FACTORS INFLUENCING ACUTE TOXICfrY OF COAL ASH TO RAINBOW TROUT (SALMO GAIRDNERI) AND BLUEGILL SUNFISH (LEPOMIS MACROCHIRUS)1

ABSTRACT: The potentially toxic components in coal ash (ash particles, heavy metals) were evaluated in laboratory static, acute (96 hr) bioassays, both separately and in various combinations with extreme pH (5.0 and 8.5), using rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) and bluegifi sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus). Ash particle morphology and metal distribution anlaysis, using electron microscopy and surface-subsurface analysis by ion microscopy, showed that metals could be either clumped or evenly distributed on the surface of fly ash. Surface enrichment on fly ash particles from electrostatic precipitators, as measured by ion microscopy, was found for cadmium, copper, chromium, nickel, lead, mercury, titanium, arsenic, and selenium. Bottom (heavy) ash was not acutely toxic to either fish species at concentrations of up to 1500 mg/l total suspended solids (TSS) at pH 5.0, 7.5, or 8.5. Fly ash particles were not acutely toxic to blue-gill at levels up to 1360 mg/l TSS. Rainbow trout were highly sensitive to fly ash (25 to 60 percent mortality) at concentrations of 4.3 to 20.5 mg/I TSS when dissolved metal availability was high but were not sensitive at higher particulate concentrations (58 to 638 mg/I TSS) when dissolved metals were low. When metals were acid-leached from fly ash prior to testing, no rainbow trout mortality occurred at TSS concentrations of up to 2,350 mg/l TSS. When the percent of dissolved metal was high (e.g., 50–90 percent of the total), fish mortality was increased. Rainbow trout were nearly two orders of magnitude more sensitive than bluegill when subjected to a blend of cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, lead, and zinc. The two species were similar in their acute sensitivity to acidic pH at levels at or below 4.0 and alkaline pH of 9.1. If the pH of coal ash effluent is contained within the range 6.0 to 9.0, acute toxicity to fish can be attributed to trace element availability from fly ash but not heavy ash. Control of holding pond and effluent pH and maximizing pond residence time are important strategies for minimizing effects of ash pond discharges on fish.     

ALTERNATIVES TO THE USE OF AGRICULTURAL DRAINAGE WELLS1

ABSTRACT: A large number of agricultural drainage wells (ADWs) are located in north-central Iowa. These wells permit sediments, pesticides, nitrate, and bacteria in surface and subsurface drainage water to enter regional aquifers that are currently being used for drinking-water supplies, mostly by rural families and communities. This paper reports some possible alternatives to control the entry of surface and subsurface drainage waters into groundwater systems, and describes a methodology to make comprehensive economic feasibility studies of alternative drainage outlets. The estimated cost of providing main subsurface drains varied from $220 to $960 per hectare. If the use of ADWs was completely eliminated without providing alternative drainage, it is estimated that the average annual loss to the farmers of the area would be at least $270 per hectare in reduced crop yields. Of course, losses would be weather dependent and highly variable. Management practices to reduce the pollutant load in water draining to ADWs are also discussed.     

Fuelwood Prices in India: Policy Implications

The price of fuelwood has been increasing at a rate higher than that of the consumer price index in most of the major urban centres of India. Today, in terms of cost per unit of energy delivered, fuelwood is more than twice as expensive as kerosene for cooking. This has immense public policy implications. A number of complementary policy interventions are needed so that forests can be saved and the stability of energy supplies can be achieved in developing countries.     

Planning for agricultural development in the Himalayan region: An environmental approach

Summary In the present paper efforts have been made to identify an environmentally sustainable and economically gainful strategy for agricultural development in the Himalayan region in Uttar Pradesh State, India. In the underdeveloped rural habitat that exists, a strategy, where the economics of environmentally sustainable development can be studied, is urgently required. The findings have been based on an empirical investigation of 150 sampled households spread over fifteen villages. It was found that the state of Himalayan agriculture and allied activities was in a critical condition, requiring urgent attention in order to improve the human environment. Suggested viable improvements in Himalayan agricultural development may be grouped into four categories, viz., an expansion of the cultivated area, where the land use pattern and other factors are discussed; full utilisation of irrigation potentialities, in which water management is discussed; improvement in the cropping pattern, where the whole system of cropping is analysed; and modifications in the use of agricultural appliances, specially in hoeing, ploughing and inter-culturing implements. Based on a critical analysis of these four identified aspects, economically viable, ecologically sound and socially justified environmental planning may be effectively framed.Dr H.C. Pokhriyal is Head of the Department of Economics at Garhwal University Campus, Tehri, and Dr N.S. Bist is Professor and Head of the Department of Economics at Garhwal University, Srinagar Garhwal, Himalaya, U.P., India.     

