Cleanup Efforts Research Articles

The Apple Bites Back: Claiming Old Orchards for Residential Development

As the U.S. population continues to grow, increasing demand for housing and related community resources means more land is being converted from agricultural uses to residential applications. According to the revised 1997 National Resources Inventory conducted by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, more than 6 million acres of American farmland were converted to developed uses between 1992 and 1997. That is an annual conversion rate of roughly 1.2 million acres per year—a 51% increase over the average annual rate reported for the preceding decade. Naturally, many of these areas were routinely treated with pesticides and other chemicals during their agricultural lifetimes. Although this legacy has been problematic in a wide variety of land conversion scenarios, one in particular seems to have attracted the attention and concern of environmental officials and property buyers in several states across the country: the residential development of historic orchard properties. In state after state, these old orchards (which most often produced apples, but also peaches, cherries, pears, and other tree crops) are metamorphosing into highly desirable subdivisions—desirable, that is, until it emerges that the soil beneath the feet of the proud new residents may be contaminated with lead and arsenic. These toxic by-products are left from the days before DDT and before organophosphates, when arsenical pesticides, particularly lead arsenate (LA), were the treatment of choice to prevent the ravages of insect damage.

Oil from bombed plant left to spill

War hampers clean-up efforts.

Nigeria–UK: Clean‐Up Efforts Backed

Africa Research Bulletin: Economic, Financial and Technical SeriesVolume 43, Issue 5 p. 16963C-16963C Nigeria–UK: Clean-Up Efforts Backed First published: 11 July 2006 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6346.2006.00259.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume43, Issue5July 2006Pages 16963C-16963C RelatedInformation

Rise of the Automobiles: the costs of increased NO2 pollution in China's changing urban environment

China's rapidly growing motor vehicle fleet is changing the makeup of its urban atmosphere. While the two major problem pollutants historically have been particulates and sulfur dioxide, the growth in the number of automobiles has generated substantially increased levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2). This paper examines and values the mortality health effects (reduced premature deaths) from cleaning up these three pollutants. Findings indicate that valued gains from reduced air pollution mortality can average 3% of a city's GDP. Moreover, the growing auto fleet may generate a ten-fold increase in NO2-based mortality costs and offset other, ongoing cleanup efforts in many Chinese cities. Specifically, the paper explores how the increasing number of automobiles might diminish or offset environmental cleanup activities focused upon particulate and sulfur dioxide pollution.

EPA Ground Water Task Force Report

EPA Ground Water Task Force Report

Are there increasing returns to pollution abatement? Empirical analytics of the Environmental Kuznets Curve in pesticides

According to the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis, economic growth and the reduction of environmental degradation are compatible goals. An inverted U-shaped relationship between economic performance and environmental pollution suggests that, empirically, an economy is associated with smaller levels of pollution after some threshold income point. One potential explanation for the empirical evidence of an EKC is increasing returns to pollution abatement, where the abatement efficiency rises with an increase in the scale of abatement. Doubling the clean-up efforts more than doubles the abatement of pollution. As this efficiency gain makes abatement less expensive, pollution might fall as more abatement is undertaken. This study tests the hypothesis that there are increasing returns to abating pollution. Empirical evidence on environmental risks in the US agricultural sector since 1970 support the existence of increasing returns. In addition, I estimate the productivity of pollution abatement using refined empirical productivity measurement methods and explicitly control the level of technology. The results show the importance of including an environmental productivity variable in the EKC framework.

