Environmental Health and Protection Commons^™

Learning From California’S Experience With Small Water System Consolidations: A Workshop Synthesis, Nell Green Nylen, Camille Pannu, Michael Kiparsky

Nell Green Nylen

California recognizes a human right to safe, affordable drinking water. However, small and disadvantaged communities can find it especially challenging to fund the water systems necessary to achieve this goal. Small water systems are responsible for the bulk of the state’s drinking water quality violations, and an estimated 300 disadvantaged communities in California are served by systems that fail to meet state drinking water standards.

Water system consolidations can create economies of scale that help address persistent water system inadequacies in small and disadvantaged communities. More than 100 consolidation projects have been completed or are ongoing in California, and many …

The Klein Water Treatment Facility: Model For The New Superfund Management Strategy – Or- The Importance Of Being In The Wrong Place At The Right Time???, David Brown

David C. Brown

12 pages.

Renewable Energy In The Context Of Sustainable Development, Jayant Sathaye, Oswaldo Lucon, Atiq Rahman, John Christensen, Fatima Denton, Junichi Fujino, Garvin Heath, Monirul Mirza, Hugh Rudnick, August Schlaepfer, Andrey Shmakin, Gerhard Angerer, Christian Bauer, Morgan Bazilian, Robert J. Brecha, Peter Burgherr, Leon Clarke, Felix Creutzig, James Edmonds, Christian Hagelüken, Gerrit Hansen, Nathan Hultman, Michael Jakob, Susanne Kadner, Manfred Lenzen, Jordan Macknick, Eric Masanet, Yu Nagai, Anne Olhoff, Karen Olsen, Michael Pahle, Ari Rabl, Richard Richels, Joyashree Roy, Tormod Schei, Christoph Von Stechow, Jan Christoph Steckel, Ethan Warner, Tom Wilbanks, Yimin Zhang

Robert J. Brecha

Historically, economic development has been strongly correlated with increasing energy use and growth of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Renewable energy (RE) can help decouple that correlation, contributing to sustainable development (SD). In addition, RE offers the opportunity to improve access to modern energy services for the poorest members of society, which is crucial for the achievement of any single of the eight Millennium Development Goals. Theoretical concepts of SD can provide useful frameworks to assess the interactions between SD and RE. SD addresses concerns about relationships between human society and nature. Traditionally, SD has been framed in the three-pillar model—Economy, …

Attitudes And Perspectives Of Front-Line Workers In Environmental Policy: A Case Study Of Ohio Epa And Wisconsin Dnr, Sara Rinfret, Michelle Pautz

Michelle Pautz

This research is an effort to focus on frontline regulators with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. An online survey was conducted of frontline regulators in these agencies to explore their knowledge, attitudes, and perspectives on policy implementation. More specifically, we endeavor to answer how frontline workers implement environmental policy. To analyze these data, we use two categorizations of factors (knowledge and attitudes, and contextual factors) offered by May and Winter (2009) to examine what influences the decision making of frontline regulators in their regulatory interactions. We find that despite common presumptions of adversarialism in …

Susceptibility Of Quagga Mussels (Dreissena Rostriformis Bugensis) To Hot-Water Sprays As A Means Of Watercraft Decontamination, Sean Comeau, Scott Rainville, Wen Baldwin, Emily Austin, Shawn Gerstenberger, Chad Cross, Wai Wong

Shawn Gerstenberger

The recent spread of dreissenid mussels to various bodies of water in the western US has sparked interest by many state and federal agencies to develop protocols to stop further expansion. Quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) are of particular importance as they are currently the most widespread dreissenid species in the region. This project examined the susceptibility of quagga mussels to hot-water sprays at different temperatures and durations of spray contact at Lake Mead (Nevada-Arizona, USA). Emersed adult quagga mussels were exposed to hot-water sprays at 20, 40, 50, 54, 60, 70, and 80°C for 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, …

Removal Of Arsenic From Groundwater At The Baird & Mcguire Superfund Site, Christopher D. Zevitas, Irvine W. Wei

Irvine W. Wei

No abstract provided.

The Reclamation Of Boston Harbor: A Scientist's Perspective, Gordon T. Wallace Jr.

Gordon Wallace

A major effort, costing in the neighborhood of $2 billion, is under way to restore the environmental quality of Boston Harbor. While Boston Harbor is unquestionably one of the most polluted urban estuaries in the world, it is also one of the least understood with respect to the basic physics, chemistry, and biology involved. This information is essential for the purpose of identifying processes that control the transport, effect, and fate of contaminants entering the estuary. Failure to obtain this information may lead to continued inappropriate and unnecessarily expensive solutions to a complex environmental problem. An effective solution will require …

Input–Output Analysis Of Virtual Water Transfers: Case Study Of California And Illinois, Stanley Mubako

Stanley Mubako

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Effects Of Aperture Size, Aperture Variability And Matrix Properties On Biocolloid Retention In A Single, Saturated Fracture, Margaret Burke

Sarah E Dickson

No abstract provided.