Abandoned mine shafts and levels in the British coalfields

Industrial dereliction is a concern to all societies. In the United Kingdom the British government is trying to make its abandoned coalfields more attractive to new industry through a combination of land reclamation and job incentive programs. The most ambitious of these projects occurs in the South Wales Coalfield, which records 200 years of land defilement and the highest unemployment amplitudes in mainland Britain. In returning this area to a semblance of its previous state, problems arise over how best to fill and cap the many derelict pit shafts and abandoned shallow mines that riddle this region. This analysis reports on the methods of treatment used to achieve this end, along with the procedures used to minimize ground subsidence, water pollution, noxious gas emission, and the potential for physical injury. These environmental controls have application to the United States and Western Europe, where pockets of industrial blight are also symptomatic of a troubled local economy.     

INFLUENCE OF SMALL MAMMALS ON STORMFLOW RESPONSES OF PINE-COVERED CATCHMENTS1

ABSTRACT: The relative abundance of small mammals in five forest land cover types on the upper Coastal Plain of north Mississippi was determined. Burrowing mammals accounted for one-half of the total captures; one shrew species that accounted for over one-fourth of the total captures had a strong affinity for well-stocked pine plantations. The opportunity for detention and retention of rainfall was enhanced by burrowing activity. Reductions of stormflow volumes 12 to 15 years after replacing poor quality, upland hardwoods with loblolly pine were only partially explained by increased interception of rainfall; much of the residual reductions are postulated to be due to small mammal burrows. Small mammal activity deserves further study as an important aspect of forest land hydrology.     

EFFECTS OF DIVERSIONS ON THE NORTH AMERICAN GREAT LAKES1

ABSTRACT: Water level fluctuations of the Great Lakes often have created regional controversies among the states and Canadian provinces that share this vast resource. Even though the 100-year range of their water levels is only four to five feet, episodes of high and low Great Lakes water levels have been a recurring problem throughout the twentieth century. The possibility of increased diversion and consumptive use has exacerbated the existing conflicts over how to manage this water resource. A research project evaluated the effects of interbasin diversion on the Great Lakes system and on the industries that depend on the maintenance of historical water levels, namely hydropower and commercial navigation. The simulation approach employed in this research and some of the important findings are presented. The approach is similar to that used in recent government studies of Great Lakes water level regulation. Several significant modifications were made specifically addressing the diversion issue. Aggregate annual impacts to hydropower and shipping resulting from a diversion of 10,000 cubic feet per second were found to vary from 60 to 100 million dollars. Increases in impacts as a function of diversion rate are nonlinear for the navigation industry.     

Configuration of a functional department: A study of contextual and structural variables

This study investigates whether departments performing the same functions in different firms incur similar changes in structural configuration in response to industry-wide stimuli. Based on the proposition that the context of functional departments is similar across firms, changes in differentiation, integration, and perspective are hypothesized. Managers' perceptions of the validity of a series of statements to conditions five to 10 years ago and to present conditions are contrasted and show statistically significant shifts in these structural configurations. This change is confirmed by the analysis of responses of other managers in different departments within the same firms. Correlation analysis shows significant agreement among alternative measures of the same aspects of structure, and significant comovement among different structural dimensions. The later result supports the quantum theory of organizations.     

Methods and impact of health screening for hospital staff

This study examines: (1) the impact of two methods of giving screening results on health behaviour and beliefs, evaluated in a randomized controlled trial. (2) The association between uptake of screening and health risk behaviours and beliefs. Two methods of feedback of screening results were given: simple informational feedback, and more extensive feedback, including target-setting and a written contract. At six month follow-up, those who received simple informational feedback had lost less weight and had increased their exercise less than those who received more extensive feedback. Attenders believed more strongly in the relationship between lifestyle and health, perceived themselves as less healthy than others and scored higher on the GHQ than staff who did not attend for screening. These results suggest that belief in the effectiveness of lifestyle change in promoting health, and anxiety about health, can influence uptake of screening. Second, the method of presenting screening results can influence the impact of screening on subsequent behaviour change.