Case study: examining the contribution of historical sources of lead in urban soils in Portland,Maine, USA

While the presence of lead in urban soils from residential lead paint and leaded gasoline is well documented, the relative contribution of lead from area historical industrial activities is not. This study examined the connection between historical industrial sources of lead in Portland, Maine, USA from 1860 to 1970 to current, spatial distributions of soil lead. Collecting 1859 surface and 122 sub-surface soil samples in accordance with USEPA's Lead Safe Yard Protocols, lead concentrations varied from 9 mg/kg to >100,000 mg/kg with most of the samples greater than USEPA's critical value for lead (400 mg/kg). Using historical documents, probable sources of lead were mapped. In comparing two datasets, no clear relationship emerged. Findings were hampered by inability to sample under large areas of impervious surfaces and private properties. Because of lead's immobility in soil, one would expect decreasing concentration with depth, but lead concentrations varied with depth and location. The haphazard dumping of lead-contaminated industrial waste and the relocation of contaminated fill are likely factors. These findings suggest that in urban areas where multiple historical sources of lead existed, surface sampling to determine presence of lead may not be sufficient to protect public health.     

Minimization of the environmental impact of chrome tanning: a new process with high chrome exhaustion

In all tanning technology operations wastes are generated. These reach the environment as residual waters, solid and liquid waste as well as atmospheric emissions and odours.

This study tests an alternative method to the traditional tanning method at an industrial level. The new method is based on tanning without float and by significantly increasing the temperature at the end of the tanning process. The properties of the leathers obtained using the two methods have been compared and the results indicate that those leathers have similar physical, chemical, and organoleptic properties. However, the differences existing from the environmental point of view are significant. It is not necessary to use clean water for this tanning. Moreover, there is a 75% reduction of the residual float, a 91% reduction of the chrome discharged, and a 94% reduction of the chlorides discharged. A financial assessment was carried out to demonstrate that the newly proposed system is 32% more economic than the traditional one.     

长沙市旅游-经济-生态系统耦合协调分析

长沙市作为旅游热门城市,近年来旅游产业蓬勃发展,经济发展迅速,而生态环境是旅游产业与区域经济发展的基石,只有旅游产业、区域经济与生态环境三者协调发展,才能实现绿色可持续发展。利用长沙市2007—2018年的数据,构建3个系统的综合评价指标体系,并分析了三者的耦合协调度,发现三者的发展状况和耦合协调度总体呈现逐年递增状态,近年来生态环境略滞后于区域经济发展,长沙市在发展经济的同时更应该注重对生态环境的保护。     

An empirical survey of the benefits of implementing pay for safety scheme (PFSS) in the Hong Kong construction industry

Introduction

The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) has implemented different safety initiatives to improve the safety performance of the construction industry over the past decades. The Pay for Safety Scheme (PFSS), which is one of the effective safety measures launched by the government in 1996, has been widely adopted in the public works contracts. Both the accident rate and fatality rate of public sector projects have decreased noticeably over this period.

Method

This paper aims to review the current state of application of PFSS in Hong Kong, and attempts to identify and analyze the perceived benefits of PFSS in construction via an industry-wide empirical questionnaire survey. A total of 145 project participants who have gained abundant handson experience with the PFSS construction projects were requested to complete a survey questionnaire to indicate the relative importance of those benefits identified in relation to PFSS. The perceived benefits were measured and ranked from the perspectives of the client and contractor for crosscomparison.

Results

The survey findings suggested the most significant benefits derived from adopting PFSS were: (a) Increased safety training; (b) Enhanced safety awareness; (c) Encouragement of developing safety management system; and (d) Improved safety commitment. A wider application of PFSS should be advocated so as to achieve better safety performance within the construction industry.

Impact on Industry

It is recommended that a similar scheme to the PFSS currently adopted in Hong Kong may be developed for implementation in other regions or countries for international comparisons.     