Drug Abuse: Meth’s Pollution Epidemic

Methamphetamine problems are soaring nationwide. Nearly 60% of county officials report that meth is the largest drug problem in their county, and 87% saw jumps in meth arrests in the past three years, according to a survey released in July 2005 by the National Association of Counties. But meth isn’t just a hard drug; it’s also an environmental hazard. Illicit drug makers can cook small batches of meth anywhere they can plug in a stove, microwave, or electric skillet (heat is not required, but speeds the manufacture). The ingredients include common cold medicines, ammonia fertilizer, and muriatic acid. Cooking generates a variety of noxious solvents and gases, such as hydrogen chloride, phosphine, and meth itself. According to an 8 August 2005 Newsweek article, for each pound of meth produced, five pounds of toxic waste are left behind. Police and firemen report breathing problems and headaches when they bust meth labs, but no one has quantified the hazards they face. So John Martyny, an industrial hygienist at National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, teamed up with law enforcement officials in Colorado. They set up controlled cooks in an abandoned motel (which was later razed) and measured the resulting pollutants. In the unpublished studies, phosphine gas reached 2.9 parts per million (ppm), three times the occupational short-term exposure limit. Phosphine causes headache, pulmonary edema, and death. Martyny says cook fatalities are probably linked to this chemical. Hydrogen chloride fumes reached 155 ppm, more than three times the level considered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to be “immediately dangerous to life or health.” Hydrogen chloride causes respiratory tract damage. Ammonia, which causes lung edema, also soared to three times the “immediately dangerous to life or health” level. Anyone who is present during cooks is exposed to these and likely other toxicants; a third of all meth busts find children present. “The health costs to children may not be identified for years to come,” says Martyny, who predicts long-term respiratory and neurological problems. More research is needed to determine the best ways to clean up meth labs. Meth becomes airborne during production and settles on surfaces at up to 16,000 micrograms per 100 square centimeters (μg/100 cm2). Even six months after a staged cook, Martyny found meth levels of 300 μg/100 cm2 on surfaces. Carpets trap meth and other pollutants, yet vacuuming dra-meth levels. So Martyny recommends discarding carpets. Further, after grinding contaminated wallboard in separate unpublished studies, Stephen Lee, who supervises the Emergency Response Team at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in St. Paul, learned that washing walls removes less than 10% of the total meth. The rest is trapped deeper. Whether it bleeds back out to the surface and poses an exposure risk is unknown. Lee is evaluating whether a covering of oil-based paint seals meth within wallboard. Few states have guidelines for cleaning up meth labs. “As more states deal with remediation of meth properties, they turn to us,” says Carolyn Comeau, manager of the Clandestine Drug Lab Program at the Washington State Department of Health. Washington requires remediation by contractors certified by the state to decontaminate meth labs, which are often found in low-income rental properties. The state also requires that surface meth be at or below 0.1 μg/100 cm2 before new residents can move in. Scientific evidence like Martyny’s and Lee’s should yield more effective guidelines, says Comeau. Lee adds that a health-based standard for meth residues on building surfaces is needed to determine which properties need remediation and when a property has been adequately cleaned. All three experts support national remediation standards like those proposed in the Methamphetamine Remediation Research Act of 2005, which would establish a federal research program at the Environmental Protection Agency to study the environmental and health effects of meth labs and coordinate cleanup efforts. The bill has 55 cosponsors, and floor passage in the House is expected later this year.

Effects of pulsed and pressed disturbances on the benthic invertebrate community following a coal spill in a small stream in northeastern USA

In September 1999, a coal-carrying train derailed and spilled 180,000–270,000 kg of coal into the Cayuga Inlet near Ithaca, New York. This study determined the immediate effects of the coal spill and the clean up procedures on the aquatic invertebrate community, and whether the stream recovered from this event after 2 years. Benthic invertebrate samples were taken both upstream and downstream of the coal spill immediately following clean-up efforts and two years later. Just after the coal spill, the total abundance and species richness of aquatic invertebrates were significantly lower downstream of the spill, suggesting that the disturbance caused increased mortality and/or emigration compared to a reference site upstream. Taxa affected most were grazers and turbidity-susceptible invertebrates. Two years later the invertebrate communities were similar upstream and downstream of the spill, except for an increase in the percent of the dominant genus, Hydropsyche(Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae). We speculate that long-term effects of channelization of the stream that occurred during the clean-up prevented the invertebrate assemblage from returning to the conditions observed in a reference site upstream of the coal spill. We propose that large scale environmental clean-ups should be designed to avoid altering ecosystems permanently, and that streams should be allowed to recover naturally without destructive human intervention.

The Blaster Worm: Then and Now

The Blaster worm of 2003 infected at least 100000 Microsoft Windows systems and cost millions in damage. In spite of cleanup efforts, an antiworm, and a removal tool from Microsoft, the worm persists. Observing the worm's activity can provide insight into the evolution of Internet worms.

Triple Fix

A new water treatment plant in New York City is expected to strengthen the city’s water system, address local flooding problems, and accelerate groundwater cleanup efforts.

Does a Cleaner Thames Pass an Economic Appraisal?

Due to substantial clean-up efforts, water quality in the River Thames in London has steadily improved over the last three decades. However, London's Victorian sewage system still discharges untreated sewage into the Thames, at times of moderate to heavy rainfall. This happens approximately 60 times every year, creating adverse environmental and amenity impacts on the river. Major and costly engineering works will be required to solve the sewage overflow problem. This paper reports the results of a stated preference study designed to value the multiple non-market benefits—eductions in sewage litter, risk to human health, and risk to fish populations—associated with a range of potential engineering solutions. Our findings indicate that household willingness to pay for these benefits is likely to be significantly greater than the projected costs per household of, at least, some potential technical solutions. Although arguably justifiable on economic grounds, the final decision on whether to proceed with such a large infrastructure project is unlikely to depend wholly on cost-benefit thinking, but involve complex trade-offs with other socially desirable criteria.

