Environmental regulatory compliance on army lands: A case study

A “finding of no significant impact” (FONSI) resulting from an environmental assessment (EA) was reported by the US Army in June 1986 for the construction and utilization of a multipurpose range complex (MPRC) at the Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii. There was little public response, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service and state agencies were consulted and had few comments concerning the results of the botanical surveys used in the assessment. Construction of the $24 million project was begun in 1988. Near the end of construction in 1989 a lawsuit was filed to halt construction because an environmental impact statement (EIS) had not been done for the project, and the plaintiff thought that significant damage had occurred to several unusual ecosystems. Judgment was against the plaintiff and construction continued. An appeal was filed with the 9th Circuit Court. As MPRC construction was nearly complete, and on advice of Department of Justice lawyers, the Department of Army agreed to settle out of court. The settlement in part called for: (1) the plaintiff to drop the appeal and allow construction to be completed as scheduled, and (2) the Department of Army to prepare an EIS for the operation of the MPRC. A subsequent botanical survey for the EIS discovered one endangered plant species, four category 1 candidate plant species (taxa with sufficient data to support listing as endangered or threatened), three category 2 candidate plant species (taxa with some evidence of vulnerability but insufficient data to support listing at this time), one category 3a species (presumably extinct taxa), and possibly three undescribed species growing within the MPRC boundary. The MPRC case study is an excellent example of why the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) must be modified to require in-depth and thorough environmental surveys.     

EMMC process for combined removal of organics, nitrogen and an odor producing substance

In order to improve the process performance regarding the removal of organics, nitrogen, and an odor-causing compound (sulfide) contained in domestic wastewater, an entrapped-mixed-microbial cell (EMMC) with and without humic substances for both fixed and moving carrier reactors and conventional suspended growth culture (i.e. conventional activated sludge process) were investigated simultaneously. Both synthetic (simulated to the organics concentration of general domestic sewage) and actual domestic wastewater were investigated under operational conditions of 12 h of hydraulic retention time (HRT) with 1 h of aeration and 1 h of non-aeration, and 6 h of HRT with continuous aeration, at a room temperature of 25 +/- 2 degrees C. It was found that entrapping humic substances in the EMMC carriers had no impact on the removal of organics, nitrogen, and the odor-producing compound. Additionally, the performance of the EMMC moving carrier system for the removal of these pollutants is similar to that of the EMMC fixed carrier system. In general, the EMMC associated systems which provide high solids retention time achieve a better removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrogen, and the odor-producing substance than the suspended growth system for both HRTs of 6 h (continuous aeration) and 12 h (1 h of aeration and 1 h of non-aeration). Both the fixed and moving carrier EMMC processes, therefore, have the potential for improvement or replacement of the existing conventional activated sludge process with regard to improving the effluent qualities (such as COD, nitrogen and odor-producing compound) for reuse/disposal.     

Dynamic of functional microbial groups during mesophilic composting of agro-industrial wastes and free-living (N2)-fixing bacteria application

Although several reports are available concerning the composition and dynamics of the microflora during the composting of municipal solid wastes, little is known about the microbial diversity during the composting of agro-industrial refuse. For this reason, the first parts of this study included the quantification of microbial generic groups and of the main functional groups of C and N cycle during composting of agro-industrial refuse. After a generalized decrease observed during the initial phases, a new bacterial growth was observed in the final phase of the process. Ammonifiers and (N₂)-fixing aerobic groups predominated outside of the piles whereas, nitrate-reducing group increased inside the piles during the first 23 days of composting. Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), showed an opposite trend of growth since ammonia oxidation decreased with the increase of the nitrite oxidation activity. Pectinolytics, amylolytics and aerobic cellulolytic were present in greater quantities and showed an upward trend in both the internal and external part of the heaps.Several free-living (N₂)-fixing bacteria were molecularly identify as belonging especially to uncommon genera of nitrogen-fixing bacteria as Stenotrophomonas, Xanthomonas, Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, Alcaligenes, Achromobacter and Caulobacter. They were investigated for their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen to employ as improvers of quality of compost. Some strains of Azotobacter chrococcum and Azotobacter salinestris were also tested. When different diazotrophic bacterial species were added in compost, the increase of total N ranged from 16% to 27% depending on the selected microbial strain being used. Such microorganisms may be used alone or in mixtures to provide an allocation of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria in soil.     

