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Water Conservation In The Las Vegas Valley, Judith M. Keir

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis deals primarily with residential use of water in the Las Vegas Valley, an arid climate located in the Mojave Desert, and whether the education of people living here has any bearing on whether or not they conserve water. Many of the residents of the Las Vegas Valley have moved from other areas of the country, and perhaps are not aware of the fact that there is a limited supply of water available to the Valley. I believe that people are not necessarily wasteful, and that they would want to conserve water, if they were aware that conservation and …

Stachybotrys: Is Nevada At Risk?, Terrylynn C. Foley

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Stachybotrys chartarum (atra) is a toxigenic fungus that is known to adversely impact the health of animals. Until recently, there have only been a few documented clinical reports linking Stachybotrys chartarum to human health effects. Scientists are increasingly convinced that Stachybotrys and its metabolites are responsible for several adverse health effects experienced by people all over the world, although conclusive proof has yet to be established. All the physical requirements needed for indoor Stachybotrys sporulation and growth is provided through water leaks (plumbing, roof or ceiling), flood events, nutrient sources (cellulose and nitrogen), pH, and temperature(23° - 28°C). Stachybotrys has …

Lead Shot Concentration In Soil At The Overton Wildlife Management Area, Nevada, George R. Bertoty

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

During the spring of 1998, soil samples were collected from two areas at the Overton Wildlife Management Area (OWMA), located in the Moapa Valley of Clark County, Nevada. Lead shot has been banned for the hunting of waterfowl since 1986 but is still legal for upland game hunting. Both types of hunting occur at OWMA. One area sampled is a cultivated field and serves primarily as a dove hunting area. The other area is primarily a waterfowl hunting area and is flooded during the waterfowl-hunting season. Lead shot was recovered from 83% of the samples from the dove hunting area, …

Unlv Magazine, Barbara Cloud, Laurie Fruth, Chris Johnson

UNLV Magazine

No abstract provided.

A Strategic Analysis Of The Rocky Flats Cleanup, Patrick Mccann

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site is located in Golden, Colorado. It is situated on 384 acres in a 6,550-acre natural preserve. Rocky Flats ended its original mission in 1989, after raids on the site by both the FBI and the EPA for illegal dumping and other environmental violations. Since then the site has been scheduled for cleanup. This thesis will provide background information on the site and on the company hired to perform the cleanup. It also provides an evaluation of some key policies regarding the cleanup procedures. Since the end of the cold war, the production of nuclear …

A Teachers Guide: The Basic Characteristics Of Wetlands And Why They Are Important To The Environment, Charles W. Fisher

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this thesis is to develop an educational guide about wetlands that can be used by 3rd- 12th grade teachers. This guide will enable students to learn about wetlands and why they are important to our environment. I will provide examples and a series of activities that teachers can use in the classroom to help their students better understand the benefits and function of wetlands.

The Price Of Clean Air: A Consideration Of Market Based Emissions Trading, Mark W. Miller

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Traditional regulatory approaches for environmental protection do not consider

the costs and benefits of the standards they impose. Further, imposing strict performance

standards on firms with heterogeneous control costs leads to an inefficient allocation of resources devoted to pollution control. This paper explores the use of emission allowance trading as a way to improve economic efficiency within the context of environmental protection. PM10 air pollution from sources within the Las Vegas Valley is used as the case study.

This paper found that an emission trading

program in this particular case study would not live up to the theoretical expectations. Although, …

Effects Of Oxygen Variation On The Ecology Of Devil's Hole, Death Valley National Park, Norma J. Azad

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The inability to rear Devil's Hole pupfish, Cyprinodon diabolis Wales, in captivity, when captive propagation has been successful with other species of pupfish, led to the examination of environmental factors which are unique to Devil's Hole. It has been suggested that C. diabolis regularly experience developmental arrest due to hypoxic conditions. This arrest may be reversible in areas of the shallow shelf during periods of photosynthetic activity. Oxygen measurements over the shallow shelf reveal a gradient of oxygen variation with the greatest diel variability over the inner portion of the shelf diminishing to nearly imperceptible diel variation toward the outer …

A Comparison Of Astm Standard E1599-94 And A Site Assessment Project Located In North Las Vegas, Kenneth Anthony Katsuda

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This document provides a comparison of ASTM E-1599-94 Standard for a petroleum release and the procedures performed on a site assessment project in North Las Vegas. The major elements of a site assessment are thoroughly discussed in this document. They elements consist of the Initial Site Assessment, On-Site Delineation, Off-Site Delineation, Sampling/Analysis, and Site Assessment Methodologies.

