^?1 As for LU, respectively. Detectable levels of MA^V were reported in both provinces up to a concentration of 79 μg l^?1 (equating to up to 33% of the total arsenic). Previously published literature has focused primarily on the inorganic arsenic species, however this study highlights the potentially significant concentrations of organoarsenicals present in natural waters. The potential for separating and preserving individual arsenic species in the field to avoid transformation during transport to the laboratory, enabling an accurate assessment of in situ arsenic speciation in water supplies is discussed.     

Community action planning in East Delhi: a participatory approach to build urban disaster resilience

The paper addresses disaster risk of an urban community in a mega city, which experiences high risk to natural hazards. The Community Action Planning (CAP) tool is used in this case. It has been developed from five resilience dimensions (physical, social, economic, institutional, and natural), 25 parameters and 75 actions. A detailed CAP structured questionnaire survey was conducted with 89 Residential and Welfare Associations (RWAs) in East Delhi, India situated in three types of settlements: planned Delhi Development Authority (DDA) housing and societies, colonies, and urban villages. The result identifies and prioritizes 32 actions as important for all three settlements. The result shows both consistent and inconsistent responses from RWAs. To give some examples, parameter S3 is “tasks to reduce number of people suffer from water borne diseases after a disaster”. In response to this parameter, approximately 80% of total respondents prioritized action (A1), “promoting people to take preventive measures after a disaster”. It shows consistent response from all three settlements. However, parameter S5 is “tasks to improve the awareness and knowledge about threat and impact of disasters”. Approximately 40% of total respondents prioritized A1, “organizing training program for awareness and knowledge building”. This action was prioritized in planned DDA housing and societies (56%) as well as in colonies (52%). However, none of the respondents from urban villages prioritized this action. These responses show inconsistency in response to specific action. In addition, the study shows the potential impact of CAP process for other communities in cities that are experiencing disaster risks and impact of climate change.     

U.S. Natural Resources and Climate Change: Concepts and Approaches for Management Adaptation

Public lands and waters in the United States traditionally have been managed using frameworks and objectives that were established under an implicit assumption of stable climatic conditions. However, projected climatic changes render this assumption invalid. Here, we summarize general principles for management adaptations that have emerged from a major literature review. These general principles cover many topics including: (1) how to assess climate impacts to ecosystem processes that are key to management goals; (2) using management practices to support ecosystem resilience; (3) converting barriers that may inhibit management responses into opportunities for successful implementation; and (4) promoting flexible decision making that takes into account challenges of scale and thresholds. To date, the literature on management adaptations to climate change has mostly focused on strategies for bolstering the resilience of ecosystems to persist in their current states. Yet in the longer term, it is anticipated that climate change will push certain ecosystems and species beyond their capacity to recover. When managing to support resilience becomes infeasible, adaptation may require more than simply changing management practices—it may require changing management goals and managing transitions to new ecosystem states. After transitions have occurred, management will again support resilience—this time for a new ecosystem state. Thus, successful management of natural resources in the context of climate change will require recognition on the part of managers and decisions makers of the need to cycle between “managing for resilience” and “managing for change.”     

GIS and local knowledge in disaster management: a case study of flood risk mapping in Viet Nam

Linking community knowledge with modern techniques to record and analyse risk related data is one way of engaging and mobilising community capacity. This paper discusses the use of the Geographic Information System (GIS) at the local level and the need for integrating modern technology and indigenous knowledge into disaster management. It suggests a way to mobilise available human and technical resources in order to strengthen a good partnership between local communities and local and national institutions. The paper also analyses the current vulnerability of two communes by correlating hazard risk and loss/damage caused by disasters and the contribution that domestic risk maps in the community can make to reduce this risk. The disadvantages, advantages and lessons learned from the GIS flood risk mapping project are presented through the case study of the Quang Tho Commune in Thua Thien Hue province, central Viet Nam.     