Africa Water Atlas, Stanley Mubako

Stanley Mubako

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Spontaneous Gas Expansion And Mobilization On The Aqueous-Phase Concentrations Above A Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid Pool., Kevin G. Mumford, James Smith, Sarah E. Dickson

Sarah E Dickson

This paper presents a framework to quantify the overall variability of the model estimations of Total Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Total PCBs) concentrations in the Niagara River on the basis of the uncertainty of few model parameters and the natural variability embedded in some of the model input variables. The results of the uncertainty analysis are used to understand the importance of stochastic model components and their effect on the overall reliability of the model output and to evaluate multiple sources of uncertainty that might need to be further studied. The uncertainty analysis is performed using a newly developed point estimate method, …

Water Resource Requirements Of Corn-Based Ethanol, Stanley Mubako

Stanley Mubako

No abstract provided.

Long-Range Downstream Effects Of Urban Runoff And Acid Mine Drainage In The Debed River, Armenia: Insights From Lead Isotope Modeling, Robert Kurkjian, Charles Dunlap, A. Flegal

Charles Dunlap

Lead concentrations and isotopic compositions measured along 80 km of the Debed River in the Republic of Armenia provide new insights into the geochemical and physical controls on riparian Pb transport by allowing comparison of the long-range, downstream impacts of acid mine drainage with runoff from an industrialized city. The modern background Pb concentration in Armenian surface waters is estimated to be ~0.01 lg/L, based on analyses of remote alpine rivers in Armenia. The lead concentration in the Debed River is 8 µg/L (800 times background) after passing through Vanadzor, the second largest industrial city in Armenia; it then decreases …

Sadc Challenges Country Water Partnerships To Make Impact, Stanley Mubako

Stanley Mubako

No abstract provided.

New Isotopic Evidence For Chronic Lead Contamination In The San Francisco Bay Estuary System: Implications For The Persistence Of Past Industrial Lead Emissions In The Biosphere, Douglas J. Steding, Charles E. Dunlap, A. Russell Flegal

Charles Dunlap

Measurements of lead isotope compositions in unfiltered San Francisco Bay waters from 1989 to 1998 have brought new insights into the cycling of anthropogenic lead in estuaries. Isotopic com- positions of lead in the shallow (<2 m) southern reach were essentially invariant (~90% derived from 1960s–1970s leaded gasoline) during the study period because of limited hydraulic flushing and the remobilization of lead from bottom sediments. In contrast, in the northern reach freshwater flushing from the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers produced seasonal and decadal variations in lead isotope compositions. The seasonal shifts are attributed to advection of soils containing late 1980s gasoline lead into the bay during winter rains. Mass balance calculations indicate that only a small fraction (1–10%) of this leaded gasoline fallout from the late 1980s has been washed out of the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers’ drainage basin by 1995. Superimposed on this seasonal cycling was a long-term systematic shift in the component of gasoline lead expressed in the river systems, with a small (~5–10%) decrease in the amount of 1960s–1970s gasoline lead in river and North Bay waters. The retention of gasoline lead in the river systems draining into the bay as well as San Francisco Bay sediments indicates that historic gasoline deposits may remain in the combined riparian/estuarine system for decades. Such a persistence is in contraindication to recent reports of rapid (annual) decreases in lead contamination in other environments, and the link between climate and contaminant transport suggests local or global climate change will have an impact on contaminant distribution and fate.

Past Leaded Gasoline Emissions As A Nonpoint Source Tracer In Riparian Systems: A Study Of River Inputs To San Francisco Bay, Charles E. Dunlap, Robin Bouse, A. Russell Flegal

Charles Dunlap

Variations in the isotopic composition of lead in 1995- 1998 river waters flowing into San Francisco Bay trace the washout of lead deposited in the drainage basin from leaded gasoline combustion. At the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers where they enter the Bay, the isotopic compositions of lead in the waters define a linear trend away from the measured historical compositions of leaded gas in California. The river waters are shifted away from leaded gasoline values and toward an isotopic composition similar to Sierra Nevadan inputs which became the predominant source of sedimentation in San Francisco Bay …

Removal Of Phosphorus From Static Sewage Effluent By Waterhyacinth, W Harold Ornes

W. Harold Ornes

Waterhyacinth [Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms] was grown in static sewage effluent during May to July 1974 in outdoor concrete containers with a capacity of 760 liters and a surface area of 1.66 m². The plants were removed weekly from one-half of the surface area of the containers during 5-wk growth periods. Tissue phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N), plant productivity, and some parameters of water quality were measured. A maximum uptake of 5,500 µg of P/g dry weight of plant material occurred when the level of orthophosphate phosphorus (available P) in the effluent was 1.1 µg/ml. Phosphorus in the effluent was …