Bereavement and mourning after a shipping disaster: The case for intervention

This paper describes the help given by the social services department of a shipping company to bereaved families following a shipping disaster. In the absence of clear, factual and prompt information from an authoritative source, there is a tendency for bereaved individuals to deny their loss and thereby delay the process of mourning and eventual recovery. Appropriate intervention and support can help to overcome this tendency as was seen in the Madasa case.     

Engaging Economic Development Agencies in Environmental Protection: the case for embedded autonomy

This article examines the role of economic development agencies in strengthening the environmental performance of industry within rapidly industrialising East Asian economies. Three case-study examples are considered, namely, the role of the Industrial Development Board in reducing industrial pollution in Taiwan, pollution control in the palm oil industry in Malaysia, and the role of the Economic Development Board in influencing environmental performance of industry in Singapore. The concept of embedded autonomy is developed to consider the ways in which agencies of economic development can work with firms and industries while simultaneously remaining autonomous from these firms with respect to setting and enforcing performance standards. The three cases suggest that a form of policy integration that more directly integrates economic and environmental goals within agencies of economic development may be feasible, but only where there exists a strong autonomous government bureaucracy and where there is strong societal commitment to improving the environmental performance of industry.     

Strategies for Rebuilding Closer Links between Local Indigenous Communities and Their Customary Fisheries in Aotearoa/New Zealand

There is a growing recognition that knowledge of indigenous communities, based on accumulated observations and experience over time, is significant for sustainable environmental management in collaboration with modern scientific knowledge. A number of innovative policy initiatives are currently being implemented in New Zealand to enable indigenous Maori tribes and sub-tribes to rehabilitate and manage their local fisheries in accordance with customary values and practices. These policies are an important milestone from an historical perspective as they are meant to recognise and empower the role of Maori as Treaty partners. The fisheries management regime in New Zealand now provides for Maori representation at the local level within a co-management framework that enables local Maori communities to exercise their customary rights. These institutional arrangements have been crafted to facilitate Maori input, based on customary values and practices, to complement modern Western management practices for sustainable harvesting of marine resources. Nevertheless, the degree to which these initiatives constitute an adequate response to Maori Treaty aspirations is debatable. A major constraint in this respect is that the government is compelled to recognise the needs of other, economically and politically more dominant, non-Maori user-groups in allocating and managing access to fishery resources and the marine environment.     

Destruction of Forests and Wildlife in the Kashmir Wilderness

Much of the forest wealth on the plains and in the hilly areas of India has been foolishly destroyed, and the rich heritage of wildlife has been slaughtered mostly for only temporary gain. The wanton axing of the larger indigenous trees and the uprooting of other floristic elements in the hills and on the lower slopes of the mountains, gradually impoverishes them, and may be followed by erosion that ultimately leaves the slopes barren. These alarming threats to the chir (Pinus roxburghii) and fir (Abies pindrow) forests of Kashmir will have disastrous consequences. Once densely-forested, the mountain slopes in Kashmir have become largely naked through too-heavy tapping and cutting of the trees; with concomitant landslides, frequent floods, and loss of fertile topsoil. Unfortunately, the people living in the areas of the chir and fir trees, do not play a proper part in their protection, and the last two decades have witnessed, year by year, the rapid march of urbanization and manifold destructive activities which have taken a heavy toll on these precious species. Urgent conservation measures are essential to preserve these endangered trees in Kashmir.     

Effect of Cross-Linking Waste Protein with Dialdehydes on Its Biodegradation Under Anaerobic Conditions

Most native polymers used in processing and application technologies are admittedly disposable from the environment in a biologic manner, but products possess low mechanical strength. One of the paths to increasing this attribute (if feasible) is their cross-linking, which may, however, affect their readiness to biodegradation. In the presented work this condition was observed on the example of waste protein (Hykol B) cross-linking by means of glutardialdehyde and glyoxal. Degree and course of cross-linking were determined through impedance spectroscopy. The objective of this work also was to obtain data for constructing a sensor capable of following the cross-linking course in real time, for potential industrial application of Hykol in continuous production. Impedance spectroscopy proved to be applicable even to this kind of material marked by considerable water content and exhibiting relatively high electric conductivity; so far it had been used only for materials of low conductivity. An aqueous environment inoculated with digested anaerobic sludge from a municipal wastewater treatment plant was selected for modeling anaerobic conditions. The relation was studied between cross-linking degree given by content of cross-linking agent (determined by impedance spectroscopy) and biodegradation degree under anaerobic conditions. It was confirmed that network density as given by quantity of added agent not only reduced breakdown degree but also slowed the course of the process. This fact is particularly obvious with cross-linking by means of glyoxal; network density is thus dependent on type of employed substance, which affect type and structure of created network. That not merely forms an obstacle during polymer swelling and dissolution but also prevents access of bacteria to source of metabolized organic carbon.     

Analysis of a system for remote, dry removal of solidified mixed waste

This paper describes a novel technology for the removal of solidified radioactive waste from underground storage tanks at the DOE Hanford site in southeast Washington. The process involves the use of a unique high pressure system which pulverizes the hardened saltcake with stainless steel pellets to a powder for easy vacuum removal. The steel pellets can be magnetically separated from the waste material for re-use. Specifically this study analyzes the effects of various steel abrasives, pressure of the air stream, and stand-off distance on removal rates and penetration depth on simulated saltcake samples using the high pressure technique. A full-scale test set-up and protocol were implemented to allow for comprehensive testing. To insure reproducibility of the method, tests were then run for the optimum removal parameters. A time-dependent test was also conducted to determine the relationship of removal rates to length of pressure blasts. The results of these tests revealed that stand-off distance and pressure could be positively correlated to removal volumes. Additionally, a statistical analysis confirmed that nozzle angle is independent of removal rate. This study demonstrated that the pellet ‘blaster’ technique is a safe, effective method for removal of radioactive wastes without any increase in either waste mass or volume.