Potential Environmental Liabilities Research Articles

Aircraft performance of a novel SAF: Lower costs, lower environmental impact, and higher aircraft performance

Investing in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is crucial for reducing the aviation industry’s carbon footprint and mitigating climate change. As global air travel demand increases, SAF offers a viable solution to significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions and enhance energy security, ensuring a more sustainable future for aviation. Additionally, converting biomass, particularly waste materials, into SAF adds value by turning potential environmental liabilities into valuable energy resources, promoting a circular economy and reducing overall waste. This study evaluates the aircraft performance of a novel sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) derived from multiple feedstocks in a hybrid biorefinery. SAF performance is compared to two conventional jet fuels, specifically a blend of 30% kerosene and 70% gasoline and JET-A1. The results demonstrated that the optimal SAF outperformed conventional fuels in terms of both thrust and range. Specifically, SAF exhibited a 17% increase in thrust and a 10% increase in range compared to conventional Jet A1 fuel. This novel fuel did not only mitigate CO2 emissions and achieve a cost reduction of 0.13 to 8.08%, but also exhibited superior aircraft performance. In addition, this fuel also meets the criteria of a “drop-in fuel” as it does not necessitate significant alterations to the currently existing CFM56-7B turbofan engine. This is due to its similar key thermodynamic indicators, such as heat capacities and combustion temperature, which are comparable to those of conventional jet fuels. In addition, this paper identifies the sensitivity of the CFM56–7B turbofan engine fuelled by the novel fuel.

Environment Risks and Their Responses to Chinese Companies Investing in Countries along the Belt and Road: Solutions Based on the International Investment Law

In recent years, Chinas investment in countries along the Belt and Road has gradually expanded. Minerals, energy, manufacturing, infrastructure, engineering construction, etc. are key industries for Chinese companies to invest in countries along the road. Legal deficiencies in the host countrys environment, behavioral defects of overseas investment companies, and the lack of regulatory norms and weak supervision of environment risks in China increase the potential environmental liability risk of Chinese companies. On the purpose of reducing the occurrence of environment risks, this paper takes the international investment law as the entry point, adopts the literature review method and data induction method, and combines a large number of environment risk treatment cases of Chinese companies in the project investment, and proposes five solutions: include environmental protection clauses when signing international treaties with host countries; Strengthen companies environmental responsibilities and environmental disclosure obligations; Special legislation for overseas investment by companies; Fully use the role of overseas investment insurance and establishing a diversified mechanism for resolving international environmental disputes.

Is Produced Water Really Water?

Is produced water flowing out of an oil/water separator actually water? Before answering, consider the fact that this question has set off a high-stakes legal battle over who owns produced water—landowners or oil companies—which is likely to end up before the Texas Supreme Court. An appeals court ruling recently confirmed the oil industry’s control over produced water. The majority opinion supporting that decision said this noxious fluid is distinctly different from the groundwater that Texas law says is controlled by landowners. However, one member of the three-judge panel dissented, saying that however chemically complex produced water is, it is not on the list of hydrocarbons covered by the oil lease. The fact that anyone is fighting to own produced water, and the potential environmental and health liabilities that come with it, is a sign of how unconventional exploration and production has changed the Texas oil business. “Questions about whether landowners owning produced water were sort of meaningless not that long ago because produced water was nothing more than waste,” said Stephen A. Cooney, a real estate attorney who closely follows developments in oil and gas law. He is one of several attorneys who has written online about the case that multiple lawyers say has “huge implications.” The suit was originally filed in Pecos, Texas, which is the home of most of the people who live in Reeves County where the local facts of life help explain how produced water has become something worth fighting over. The top tourist attraction in the area is the Balmorhea State Park which features a large “spring-fed swimming pool.” It’s an oasis of clear, cool water where only 0.3% of the 2,642-square-mile county is covered with water, according to the US Census Bureau. Pressure to conserve fresh water has made fracturing with produced water increasingly the norm in the Permian Basin. Water reuse has spawned a growing network of produced water pipelines, water processing facilities, and injection wells to provide the millions of gallons needed for fracturing and disposal of the rest. Reeves County is also in the heart of the Delaware Basin, where wells typically produce four times as much water as oil early on, and that ratio rises quickly as oil production plummets. Reusing produced water reduces the amount of water that the operator must dispose in injection wells and provides a relatively cheap source of frac water. And, most importantly, Reeves County is where two major landowners agreed to do something nobody had ever done before: sign a produced water lease. The contract gave Cactus Water Services ownership of what lawyers refer to as the “produced water estate.”

