Search

A proposed Biological Monitoring and Abatement Program (BMAP) for the Oak Ridge K-25 Site was prepared in December 1992 as required by the renewed National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit that was issued on October 1, 1992. The proposed BMAP consists of four tasks that reflect different but complementary approaches to evaluating the effects of K-25 Site effluents on the ecological integrity of Mitchell Branch, Poplar Creek, and the Poplar Creek embayment of the Clinch River. These tasks include (1) ambient toxicity monitoring, (2) bioaccumulation monitoring, (3) assessment of fish health, and (4) instream monitoring of biological communities. This overall BMAP plan combines established protocols with current biological monitoring techniques to assess environmental compliance and quantify ecological recovery. The BMAP will also determine whether the effluent limits established for the K-25 Site protect the designated use of the receiving streams (Mitchell Branch, Poplar Creek, and Clinch River) for growth and propagation of fish and other aquatic life. Results obtained from this biological monitoring program will also be used to document the ecological effects (and effectiveness) of remedial actions.

International environmental accords specify the terms of policy coordination among governments seeking to manage international common pool resources or common sinks, mitigate transboundary harm, or harmonize national environmental regulations. Their number and subject matter have expanded considerably since the nineteenth century, particularly after the diffusion of ecological worldviews promoted by the 1972 Stockholm Conference. The framework treaty-protocol form used in increasing numbers of environmental accords facilitates revising the agreed policy measures as needed. This draws governments into a joint process of deliberation, compliance promotion, environmental assessment and ongoing policy revision operating through periodic diplomatic conferences of the parties assisted by smaller committees on implementation, scientific assessment of environmental conditions and technical assessment of the feasibility of proposed regulations. Social science inquiry regarding the conditions fostering or inhibiting successful negotiation and implementation of international environmental accords has proceeded along distinct rational choice and social practices lines yielding different insights, and has not yet produced consensus on the answers to these questions. Though debate continues between adherents of the two approaches, there is growing interest in using them as complementaries, illuminating different aspects of cooperation, rather than as rival accounts of the whole process.

Watershed Monitoring of Big Bayou and Little Bayou creeks has been conducted since 1987. The monitoring was conducted by the University of Kentucky between 1987 and 1991 and by staff of the Environmental Sciences Division (ESD) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) from 1991 to present. The goals of monitoring are to (1) demonstrate that the effluent limitations established for DOE protect and maintain the use of Little Bayour and Big Bayou creeks for frowth and propagation of fish and other aquatic life, (2) characterize potential environmental impacts, and (3) document the effects of pollution abatement facilities on stream biota. The watershed (biological) monitoring discussed in this report was conducted under DOE Order 5400.1, General Environmental Protection Program. Future monitoring will be conducted as required by the Kentucky Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (KPDES) permit issued to the Department of Energy (DOE) in March 1998. A draft Watershed Monitoring Program plan was approved by the Kentucky Division of Water and will be finalized in 1999. The DOE permit also requires toxicity monitoring of one continuous outfall and of three intermittent outfalls on a quarterly basis. The Watershed Monitoring Program for the Paducah Site during calendar year 1998 consisted of three major tasks: (1) effluent toxicity monitoring, (2) bioaccumulation studies, and (3) ecological surveys of fish communities. This report focuses on ESD activities occurring from january 1998 to December 1998, although activities conducted outside this time period are included as appropriate.

On September 24, 1987, the Commonwealth of Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet issued an Agreed Order that required the development of a Biological Monitoring Program (BMP) for the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP). A plan for the biological monitoring of the receiving streams was implemented in 1987 and consisted of ecological surveys, toxicity monitoring of effluents and receiving streams, evaluation of bioaccumulation of trace contaminants in biota, and supplemental chemical characterization of effluents. Beginning in fall 1991, the Environmental Sciences Division (ESD) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory added data collection and report preparation to its responsibilities for the PGDP BMP. The BMP has been continued because it has proven to be extremely valuable in (1) identifying those effluents with the potential for adversely affecting instream fauna, (2) assessing the ecological health of receiving streams, and (3) guiding plans for remediation and protecting human health. The BMP for PGDP consists of three major tasks: (1) effluent toxicity monitoring, (2) bioaccumulation studies, and (3) ecological surveys of benthic macroinvertebrate communities and fish. With the exception of the benthic macroinvertebrate community surveys, this report focuses on activities from January to December 1997.

