Estimating Innovative Technology Costs for the SITE Program

Among the objectives of the EPA’s Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program are two which pertain to the issue of economics: 1. That the program will provide a projected cost for each treatment technology demonstrated.

2. That the program will attempt to identify and remove impediments to the development and commercial use of alternative technologies.¹

The SITE Program has fostered a special relationship between elements of the public and private sector. In turn, this has created a unique set of problems. These problems are most apparent where objectives of the public and private sector conflict, as in the area of cost economics. One concern of the SITE Program is to provide the public with an impartial analysis of each technology’s cost. Just as important is the need to be sensitive to the demands of the competitive economic environment which face every firm selling innovative technology (especially when the goal is to promote the commercial use of new technologies).

An early concern of the SITE Program was to design a methodology for projecting and reporting costs which tried to balance the needs of these two groups. Toward this end, four issues were identified which were thought to have a significant impact on the SITE Program's ability to generate useful cost projections. An analysis of these issues led to the creation of a simple five-part cost methodology. This paper will review the nature of these problems and will describe the methodology which addresses them. Finally, a review of cost data gathered from the first nine demonstrations will be presented.     

Continuous Emissions Monitoring Using Spark-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

ABSTRACT

A new technology for monitoring airborne heavy metals on aerosols and particulates based on spark-induced breakdown spectroscopy (SIBS) was evaluated at a joint U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)/U.S. Department of Energy test at the rotary kiln incinerator simulator (RKIS) facility at EPA/Research Triangle Park, NC, in September 1997. The instrument was configured to measure lead and chromium in a simulated combustion flue gas in real time and in situ at target levels of 15 and 75 u, g/dry standard cubic meters. Actual metal concentrations were measured during the tests using EPA Reference Method (RM) 29.

The SIBS technology detected both lead and chromium at the low- and high-level concentrations. Additionally, the hardware performed without failure for more than 100 hr of operation and acquired data for 100% of the RM tests. The chromium data were well correlated with concentration increases resulting from duct operations and pressure fluctuations that are known to entrain dust.     

Distribution of PAEs in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, China

Samples of water, sediment and suspended particulates were collected from 13 sites in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in China. Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) concentrations in different phases of each sample were determined by Gas Chromatogram GC-FID. The results are shown as follows: (1) In the Xiao Langdi–Dongming Bridge section, PAEs concentrations in water phase from the main river ranged from 3.99 × 10⁻³ to 45.45 × 10⁻³ mg/L, which were similar to those from other rivers in the world. The PAEs levels in the tributaries of the Yellow River were much higher than those of the main river. (2) In the studied branches, the concentration of PAEs in sediment for Luoyang Petrochemical Channel (331.70 mg/Kg) was the highest. The concentrations of PAEs in sediment phase of the main river were 30.52 to 85.16 mg/Kg, which were much higher than those from other rivers in the world. In the main river, the concentration level of PAEs on suspended solid phases reached 94.22 mg/Kg, and it reached 691.23 mg/Kg in the Yiluo River – one tributary of the Yellow River. (3) Whether in the sediment or on the suspended solid phases, there was no significant correlation between the contents of PAEs and TOC or particle size of the solid phase; and the calculated Koc of Di (2-Ethylhexyl) Phthalate (DEHP) in the river were much less than the theoretical value, which inferred that PAEs were not on the equilibrium between water and suspended solid phases/sediment. (4) Among the measured PAEs compounds, the proportions of DEHP and di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) were much higher than the others. The concentrations of DEHP exceeded the Quality Standard in all the main river and tributary stations except those in the Mengjin and Jiaogong Bridge of the main river. This indicates that more attention should be paid to pollution control and further assessment in understanding risks associated with human health.     

超高效液相色谱/电喷雾串联质谱(UPLC/MS/MS)分析全氟代化合物(PFCs)

近年来,在全球范围内的环境和人体血液中检测到全氟代化合物(PFCs)增长的趋势,引起了研究者和有关当局的关注.PFCs同时具有亲水性和疏水性,经常用于地毯、纤维、皮革的处理、纸张和食品包装物等,也是塑料生产、灭火剂、抛光剂和杀虫剂的功能化学品.     

Women farmers’ perceived indices of occurrence and severity of observed climate extremes in rural Savannah,Ghana

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Climate extremes over the years have been a major concern for the globalized world. The hardest hit from these climate extremes are women farmers with...