A compostagem de carcaças de animais mortos elimina microrganismos patogênicos

The disposal of cattle carcasses is a potential economic and environmental liability. The destination of cattle carcasses is a critical point in rural properties, where animal mortality is a reality, added to the difficulties for its proper disposal. Inappropriate disposal of carcasses brings environmental contamination by pathogenic microorganisms, endangering human and animal health and the environment. Composting is a biological decomposition process of organic matter and a practical and simple alternative for carcass disposal. Was evaluated the effect of composting on the viability of indicator microorganisms relevant to cattle breeding. Plastic spheres containing lyophilized pathogenic microorganisms Echerichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Listeria monocytogenes, Streptococcus uberis, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Salmonella Typhimurium, were placed at strategic points inside the carcass and in the compost piles, to monitor the presence of these microorganisms during the process. Plastic balls were removed from composting piles 7, 15, 30, 60 and 90 days for microbiological analysis. The results showed that composting reduces and / or eliminates pathogenic microorganisms. Composting provides microbiological safety for the use of the bio-compost generated as fertilizer.

Corporate Environmental Management Systems and Outcomes: A Case Study of ISO 14001 Implementation in a Cable Manufacturing Company in Tema, Ghana

The potential for the firm to improve its resource use especially energy management by using Environmental Management Systems (EMS) like ISO 14001 has been shown to be possible. Yet, no in-depth research has been conducted to explore this possibility in Ghana. The implementation of EMS integrates the corporate environmental management strategies and management commitment to sustainable development but most of the organisations in developing countries of West Africa are slow to adopt the management system. The aim of this paper is to assess the drivers, the competitive advantages of ISO 14001 EMS certification and the environmental impact of ISO 14001 EMS certification, in terms of energy consumption. Before and after methods of evaluation were used to analyse the data collected. Purposive sampling technique was used to administer questionnaires and interview guides to employees of the cable manufacturing firm. A review was also made of annual data for electricity consumption before and after ISO 14001 EMS certification. The findings indicate that the main driver of the ISO 14001 EMS certification by the firm is to take advantage of certification to expand its market share. It was also found out that reduction in potential environmental liability risks is the main competitive advantage of ISO 14001 EMS certification. In terms of energy consumption, the findings show that the firm is saving a lot of energy thus cost. It is recommended that more efforts should be made by the energy commission of Ghana through the provision of funds to firms who want to implement environmental management systems.

Treatment of acid mine drainage by forward osmosis: Heavy metal rejection and reverse flux of draw solution constituents

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is one of the most relevant potential environmental liabilities of mining activities. They are formed when the excavated ore is exposed to rain and other natural erosion factors. This research evaluated the application of forward osmosis (FO) for the treatment of AMD. Rejection of several metals was determined, using a thin-film composite FO membrane, and two types of draw solutions: NaCl and NH4HCO3. When using NaCl as draw solution, results showed high levels of rejection, exceeding 97%. Individual rejections were Mg: 98.9%, Al: 99.8%, Si: 97.1%, Ca: 99.3%, Mn: 99.6%, Fe: 100%, Co: 99.4%, Cu: 98.9%, Zn: 99.5%. When using NH4HCO3 as draw solute, precipitates were observed over membrane surface, preventing normal operation. Results show that transport of ions from draw solution (Ammonia and bicarbonate) is the cause of such phenomenon. FO has the potential to become an alternative for the treatment of AMD, based on the high levels of rejection for metals provided by FO membranes. However, attention must be paid to the reverse flux of ions from the draw solution to the feed, especially when they can react with feed solutes.

