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Siting, design and operational controls for snow disposal sites.

The Municipality of Anchorage (MOA), at 61 degrees north latitude, ploughs and hauls snow from urban streets throughout the winter, incorporating grit and chloride applied to street surfaces for traffic safety. Hauled snow is stored at snow disposal facilities, where it melts at ambient spring temperatures. MOA studies performed from 1998 through 2001 show that disposal site melt processes can be manipulated, through site design and operation practices, to control chloride and turbidity in meltwater. An experimental passive "V-swale" pad configuration tested by MOA investigators reduced site meltwater turbidity by an order of magnitude (to about 50 NTU from the 500 NTU typical of more conventional planar pad geometry). The MOA has developed new siting, design and operational criteria for snow disposal facilities to conform to the tested V-swale pad configuration.

Alaska↗

Regulation of infectious waste in Louisiana.

The purpose of the article is to acquaint readers of the JOURNAL with the requirements of state regulation of infectious waste, especially as it pertains to individual physicians and their medical offices. A brief historical perspective is given, followed by a brief summary of pertinent data relating to disease transmission via infectious waste and injuries attributable to infectious waste. Suggestions which comply with the law for disposal of infectious waste from a physician's office are given.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

[A hygienic validation of prospective ways to decrease the amount of solid wastes on board ship].

The most perspective way of reduction of solid waste on board the ship is to modify the system of food supplies. The new system must provide for food which is completely ready for use or contain semi-finished products which need few cookery. The food packings must be easily utilized or recycled. The existing amount of garbage on board the ship will be sorted, pressed, treated by conservants, packed into polyethylene bags, and stocked in special compartments or vacant refrigerated store-rooms. The realization of these proposals will make it possible to reduce the quantity of garbage on board the ship, lower the expenditure of labour and electricity for cookery, reduce the potable water consumption, and diminish the size and the quantity of caboose equipment. It's possible to use electric ovens to heat the food, reduce or exclude the usage of submarine disposable containers, and thus, preserve the ecology of world ocean.

Military Hygiene↗

Assessment of hazards associated with pesticide container disposal and of rinsing procedures as a means of enabling disposal of pesticide containers in sanitary landfills.

To study problems associated with pesticide container disposal, a small vegetable production area in southwestern Ontario, the Thedford Marsh, was selected as the site for a model study. A container collection system was organized during the 1981 growing season, with collections being made from the ca. 50 growers on the marsh twice each month. In addition to the regular collection program a cleanup service for empty pesticide containers stored on farms or discarded on public lands also was initiated. More than 3600 containers were collected and disposed of at an authorized landfill site. Ca. 2/3 were herbicide containers, ca. 1/4 were insecticide containers, and 3% were fungicide containers. Unrinsed containers contained as much as 5 1/2% of the original contents with an average of 1%. Containers rinsed by the triple rinse method or using rinsing devices (E-Z Rinse, JET Rinse) generally contained less than 0.1% of the original content. Some formulations presented rinsing problems due to settling and caking. The results indicated that, while unacceptable quantities of pesticide residues remain in unrinsed containers, most rinsed pesticide containers will be acceptable for disposal at municipal sanitary landfill sites.

Accident Prevention↗

Volume and activity of buried transuranic-contaminated wastes at U.S. Department of Energy facilities.

From the 1940's through the 1970's, radioactive wastes meeting the current definition of transuranic wastes were disposed of by shallow land burial and other techniques at a number of sites owned and operated by the federal government in support of the nuclear weapons program. After transuranic wastes were identified as a separate category of radioactive wastes (distinct from low-level wastes) in 1970 by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, they were generally segregated and placed in retrievable storage pending the availability of a geologic repository. Updated information on buried transuranic wastes was recently developed to support future decisions on how to manage these materials. This paper summarizes the approach used to develop this information for U.S. Department of Energy facilities and presents the volumes and transuranic activities of these wastes. The total volume of buried transuranic wastes at DOE sites is approximately 126,000 m3 with a much smaller volume (about 11,000 m3) disposed of at intermediate depths. The reported transuranic activity in these previously disposed of wastes is about 28,000 TBq.

Radioactive Waste↗

Phosphorus speciation in manure-amended alkaline soils.

Two common manure storage practices are stockpiles and lagoons. The manure from stockpiles is applied to soils in solid form, while lagoon manure is applied as a liquid. Soil amendment with manure in any form introduces a significant amount of phosphorus (P) that exists in both organic and inorganic forms. However, little is known about P speciation in manure stored under different conditions, or the subsequent forms when applied to soils. We used solution (31)P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and conventional P fractionation and speciation methods to investigate P forms in dairy manure and liquid lagoon manure, and to study how long-term amendment with these manures influenced surface and subsurface soil P speciation. Our results show that the P forms in solid and lagoon manure are similar. About 30% of the total P was organic, mostly as orthophosphate monoesters. On a dry weight basis, total P was much higher in the solid manure. In the manure-amended soils the total P concentrations of the surface soils were similar, regardless of manure type. Total P in the subsurface soil was greater in the lagoon-manure-amended soil than the solid-manure-amended subsurface soil. However, the fraction of organic P was greater in the subsurface of the solid-manure-amended soil. The NMR results indicate that the majority of organic P in the soils is phytic acid, which is enriched in the surface soils compared with the subsurface soils. These results provide insight into P speciation and dynamics in manure-amended soils that will further increase our understanding on how best to manage manure disposal on soils.

