Environmental changes in Sepetiba Bay,SE Brazil

Sepetiba Bay is an example of an aquatic environment that has been severely impacted by human occupation and industrial activities in its basin. Some 400 industries including metallurgical, petrochemical and pyrometallurgical smelters, which emitted pollutants to air, soil and water, were established in Sepetiba Basin during the past 30 years. Apart from these point sources, changes in land use have also resulted in a large remobilization of pollutant deposition on Sepetiba Bay Basin. Studies have pointed out significant changes in sedimentation rates, concentrations of inorganic pollutants (Zn, Cd, Pb and Hg) and more recently, eutrophication, pointing to this area as an example of an impacted coastal zone. Notwithstanding local sources, Sepetiba Bay also suffers environmental impacts caused by diversion of river waters from adjacent basins, with some 30% of the total Hg flux to Sepetiba Bay and a 10-fold increase in water and sediment fluxes resulting from this. Decreasing environmental quality compromises both the large biodiversity and the potential economic uses of Sepetiba Bay, including fisheries and tourism. Monitoring of heavy metal levels in organisms (algae, mollusks, crustaceans and oysters) often shows concentrations well above the limits allowed following Brazilian legislation for food quality. Historical evolution of these concentrations suggests a worsening of the situation. Failure to monitor the effect of land-based activities, including those from other basins artificially associated with Sepetiba Bay has resulted in poor scenario construction and proper management planning.     

Quality and Quantity of Suspended Particles in Rivers: Continent-Scale Patterns in the United States

Suspended solids or sediments can be pollutants in rivers, but they are also an important component of lotic food webs. Suspended sediment data for rivers were obtained from a United States–wide water quality database for 622 stations. Data for particulate nitrogen, suspended carbon, discharge, watershed area, land use, and population were also used. Stations were classified by United States Environmental Protection Agency ecoregions to assess relationships between terrestrial habitats and the quality and quantity of total suspended solids (TSS). Results indicate that nephelometric determinations of mean turbidity can be used to estimate mean suspended sediment values to within an order of magnitude (r² = 0.89). Water quality is often considered impaired above 80 mg TSS L^–1, and 35% of the stations examined during this study had mean values exceeding this level. Forested systems had substantially lower TSS and somewhat higher carbon-to-nitrogen ratios of suspended materials. The correlation between TSS and discharge was moderately well described by an exponential relationship, with the power of the exponent indicating potential acute sediment events in rivers. Mean sediment values and power of the exponent varied significantly with ecoregion, but TSS values were also influenced by land use practices and geomorphological characteristics. Results confirm that, based on current water quality standards, excessive suspended solids impair numerous rivers in the United States.     

Conservation Opportunities for Securing In-Stream Flows in the Platte River Basin: A Case Study Drawing on Casper,Wyoming’s MunicipalWater Strategy

The Platte River Basin consists of tributaries largely in Wyoming, Colorado and Western Nebraska, with the main stem in Central Nebraska. Critical wildlife habitat on the main stem requires additional in-stream flows. The watershed is one hosting multiple resources, a variety of users, and managed by an array of state and federal agencies. This study proposes a basis for securing in-stream flows for the Platte River. Candidate water supply mechanisms are suggested based on the way in which Casper, Wyoming secured water for its municipal needs. Canal lining is compared to a dam project, increasing reservoir storage, and purchasing water rights, with consideration also made for water pricing to reduce municipal use. Comparisons are based on economic efficiency, potential water conservation, and property rights criteria. Canal lining, coupled with demand management, is shown to conserve water best, given the set of efficiency and cost criteria for in-stream flow enhancement. The approach offers an opportunity to organize the water supply choice context in a transboundary watershed when quantitative information is limited.     

Current and Future Strategies for Water and Wastewater Management of Istanbul City

Istanbul has experienced rapid increases in population to more than 12 million people, which has created infrastructure problems of water supply and wastewater treatment and disposal. In this article, the achievements and approaches of the Istanbul Water and Sewerage Administration (ISKI) to solve the water shortage problem and to improve services are summarized. Istanbul had a very severe water shortage problem in 1994 because of ignorance of the implementation of the needed projects. After reviewing the reasons and causes of the problem, new priority criteria adopted after 1994 are given. Following the implementation of the projects determined according to the aforementioned criteria, water supplied has exceeded the water demand. The added capacity is equal to one to three times of the capacity built up to 1994 for water treatment, service reservoirs, pumping stations, transmission lines, and the water distribution network; water quality has been improved the meet local and international potable water standards. Unaccounted for water has been reduced from 60% to 27%. The percentage of treated wastewater has been increased from 10% to 90% in 8 years, resulting in drastic improvements and rehabilitation of the Golden Horn and coastal water quality. Through improved customer services, complaints were reduced from 33% in 1994 to 0.3%. Some of the main criteria and the approaches behind this success are summarized. Published online     

对我国水资源可持续利用的一点思考

按照“认识——规划——建设”的思路,分析了我国水资源开发利用中所面临的主要问题和挑战,提出水资源可持续开发利用的策略和对策,特别提出分质供水和中水回用相结合的供水方式,作出了各地区重点建设项目的构想。     