Auditor selection and corporate social responsibility

AbstractThis study examines the association between the selection of an industry‐specialist auditor and corporate social responsibility (CSR). We find that firms with higher CSR ratings are more likely to hire industry‐specialist auditors (national‐level industry leaders, city‐level industry leaders or joint city‐national industry leaders). Moreover, firms with better CSR performance related to product quality and the environment in controversial industries are found to select non‐specialized auditors. The results suggest that such firms may overinvest in CSR activities associated with the environment and product issues to disguise the sin nature of their manufactured goods, and simultaneously engage low quality auditors perhaps to avoid full disclosure of potential environmental and legal liabilities. Overall, we conclude that CSR is associated with the non‐controversial firms ensuring high quality financial reporting in response to societal expectations, and thus CSR firms in such industries have strong incentives to engage industry‐specialist auditors.

The ELD: Applicability to Nanotechnology Risk and the Liability Implications of Environmental Damage

AbstractThis paper examines the potential impact of the European Union’s Environmental Liability Directive (ELD)1 on the nanotechnology (NT) sector. In terms of risk governance the ELD represents a new paradigm, affording the environment an enhanced status both in legal and indeed ontological terms. However, the nature of the NT industry itself is such as to create complexity in the implementation of the ELD. Whilst the field of nano-toxicology is making advances, debate still prevails around issues pertaining to exposure, (eco)-toxicity, metrics, potential impact and legal causation. Levels of uncertainty remain high and hence measuring environmental impact is problematic. The paper addresses the potential environmental liability exposures of NT manufacturers and producers pursuant to the provisions of the ELD and by extension highlights the importance of the insurability of the liability risk all of which bears significance for the sustainability of the industry. It also examines the legal and regulatory challenges of the application of the ELD in the context of the NT industry, highlighting the challenges which this pervasive technology presents for regulatory policy. A cursory discussion of the legal theoretical underpinning of the directive helps to explain the rationale of the directive.

Odor-Treatment Technology for Recovered Hydrocarbons From Oily Waste in a Thermal-Desorption Unit

Summary Oily waste, as the intrinsic byproduct of the oil and gas industry, is considered hazardous waste, and thermal-desorption units (TDUs) have been applied widely to process this waste under an environmentally sound protocol. A TDU is used to separate hydrocarbons, water, and solids by indirect heating. In the process, the base oil and chemical additives are fractured and dissociated with the increasing temperature, resulting in a pungent odor from the recovered hydrocarbons. It is this odor that has restricted the reuse of the recovered hydrocarbons. After analysis, it is determined that the pungent odor is caused by the presence of sulfur and nitrogen compounds. Consequently, an odor-treatment system that is based on the catalytic cracking and preferential adsorption method has been developed and introduced into the TDU for the removal of the odor. The sulfur and nitrogen compounds are cracked into a broken-chain structure under the action of a catalyst, and then they are adsorbed selectively by adsorbing material. After treatment, the removal rate of total sulfur and total nitrogen reaches 93.74 and 98.41%, respectively, realizing the elimination of the pungent odor. Furthermore, the color of the recovered hydrocarbons fades away. Currently, odor-treatment technology is applied directly in situ, where the oily cuttings are stored, and more than 1,300 bbl of acceptable hydrocarbons have been recovered. These recovered hydrocarbons meet all operating requirements, and have been reused for oil-based mud (OBM) or sales. Because of the operation, the recovered hydrocarbons could have a higher price for sales, which proves the process to be not only environmentally sound, but also valuable to the bottom line of the operator’s production. A TDU with odor-treatment system can bring technical and economic advantages to the user. Not only has the process proved to be very economical for recovered hydrocarbons, it is also preventive and can mitigate potential environmental liabilities.

Caprock Analysis—A Practical Approach

Caprock-integrity issues have been brought to the forefront with recent documented steam and bitumen leaks making their way to the ground surface, forcing the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) to place a moratorium on the licensing of shallow thermal in-situ oil-sand projects. Reviewing core-acquisition, -storage, -analysis, and -preservation techniques can prevent potential project failure, capital loss, environmental liabilities, and public-safety risks. Responsible development of thermal projects requires that caprock integrity be quantified.

