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An evaluation of the Lewis Research Center's storm, sanitary and industrial sewer systems, in compliance with the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, is presented. The investigation of a proposed sampling and flow measurement system includes cost estimates to meet the Federal and State of Ohio requirements.
Emissions of air pollutants from aircraft were investigated in order to determine: (1) the extent to which such emissions affect air quality in air quality control regions throughout the United States; and (2) the technological feasibility of controlling such emissions. The basic information supporting the need for aircraft emissions standards is summarized. The EPA ambient air quality standards are presented. Only the primary (health related) standards are shown. Of the six pollutants, only the first three, carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), and nitrogen oxides, are influenced significantly by aircraft.
This paper examines theoretically several features of the interactions of the Solar Power Satellite (SPS) with its space environment. The leakage currents through the kapton and sapphire solar cell blankets are calculated. At geosynchronous orbit, this parasitic power loss is only 0.7%, and is easily compensated by oversizing. At low-earth orbit, the power loss is potentially much larger (3%), and anomalous arcing is expected for the high-voltage negative surfaces. Preliminary results of a three-dimensional self-consistent plasma and electric field computer program are presented, confirming the validity of the predictions made from the one-dimensional models. Lastly, the paper proposes magnetic shielding of the satellite, to reduce the power drain and to protect the solar cells from energetic electron and plasma ion bombardment. It is concluded that minor modifications from the baseline SPS design can allow the SPS to operate safely and efficiently in its space environment.
The objectives, status, and accomplishments of the research tasks supported under the NASA Upper Atmosphere Research Program (UARP) are presented. The topics covered include the following: balloon-borne in situ measurements; balloon-borne remote measurements; ground-based measurements; aircraft-borne measurements; rocket-borne measurements; instrument development; reaction kinetics and photochemistry; spectroscopy; stratospheric dynamics and related analysis; stratospheric chemistry, analysis, and related modeling; and global chemical modeling.
Under the mandate contained in the FY 1976 NASA Authorization Act, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has developed and is implementing a comprehensive program of research, technology, and monitoring of the Earth's upper atmosphere, with emphasis on the stratosphere. This program aims at expanding our understanding to permit both the quantitative analysis of current perturbations as well as the assessment of possible future changes in this important region of our environment. It is carried out jointly by the Upper Atmosphere Research Program (UARP) and the Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling and Analysis Program (ACMAP), both managed within the Science Division in the Office of Mission to Planet Earth at NASA. Significant contributions to this effort are also provided by the Atmospheric Effects of Aviation Project (AEAP) of NASA's Office of Aeronautics. The long-term objectives of the present program are to perform research to: understand the physics, chemistry, and transport processes of the upper atmosphere and their effect on the distribution of chemical species in the stratosphere, such as ozone; understand the relationship of the trace constituent composition of the lower stratosphere and the lower troposphere to the radiative balance and temperature distribution of the Earth's atmosphere; and accurately assess possible perturbations of the upper atmosphere caused by human activities as well as by natural phenomena. In compliance with the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, Public Law 101-549, NASA has prepared a report on the state of our knowledge of the Earth's upper atmosphere, particularly the stratosphere, and on the progress of UARP and ACMAP. The report for the year 1996 is composed of two parts. Part 1 summarizes the objectives, status, and accomplishments of the research tasks supported under NASA UARP and ACMAP in a document entitled, Research Summary 1994-1996. Part 2 is entitled Present State of Knowledge of the Upper Atmosphere 1996.- An Assessment Report. It consists primarily of the Executive Summary and Chapter Summaries of the World Meteorological Organization Global Ozone Research and Monitoring Project Report No. 37, Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 1994, sponsored by NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the UK Department of the Environment, the United Nations Environment Program, and the World Meteorological Organization. Other sections of Part 11 include summaries of the following: an Atmospheric Ozone Research Plan from NASA's Office of Mission to Planet Earth; summaries from a series of Space Shuttle-based missions and two recent airborne measurement campaigns; the Executive Summary of the 1995 Scientific Assessment of the Atmospheric Effects of Stratospheric Aircraft, and the most recent evaluation of photochemical and chemical kinetics data (Evaluation No. 12 of the NASA Panel for Data Evaluation) used as input parameters for atmospheric models.
