Balancing environmental and industry sustainability: A case study of the US gold mining industry

Mandatory insurance requirements and/or mitigation fees (royalties) for mining companies may help reduce environmental risk exposure for the federal government. Mining is examined since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Toxic Release Inventory reveals that this sector produces more hazardous waste than any other industrial sector. Although uncommon, environmental expense can exceed hundreds of millions of dollars per development. Of particular concern is the potential for mines to become unfunded Superfund sites. Monte Carlo simulation of risk exposure is used to establish a plausible range of unfunded federal liabilities associated with cyanide-leach gold mining. A model is developed to assess these costs and their impact on both the federal budget and corporate profitability (i.e., industry sustainability), particularly if such costs are borne by offending firms.     

When unequals are treated equally: the 2002 commission of inquiry into Orica's Geomelt proposal

This paper deals with the Commission of Inquiry (COI) established by the NSW Department of Planning to examine Orica's proposal to build a Geomelt plant at its Botany site to destroy its stockpile of Hexachlorobenzene. The Inquiry is analysed in light of the literature on democracy/democratisation. The paper argues that the standard operating procedures of the Inquiry ensured that all stakeholders were treated equally. However, this equality was found to be purely formal, and drawing on the critique of formal equality dating back to Aristotle, it is argued that treating unequals equally results in the circumvention of deliberative democratic ideals by perpetuating entrenched structural inequalities while nonetheless giving the superficial appearance of fair play.     

Flood monitoring in a semi-arid environment using spatially high resolution radar and optical data

The geographic term "Niger Inland Delta" stands for a vast plain of approximately 40,000 km(2), which is situated in the western Sahel (Republic of Mali). The Inland Delta is affected by yearly inundation through the variable water levels of the Niger-Bani river system. Due to a good availability of (surface) water, the ecosystem at the Niger Inland Delta serves as resting place stop-over for many migrating birds and other wildlife species as well as economic base for farmers and pastoral people. To foster the sustainable usage of its natural resources and to protect this natural heritage, the entire Niger Inland Delta became RAMSAR site in 2004. This paper aims to test to which extent texture analysis can improve the quality of flood monitoring in a semi-arid environment using spatially high resolution ASAR imaging mode data. We found the Gray Level Dependence Method (GLDM) was most suitable proceeding for our data. Several statistical parameters were calculated via co-occurrence matrices and were used to classify the images in different gradation of soil moisture classes. In a second step we used additional information from spatially high resolution optical data (ASTER) to improve the separability of open water areas from moisture/vegetated areas.     

建设项目竣工环境保护验收监测在环境管理中的任务与对策

建设项目竣工环境保护验收监测对于落实“三同时”制度、实现总量控制目标、为环境监督管理提供重要技术支持具有重要意义与作用。目前,验收监测在管理体制、收费标准、成果应用等方面存在的突出问题,可通过创新管理机制、健全管理制度、提高管理水平等具体措施解决。     

工业企业厂界环境噪声监测中背景噪声监测及修正探讨

针对测量结果修正的相关要求,本文对新颁布的《工业企业厂界环境噪声排放标准》（GB12348-2008）和旧标准《工业企业厂界噪声测量方法》（GB／T12349-1990）在实际工作中的运用进行了比对、分析和探讨,并根据实际工作经验,提出了在背景噪声难以测量的一些特殊情况下的几种解决途径,主要提出噪声源声值与背景声值相差小于3dB（A）时的解决方案。     

Moral Responsibility for Environmental Problems—Individual or Institutional?