Harbour divestiture in Canada: Implications of changing governance

Legislation aimed at protecting the marine ecosystems has direct impacts on environmental management of port and harbour operations. As such, environmental management of harbours requires a great deal of technical and financial resources to operate effectively. In Canada, this technical expertise and governance has been provided by the federal government for federally owned harbours. These harbours have been increasingly divested to provincial, municipal, or private owners, but are often contaminated from historical industrial activities and pose potential risks to marine ecosystems. Following divestiture there may be consequences associated with change of governance, because new harbour managers may lack technical and financial resources to follow existing management protocols. Harbour uses often do not change appreciably once divested, thus impacts to sediments, or requirements for maintenance and upgrades will typically continue following change of authority. Policies to implement education and training are therefore essential following change of authority for new custodians to properly understand historical contamination impacts and associated environmental liabilities. Adhering to established management protocols will enable new harbour managers to more effectively manage potential environmental liabilities associated with divested harbours.

Corporate social responsibility disclosure and market valuation: evidence from Spanish listed firms

Using a sample of listed Spanish companies pertaining to the IBEX35 index for the period 2007–2011, this paper examines whether those firms with higher CSR disclosure ratings are more valued by market participants. This study also complements the literature addressing the value relevance of CSR disclosure by further analyzing not only the direct effects of CSR reporting on stock prices but also its indirect effects through its interaction with main accounting variables (i.e., earnings and book value of equity). CSR reports can also affect stock price indirectly because the sustainability report may be perceived by investors to be a source of further and complementary information regarding the nature, composition and trends of the traditional value-relevant accounting variables. Finally, this study also analyzes whether CSR disclosure by firms operating in environmentally-sensitive industries is assessed differently by market participants than CSR disclosure by companies operating in other industries. By using a modified Ohlson (Contemp Account Res 1:661–687, 1995) model, it is found that CSR disclosure do have both a direct and indirect effect on stock prices by modifying the value-relevance of earnings and book value of equity. Moreover, CSR disclosure by companies operating in environmentally-sensitive industries is associated with higher market valuations than CSR disclosure by companies operating in nonsensitive industries. This may be due to the fact that CSR disclosures provide information that allow investors to make better assessments of the increased risk related to potential litigation and future environmental liabilities, thereby reducing information asymmetries and the risk of adverse selection.

Recycling of steelmaking slag fines by weak magnetic separation coupled with selective particle size screening

Steelmaking slag fines are leftover materials generated in routine slag processing and their particle sizes are usually smaller than 12.5 mm. The steelmaking slag fines can include desulfurization (DeS) slag fines, basic oxygen furnace (BOF) slag fines, electric arc furnace (EAF) slag fines and ladle metallurgy furnace (LMF) slag fines. Low iron grades, high impurity concentrations and inappropriate particle sizes are major barriers for recycling of the steelmaking slag fines back into ironmaking and steelmaking processes. Current slag processors have failed to solve this problem in an economic way. As a result, steelmaking slag fines are either being disposed of at landfills or being stored on the ground in large quantities, not only adding a considerably heavy financial burden to steelmaking plants, but also causing enormous value losses and potential environmental liabilities. A recycling technology of weak magnetic separation coupled with selective particle size screening has been developed at ArcelorMittal Global R&D – East Chicago Laboratories, targeted at solving the problem in a cost-effective way. Samples of steelmaking slag fines from three ArcelorMittal Americas steelmaking plants were collected, characterized and tested with weak magnetic separation coupled with selective particle size screening. Test results show that existing slag processors' magnetic separators are ineffective in separating iron from steelmaking slag fines. Using the technology of weak magnetic separation coupled with selective particle size screening, steelmaking slag fines can be effectively separated to produce cleaner iron-rich products with sufficiently high iron contents and low levels of impurities to be reused.