Animals↗

Microbially mediated redox processes in natural analogues for radioactive waste.

Natural analogues allow scientists to investigate biogeochemical processes relevant to radioactive waste disposal that occur on time scales longer than those that may be studied by time-limited laboratory experiments. The Palmottu U-Th deposit in Finland and the Bangombé natural nuclear reactor in Gabon involve the study of natural uranium, and are both considered natural analogues for subsurface radioactive waste disposal. The microbial population naturally present in groundwater may affect the redox conditions, and hence, the radionuclide solubility and migration. Therefore, groundwater samples from the two sites were investigated for microbial populations. The total numbers of cells ranged from 10(4) to 10(6) cells ml(-1). Iron-reducing bacteria (IRB) were the largest culturable microbial population in the Palmottu groundwater and were present at up to 1.3 x 10(5) cells ml(-1). Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and acetogens could also be cultured from the Palmottu groundwater. The numbers of IRB and SRB were largest in groundwater with the lowest uranium concentrations. Removal of dissolved U(VI) from solution was concomitant with the growth of IRB enrichment cultures and the reduction of iron. The redox buffer in the Palmottu groundwater consists of iron and uranium species, both of which are affected by IRB. IRB and aerobic heterotrophs were cultured from the Bangombé groundwater, where redox potentials are buffered by iron and organic carbon species. Microbial populations similar to those found at Palmottu and Bangombé are found throughout the Fennoscandian Shield, a potential host rock for subsurface radioactive waste disposal. These results confirm that microorganisms can be expected to play a role in stabilizing radioactive waste disposed of in the subsurface by lowering redox potential and immobilizing radionuclides.

Bacteria↗

Changes in the leachability of metals from dredged canal sediments during drying and oxidation.

The behaviour of metals in canal sediments after their disposal to land has important implications for the environmental management of canal dredgings. The leaching behaviour of trace metals was investigated in a laboratory-based experiment using sediment from a canal in the UK (139 mg Zn kg-1dry sediment, 1.1 mg Cd, kg-1dry sediment 31.5 mg Cr kg-1dry sediment, 20.6 mg Cu kg-1dry sediment 48.4 mg Ni kg-1dry sediment, 43.4 mg Pb kg-1dry sediment and 7.6 mg As kg-1dry sediment). The sediment was allowed to dry. Cores (10 cm long) of the drying canal sediment were taken over a period of 12 weeks. A simple water extraction procedure was used to investigate changes in metal leachability at varying depths through the cores. Metal leachability increased over the first five weeks of drying and then subsequently decreased between weeks five and twelve, (e.g. Cd increased from approximately 0.006 to 0.018 mg/kgsediment then decreased to approximately 0.006 mg/kgsediment, Zn increased from approximately 1.5 to 3 mg/kgsediment and then decreased to approximately 1.5 mg/kgsediment). These results were combined with sulphide/sulphate ratios, which showed a decrease as the sediment dried (e.g. at 2-4 cm depth from approximately 1 to 0.49), and BCR sequential extraction data. Most metals (except Cd and As) showed a redistribution from the residual phase into more mobile phases as the sediment dried and oxidised. Metal leachability was strongly correlated with the sulphide/sulphate ratio with leachability normally increasing with decreasing sulphide/sulphate ratio. The combined results were used to infer the likely behaviour of dredged material upon disposal to land.

Environmental Monitoring↗

Degree of public support for household hazardous waste control alternatives.

This paper reports information from Massachusetts on attitudes of householders toward alternative approaches and economic solutions to household hazardous waste (HHW) generation and disposal. Residents appear to be aware of the nature of the HHW problem and clearly support action to address the problem. The majority support a law fining householders for the improper disposal of HHW, endorse paying a sales tax on domestic hazardous products to finance safe disposal, and appear willing to drive up to five miles to dispose of HHW twice yearly.

Adult↗

Improper disposal of hazardous substances and resulting injuries--selected States, January 2001-March 2005.

Many consumer and industrial products, including fuels, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, paints, and household cleaning disinfectants, contain hazardous substances. Improper disposal of these materials can lead to unexpected releases of toxins that are hazardous to humans and harmful to the environment. This report summarizes all known events involving improper disposal of hazardous substances reported to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) during January 2001-March 2005, describes four illustrative case reports, and provides recommendations for preventing injury resulting from improper disposal.

Accidents↗