Search

Nowadays – particularly in systems dealing with hazardous materials (HAZMAT) – in addition to minimising the cost of operations in facility location and routing problems, the risk of these operations is considered an important objective. In this paper, a new mathematical model for the location and routing in facilities and disposal sites is proposed. Also, the risk and cost of transporting goods from facilities to customers is considered. The model minimises weighted sum of the cost and risk by answering these questions: (1) where to open the facilities which produce HAZMAT; (2) where to open disposal sites; (3) to which facilities every customer should be assigned; (4) to which disposal site each facility should be assigned; (5) which route a facility should choose to serve the customers; and (6) which route a facility should choose to reach a disposal site. A novel GA is applied to solve the mathematical model. The results show the robustness of GA in terms of finding high-quality non-dominated solutions and running time. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The study examined the effect of waste dumpsite on proximate property values in Apete, Ibadan. Residents of randomly selected 100 residential properties located around a waste dumpsite in the study area were administered structured questionnaires to elicit information for the study. Questionnaires were administered to determine the effect of the proximity of waste dumpsite on the rent paid on their residential apartments. The data collected were analyzed using multiple regressions. The result of the analysis shows that, distance of residential property from waste dumpsite is not significant with a p-value of 0.889. Hence, we conclude that waste dumpsite does not have significant effect on residential property value. However, since the p-value for X1, X2, and X3 are less than 0.05, it is concluded that income level, building type and demand for building have significant effect on residential property values. This can be attributed to the fact that majority of the occupiers are students and low income earners. Furthermore, most of the building types are tenement, which are of very high demand by the students in the study area. The study recommends that the investors should come and invest in properties since waste dumpsite does not affect the value of properties in the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1950s and 60s, discharges from a DDT manufacturing plant contaminated a tributary system of the Tennessee River near Huntsville, Alabama, USA. Regulatory action resulted in declaring the area a Superfund site which required remediation and extensive monitoring. Monitoring data collected from 1988, after remediation, through 2011 showed annual decreases approximating first-order decay in concentrations of total DDT and its six principal congeners (p,p'-DDT, o,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDD, o,p'-DDD, p,p'-DDE and o,p'-DDE) in filets from three species of fish. As of 2013, these concentrations met the regulatory requirements of 5 mg/kg or less total DDT for each fish tested. The enantiomer fractions (EF) of chiral o,p'-DDD in smallmouth buffalo and channel catfish were always below 0.5, indicating preferential decay of the (+)-enantiomer of this congener; this EF did not change significantly over 15 years. The often-neglected DDT metabolite p,p'-DDA was found at a concentration of about 20 μg/l in the ecosystem water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the environmental conflict that surrounds the sighting of hazardous waste facilities there is usually a volatile mix of disparities in power, expertise and information access as well as differing views on risk, which are all played out amidst commercial arrangements and environmental justice concerns. In recent times, the volatility of this mix has been further compounded by the growing climate of public concern and distrust surrounding scientific developments and technology. While there is no ‘quick fix’ to the complex conflict that this entails, community information systems (CISs) based on participatory models can help address the outstanding issues of capacity, information access, power inequities and environmental justice. CISs are an effective response to the five crucial elements of a toxic dispute, that is, the dialogue, capacity building, information access, evaluation of hazards and risk, and expertise. This paper will review the role of community accessible information systems in the dispute in Botany over the management and destruction of Orica Australia's stockpile of the persistent organic pollutant, hexachlorobenzene (HCB). It will focus on the role of CIS in responding to the challenges for expert information delivery, and in addressing the disparity of informational power within the toxic dispute. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Despite over 20 years of research on childhood cancer clusters and hazardous waste sites, little evidence has been produced to indicate a causal relationship. Nevertheless, the perception of a childhood cancer cluster being located near a hazardous waste site can raise fear and uncertainty, and it demands attention from health officials. To investigate this public health concern, the author used the spatial-scan statistical software SaTScan to detect childhood cancer clusters and their proximity to National Priority List (NPL), or Superfund, sites in Florida. In the ecological study reported here, "most likely" clusters were defined as those with a p-value of <.05. Distance served as a proxy for exposure; a geographical information system (GIS) was used to determine the number of clusters within a predetermined distance of an NPL site. Spatial clusters were found to occur randomly throughout the state, with