The change in the price of energy has encouraged the increase of energy efficiency. This report will discuss a tool to promote energy efficiency in intelligent buildings, energy management control systems (EMCS). In addition to the online control of energy production, supply, and consumption, the function of the EMCS is to support short- and long-term planning of the system operation as well as to collect, store, and regularly evaluate operation data. The strategies behind planning and implementing the EMCS as well as the manipulating the resulting data are discussed in this report.
The current U.S. National Space Policy specifically calls on U.S. Government entities "to follow the United States Government Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard Practices, consistent with mission requirements and cost effectiveness, in the procurement and operation of spacecraft, launch services, and the operation of tests and experiments in space. Early assessment (pre-PDR) of orbital debris mitigation compliance is essential to minimize development impacts. Orbital debris mitigation practices today are the most effective means to protect the near-Earth space environment for future missions.
Presently, the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) has identified a multitude of abandoned mine sites in primarily Western states for cleanup. These sites are prioritized and appropriate cleanup has been called in to reclaim the sites. The task is great in needing considerable amounts of agency resources. For instance, in Colorado alone there exists an estimated 23,000 abandoned mines. The problem is not limited to Colorado or to the United States. Cooperation for reclamation is sought at local, state, and federal agency level to aid in identification, inventory, and cleanup efforts. Dangers posed by abandoned mines are recognized widely and will tend to increase with time because some of these areas are increasingly used for recreation and, in some cases, have been or are in the process of development. In some cases, mines are often vandalized once they are closed. The perpetrators leave them open, so others can then access the mines without realizing the danger posed. Abandoned mine workings often fill with water or oxygen-deficient air and dangerous gases following mining. If the workings are accidentally entered into, water or bad air can prove fatal to those underground. Moreover, mine residue drainage negatively impacts the local watershed ecology. Some of the major hazards that might be monitored by higher-resolution satellites include acid mine drainage, clogged streams, impoundments, slides, piles, embankments, hazardous equipment or facilities, surface burning, smoke from underground fires, and mine openings.
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Road spills of hazardous substances are common in developing countries due to increasing industrialization and traffic accidents, and represent a serious threat to soils and water in catchments. There is abundant literature on equations describing the wash-off of pollutants from roads during a storm event and there are a number of watershed models incorporating those equations in storm water quality algorithms that route runoff and pollution yields through a drainage system towards the catchment outlet. However, methods describing catchment vulnerability to contamination by road spills based solely on biophysical parameters are scarce. These methods could be particularly attractive to managers because they can operate with a limited amount of easily collectable data, while still being able to provide important insights on the areas more prone to contamination within the studied watershed. The purpose of this paper was then to contribute with a new vulnerability model. To accomplish the goal, a selection of medium properties appearing in wash-off equations and routing algorithms were assembled and processed in a parametric framework based on multi criteria analysis to define the watershed vulnerability. However, parameters had to be adapted because wash-off equations and water quality models have been developed to operate primarily in the urban environment while the vulnerability model is meant to run in rural watersheds. The selected parameters were hillside slope, ground roughness (depending on land use), soil permeability (depending on soil type), distance to water courses and stream density. The vulnerability model is a spatially distributed algorithm that was prepared to run under the IDRISI Selva software, a GIS platform capable of handling spatial and alphanumeric data and execute the necessary terrain model, hydrographic and thematic analyses. For illustrative purposes, the vulnerability model was applied to the legally protected Environmental Protection Area (APA), located in the Uberaba region, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. In this region, the risk of accidents causing chemical spills is preoccupying because large quantities of dangerous materials are transported in two important distribution highways while the APA is fundamental for the protection of water resources, the riverine ecosystems and remnants of native vegetation. In some tested scenarios, model results show 60% of vulnerable areas within the studied area. The most sensitive parameter to vulnerability is soil type. To prevent soils from contamination, specific measures were proposed involving minimization of land use conflicts that would presumably raise the soil's organic matter and in the sequel restore the soil's structural functions. Additionally, the present study proposed the preservation and reinforcement of riparian forests as one measure to protect the quality of surface water. - Highlights: • A multi criteria analog model was developed to assess rural catchment vulnerability along roads. • Model parameters were defined by analogy with urban wash-off equations and routing algorithms. • The model mixes up various biophysical and socio-economic parameters. • Model application was based on a scenario analysis. • The study is focused on the Environmental Protection Area of Uberaba River, Brazil.