乡镇工业行业结构调整决策研究——以湖南省常德市为例

本文在专家咨询和层次分析的基础上,提出了常德市乡镇工业行业结构调整方案。将层次分析所得各行业优先权重与行业结构状态相耦合,不仅定性地提出了调整方向,而且定量地提出了调整幅度。     

长三角地区石油和化工行业上市公司绿色竞争力的实证研究

企业绿色竞争力是企业在“绿色化”的前提下，与对手相比的一种竞争优势。石油和化工行业是能源和资源的生产和消耗大户．也是众所周知的重污染行业．对石油和化工企业的绿色竞争力进行实证研究具有重要意义。本文以长三角地区的石油和化工行业上市公司为案例。构建基于DEA法的绿色竞争力评价模型．评估了它们的绿色竞争力。实证结果显示：长三角地区石油和化工企业的绿色竞争力还有待加强．在此基础上提出了石油和化工企业提高绿色竞争力的一些具体措施。     

我国世界自然遗产地旅游业环境经济核算思路

目前，各级地方政府及旅游经营者对中国世界自然遗产地旅游价值的开发力度大，自然遗产地旅游经济发展异常繁荣，同时也带来了自然遗产地环境退化、资源破坏的严重后果。而用来衡量地区经济发展状况的传统旅游业经济核算结果仅体现旅游经济的增长与否及尺度，而忽略了旅游经济增长同时的环境、资源损耗。现借用SEEA 2000框架，结合中国国情，提出中国世界自然遗产地环境经济核算的框架，经过重新整合，突出优质而独具特色的自然环境部分的环境资产类在自然遗产地旅游业中的生产性资产地位，将原SEEA 2000中拆分核算的5大部分、10大步骤整合为4大部分、9大步骤，并对其当前可操作性进行了客观分析。并指出，虽然目前详尽执行世界自然遗产地环境经济核算有一定难度，但理清核算思路具有现实指导意义。     

锦州地区冶金行业污染现状及治理措施

根据锦州地区71家冶金企业污染现状的调查研究，发现主要为废气污染，占全市废气污染源排放量的18％。其中，废气中的粉尘污染占全地区的41％，二氧化硫污染仅次于火电行业，在冶金企业相对集中的凌海市和太和区所占比例超过80％。针对这一严重污染问题，从宏观调整布局到具体管理等方面提出应采取的污染治理措施，为实现污染管理和达标排放提供有效保障。     

上海市传统产业结构的演进与重构--基于经济社会转型背景下的可持续发展新思路

上海市目前正处于由国内经济中心建设阶段向国际大都市建设阶段转型的关键时期，为确保上海市顺利实现阶段转型。要以全新的思路重组上海的传统产业以适应上述变局。以产业重组理论为指导，以国际大都市建设为目标，在产业结构重构战略上，坚持以第三产业和新兴制造业快速增长为核心；在产业的空间发展战略上，坚持以产业高度和技术优势引领长江三角洲地区加快一体化步伐，瞄准国际产业结构新高，积极参与东亚城市体系的产业分工；在重点产业选择上，优先发展新经济产业簇群、流量经济产业簇群和都市型产业簇群等3大产业簇群。为实现上述构想，在分析了上海市产业结构的演变及其表现特征的基础上，将上海市的产业划分为5大类，分别提出了不同的优化重组方案。     

我国煤矿安全生产法律法规实效分析

根据目前我国煤矿安全生产法律法规执行情况以及近年来煤矿发生的重特大安全事故的原因和所汲取的教训,本文比较全面、系统地分析了我国煤矿安全生产法律法规存在的问题:煤矿安全立法存在的不足,包括立法指导思想落后、立法目的的多元化、立法背景发生了变化,法律更新没有跟上、矿难事故责任追究立法疏漏等;煤矿安全执法存在的不足,包括矿工维权难、法制意识淡薄、安全培训不到位、煤矿安全监察执法存在的不足。为我国煤矿安全生产法律法规的修订提供了相关理论依据。