Arsenic speciation in waters and sediment of ephemeral floodplain pools, Ríos Agrio–Guadiamar, Aznalcóllar, Spain

The April 1998 breaching of the Aznalcóllar tailings dam at Boliden Apirsa's Spanish Aznalcóllar/Los Frailes Ag–Cu–Pb–Zn mine resulted in the flooding of the Ríos Agrio and Guadiamar with arsenic (As)-rich tailings and water. Mineralogical and geochemical characterisation of water and sediment from five ephemeral pools on the Agrio–Guadiamar floodplain has been carried out to understand how the As is sequestered and to evaluate the long-term stability of the As-bearing phases. Dissolved As concentrations in pool waters range from an extreme of 85,000 μg l − 1 down to 5.5 μg l − 1. XANES, EXAFS, XRD, X-ray mapping, electron microprobe analysis and single chemical extractions suggest that As in the sediments is sequestered in sulphide (As 0 in arsenopyrite and pyrite, coordinated by 1 S and 3 Fe) and in Fe oxide (AsV in arsenate, coordinated by 4 O, bound to Fe oxide and Fe sulphate, probably jarosite). The pools evolved as a result of the interaction of rainwater with the sediments, and As concentrations are controlled by evaporation and by the amount of tailings (and specifically, arsenopyrite) in the sediments that remained even after clean-up efforts. The arsenopyrite remaining in the floodplain sediment is potentially highly reactive under the prevailing pH and Eh conditions on the floodplain, and will probably continue to provide As to ephemeral pools and possibly, Agrio–Guadiamar river water.

Natural Recovery Of Salt Marshes From The 1991 Oil Spill On The Saudi Arabian Gulf Coast

ABSTRACT Our team completed a broad multidisciplinary survey in 2003 characterizing several thousand transects along 850 km of oil-impacted shoreline to determine the impacts of the 1991 oil spill on the Saudi Arabian Gulf from the western end of Abu Ali Island to the Kuwait border. Salt marshes and tidal flats there form a very significant portion of the oil-impacted coastline. These habitats were heavily oiled in 1991 and significant loss of biological communities was reported then. Although a large scale response effort followed the spill, the size of the spill overwhelmed it. The overwhelming majority of the spill site is remote and will likely receive little or no cleanup and/or restoration effort. After completing the survey, we conducted an ecological survey at two selected salt marsh transects using line-intercept and quadrat counts counting macrovegetation and intertidal macroepibenthos within one impacted (recovering) and one unoiled (comparison) transect. The objective of our paper is to present useful highlights regarding the nature of the recovery of intertidal macroepibenthos and the vegetation associated with salt marshes. A continuing impact to key species and their assemblages is documented and discussed. We conclude that while recovery has progressed from initial reports of significant damages in 1991–1993 the overall recovery of the salt marshes is far from complete. Some areas of considerable size and importance show little or no sign of recovery. In summary, the oil spill of 1991 was arguably the largest coastal spill in history. Long-term effects are widespread, appear to be profoundly large-scale, and in some cases salt marshes show little sign of natural recovery.

THE FOSS BARGE 248-P2 OIL SPILL: A CHALLENGE IN SPILL MANAGEMENT

ABSTRACT On December 30, 2003, a 4620 gallon spill of heavy oil occurred from the tank barge FOSS 248-P2 as it was loading bunker fuel at the Chevron Point Wells oil storage facility at Shoreline (Seattle), Washington. Under the Northwest Area Contingency Plan (NWACP), a unified command made up of a responsible party Incident Commander (IC) from Foss Maritime, a federal on-scene coordinator (OSC) from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), a state OSC from the Washington Department of Ecology, a tribal OSC from the Suquamish Tribe and a local OSC from the Kitsap County Department of Emergency Management (KDEM) formed to manage the spill. A large on-water response force was mobilized but the oil quickly impacted an important environmentally sensitive marsh and beaches owned by both the Suquamish Tribe and the State of Washington. Commercial and recreational shellfish beds, beach sediments, a pristine marsh and high use public beaches were all affected by the spill. A significant four-month cleanup effort occurred on the beaches and marsh to remove the oil. Operational cleanup endpoints were established for the beaches and marsh. Shellfish and sediment sampling and monitoring plans were developed jointly by agency and tribal workgroups. The Suquamish Tribe was placed in the lead for conducting beach surveys under a long term monitoring plan approved by the unified command. The five members of the unified command faced major challenges during the spill due to overlapping federal, state, local and tribal jurisdictions, land ownership disputes, political consequences, cleanup/operational problems, shellfish and sediment contamination concerns, public outreach issues and the inexperience of several agencies involved. This paper will explore the unique challenges faced by the unified command in responding to the spill.