Environmental Liabilities of Property Owners: Examples of Common Risks and Strategies to Anticipate and Avoid Them

Property owners are subject to potential environmental liability from a number of sources including strict statutory liability for remediation of contamination on their properties as well as liability for conditions within their buildings. These latent environmental risks are often exposed in the context of a transaction, redevelopment, or change of use. Commonly used due diligence protocols can avoid or mitigate many risks but owners need to be aware of the limitations and pitfalls of due diligence. In many circumstances, environmental insurance should also be considered as part of the overall environmental risk management strategy.

Co‐occurrence of 1,4‐dioxane with trichloroethylene in chlorinated solvent groundwater plumes at US Air Force installations: Fact or fiction

Increasing regulatory attention to 1,4-dioxane has prompted the United States Air Force (USAF) to evaluate potential environmental liabilities, primarily associated with legacy contamination, at an enterprise scale. Although accurately quantifying environmental liability is operationally difficult given limited historic environmental monitoring data, 1,4-dioxane is a known constituent (i.e., stabilizer) of chlorinated solvents, in particular 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCA). Evidence regarding the co-occurrence of 1,4-dioxane and trichloroethylene (TCE), however, has been heavily debated. In fact, the prevailing opinion is that 1,4-dioxane was not a constituent of past TCE formulations and, therefore, these 2 contaminants would not likely co-occur in the same groundwater plume. Because historic handling, storage, and disposal practices of chlorinated solvents have resulted in widespread groundwater contamination at USAF installations, significant potential exists for unidentified 1,4-dioxane contamination. Therefore, the objective of this investigation is to determine the extent to which 1,4-dioxane co-occurs with TCE compared to TCA, and if these chemicals are co-contaminants, whether or not there is significant correlation using available monitoring data. To accomplish these objectives, the USAF Environmental Restoration Program Information Management System (ERPIMS) was queried for all relevant records for groundwater monitoring wells (GMWs) with 1,4-dioxane, TCA, and TCE, on which both categorical and quantitative analyses were carried out. Overall, ERPIMS contained 5788 GMWs from 49 installations with records for 1,4-dioxane, TCE, and TCA analytes. 1,4-Dioxane was observed in 17.4% of the GMWs with detections for TCE and/or TCA, which accounted for 93.7% of all 1,4-dioxane detections, verifying that 1,4-dioxane is seldom found independent of chlorinated solvent contamination. Surprisingly, 64.4% of all 1,4-dioxane detections were associated with TCE independently. Given the extensive data set, these results conclusively demonstrate for the first time that 1,4-dioxane is a relatively common groundwater co-contaminant with TCE. Trend analysis demonstrated a positive log-linear relationship where median 1,4-dioxane levels increased between approximately 6% and approximately 20% of the increase in TCE levels. In conclusion, this data mining exercise suggests that 1,4-dioxane has a probability of co-occurrence of approximately 17% with either TCE and/or TCA. Given the challenges imposed by remediation of 1,4-dioxane and the pending promulgation of a federal regulatory standard, environmental project managers should use the information presented in this article for prioritization of future characterization efforts to respond to the emerging issue. Importantly, site investigations should consider 1,4-dioxane a potential co-contaminant of TCE in groundwater plumes.

Private Property Owners and the Remaking of Brownfields

Because owners of brownfield sites are primarily interested in avoiding liability, they are rarely players in reusing planning of their properties. However, in some cases, private companies have taken a leadership role in reuse planning for their moribund sites. This article explores these unique examples of corporate responsibility through surveys of federal and state brownfields officials in the United States and in-depth case studies of reuse projects in three U.S. cities. The findings suggest that firms appear to be motivated for promoting the reuse of their brownfields in order to maintain a reputation in their community, establish an economic precedent for successful reuse, maintain control over potential future environmental liabilities, and as a manifestation of corporate social responsibility. Implication for public works managers and planners include a need to leverage third party liability rules to encourage greater responsibility and leadership by firms in the reuse of their contaminated sites.