空气氧化解吸NO络合吸收产物试验研究

Fe(Ⅱ) EDTA易被氧化为对NO无吸收能力的Fe(Ⅲ)EDTA,为实现Fe(Ⅱ)EDTA的循环使用,提出了Fe(Ⅱ)EDTA络合吸收-空气氧化解吸-铁屑还原再生组合脱除NO新工艺.采用空气氧化解吸络合吸收产物Fe(Ⅱ) EDTA (NO)中NO的方法,研究了温度及压力对Fe(Ⅱ)EDTA(NO)空气氧化解吸过程的影响.结果表明,0.4 MPa、333K为较优的解吸条件.该工艺可循环脱除NO,成本低、效率高,能有效回收NO2资源.     

双室微生物燃料电池处含银废水的产电性研究

以剩余污泥为阳极底,糖蜜废水为基质,Ag Cl废水为阴极电子受体,构建了双室微生物燃料电池(Two-chamber Microbial Fuel Cell,简称MFCs),并研究了电池的产电特性、库仑效率及金属去除率.结果表明:Ag+不仅可以作为阴极电子受体,而且还能稳定产电,外电阻为1000Ω时,获得的最大电压为514.5 m V,最大功率密度为65.82 m W·m-2.在阴极实现了对废水中Ag+的去除,最大去除率可达71.6%,而且Ag+浓度为2000 mg·L-1时,回收金属银单质质量为197.66 g.在阳极对废水的处理效果也很显著,库仑效率最高为2.66%,COD去除率最大为81.22%.     

中和-络合萃取-双极膜电渗析处理金刚烷胺制药废水

采用中和沉淀-络合萃取-双极膜电渗析组合工艺协同处理金刚烷胺制药胺化废水与溴化废水.结果表明,通过胺化废水与溴化废水的中和反应,可以大幅消减废水中溶解性固体和有机污染物,避免后续萃取过程中的乳化现象.在pH值为8.0、油/水相比为1∶1的条件下,P204∶正辛醇=3∶2的复配萃取剂对废水中TOC和TN的萃取效率分别为56.9%和20.6%,金刚烷胺及其衍生物几乎被完全萃取.以2.0 mol·L-1的HCl溶液为反萃取剂,可以将47.5%的金刚烷胺从负载有机相中反萃分离,再生后的萃取剂可以多次重复使用.对萃余液采用双极膜电渗析进行处理,可以去除64.2%的无机盐和部分有机物,同时还能回收到较高浓度的酸,但由于氢离子的渗漏难以回收高浓度的碱.     

Bacterial degradation of monocrotophos and phyto- and cyto-toxicological evaluation of metabolites

The bacterium Serratia marsescens strain JAS16 was isolated from agricultural soil which had prior exposure to monocrotophos for three years. The strain JAS16 tolerated up to 1200 mg L^–1 monocrotophos and degraded the insecticide (1000 mg L^–1) at a degradation rate constant of 136 d^?1 (DT₅₀ = 3.7 d). In soil, the degradation rate constant was 105 d^?1 (DT₅₀ = 4.8 d). A schematic pathway is being proposed from the degraded products derived from gas chromatography--mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The phytotoxicity of degradation products to Vigna radiata, Vigna unguiculata, and Macrotyloma uniflorum and the genotoxicity to Allium cepa roots were found to be low. A cost-effective powder-based formulation was achieved with the isolate. The isolate remained viable during the storage and also multiplied with a higher colony forming units (CFU) load g^–1 for over a period of seven weeks of storage.     