A photovoltaic module is disclosed. The photovoltaic module has a first side directed toward the sun during normal operation and a second, lower side. The photovoltaic module comprises a perimeter frame and a photovoltaic laminate at least partially enclosed by and supported by the perimeter frame. The photovoltaic laminate comprises a transparent cover layer positioned toward the first side of the photovoltaic module, an upper encapsulant layer beneath and adhering to the cover layer, a plurality of photovoltaic solar cells beneath the upper encapsulant layer, the photovoltaic solar cells electrically interconnected, a lower encapsulant layer beneath the plurality of photovoltaic solar cells, the upper and lower encapsulant layers enclosing the plurality of photovoltaic solar cells, and a homogenous rear environmental protection layer, the rear environmental protection layer adhering to the lower encapsulant layer, the rear environmental protection layer exposed to the ambient environment on the second side of the photovoltaic module.
Highlights: • Asthma is a complex condition affecting 7.4% of U.S. adults. • Asthma may be driven by multiple exposures operating in tandem. • The Environmental Quality Index measures 5 environmental domains simultaneously. • Worsening overall environmental quality is associated with increasing asthma. • Patterns vary by domain (air, water, land, built, sociodemograhic) and rurality. As of 2014, approximately 7.4% of U.S. adults had current asthma. The etiology of asthma is complex, involving genetics, behavior, and environmental factors. To explore the association between cumulative environmental quality and asthma prevalence in U.S. adults, we linked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Quality Index (EQI) to the MarketScan{sup ®} Commercial Claims and Encounters Database. The EQI is a summary measure of five environmental domains (air, water, land, built, sociodemographic). We defined asthma as having at least 2 claims during the study period, 2003–2013. We used a Bayesian approach with non-informative priors, implementing mixed-effects regression modeling with a Poisson link function. Fixed effects variables were EQI, sex, race, and age. Random effects were counties. We modeled quintiles of the EQI comparing higher quintiles (worse quality) to lowest quintile (best quality) to estimate prevalence ratios (PR) and credible intervals (CIs). We estimated associations using the cumulative EQI and domain-specific EQIs; we assessed U.S. overall (non-stratified) as well as stratified by rural-urban continuum codes (RUCC) to assess rural/urban heterogeneity. Among the 71,577,118 U.S. adults with medical claims who could be geocoded to county of residence, 1,147,564 (1.6%) met the asthma definition. Worse environmental quality was associated with increased asthma prevalence using the non-RUCC-stratified cumulative EQI, comparing the worst to best EQI quintile (PR:1.27; 95% CI: 1.21, 1.34). Patterns varied among different EQI domains, as well as by rural/urban status. Poor environmental quality may increase asthma prevalence, but domain-specific drivers may operate differently depending on rural/urban status.
F-Canyon (221-F) was constructed in the early 1950's and, together with FB Line, began operations in 1954 as the main processing facilities in FArea of SRS. The primary operations conducted in F-Canyon and FB Line included the separation and recovery of Pu-239 and U-238 from irradiated materials and the stabilization of plutonium residues. The F/H Laboratory Complex consists of buildings 772-F, 772-1F, and 772-4F which began operations in 1954, 1987, and 1993, respectively. The primary mission of the F/H Laboratory Complex for the last 45 years has been to support the chemical separations processing activities at Building 221-F and H-Canyon. The objective of this study is to determine the radionuclide and hazardous material holdup in F-Canyon and its support facilities, and to evaluate In-Situ Disposal (ISD) alternatives for deactivation and decommissioning (D and D) of these facilities to ensure groundwater protection and environmental compliance with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Services (SCDHES) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). GoldSim is a dynamic probabilistic simulation software that allows modeling of chemical mass transport through engineered and environmental systems For this study, it will model the potential future release of radiological contamination through the vadose zone, Upper Three Runs (UTR) Aquifer and the Upper Three Runs Creek. Using a GoldSim model developed for building 235-F D and D, contaminant inventories as well as building geometry were updated to create the basis of the new F-Canyon model. The inventories from F-Canyon, FB Line, and the 800 Series Tanks (Tanks 804, 808, and 809) as well as F/H labs (including buildings 772-F, 772-1F, and 772- 4F) were used to make a total of four sources. The concentrations of total uranium and beta-gamma are within compliance for the study, while radium and alpha concentrations exceed their MCL's around 30,000 years and total effective water dose exceeds its MCL around 1,200 years. This suggests that some level of action will be needed to meet SCDHES and USEPA requirements. This evaluation was conducted only for the no-action alternative. Consideration and modeling of other alternatives will be required in the future to determine the best ISD alternative for D and D of F-Canyon and F/H labs with regard to groundwater protection, worker safety, and financial cost.