most clusters being identified in the more populated counties, and clusters less likely to occur near an NPL site. This article attempts to explain the utility of an emerging public health surveillance tool for detecting cancer clusters near hazardous waste sites. Despite several epidemiological limitations of the study, as well as the fact that there are other environmental exposure hazards such as Toxic Release Inventory facilities and landfills, the SaTScan program proved useful as a surveillance tool for generating more in-depth studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National-level studies examining racial disparities around hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities have been very influential in defining the academic and political debates about the existence and importance of "environmental injustice." However, these studies tend to employ methods that fail to adequately control for proximity between environmentally hazardous sites and nearby residential populations. By using GIS and applying methods increasingly used in environmental inequality research that better control for proximity, we conduct a comprehensive reassessment of racial inequality in the distribution of the nation's hazardous waste facilities. We compare the magnitude of racial disparities found with those of prior studies and test competing racial, economic, and sociopolitical explanations for why such disparities exist. We find that the magnitude of racial disparities around hazardous waste facilities is much greater than what previous national studies have reported. We also find these disparities persist even when controlling for economic and sociopolitical variables, suggesting that factors uniquely associated with race, such as racial targeting, housing discrimination, or other race-related factors are associated with the location of the nation's hazardous waste facilities. We further conclude that the more recent methods for controlling for proximity yield more consistent and definitive results than those used previously, and therefore argue for their wider utilization in environmental inequality research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When examining environmental justice and injustice, surprisingly few studies have examined the experiences of Native Americans. In filling this gap, we criticize and build on environmental and political sociology. We make the case and provide evidence that the US. military pursues a pattern of environmental "bads" that cannot be reduced to capitalism and that coercive state policies can mold the spatial distribution of people relative to environmental dangers. Our contribution, then, is both theoretical and substantive. First, we recast the environmental sociology literature by specifying the scope conditions under which a "treadmill of production " and a "treadmill of destruction" are applicable. Specifically, we argue that a "treadmill of destruction" is driven by a distinct logic of geopolitics that cannot be reduced to capitalism. Second, we provide empirical evidence of the "treadmill of destruction" by examining the environmental inequality endured by Native Americans at the hands of the US. military. We have collected data on a large number of military bases that have been closed but remain dangerous due to unexploded ordnance. We provide evidence that Native American lands tend to be located in the same county as such hazardous sites. In the twentieth century, the United States fought and won two global wars and prevailed in a sustained Cold War The geopolitical demands of remaining the world's leading military power pushed the United States to produce, test, and deploy weapons of unprecedented toxicity. Native Americans have been left exposed to the dangers of this toxic legacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the ruling issued by the Federal Court of Australia on June 24, 2004 which prohibits the federal government to seize land near Woomera, South Australia for use as a dump for nuclear waste. Likewise, prime minister John Howard has announced on July 14 that his administration was dropping plans to locate a nuclear waste dump in South Australia. Instead, he proposed to have states store their own waste and to begin a search for a site outside South Australia to store all low- and mid-level waste. The waste from the Lucas Heights reactor will continue to be stored on site.

Discusses effective approach to the process of siting hazardous waste facilities. Problems of finding hazardous waste sites in the 1990s; Several factors have been suggested to explain community's refusal to accept hazardous wastes; Seeking a willing host for a proposed hazardous waste facilities; Voluntary siting concept; Reasons why voluntary siting methods are thought to work.

Cites findings in the first national tract-level analysis of the distribution or residential characteristics including the percentage of selected minorities and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, in relation to uncontrolled toxic waste sites. Examination of similar differences in the demographic characteristics of neighborhoods with prioritized National Priorities List sites.

Examines the claim that facilities for treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous wastes (TSDFs) are located in areas with higher than average proportions of minorities which exposes minorities to greater levels of risk. Use of census tract-level data; Review of studies on the issue; Comparison of selected social and economic characteristics of tracts containing TSDFs.

Analyzes the reasons why individuals oppose the siting of nuclear waste repositories close to their hometowns. Variables on which willingness by residents to accept the facilities is based; Alternative siting rules; Pricing approaches.