The data was obtained through extensive research, utilizing reference documents,on-site experience, and the knowledge of Keith Stewart of Stewart Environmental.

After reviewing and comparing the data of my research, the procedures applied to the North Las Vegas Site (NLVS) were quite similar to the …

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design: An Analysis Of The Boulevard Mall, Kenneth Mac Leod

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Many case studies have been published that report a decrease in crime as a result of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED). Although methodologies and results of some studies have been questioned, there is agreement that the designed environment can influence human behavior.

Data in this study were accumulated by the investigation of a local mall. Mall management and head of security reported a decrease in all types of crime after improving and adding security measures for customers and store employees. My hypothesis was the mall provided a high number of CPTED features which would result in a low number …

Unlv Magazine, Barbara Cloud

UNLV Magazine

No abstract provided.

Determination Of Ground-Water Tracer 2,6-Difluorobenzoic Acid By Gc/Ms, Cong Han

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

In this study, a GC analytical method for the determination of the ground water tracer, 2,6-difluorobenzoic acid (2,6-DFBA) at the part per billion level was established. Three sample preparation methods, which include two methylation methods and one silylation method, have been evaluated. Chromatographic instruments including GC/MS, GC/ECD, and GC/FID have been used. Silylation of 2,6-DFBA combined with GC/MS analysis has proven to be the best method in this study, due to the low detection limits (part per trillion) achieved, and the stability of the 2,6-DFBA silyl derivative. A GC/MS instrument calibration curve was established, a C-well water sample was analyzed …

Recreational Disturbance Of A Desert Stream Fish Community: Detecting Ecological Effects Of Environmental Impact, Johnny Mark Sappington

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Fish assemblages in 22 pools were sampled over the summer of 1997 in the North Fork of the Virgin River, Zion National Park, Utah, to assess effects of recreational activities on native fish communities. Pools experiencing high levels of wading and float tubing contained altered population distributions and altered community structure as compared to pools generally lacking recreational activities. In addition, pools disturbed by recreation had lower abundance of desert sucker (Catostomus clarki) and lower community diversity than pools without recreation. Food availability measured as algal biomass and macroinvertebrate drift density was similar among all pools, but abundance of larval …

Waccara's Utes: Native American Equestrian Adaptations In The Eastern Great Basin, 1776-1876, Stephen P Van Hoak

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The equestrian adaptations of the Western Utes of the Eastern Great Basin were distinct from the stereotypical Plains Indian adaptation to the horse. The range and mobility of the Western Utes was enhanced by their acquisition of horses, but the Utes did not abandon their diversified subsistence system to specialize in buffalo hunting as did many Plains equestrian groups. Western Ute equestrian adaptations changed and evolved throughout the nineteenth century in response to environmental, cultural, economic, and political issues. Waccara's Western Utes represented the most conspicuous stage of Native American equestrianism in the Eastern Great Basin, and the success of …

Radionuclide Dose Assessment Of Groundwater Migrating From The Benham Events, Nts: A Solute Flux Approach, Lloyd T Desotell

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Radionuclide Dose Assessment of Groundwater Migrating from the Benham Event, NTS; a Solute Flux Approach presents results of a preliminary dose-based modeling study of radionuclide transport from the Benham subsurface nuclear detonation at the Nevada Test Site. This investigation utilized a radiologic source term generated from publicly available data and consists of forty-two radionuclides that may be present in sufficient quantities to pose a potential human health risk at the source. To avoid the complex near-cavity chemistry (e.g. solubility of actinides), conservative assumptions were used to estimate a hydrologic source term. By using a two-dimensional stochastic groundwater contaminant transport code, …

A Plan For Characterizing Waste For The Defense Special Weapons Agency At The Nevada Test Site, Tiffany A. Hatcher

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In 1976, Congress adopted the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) to govern hazardous waste. The Act was amended in 1984 with the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments in order to further define the requirements of RCRA. RCRA is meant to protect human health and the environment from the effects of hazardous waste, promote waste minimization, and encourage material recycling and recovery. For this purpose, regulations are implemented that cover every aspect of the hazardous waste problem, including generation, transport, treatment, storage, and disposal.