Petrographic and spectroscopic characterization of phosphate-stabilized mine tailings from Leadville,Colorado

The use of soluble PO4(3-) and lime as a heavy metal chemical stabilization agent was evaluated for mine tailings from Leadville, Colorado. The tailings are from piles associated with the Wolftone and Maid of Erin mines; ore material that was originally mined around 1900, reprocessed in the 1940s, and now requires stabilization. The dominant minerals in the tailings are galena (PbS), cerrusite (PbCO3), pyromorphite (Pb5(PO4)3Cl), plumbojarosite (Pb0.5Fe3(SO4)2(OH)6), and chalcophanites ((Pb,Fe,Zn,Mn)Mn2O5 x 2H2O). The tailings were treated with soluble PO4(3-) and lime to convert soluble heavy metals (principally Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd) into insoluble metal phosphate precipitates. The treatment process caused bulk mineralogical transformations as well as the formation of a reaction rind around the particles dominated by Ca and P. Within the mineral grains, Fe-Pb phosphosulfates, Fe-Pb sulfates (plumbojarosite), and galena convert to Fe-Ca-Pb hydroxides. The Mn-Pb hydroxides and Mn-(+/-Fe)-Pb hydroxides (chalcophanites) undergo chemical alteration throughout the grains during treatment. Bulk and surface spectroscopies showed that the insoluble reaction products in the rind are tertiary metal phosphate (e.g. (Cu,Ca2)(PO4)2) and apatite (e.g. Pb5(PO4)3Cl) family minerals. pH-dependent leaching (pH 4,6,8) showed that the treatment was able to reduce equilibrium concentrations by factors of 3 to 150 for many metals; particularly Pb2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, and Cu2+. Geochemical thermodynamic equilibrium modeling showed that apatite family and tertiary metal phosphate phases act as controlling solids for the equilibrium concentrations of Ca2+, PO4(3-) Pb2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, and Cu2+ in the leachates during pH-dependent leaching. Both end members and ideal solid solutions were seen to be controlling solids.     

Influence of sewage inputs and fish farm effluents on dissolved nitrogen species in a chalk river

Nitrate, ammonium and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) concentrations were measured in the lower reaches of the River Test in Hampshire to assess the impact of two effluent point sources. An 18-month survey from July 2001 to December 2002 was carried out at locations above and below fish farm inputs and a sewage effluent outfall. The concentration of nitrate exceeded 400 μM at the four sites on all sample dates. A consistent increase in ammonium concentration was measured downstream of the fish farm, but not the sewage effluent input. DON samples collected downstream of the fish farm did not show a consistent increase in concentration, compared with the upstream sampling location, whereas the sewage effluent input at Romsey was a point source of DON to the River Test with a mean increase of 15 μM. Nitrate was the major component of dissolved nitrogen in this aquifer-fed chalk-bed river system, with up to 10% being DON and ammonium comprising <1%.     

The potential of financial incentives to enhance householders' kerbside recycling behaviour

Although the successful enhancement of householders' participation in kerbside recycling schemes is essential for household waste recycling schemes to reach their desired levels of achievement, our understanding of householders' responses to the various incentives available to waste managers is incomplete. In particular, whether and how the recycling behaviour of householders may be favourably altered through imposition of financial penalties or rewards is not fully understood. Surveys of householders' attitudes in the London Borough of Havering, served by a kerbside co-mingled survival bag recycling scheme, showed they might be better encouraged to recycle more through improvements to structural and promotional aspects of the recycling scheme than through imposition of financial incentives. If financial incentives were to be imposed to enhance kerbside recycling, householders preferred: (1) rewards to penalties, and (2) community-based rewards and local taxation rebates to other or individual rewards. Given the attitudes of householders and the resources that would be needed to monitor their recycling behaviour as a basis for delivering financial incentives, it is suggested that the priority for enhancing recycling should be to make appropriate improvements in the infrastructure and support of the kerbside scheme and service.