The bhopal incident: Implications for developing countries

Summary The author summarizes the events of the Bhopal disaster as they are currently known, and draws a number of very important conclusions regarding safety procedures. These have implications for all developing countries.Dr. B. Bowonder is Chairman of the Centre for Energy, Environment and Technology at the Staff College and, as a regular contributor to this journal, he was invited to analyze the Bhopal incident.     

Legal considerations in challenging external threats to Glacier National Park,Montana, USA

External threats to the environmental integrity of Glacier National Park, Montana, USA, fit into three categories: adverse land use practices adjacent to the Park, air pollution, and water pollution. This article identifies and evaluates the laws that Glacier National Park officials might rely upon to protect the Park against these external threats. The article also assesses the available scientific information relating to external threats, and it identifies additional information needed to establish a legal basis for challenging the threats.     

Wetland development trends in coastal North Carolina,USA, from 1970 to 1984

Coastal wetlands are a valuable resource to North Carolina, USA, representing important habitat for marine organisms and providing flood control areas and buffer zones from marine storms. An analysis of wetland development trends in coastal North Carolina from 1970 to 1984 was conducted using over 3000 files containing 15 years of permitting records. The total amount of coastal wetland area altered due to authorized development under the Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA), the Dredge and Fill Law, and Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act is 1740 ha. This represents nearly 2% of the salt marsh wetlands along the coast of North Carolina. The number of permits issued steadily increased during the 1980s; however, the total amount of wetland loss decreased each year. A few large projects in the early 1970s accounted for nearly 70% of all wetland area developed during the 15-year period. Nearly two-thirds of all projects involving wetland destruction involved impacts on high marsh ecosystems. Bulkheads, canals, and filling activities made up 80% of the projects requiring permits; 62% of the permits were issued to private landowners, but this group accounted for only 16% of the losses of wetland area. Utility companies, which accounted for less than 1% of the permits issued, were responsible for 46% of the permitted wetland loss during the 15-year study period. Future studies should address agriculture and forestry practices which are exempt under CAMA laws and therefore their effects on wetland alteration have not been quantified.     

IN SITU MEASUREMENT OF ADSORPTION AND BIOTRANSFORMATION AT A HAZARDOUS WASTE SITE1

ABSTRACT: A three well injection-production test was performed at the United Creosoting Company (UCC) site in Conroe, Texas, to estimate the effective in situ retardation factors for adsorption and to evaluate the significance of biotransformation in limiting the transport of polycydic aromatics present in the shallow aquifer. The field test was also used as a model to determine if this type of testing would be feasible at other hazardous waste sites. During the test, chloride, a non-reactive tracer and two organic compounds, naphthalene and paradichlorobenzene (pDCB), were injected into a center well for 24 hours followed by clean ground water for six days. Ground water was continuously produced from two adjoining wells and monitored to observe the breakthrough of these compounds. Data from the test were analyzed by comparing the statistical moments of the chloride and organics distributions. Retardation factors for naphthalene and pDCB were estimated to be 1.03 and 0.97 by comparison of the statistical moments. A significant loss of naphthalene and pDCB was also observed during the three well test, apparently due to biotransformation. These results suggest that biotransformation is the major process limiting the transport of naphthalene and similar compounds at the UCC site.     

AGGREGATE MARGINAL RETURNS FROM WESTERN IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE1

ABSTRACT: Pressure is increasing in the western United States to reallocate water from irrigated agriculture to other competitive uses. Since water is normally allocated through water rights and not necessarily by the price system, the question of economic efficiency is a continual concern. Study results show that returns per acre-foot of water used in western irrigation are quite high and are closely tied to the livestock industry. Returns per acre-foot of water used for crops ranged from $60 to $1,500. When water was used to support livestock, returns per acre-foot ranged from $100 to $600. Clearly, losses of water supply that reduced irrigation production could also lower farm income significantly. Estimated returns also show what alternative uses would have to pay for water under competitive market conditions. Production elasticities are also shown for various states.     

A framework for understanding the consumptive orientation of recreational fishermen

Fishermen were aggregated into high-, mid-, and low-consumptive groups according to the importance they placed on catching fish. Analysis of variance indicated that each consumptive group was unique in the importance it placed on other fish-related variables. Low-consumptive fishermen rated most other aspects of the fishing experience, such as interacting with nature, relaxation, and escaping the daily routine, more important than did high-consumptive fishermen. Low-consumptive fishermen also fished more frequently and were generally more satisfied with their most recent fishing trip than were high-consumptive-oriented fishermen. The three groups can be viewed as different fishing constituencies. By understanding their characteristics, we can gain additional insights into the impacts of management decisions on recreational fishermen and their experiences.     

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.     

Occupational stress: Coping of police and their spouses

One hundred seventy-seven police officers and their spouses from two metropolitan areas completed separate questionnaires regarding stress and coping. Both the police and spouses reported using four coping activities in response to their own stressors: problem focused, emotion focused, religiosity, and rugged individualism. Three potential police strains previously noted in non-empirical literature were given special attention; divorce potential, drinking behavior, and suicide thoughts.     

On the usefulness of life cycle assessment of packaging

In reaction to a paper inEnvironmental Management in which the sense and sensibility of environmental assessments of packaging were questioned, it is argued that these types of assessments may be very useful, provided the relevant types of questions are posed. These boundary conditions are discussed, along with an overview of more recent methodological developments with respect to environmental assessment of products.     

Natural resource degradation in a small watershed in Nepal

Amid growing concern about the conservation of renewable natural resources, the process, extent and symptoms of their degradation are examined with specific reference to the Upper Pokhara Valley. Based on a household survey, field observations, informal deliberations and land use analysis, the results of this study reveal that forests and grazing land have been subject to increasing degradation caused by demographic, socioeconomic and institutional factors. The intensity of degradation varies by watershed. In particular, rainfed pakho land on steep slopes is under the severe threat of accelerating soil erosion, despite the construction of terraces. This calls for the formulation of a comprehensive natural resource conservation strategy which should be based on a framework comprising an integrated population control programme, planned land use changes and institutional reforms .