Generators of waste are the most important part of this chain. As defined in RCRA, a …

The Use Of Spectrofluorimetry And Capillary Electrophoresis/Laser-Induced Fluorescence For The Detection Of Fluorescent Dyes In Groundwater Migration Studies, Patrick Ferguson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis involves work that was accomplished during a two-year internship at the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA), Environmental Chemistry Branch. The research is an application of trace level determination of fluorescein dyes used as groundwater tracers. The work was performed to determine whether groundwater could migrate from a Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) site to an adjacent Superfund site. The research involved using Spectrofluorimetry and a new technique called capillary electrophoresis/laser induced fluorescence (CE/LIF) to determine tracer dyes that were injected at the RCRA site and monitored at the Superfund site. Results from Spectrofluorimetry were compared to those of CE/LIF. …

Unlv Magazine, Barbara Cloud, Laurie Fruth

UNLV Magazine

No abstract provided.

Blm Rangeland: Has The Condition Improved?, Angela C. Dudley

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

"Whose Home Is the Range, Anyway?: The latest research is confirming that in the West's fragile public lands, cattle are often bad news for wildlife." This is the title and headline of Lisa Drew's article in the December/January 1994 issue of National Wildlife. It shows a picture of what looks like a wasteland with only cattle, manure and a fence, no vegetation (Drew, 1994). Inside the article, Drew quotes biologist Bob Ohmart at Arizona State University's Center for Environmental Studies as saying, "Livestock grazing is without a doubt the greatest threat to western wildlife" (p. 15). Drew contends that, "The …

The Eldorado Landfill: A Case Study, Heather A. Nash

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In 1995, Boulder City bought from the federal government 167 square miles of land in the Eldorado Valley which is located approximately seven miles west of the city. Soon afterward, the current landfill in Boulder City began accepting construction waste from Las Vegas. The large dump trucks had to travel through Boulder City on route to the landfill. In doing this they passed through three school zones and residential areas. When residents began complaining about the trucks, the Boulder City City Council began investigating various ways to solve the problem. The solution they adopted was to construct a new landfill …

Critical Evaluation Of The Double Tracks Remediation Project, Craig J. Barnes

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) (now the U.S. Department of Energy), in testing the safety of nuclear weapons under many different conditions, detonated single plutonium bearing devices in such a fashion as to simulate an unintentional detonation of the high-explosive portion of nuclear weapons. This resulted in the uncontained spread of plutonium and other radionuclides, such as americium and depleted uranium, in the environment in the vicinity of these experiments. The Double Tracks site was one of these experiments on the Tonopah Test Range (TTR) which was contaminated hi excess of 200 picocuries per gram (pCi/g). The Double Tracks …

Unlv Magazine, Barbara Cloud, Laurie Fruth

UNLV Magazine

No abstract provided.

Recycling At Work: Waste Reduction And Recycling In The Las Vegas Hospitality Industry, Darlene M. Cartier

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Las Vegas hotel and restaurant industries generate 27% of the total waste for Clark County, Nevada. In an effort to study and increase recycling participation in the hospitality industry, Las Vegas hotels and restaurants were contacted to participate in a collaborative project between UNLV's Department of Environmental Studies and the Clark County Health District's Environmental Health Division, The project involved interviewing establishments with recycling programs currently in place. Information gathered from interviews and program tours was used to develop programs for hotels and restaurants who were not yet recycling. This thesis contains case studies of restaurants and hotels who …

Composting Landscape Waste From The University Of Nevada, Las Vegas, K. Jill Hammond

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas is a major producer of organic waste in the Las Vegas Valley. Composting landscape wastes is one way to reduce both landfill dumping and fertilizer costs for the university. It is also an environmentally friendly means of curbing a nationwide problem: unnecessary use of landfill space. Three sites within Clark County were analyzed for the feasibility of composting: Frenchman Mountain, UNLV Campus, and Boulder City Landfill. Using cost analysis, water availability, and other factors to analyze each site, Boulder City Landfill appears to be the best place to house UNLV's composting operation. Composting in …

