Evaluating the eco-environment benefit of land reclamation in the dump of an opencast coal mine

Land reclamation significantly affects the ecological and environmental conditions of mining areas. However, quantifying the exact effects is difficult because of the lack of reliable data. The estimation of eco-environment benefit contributes to clarify the ecological and environmental changes caused by land reclamation and to provide useful information for policy-makers concerned with sustainable development. The aim of this study is to investigate variations in eco-environment benefit in response to land use changes during land reclamation. The West dump, one of the earliest regions to implement ecological restoration in Liaoning Province, is selected as the study area. The widely used methods for eco-environment benefits based on the land use change were proposed and applied to the West dump in 2004, 2009, and 2014. The total eco-environment benefits in study areas were 0.98 million dollars in 2004, 1.39 million dollars in 2009, and 1.43 million dollars in 2014, with an increase of 0.41 million dollars from 2004 to 2009 mainly because of the increasing areas of artificial woodland and reclaimed cropland. The combined eco-environment benefits of artificial woodland, improved grassland, and reclaimed cropland were over 90% of the total benefits. Soil formation and protection, biodiversity protection, and gas regulation were the top three functions with high eco-environment benefits, contributing about half of the total eco-environment benefits. The results suggest that future studies estimating eco-environment benefits should pay more attention to ecosystems in fragile ecological regions where various human interferences happen frequently. All of the abovementioned results made the techniques of estimation of the eco-environment benefit of land reclamation are more meaningful in guiding the future exploitation and reclamation of mining areas.     

The Impact of Scrubber Sludge on Ground Water Quality at an Abandoned Mine Site

A sulfate-rich flue gas desulfurization scrubber sludge was used as a substitute backfill material in reclamation of an abandoned coal strip mine. The site was surrounded by monitor wells and the material was characterized for leaching behavior using open column experiments. A drain was placed directly beneath the 45 000 ton fill to enable sampling before dilution or attenuation. The column studies indicated that the scrubber sludge would adsorb manganese, iron, aluminium, cobalt, nickel, thallium and zinc contaminants from the water. Changes in pH appear inadequate to explain the removal by precipitation. The groundwater cleaning phenomenon has been confirmed on a field scale by the drain samples. Boron and molybdenum leach from the fly ash was used to fix the scrubber sludge and serve as marker elements enabling calibration of the dispersivity in computer models of the groundwater system at the site. The leachate front appears to be diluted by a factor of 8 : 1 within the first 15 meters. Since boron and molybdenum release are associated only with the first flush, environmental impacts will be minimal. Columns appear to create a time compression effect on the duration of leaching phenomenon. The effect for this site appears to be at least 5 : 1. The columns were effective in predicting which elements would leach or adsorb in the field and in predicting the actual source concentrations. Other shake tests such as the TCLP and the ASTM shake test were found to be less effective at predicting which elements would leach and were not helpful in predicting field concentrations.     

Changes of Land Use and of Ecosystem Service Values in Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China

Agricultural activities, especially reclamation, are considered major threats to the wetland ecosystems in Sanjiang Plain, the largest concentrated area of the freshwater wetlands in China. In the past decades, the area of the cultivated land and its grain production have been increased at the cost of wetlands shrinkage. The large-scale land reclamation severely affected the ecosystems in this region. However, such effects at the regional scale are seldom evaluated quantitatively. We used three datasets of LANDSAT MSS and/or TM imagery to estimate the area changes and the transition of land use types from 1980 to 2000. We also valued changes in ecosystem services delivered by each land category using value coefficients published by Costanza et al. [Nature 387, 1997, 253–260]. Sensitivity analysis suggested that these estimates were relatively robust. Finally, the contribution of various ecosystem functions was ranked to the overall value of the ecosystem services in this study. According to our estimates, the total annual ecosystem service values in Sanjiang Plain have declined by about 40% between 1980 and 2000 ($156284–182572.18 million in total over 20 years). This substantial decline is largely attributed to the 53.4% loss of wetlands. For individual ecosystem functions, waste treatment, water supply and disturbance regulation account for more than 60% to the total ecological values. During those two decades, the contribution of disturbance regulation, cultural and recreation decreased, while the contribution of water regulation, nutrient cycling, food production, raw materials and climate regulation increased during the same period. We also put forward a few proposals concerning the future land use policy formulation and sustainable ecosystems. They are adjusting the ‘food first’ agricultural policy, establishing more nature reserves for wetlands, creating systems for the rational use of water, harnessing the degraded cultivated land and encouraging eco-tourism.     