The US Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management (LM) is responsible for maintaining protective public health and environmental conditions at former uranium mill tailings sites nationwide via long-term stewardship. One of these sites, a former uranium mill near Riverton, Wyoming, is within the boundary of the Wind River Indian Reservation and operated from 1958 to 1963. Tailings and contaminated material associated with mill operations were removed and transported to an offsite disposal cell in 1989. The remedial action was completed under Title I of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978. Milling operations, which included an unlined tailings impoundment and an unlined evaporation pond, contaminated the shallow groundwater, resulting in a downgradient groundwater plume that discharges to the Little Wind River. A natural flushing compliance strategy was implemented in 1998. This strategy allows contaminants of concern to naturally flush from the groundwater, provided that contaminants flush below US Environmental Protection Agency maximum concentration limits within 100 years. As part of the compliance strategy, LM has implemented a groundwater monitoring program along with institutional controls that include the installation of an alternate water supply, continued sampling of private wells, and restrictions on well drilling and gravel pit construction. LM works closely with local stakeholders and community members to ensure that these institutional controls are in place and maintained. The Riverton site provides an interesting case study where contaminant remobilization due to river flooding prompted a reevaluation of the conceptual site model to verify if the current compliance strategy would remain protective of human health and the environment. Concentrations of groundwater contaminants, which include sulfate, molybdenum, and uranium, were transiently elevated following flooding of the Little Wind River in 2010 and 2016. These flood events provided the impetus to investigate other aspects of the hydrologic system, including the unsaturated zone, naturally reduced (sulfidic) zones, and evaporite deposits. New site conceptual models, field and laboratory studies, and numerical models are being developed to explain how biogeochemical sediment–water interactions contribute to plume persistence and flood-related increases in groundwater concentrations. Updated human health and ecological risk assessments are progressing to evaluate the risk to human health and the environment based on current site conditions. Groundwater concentrations may remain above US Environmental Protection Agency maximum concentration limits beyond the 100-year natural flushing regulatory time frame. LM in its capacity as a long-term steward continues to monitor the site to ensure protectiveness is maintained and to determine the feasibility of alternative compliance and remediation strategies.
The US Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management (LM) is responsible for maintaining protective public health and environmental conditions at former uranium mill tailings sites nationwide via long-term stewardship. One of these sites, a former uranium mill near Riverton, Wyoming, is within the boundary of the Wind River Indian Reservation and operated from 1958 to 1963. Tailings and contaminated material associated with mill operations were removed and transported to an offsite disposal cell in 1989. The remedial action was completed under Title I of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978. Milling operations, which included an unlined tailings impoundment and an unlined evaporation pond, contaminated the shallow groundwater, resulting in a down-gradient groundwater plume that discharges to the Little Wind River. A natural flushing compliance strategy was implemented in 1998. This strategy allows contaminants of concern to naturally flush from the groundwater, provided that contaminants flush below US Environmental Protection Agency maximum concentration limits within 100 years. As part of the compliance strategy, LM has implemented a groundwater monitoring program along with institutional controls that include the installation of an alternate water supply, continued sampling of private wells, and restrictions on well drilling and gravel pit construction. LM works closely with local stakeholders and community members to ensure that these institutional controls are in place and maintained. The Riverton site provides an interesting case study where contaminant remobilization due to river flooding prompted a reevaluation of the conceptual site model to verify if the current compliance strategy would remain protective of human health and the environment. Concentrations of groundwater contaminants, which include sulfate, molybdenum, and uranium, were transiently elevated following flooding of the Little Wind River in 2010 and 2016. These flood events provided the impetus to investigate other aspects of the hydrologic system, including the unsaturated zone, naturally reduced (sulfidic) zones, and evaporite deposits. New site conceptual models, field and laboratory studies, and numerical models are being developed to explain how biogeochemical sediment-water interactions contribute to plume persistence and flood-related increases in groundwater concentrations. Updated human health and ecological risk assessments are progressing to evaluate the risk to human health and the environment based on current site conditions. Groundwater concentrations may remain above US Environmental Protection Agency maximum concentration limits beyond the 100-year natural flushing regulatory time frame. LM in its capacity as a long-term steward continues to monitor the site to ensure protectiveness is maintained and to determine the feasibility of alternative compliance and remediation strategies. (authors)
New Mexico Environmental Department (NMED) is providing statewide training to all entities that are currently or expecting to be covered by a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP). The purpose of the training is to educate facility personnel on permit requirements and methods to stay compliant with a permit. NMED has invited personnel from Los Alamos National Laboratory Environmental Protection & Compliance – Environmental Compliance Programs to assist with the statewide training by developing training materials and assist NMED in presenting the training sessions. The attached map mock-up and photos are intended as training materials for a mock MSGP routine facility inspection. In this exercise, participants will use the map and photos for a simulated field walk-down of a fictitious facility, the XYZ Widget Company’s Production Complex. Participants will learn elements of storm water flow paths, how to identify potential storm water issues, and document their findings in order to meet permit requirements.