Ventilation Rates For Carassius Auratus During Changes In Dissolved Oxygen, Collin Nolan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This experiment was designed to determine whether dissolved oxygen concentrations would influence the ventilation rate of goldfish, Carassius auratus. Ventilation rate can be determined by counting opercular movements. Opercular movements of the same five goldfish were counted at three different levels of dissolved oxygen to determine whether there were differences in ventilation rates. Average ventilation rates were established for each of the three levels of dissolved oxygen and compared statistically. There were significant differences in the ventilation rates averages at each of the three levels. Carassius auratus will exhibit changes in ventilation rates when dissolved oxygen levels change.

The Real Cost Of Beef: A Monetary Assessment Of The Environmental Degradation Caused By Beef Production, Carolyn Babcock

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The environmental degradation caused by beef production is severe. The current literature assesses the ecological damage, but falls short of assigning a per pound dollar amount to reflect the real cost of beef. In the United States, most of the environmental focus has been centered around the use of public lands for grazing and the grazing fee the government considers appropriate. The fee covers the maintenance of the grazing program, which includes maintenance of the actual land. This paper will concentrate on beef-related environmental degradation and select specific damage for monetary valuation.

Las Vegas Flamigo Hilton/Unlv Environmental Studies Program Environmental Resource Analysis & Optimization Plan, Dennis Nowlin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

From 1987 through 1992 the Las Vegas Flamingo Hilton instituted resource efficiency improvements in electrical, natural gas, water and materials consumption. In 1992, the Flamingo Hilton commissioned the University of Nevada Las Vegas Environmental Studies Department to analyze and quantify the improvements made by The Flamingo Hilton and investigate the potential for further improvements.

Historical billing data from the periods 1987 - 1992 were used to analyze past and present (1992) electric, natural gas and water consumption. Materials disposal data was only available for a ten month period in 1992. Pollutant emissions data were supplied by Nevada Power Company.

The …

A Comparative Analysis Of Viable Solar Thermal Technologies For Solar Field Development And Commercialization, Sean M. Crawford

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Diminishing fossil fuels and concerns about the quality of the environment has lead the recent drive to establish a commercialized solar field in Southern Nevada. The competing solar thermal technologies for the Solar Enterprise Zone (SEZ) are Parabolic Dish-Stirling, Central Receiver Power Towers, and Parabolic Trough Systems. It is important to compare the technologies based on the guidelines set by the Corporation for Solar Technology and Renewable Resources. The variables weighted are solar conversion performances, initial capital investment, operation and maintenance costs, water and land use, and electricity production costs. All technologies have been proven to viable power sources and …

Residence Time Of Groundwater Issuing From The South Rim Aquifer In The Eastern Grand Canyon, Jim Fitzgerald

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In the eastern Grand Canyon, secondary porosity created by north trending faults, folds, and breccia pipes, facilitates groundwater flow through the South Rim carbonate aquifer. Springs associated with the South Rim Aquifer have low ³H concentrations, [Ca²⁺]/[Mg²⁺] rations close to unity, and variable uranium concentrations. For a geochemical comparison, springs are subcategorized on the basis of geology and discharge. Type I springs are associated with high-angle normal faults and have high discharge rates. These springs discharge Ca²⁺ - Mg²⁺, HCO₃^- waters, have ³H concentrations <2 TR, and ²³⁴U/²³⁸U activity …

Trace Element Analysis Of Selected Springs In The Virgin River Basin, Mary A. Yelken

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Spring water from 23 springs in and near the Virgin River Basin (southwestern Utah, northwestern Arizona, and southeastern Nevada) was collected and analyzed for chemical concentrations. Trace elements and major ion chemistry was used to determine the potential for utilizing water chemistry to provide information on spring water source and flow pathways. Principal Component Analysis (PCA), rare earth element (REE) normalization patterns, and mineral equilibrium modeling (PHREEQE) techniques were used to analyze the data set. Four major spring water groups were displayed by the PCA, based on similarities in water chemistry. The analyses suggest that spring water chemistry is a …