Use and Evolution of the Claims-Made Policy Form in Environmental Insurance: Selected Issues

Environmental risks have two basic components: the policyholder's obligation to clean up contaminated property and the policyholder's potential liability to third parties, including the government, resulting from environmental damage. The environmental risks for which policyholders seek coverage include environmental cleanup costs, third-party bodily injury claims, third-party property damage or devaluation claims, fines/penalties for noncompliance, or loss of market share due to lack of environmental stewardship. To be certain that all aspects of potential environmental liability are covered, an expert insurance consultant or broker should be retained to plan the program, analyze policy language and execute the purchase in the most cost effective way.

Tailored Insurance Coverage for Post-Remedial Risks

Environmental insurance policies have not kept pace with the increasing regulatory focus on post-remedial risks, particularly the long-term stewardship (LTS) risk at sites with small dollar cost remediations. A two-fold solution includes: 1) applying to small sites the same sound principles of Brownfields risk transfer as are applied to large sites and 2) focusing on coverage of all post-remedial risks, not only LTS. Risk transfer basics include: 1) define all sources of potential environmental liability; 2) apply and integrate three contracts; and 3) tailor the policy to fit the specific risks. Zurich's Post-Remediation Care (PRC) Policy has not been available because there is little need for a policy covering one risk, and the coverage is not required until the remediation ends. The author argues here for two stages of PRC coverage under site pollution liability (SPL) policies. The first stage requires an SPL policy endorsement promising to provide PRC coverage when it is needed, upon fulfillment of certain underwriting conditions. The second stage endorsement provides the actual PRC coverage and includes a renewal provision connected to annual certification of the effectiveness of the institutional and engineering controls (IC/ECs). This provision makes the policy essentially automatically renewable and thus serves to solve the long-term aspect of the LTS problem. The author readily obtained this coverage on a manuscript basis for a small manufacturing site in New York, a state which regulates IC/ECs relatively heavily. Owners of small sites should be able to use this product for purposes of financial assurance. *Susan Neuman, Esq., Ph.D., is President of the Environmental Insurance Agency, Inc., a boutique environmental insurance brokerage headquartered in Larchmont, New York, and Principal in RemVer, Inc., a company which specializes in the management of long-term stewardship liabilities. For the past ten years, she has beeen facilitating Brownfields transactions with tailored and innovative risk transfer products, including insurance products which cover post-remedial liabilities.

The Effect of Potential Environmental Liabilities on Earnings Response Coefficients

In this study, we investigate the implication of potential environmental liabilities for the reliability (noisiness) of accounting information as it manifests itself in the magnitude of an earnings response coefficient (ERC). Multiple regression analyses of abnormal stock returns on earnings surprise and other control variables are carried out. The results provide support for the hypothesis that the ERCs for potentially responsible party (PRP) firms are lower than those of non-PRP firms. Robustness of the results, with regard to the sample selection procedures and inclusion/exclusion of different control variables, was checked as well. In addition, the results indicate that as firms are named as PRP for more sites, their ERCs decline, which is an indication that the market perceived increased noise in their earnings. These results are consistent with the notion that potential environmental liabilities create noise in a firm's accounting system in general and its earnings in particular.

Industrial applications of the agglomeration process

Environmental, technological and economic problems caused by utilization of low quality and low rank coals and serious concerns related to a growing number of polluted industrial waste sites have significantly increased interest in further development and application of oil agglomeration technology. Study performed at the Alberta Research Council on the various applications of the spherical agglomeration process led to the development of different technologies applicable for coal cleaning, upgrading, handleability improvement or moisture reduction. The other important applications were recovery of combustible material from rejects and settling ponds and remediation of soils contaminated with various hydrocarbons. The preparation and handling of fine coal is a key issue to many coal mine operators and the efficient recovery of coal from fines streams could have a profound effect on increased plant productivity and reduction of the potential environmental liabilities associated with waste generation, accumulation and disposal. To overcome the problems associated with coal fines and hydrocarbon-contaminated soils, ARC researchers have, over the last 20 years, placed particular emphasis on the development and testing of improved coal preparation and soil remediation technologies.