Urban Wastewater Treatment and Reclamation for Agricultural Irrigation: The situation in Morocco and Palestine

As freshwater becomes increasingly scarce due to population growth, urbanisation and, probably, climate change, the use of wastewater in agriculture, aquaculture, groundwater recharge and in other areas will increase. In some cases, wastewater is the only water resource available to poor, subsistence-level farming communities. Although there are benefits to using wastewater in agriculture—such as better nutrition and food security for many households—uncontrolled use of wastewater is frequently associated with significant negative human health impacts. These health impacts can be minimized when good management practices are implemented. In this paper the existing situation, in relation to water resources availability, wastewater treatment and reuse in Morocco and Palestine, is presented.     

Mining and the environment: a case study from Bijolia quarrying site in Rajasthan, India

Mining is essentially a destructive developmental activity, where ecology suffers at the altar of economy. Unfortunately, in most regions of the Earth, the underground geological resources are superimposed by biological resources (forests). This is particularly evident in India. Hence mining operations necessarily involve deforestation, habitat destruction, biodiversity erosion and destruction of geological records which contain information about past biodiversity. Extraction and the processing of ores and minerals also lead to widespread environmental pollution.However, mankind cannot afford to give up the underground geological resources which are the basic raw materials for development. An unspoiled nature can provide ecological security to people but cannot bring economic prosperity. Scientific mining operations accompanied by ecological restoration and regeneration of mined wastelands and judicious use of geological resources, with search for eco-friendly substitutes and alternatives must provide the answer.A case study from the Bijolia quarrying area in Rajasthan, India, provides some sensational revelations of the impact of mining on the human ecosystem.     

浅析露天矿土地复恳中应注意的几个问题

通过分析我国露天矿土地复垦现状,本文着重进行了问题探讨,从复垦技术,综合利用及经济补偿等方面提出一些新措施,以促进土地复垦,使生态、经济和社会三效益统一。     

市场机制在白色污染物回收处置中的应用探讨——以上海一次性塑料餐具废弃物为例

近10年来上海城市生活垃圾组分中,以塑料为代表的包装废物的组分份额上升趋势尤为显著;上海GDP持续高速增长,但单位GDP城市废弃物清运量的下降率却显著低于GDP的年均增长率,一定程度上说明环卫行业的投资渠道较为单一,缺乏竞争和优化配置的市场机制;上海各类废弃塑料主要流向江浙一带,进行小规模低技术层次的加工处理,容易形成隐蔽的废品交易暗流;造成“白色污染”屡禁不止的重要原因是忽视了基于生产者责任的市场调控机制,社会化的回收体系薄弱;上海从2000年10月起,对一次性塑料餐具的回收处置建立了基于生产者责任的市场机制,由于一次性塑料饭盒的区域回收网络建设滞后,实施的效果有效但仍有限.     

沿海滩涂垦殖对土壤氮总转化速率的影响分析

滩涂湿地在吸收、转化和滞留氮、磷等营养元素方面具有重要功能。选取江苏东部沿海典型滩涂区,分别对垦殖时间为0、3、6、17、30、60 a的沿海滩涂进行采样,对相应的土壤氮总转化速率指标进行实验测定。结果表明,滩涂垦殖后,表征氮素活化过程的指标,如总矿化率、总硝化率、净矿化率和净硝化率等有所增加,而有利于氮固持的铵态氮同化率指标无显著变化,硝态氮同化率指标变慢;围垦期限超过30 a后,各氮总转化速率指标渐趋稳定。相关性分析表明,净矿化率、总矿化率、铵态氮同化率、净硝化率、总硝化率与围垦年限呈显著正相关(p<0.01),相关性系数分别为0.966、0.929、0.819、0.800、0.798;硝态氮同化率与围垦年限呈显著负相关(p<0.01),相关性系数为-0.685;除铵态氮外,全氮、硝态氮、pH值、有机碳均与各氮总转化速率指标呈显著相关关系(p<0.01)。滩涂垦殖后土壤理化性质指标的改变带来土壤氮总转化速率的变化,一定程度上破坏了土壤氮生态系统平衡。     

煤矿复垦地不同覆土厚度对小麦产量影响研究——以淮南煤矸石充填耕地复垦地为例

在淮南新庄孜煤矸石充填耕地复垦地中以覆土厚度水平作为控制因素研究其对小麦产量的影响及其相关性。在一定覆土厚度范围内,不同覆土厚度对小麦产量产生了显著性影响;小麦产量与覆土厚度有高度的线性正相关。其主要原因是底层充填煤矸石颗粒粗糙、坚硬,没有粘性呈分散状,机械阻力大,保水保肥能力弱;覆土厚度薄的地块与厚度厚的地块相比能储存持有的养分水分少进而影响其养分水分的提供。     

灰色局势决策在企业清洁生产技改决策中的应用

对洛阳LYC轴承有限公司清洁生产环节中废水再生工艺的技改资金投配决策方案进行比选分析,构建灰色局势决策,进行目标量化与效果值白化,效果测度计算,得到决策结果。通过分析认为,灰色局势决策能够针对实际决策问题,为不同目标提供较为方便和科学的决策依据和决策结果。