Rethinking First Response: Effects of the Clean Up and Recovery Effort on Workers at the World Trade Center Disaster Site

We sought to describe the physical and mental health effects of the cleanup and recovery effort on workers at the World Trade Center disaster site. A mailed survey was sent to truck drivers, heavy equipment operators, laborers, and carpenters. It assessed work-related exposures and somatic and mental health symptoms. In one open-ended question, respondents shared any aspect of their experiences they wished; these 332 narrative responses were analyzed using qualitative techniques. Respondents reported suffering debilitating consequences of their work, including depression, drug use, and posttraumatic stress disorder. They felt poorly prepared to work in a disaster, lacked protective equipment and training, and felt overwhelmed by the devastation they faced. These workers' experiences were qualitatively similar to the experiences of the first responders. To protect workers in the future, the focus on preparing "first" responders should be reconsidered more broadly.

Spatial variability of the chemical characteristics of a trace-element-contaminated soil before and after remediation

This study addresses the spatial and temporal variability of soil properties before and after the application of organic and inorganic amendments in a trace-element-polluted soil using statistics and geostatistical methods. The experiment took place in a plot (20×50 m) affected by the acid toxic pyritic sludge from the Aznalcóllar mine (Seville, Spain) in April 1998. Soil samples from 0- to 15-cm depth were collected within 48 locations, on a 14×45 m grid in 2002 and 2003, respectively. The samples were analysed for pH, total organic carbon, total sulphur and total, available and soluble As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn concentrations. Classic statistical and geostatistical methods were used to assess variability in contamination levels. All soil properties determined in the plot showed a large variability with high coefficients of variation. In both years, mean values of total concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn were higher than the background values in the area. In general, amendment application increased soil pH and total organic carbon content and decreased heavy metal solubility, however it did not have a clear effect on total and available trace-element contents. Experimental semivariograms were developed to determine the spatial dependence of soil properties and were adjusted to spherical and linear models with nugget effect. Then, the spatial distribution of the different variables was estimated by kriging to design contour maps. These contour maps can help to identify the pollution patterns and delineate the range of contamination. A spatial similarity pattern among total As and Pb (the lesser mobile elements) and total S content was found in both samplings revealing a correspondence between the contamination and spots of residual sludge. Levels of metal pollution were influenced by soil pH. Despite those clean-up efforts the soil still presents significant levels of pollution related to the presence of remaining sludge in the soil. The kriging-interpolated maps were a very valuable tool in studying pollution and monitoring soil parameters after amendment application at field scale.

Measurement of 99Tc in Savannah River Site high activity waste

Waste cleanup efforts currently underway at the Savannah River Site have created a need to characterize 99Tc in the various high activity waste matrices currently in Site inventories. The traditional method our laboratory used for analyzing 99Tc in higher activity matrices was a solvent-solvent extraction method using Aliquat-336 in xylene. In an effort to eliminate the resulting generation of mixed wastes, a variety of different separation methodologies have been studied. Eichrom TEVA solid phase extractions using column technology have been employed in a case by case basis over the last several years. More recently, applications using Eichrom TEVA extraction discs and 3M Empore Tc extraction discs have also been explored.

Respiratory effects of inhalation exposure among workers during the clean-up effort at the World Trade Center disaster site

During December 2001 we conducted a field study of 183 clean-up and recovery workers at the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster site to assess respiratory health effects potentially resulting from their work at the site. On site, we administered a respiratory health questionnaire designed to assess upper respiratory symptoms and lower respiratory symptoms, including cough, phlegm, and wheeze, as well as indices of exposure, including number of days worked at the site and job category. Spirometry was conducted for 175 workers. Sixty-five percent of the workers surveyed arrived at the site without lower respiratory symptoms. Of this group, 34% developed cough, 24% developed phlegm, and 19% developed wheeze. Prevalence rates of these symptoms were related to the number of days spent working at the WTC, but not job category. The mean percentage predicted FEV 1 and FVC were 6% and 5% lower, respectively, for workers who developed new lower respiratory symptoms compared to those who remained symptom free. While the development of new wheeze suggested the presence of airway obstruction, the near-normal distribution of age-adjusted FEV 1/FVC ratios suggested that the degree of obstruction was mild. The prevalence rates of upper airway symptoms (nasal congestion, sore throat, hoarse throat) exceeded those of lower respiratory symptoms, however, it was not determined whether symptoms pre-dated arrival at the WTC site.