中海石油企业安全文化建设

企业安全文化建设既是中海石油自身持续、稳定发展的客观需要 ,也是新形势下企业内、外部环境变化的客观要求。通过不断完善企业安全文化系统工程及其管理体系 ,将安全生产工作提高到文化的高度去认识 ,依靠安全文化的潜移默化作用 ,提高全体员工的安全意识和整体安全文化素质 ,让“我要安全”、“我会安全”贯穿于生产经营活动的所有时空、每一个环节 ,树立“以人为本的绿色能源生产企业”的良好社会形象 ,大力推广“本质安全化”理念 ,增强企业的抗风险能力和竞争能力     

A safety self-management intervention for mining operations

PROBLEM: This quasi-experimental field study examined the efficacy of a safety self-management process to increase safety-related work practices in mining operations. METHODS: After a 7-week baseline, 15 miners participated in a safety self-management training and education presentation. The participants in a prebehavior condition (n=8) recorded their intentions to engage in specific percentages of safety-related work behaviors before starting their shift for the day. In contrast, participants in a postbehavior condition (n=7) recorded their percentages of safety-related work behaviors after their shift for the day. RESULTS: During withdrawal (4 weeks), the miners did not complete any self-monitoring forms. Based on 10,905 behavioral observations, safety self-management was effective at increasing the frequency of safety-related behavior (p<.05). For the prebehavior condition, the mean percent safe score across three target behaviors increased 34.8% during intervention. Similarly, in the postbehavior condition, the mean percent safe score across three target behaviors increased 40.1% during intervention. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: The results suggest that employees who work in relative isolation or have little oversight, compared to traditional industrial workers, may benefit from a process by which they can systematically observe themselves.     

The concept of degraded images applied to hazard recognition training in mining for reduction of lost-time injuries

Introduction: This paper discusses the application of a training intervention that uses degraded images for improving the hazard recognition skills of miners. Method: NIOSH researchers, in an extensive literature review, identified fundamental psychological principles on perception that may be employed to enhance the ability of miners to recognize and respond to hazards in their dangerous work environment. Three studies were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the degraded image training intervention. A model of hazard recognition was developed to guide the study. Results: In the first study, miners from Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Alabama, who were taught with the aid of degraded images, scored significantly better on follow-up hazard recognition performance measures than those trained using traditional instructional methodologies. The second and third studies investigated the effectiveness of the training intervention at two mining companies. Data collected over a 3-year period showed that lost-time injuries at mines in Alabama and Illinois declined soon after the training intervention was instituted. Impact on Industry: Further exploration of the hazard recognition model and the development of other interventions based on the model could support the validity of the steps in the hazard recognition model.     

Watershed scale assessment of nitrogen and phosphorus loadings in the Indian River Lagoon basin,Florida

There is a growing evidence that the ecological and biological integrity of the lagoon has declined during the last 50 years, probably due to the decline in water quality. Establishment of a watershed scale seagrass-based nutrient load assessment is the major aim of water quality management in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL). Best estimate loadings incorporate wet and dry deposition, surface water, groundwater, sediment nutrient flux, and point source effluent discharge data. On the average, the IRL is receiving annual external loadings of 832, 645 and 94,476kg of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP), respectively, from stormwater discharges and agricultural runoff. The average internal cycling of TN and TP from sediment deposits in the IRL was about 42,640kg TN and 1050kg TPyr(-1). Indirect evidence suggests that atmospheric deposition has played a role in the ongoing nutrient enrichment in the IRL. The estimated total atmospheric deposition of TN and TP was about 32,940 and 824kgyr(-1), while groundwater contribution was about 84,920 and 24,275kgyr(-1), respectively, to the surface waters of the IRL. The estimated annual contribution of point effluent discharge was about 60,408kg TN and 7248kg TP. In total, the IRL basin is receiving an annual loading of about 1,053,553kg TN and 127,873kg TP. With these results, it is clear that the current rate of nutrient loadings is causing a shift in the primary producers of the IRL from macrophyte to phytoplankton- or algal-based system. The goal is to reverse that shift, to attain and maintain a macrophyte-based estuarine system in the IRL.     

The Truth about Public Health Protection and Community Sewerage and Water Supply Sanitation in Developing Countries

Since the establishment, following World War II, of the World System, by which the affluent industrialized countries established various international assistance agencies (including the multilateral development banks, UN affiliates, and Bilaterals), these assistance agencies have invested very large sums in helping finance planning and construction of community sewerage and water supply facilities in the developing countries. However, much of this large investment has been ineffective and wasted, primarily because of the lack of understanding by the staff of the assistance agencies that the design criteria for the facilities must be modified to suit the socio-economic status of the developing country. The developing countries are relatively very poor in terms of available finances, hence cannot afford to emulate Western environmental standards and design practices, especially as related to operation and maintenance, hence much simpler approaches must be used. Experiences in several Asian countries are discussed, and a recommendation is made on how to go about resolving this problem.