The actions performed by individuals, as consumers and citizens, have aggregate negative consequences for the environment. The question asked in this paper is to what extent it is reasonable to hold individuals and institutions responsible for environmental problems. A distinction is made between backward-looking and forward-looking responsibility. Previously, individuals were not seen as being responsible for environmental problems, but an idea that is now sometimes implicitly or explicitly embraced in the public debate on environmental problems is that individuals are appropriate targets for blame when they perform actions that are harmful to the environment. This idea is criticized in this paper. It is argued that instead of blaming individuals for performing actions that are not environmentally friendly we should ascribe forward-looking responsibility to individuals, a notion that focuses more on capacity and resources than causation and blameworthiness. Furthermore, it is important to emphasize that a great share of forward-looking responsibility should also be ascribed to institutional agents, primarily governments and corporations. The urge to ascribe forward-looking responsibility to institutional agents is motivated by the efficiency aim of responsibility distributions. Simply put, if responsibility is ascribed to governments and corporations there is a better chance of creating a society in which the opportunities to act in an environmentally friendly way increase.     

Evaluation of environmental feasibility of steel pipe sheet pile cutoff wall at coastal landfill sites

An evaluation method that can express the local leakage of leachate from joint sections in steel pipe sheet pile (SPSP) cutoff walls is discussed in this study. In particular, the evaluation of environmental feasibility (containment of leachates containing toxic substances) considering a three-dimensional arrangement and hydraulic conductivity distribution of the joint sections in the SPSP cutoff wall is compared with an evaluation that uses the equivalent hydraulic conductivity. This equivalent hydraulic conductivity assumes that the joint section and the steel pipe are integrated; therefore, the hydraulic conductivity is substituted with a uniform permeable layer. However, in an evaluation that employs the equivalent hydraulic conductivity, it is difficult to consider the local leakage of leachate containing toxic substances from the joint sections in the SPSP cutoff wall. It was established that evaluations of the environmental feasibility of SPSP cutoff walls with joint sections must take into account the local leakage of leachates containing toxic substances from the joint sections. Also, it was clarified that technologies that lower the hydraulic conductivities of joint sections in SPSP cutoff walls and also facilitate the use of sparser joint arrangements contribute significantly to increasing the environmental feasibility of SPSP cutoff walls at landfill sites.     

危险品运输实时监控及应急救援服务平台构建

针对我国危险品运输监管及应急救援现状,提出构建"危险品运输实时监控及应急救援服务平台"的技术方案。设计了平台系统的技术框架,介绍装载于危险品运输车辆之上的"监控终端"以及应急救援车辆之上的"智能终端"的基本功能,并以环保部门为例阐述了服务平台与危险废物监管政务平台之间的数据交换及功能耦合,以及利用服务平台开展危险品运输事故应急救援联动流程。该平台可望解决"危险品运输多部门监管数据不一致以及多部门联动应急救援调度困难"这一实际问题。     

基层安全生产监管体制研究——关于安全生产法律制度实施与完善的研究(一)

基于现行基层安全生产监管体制有许多不适应安全生产工作的问题,提出扩大基层安监体制新方案,目的在于解决基层安监体制中存在的种种问题。该方案的核心是建立县区安监局直属的安全工程监测站,取代现有的乡镇街道安监站。定性为事业机构和技术服务机构,建立一支安全技术专业人员队伍,以加强其力量,开展所有的安全工程监测等技术服务工作。为配合该项工作推进,应推行注册安全工程师资格考试,以加强基层安监体制内人才队伍建设。     

道路交通紧急救援服务点的优化选址

针对道路交通紧急救援对公平性、效率性、事故并发性的多目标决策需求,提出用于道路交通救援点选址的多目标决策模型。该模型通过最小化最大救援时间满足救援公平性;通过最大化一次覆盖的需求量和最小化救援点到需求点总加权时间满足救援效率;通过最大化备份覆盖的需求量满足事故并发与重大事故的救援。针对多目标决策模型,开发基于模拟退火法的优化解法,结合算例分析,能够获得减少最大救援时间、最大化一次覆盖和备份覆盖需求量的多个目标方向上最优解,实现pareto最优化的成功率均在95%以上。实例计算比较表明,笔者提出的模型与算法可以为决策者提供多目标选址方案。