Toward Nuclear Abolition: A History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement, 1971-Present (review)

Reviewed by: Toward Nuclear Abolition: A History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement, 1971–Present Russell Olwell (bio) Toward Nuclear Abolition: A History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement, 1971–Present. By Lawrence S. Wittner. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2003. Pp. xiv+657. $32.95. Nuclear weapons are a technology that dominated the latter half of the twentieth century, and continue to shape policies of war and peace into the twenty-first. Born at the same time as the cold war, atomic weapons have spread through Europe and Asia, and their development and threatened use are in our news almost continuously. This makes Lawrence Wittner's new book Toward Nuclear Abolition both more relevant than ever and out of step with the times. In this third volume of his trilogy The Struggle Against the Bomb, Wittner starts in the 1970s and ends in 2002. The book includes some of the antinuclear movement's most powerful and visible moments: the rise of Great Britain's Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, led by historian E. P. Thompson, as well as the American Nuclear Freeze movement. Since the election of George W. Bush to the American presidency, the situation has changed entirely from the high tide of the movement in the 1970s and 1980s. Disarmament and nonproliferation have become excuses for war, not a path to peace. Missile shields once rejected as utopian are back in production. Plutonium production is gearing up, while cleanup efforts at nuclear sites are out of the public eye. It would seem as though we have returned to the world of 1945, with the United States possessing an uneasy dominance of the atomic world, waiting to take on all potential rivals. Hence the current relevance of Wittner's book. The story he tells and the analysis he presents of the latter part of the twentieth century demonstrate the ways in which mass movements helped curb the nuclear ambitions of national leaders. Wittner, unlike most historians, is truly global in his approach, taking us from Europe, into the Soviet Union, out to New Zealand and back to America, for almost every topic he covers. His thesis, that ordinary people built powerful social movements to rein in their leaders, East and West, is well-documented. Wittner has spent time in archives throughout the world, and has interviewed top policymakers to chart the [End Page 868] impact of the antinuclear movement on their thinking. He has pieced together the story of the antinuclear movement in the United States, in Great Britain, and behind the Iron Curtain. The story he tells is one of the antinuclear movement managing to exercise some restraint on national leaders, but never really coming to power. While majorities of voters in western nations were fearful of atomic weapons policy and the threat of nuclear war, those same publics elected Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and other nuclear hawks. Even those leaders who questioned the use nuclear weapons, such as Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, never moved to make the deep cuts in weapons programs that the antinuclear movement demanded. Will the current situation foster a new nuclear disarmament movement? On Wittner's evidence, yes. He shows that even under the most repressive conditions, such as Leonid Brezhnev's Soviet Union, independent peace movements could spring up, organize, and survive, waiting for the right opening to make their case to the wider public. Will the current arms race be held in check? There is nothing restraining the current U.S. administration's ambitions that stem from world nuclear supremacy. However, as Wittner points out, popular movements do place limits on national leaders, if only so that those leaders can portray themselves as men of peace at election time. Russell Olwell Dr. Olwell teaches in the Department of History and Philosophy at Eastern Michigan University. His book At Work in the Atomic City will be published by the University of Tennessee Press in 2005. Copyright © 2004 The Society for the History of Technology

Unnatural disasters: case studies of human-induced environmental catastrophes

This reference resource describes both the scientific background and the economic and social issues that resulted from environmental disasters resulting primarily from human activity. Categorized by the type of tragedy-including coal mine tragedies, dam failures, industrial explosions, and oil spills-this one-stop guide provides students with descriptions of some of the world's most tragic environmental disasters. Entries clearly describe each disaster by defining the cause, the consequences, and the clean-up efforts. Readers will learn who the responsible parties were, the effect on the environment and people living in the immediate area, and the economic impact of each disaster. In addition, the long-term consequences, the likelihood of a repeat disaster in the same area, and the measures that have been taken to prevent a repeat incident are discussed. Entries include the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion, the Exxon-Valdez oil spill, the atomic bomb at Hiroshima, and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.