铜及其与四环素的联合暴露对斑马鱼胚胎的毒性效应

近年来工业和养殖业中铜和四环素的滥用,导致了一定程度的水环境污染问题。为探究铜与四环素对水生生物的毒害作用,选择斑马鱼作为受试生物,研究了铜及其与四环素的联合暴露对斑马鱼胚胎的毒性效应,并进一步探索了其中可能的致毒机制。结果表明:铜在低浓度下(10%致死浓度LC10=2.5μg·L~(-1),10%效应浓度EC_(10)=0.1μg·L~(-1))明显延迟了斑马鱼胚胎的孵化、卵黄囊吸收、头部、鱼鳔和体长等生长指标的发育,同时在心脏区域引起了明显的细胞凋亡效应。幼鱼体内总铜含量检测结果显示低浓度下铜的生物利用度相对更高。基因表达结果显示环境浓度的铜可能通过影响神经和心脏相关基因的表达引起斑马鱼胚胎的神经发育和心脏发育异常。铜和四环素的联合暴露实验结果表明二者的复合污染类型为拮抗作用,且两者相互作用可以形成络合物。综合以上结论,说明环境浓度的铜可能通过细胞凋亡、分子水平的变化等方式对水生生物的早期生长发育产生危害,如延迟生长发育、神经及心脏发育异常,另外铜可通过和四环素等环境中其他污染物的结合改变铜的生物有效性和毒性。     

紫色土丘陵坡地土壤微生物群落的季节变化

采用稀释平板法和Biolog-ECO微平板技术,以剌槐（Robinia pseudoacacia）天然次生林为研究对象,研究湖南省衡阳市紫色土丘陵坡地表层（0~10 cm）土壤微生物群落的季节变化特征。结果表明：1）夏季,土壤微生物总数,细菌数量、真菌数量和放线菌数量最高,分别为16.34×106、16.09×106、10.43×104和14.64×104 cfu·g-1干土,春季次之：11.61×106、11.45×106、5.00×104和10.65×104 cfu·g-1干土,秋季最低：5.87×106、5.78×106、4.67×104和4.08×104 cfu·g-1干土,春、夏和秋3季的差异达显著水平（P<0.05）;2）在培养168 h时,土壤微生物C源平均颜色变化率（Average well color development, AWCD）以夏季最高（1.20）,春季次之（0.88）,秋季最低（0.83）;3）土壤微生物功能多样性表现为夏季明显高于春、秋2季（P<0.05）,夏季的Patrick丰富度指数（R）（28）、Shannon-Wiener指数（H）（3.22）、Simpson指数（D）（0.96）和McIntosh指数（U）（8.20）显著高于春、秋2季（P<0.05）,而春、秋2季的R（23,24）、H（3.06,3.08）、D（0.95,0.95）和U（5.90,5.91）无显著差异（P>0.05）;4）氨基酸类、聚合物类和羧酸C源类是衡阳紫色土丘陵坡地土壤微生物偏好且利用率较高的C源类型;5）主成分分析表明,土壤微生物群落的C源利用可分为2类,一类在夏季,另一类在春、秋2季,其得分系数的分布范围分别为（2.59~6.00,2.43~5.09）和（-7.65~-1.90,-6.38~-3.43）。研究结果为科学评价湖南省衡阳市紫色土丘陵坡地土壤生境质量退化和恢复过程中微生物特征的变化提供了本底值参考。     

雄黄矿区不同砷污染土壤中微生物群落结构及碳源利用特征

土壤砷污染是我国乃至世界范围内比较严重的环境问题.有关砷污染的生态毒理效应有很多研究,但对砷污染土壤中微生物群落的关注相对较少.本文以我国湖南省石门县雄黄矿地区长期砷污染土壤为例,采用PLFA及BIOLOG微平板技术考察了7个砷(As)污染程度不同的样点以及一个对照样点土壤微生物群落结构及碳源利用特征.结果发现,雄黄矿区存在多种重金属复合污染,除As含量较高以外,镉(Cd)和镍(Ni)的含量也超过了国家土壤环境质量三级标准.雄黄矿区土壤微生物的群落结构受到土壤有机碳(SOC)、有效磷(AP)、p H以及镁(Mg)、Cd、铁(Fe)、铜(Cu)含量的显著影响.各样点土壤微生物群落均以细菌为主,占微生物总量的71.54%~80.66%,真菌次之,放线菌最少.雄黄矿区土壤中的有效砷对微生物造成了较严重的胁迫.严重砷污染降低了微生物对于碳源利用的多样性以及均匀度.各样点微生物对于碳源的利用也表现出明显的差异.31种碳源中微生物利用较多的只有7类,分别属于糖类、胺类、羧酸类与多聚物,并且以糖类为主.