Environmental Health Systems puts forth an increasing effort in the U.S. to develop ways of controlling noise, particularly in industrial environments due to Federal and State laws, labor union insistence and new findings relative to noise pollution impact on human health. NASA's Apollo guidance control system aided in the development of a noise protection product, SMART. The basis of all SMART products is SMART compound a liquid plastic mixture with exceptional energy/sound absorbing qualities. The basic compound was later refined for noise protection use.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL, Berkeley Lab) is a multi-program scientific facility operated by the University of California (UC) for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Berkeley Lab’s research is focused on the physical, biological, environmental, and computational sciences with the objective of delivering scientific knowledge and discoveries pertinent to DOE’s mission. This annual report describes environmental protection activities and potential impacts resulting from LBNL operations conducted in 2016. The format and content of this report satisfy the requirements of both DOE Order 231.1B Admin Chg 1, Environment, Safety, and Health Reporting, and the operating contract between UC and DOE (DOE Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231, also known as Contract 31). Activities are planned and conducted with full regard to protecting employees, the public, and the environment, as well as complying with all applicable environmental, safety, and health laws and regulations. Berkeley Lab implements an Environmental Management System (EMS) to oversee these compliance activities and improve overall environmental performance while maintaining operational capability and sustaining its overall mission. The effectiveness of the EMS and environmental programs is reviewed annually as part of the operating contract’s performance evaluation process. For fiscal year (FY) 2016, which began October 1, 2015, and ended September 30, 2016, the EMS was given a performance rating of A minus for its management of environmental activities (on a scale from A plus as the highest grade to F as the lowest). The measurement and rating system was developed jointly by Berkeley Lab, UC, and DOE. The FY 2016 rating was based on how Berkeley Lab met the objective in DOE’s FY 2017 Performance Evaluation and Measurement Plan (Appendix B in Contract 31, Section J) of providing an efficient and effective EMS. To support this rating, Berkeley Lab prepared a list of projects completed during the performance period that achieved reduced environmental impacts. The EMS was also graded through the federal Office of Management and Budget’s EMS Annual Report Data, in which elements of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 standard are rated and the degree of integration between the EMS and Berkeley Lab’s sustainable practices is measured. Overall scores fall into one of three categories: green (highest), yellow (middle), or red (lowest). For FY 2016, Berkeley Lab received a score of green, as described in more detail in Chapter 2. An overview of environmental protection and restoration programs is provided (Chapter 3), including information about compliance activities, operating permits, and regulatory agency inspections that occurred during 2016. Six minor violations issued during these inspections are discussed, one of which was rescinded in 2017. This report also includes information on environmental monitoring performed in 2016 (Chapter 4). The results of these monitoring activities confirmed that groundwater cleanup actions continue to show improving conditions, and all emissions and discharges from LBNL operations were within environmental compliance release limits with the exception of some stormwater discharges. While most stormwater discharges measured throughout the LBNL site fall within acceptable levels established by the state's stormwater permit, iron and aluminum exceeded permitted levels. Berkeley Lab is aggressively implementing controls to reduce iron and aluminum discharge levels. The controls include construction of asphaltic berms to restrain and filter runoff to storm drains, and installation of filtration units in storm drain basins to absorb metal contaminants. The radiological dose assessments (Chapter 5) performed in 2016 concluded that the maximum dose to a hypothetical resident from Berkeley Lab’s airborne radionuclide releases was approximately 0.12% of the DOE and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency annual limit of 10 millirem per year (mrem/year); the dose from all radiation sources at Berkeley Lab was approximately 0.1% of the average natural background radiation dose of 310 mrem/yr in the United States, and about 0.4% of the DOE annual limit of 100 mrem/yr from all sources.