The risk assessment–policy gap: An example from the UK contaminated land regime

Risk-based regulation assumes that risk assessment can evaluate risks against policy objectives. However, policy goals are often ambiguous and require risk assessors to interpret them for use in risk assessment. This risk assessment-policy gap stems partly from normative and imprecise policy language but is rooted more fundamentally in society's uncertain expectations for the environment. Until this uncertainty is resolved, the democratic and regulatory effectiveness of risk regulation will be undermined by ad hoc policy decisions abdicated to risk assessors.     

Trinkwasserschutzgebiete

Conflict are frequently observed when drinking water protection areas are to be defined and when many variants of how to protect these area are to be found. Using ten potential scenarios, a method is presented here which shows how such conflicts concerning these variants may be handled in a systematic manner. The technique is derived from the use of partially ordered sets and their visualization by Hasse diagrams. The first step is to define rankings of different variants according to each aim of protection. A further step is to define an appropriate relationship of order. It is then possible to visualize the extent of consensus and of dissension through the use of a Hasse diagram. The final step is to quantify the importance of each protection aim and the initialization of an iteration. Should a complete consensus be found, this would result in a chain of (connected) variants. Should a complete dissension be found on the other hand, an antichain would then result (i.e. where all variants are isolated).     

Inf luence of Within-Plantation Heterogeneity and Surrounding Landscape Composition on Avian Communities in Hybrid Poplar Plantations

We conducted breeding bird surveys in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and South Dakota in 12 hybrid poplar plantations and surrounding landscapes from 1992 to 1994. Plantations varied in age, shape, composition of surrounding landscape, and internal vegetative heterogeneity. Numbers of breeding bird individuals and species in plantations were lower than in surrounding forest/shrub habitat, but higher than in row crops. Numbers of individuals observed within several bird groups based on migratory status and habitat preference also differed among plantations and surrounding land-use types. Most differences were between numbers in plantations and row crops. Year-to-year changes in bird species composition in plantations were more likely in plantations between ages 2 and 4 years than in younger or older plantations. Correlative evidence from canonical correspondence analysis illustrated that plantation bird communities were related to habitat in surrounding landscapes, plantation age, size, latitude, and longitude. Additionally, more heterogeneous plantations had more species, individuals, and numbers of long-distance migrants. Plantations will likely not support bird communities that are comparable to natural forests in either species composition or species diversity. A goal would be to position them in the landscape to minimize impacts on regional biodiversity. This could be accomplished by maintaining structural diversity of plantations by creating a broad range of successional stages (ages) throughout plantations within a region. Size and connectivity of existing forest fragments may be increased by plantations, but fragmentation of natural open areas should be avoided.     

The metal mining industry in Eastern Europe

The mining industry has been one of the backbones of the socialist countries of Eastern Europe, not only in economic, but also in political, terms. Three years after the beginning of economic reforms, the mining industry in all the Eastern European countries is facing dramatic changes. Most mines are mining ores below acceptable cut-off grades, and there is no hope of finding new, richer deposits. Downstream metallurgical industries will need to replace their former suppliers. In addition, the social contract that had been maintained under the socialist governments is about to be undone and a new form of internal organization must be found. The success of the economic reforms in Eastern Europe depends upon the capacity to develop new industrial relations: the large mining combinates will have to be transformed into competitive capitalist enterprises and the role of the state must be redefined. Prospects for this transformation vary greatly, from metal to metal and from country to country. Finally, restructuring in Eastern Europe will also affect European and world markets, both on the supply and demand sides. The integration of the Eastern European mining industries into the international mining community should be the medium-term goal of all the participants .     

Sea transport safety — A challenge to European maritime society

Safety matters are boring, bothersome or just a cost factor. These are some of the arguments which prevent safety issues from being treated in the same way as, for example, transport logistics, i.e., rationally aiming at optimum results. National legal evolutions, resulting in distinct rules and regulations, are another handicap for a European approach to common marine safety standards. Political changes within the European Community offer a chance to create a marine safety system which complies with developments in shipping, operational practices, and requirements resulting from casualty investigations and statistics. The establishment of a European Marine Transport Safety Board under the umbrella of a European Transport Safety Board is proposed to mutually benefit from road, rail, air and sea transport knowledge.     

Multi-elemental EDXRF mapping of polluted soil from former horticultural land

The distribution of major and trace elements was systematically investigated by use of energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF) on a former horticultural soil. The purpose of the study was to combine mapping of soil element concentration levels with multivariate statistics for characterisation of soil metal pollution in relation to previous and present land use. A 1-ha study site was chosen from a former horticulture where a previous preliminary survey indicated increased concentration levels of toxic elements. The soil was sampled from the top 20 cm of the soil surface in a 10 x 10-m grid-like pattern covering the 1-ha study area. In addition, three soil profiles were studied. The elemental composition of the soil samples was investigated by EDXRF while the composition of aqueous soil extracts was determined by total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (TXRF). Based on mapping and multivariate statistically analysis of the data obtained by EDXRF, most elements were found in almost constant concentration levels in the top soil throughout the investigated site. However, the contents of the toxic elements Zn, Cu, As, and Pb were found to vary significantly within the area. Hence, the samples with high accumulations of As also contained relatively high amounts of Zn, Cu, and Pb, which indicates that toxic-element-containing pesticides have been applied to the soil surface in the area of the former green houses at the study site. The Pb/As mass ratio in the soil indicates that PbHAsO3 was the preferential lead arsenate used for pest management at the investigated site, while Cu as Bordeaux liquid (CuSO4) and Zn were applied to minimize the leaf damaging effect from the former compounds. Calculations indicated that As annually was applied to the soil in the former greenhouses in doses up to 4 kg As/ha while Pb had been annually applied in doses up to 12 kg Pb/ha. The enrichment of Zn, Cu, As and Pb was greatest in the top 20 cm of the soil and no anthropogenic enrichment of these elements occurred below a depth of 50 cm, indicating that the toxic elements are rather immobile in this soil. The results of this investigation suggest that EDXRF used in combination with multivariate statistics is a strong tool for multi-element mapping of elemental contents, sources and mobility in the terrestrial environment.