On September 24, 1987, the Commonwealth of Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet issued an Agreed Order that required the development of a Biological Monitoring Program (BMP) for the Paducah Gaseous diffusion Plant (PGDP). The PGDP BMP was conducted by the University of Kentucky Between 1987 and 1992 and by staff of the Environmental Sciences Division (ESD) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) from 1991 to present. The goals of BMP are to (1) demonstrate that the effluent limitations established for PGDP protect and maintain the use of Little Bayou and Big Bayou creeks for growth and propagation of fish and other aquatic life, (2) characterize potential environmental impacts, and (3) document the effects of pollution abatement facilities on stream. The BMP for PGDP consists of three major tasks: (1) effluent toxicity monitoring, (2) bioaccumulation studies, and (3) ecological surveys of stream communities (i.e., benthic macroinvertebrates and fish). This report focuses on ESD activities occurring from January 1996 to December 1996, although activities conducted outside this time period are included as appropriate.

On September 24, 1987, the Commonwealth of Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet issued an Agreed Order that required the development of a Biological Monitoring Program (BMP) for the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP). The goals of BMP are to demonstrate that the effluent limitations established for PGDP protect and maintain the use of Little Bayou and Big Bayou creeks for growth and propagation of fish and other aquatic life, characterize potential health and environmental impacts, document the effects of pollution abatement facilities on stream biota, and recommend any program improvements that would increase effluent treatability. The BMP for PGDP consists of three major tasks: effluent and ambient toxicity monitoring, bioaccumulation studies, and ecological surveys of stream communities (i.e., benthic macroinvertebrates and fish). This report includes ESD activities occurring from December 1992 to December 1993, although activities conducted outside this time period are included as appropriate.

The Kansas City Plant (KCP) is part of a federal complex located in south Kansas City, Missouri. The plant, operated by Allied-Signal Inc., Kansas City Division for the US Department of Energy (DOE), occupies 137 of the 300 acres covered by the complex. Blue River and its tributary Indian Creek receive surface water runoff, discharges permitted under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), and groundwater from the complex. Indian Creek also receives runoff from residential and commercial facilities and discharges from a sewage treatment plant upstream from the KCP. Blue River, a tributary of the Missouri River, receives runoff from an urban area, including a large landfill downstream from the KCP. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been detected in outfall 002 and in soils in various locations around the KCP. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) found that both carp and channel catfish collected from the Blue River were contaminated with PCBs and chlordane; however, the source of this contamination was not identified. Trichlorethene (TCE) and 1,2-dichloroethene (DCE) are present in some wells adjacent to the Blue River, both TCE and DCE have been detected in outfall 001. To assess the biological significance of PCB and chlorinated solvent contamination frommore » the KCP and to determine whether the KCP was a significant source of PCB contamination in fish, two separate studies were conducted by staff members of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). This report presents the results of these studies.« less

In this chapter, I address how globalization, de-privatization, mass-scale migration and the rise of supranational constitutional organisms squarely challenge the premises of the Westphalian model of coordination of religion and political boundaries. I start with an account of how the resurgence of strong religion impacts the interplay between faith and reason in a liberal polity. Next, I show how globalization has provided a fertile terrain for transnational religious actors to regain a crucial role in the international arena, and to influence domestic and international law-making and litigation in the sphere of religious freedom and sexual and reproductive rights. Finally, I focus on how the resurgence of religion in the political sphere affects the traditional Western models of protecting religious freedom, and I provide an overview of the post-Westaphalian models of managing the relationship between religion and the state, focusing in particular on the role of religion in the culturalization of citizenship.