bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cleaning it up and closing it down: Land use issues at rocky flats
Authors: Lowrie Karen , Greenberg Michael 
Published: February 2007

AbstractRocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, a former nuclear weapons production plant near Denver, Colorado, is scheduled for complete closure within the next decade. A number of important land use issues remain unresolved. High levels of uncertainty about future uses and dependence on decisions from Department of Energy (DOE) headquarters regarding the fate of plutonium make it difficult to produce a land use plan to guide cleanup and reuse decisions, and threaten the site's ability to achieve the accelerated cleanup milestone set for 2006. We recommend a scenario‐based participative land use planning process where competing interests, costs, risks, and benefits of alternate future uses are made apparent to all on‐site and off‐site stakeholders.
Integrated framework for assessment of site remediation options
Authors: Regens James L. , Hodges Donald G. , Wilkey Patrick L. , Zimmerman R. Eric , Armstrong Anthony Q. , Kelley Linda , Hall Timothy A. , Hughes Eugene A. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractAn integrated Technology Evaluation Framework was developed to help environmental managers select and deploy remediation technologies. The Technology Evaluation Framework allows managers to identify and systematically compare conventional and innovative remediation technologies to assess site remediation options. The Framework integrates eight criteria that are relevant to the technology selection and deployment decisions in order to assess site remediation options. The results of a pilot application of the Technology Evaluation Framework to data from four sites are presented.
Determining if a change to a proposal requires additional NEPA documentation — the Smithsonian solution
Authors: Eccleston Charles H. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractProposed actions tend to evolve over time. Once National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documentation is completed, agencies are at risk that subsequent changes may not be adequately covered or that existing NEPA documentation may be completely invalidated. Neither NEPA nor its subsequent regulations provide sufficient direction for determining the degree to which a proposed action may change before preparation of new or supplemental documentation is necessary. Yet, decision makers are routinely involved in determining if a change to a proposed action departs to such an extent from the description presented in the NEPA document that additional documentation is necessary. Experience demonstrates that no two decision makers will completely agree; one decision maker might believe that a particular change would not require additional documentation, while the other concludes the exact opposite.Lacking definitive direction, decision makers and critics alike may point to a universe of potential considerations as the basis for defending their claim that a change in an action does or does not require new or additional NEPA documentation. Assertions are often based on equivocal opinions that can be neither proved nor disproved. Moreover, decision makers are frequently placed in the dilemma of justifying a decision, for which there is no generally accepted methodology on which to base it.Lack of definitive direction can prolong the decision‐making process, resulting in project delays. This can also lead to inappropriate levels of NEPA documentation, inconsistencies in decision making, and increased risk of a legal challenge because of insuficient documentation. Clearly, a more sys tematic and less subjective approach is needed. A tool for streamlining the NEPA process, by reducing this degree of subjectivity, is presented in this article.
Coming full circle: The department of defense, American Indians, and Alaska natives
Authors: Leonard Richeson H. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractAs we move into the twenty‐first century, it is appropriate that the Department of Defense (DOD) has come full circle in its relationship with American Indians and Alaska Natives. Our evolution from adversary to partner culminated in the newly announced American Indian and Alaska Native Policy. This policy promotes the development of a government‐to‐government relationship between the DOD and federally recognized tribes and calls for the implementation of meaningful consultation and communication with tribes. The new policy also mandates that DOD be proactive in protecting tribal cultural and natural resources, and it is particularly strong in committing the agency to fulfilling its trust responsibilities to tribes. This was not always the case.
Environmental justice implementation stalled
Authors: Yamada Gerald H. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThis article analyzes environmental justice approaches relying on the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and risk assessments. The article's author, Gerald H. Yamada, was the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) principal deputy general counsel for 13 years and was acting EPA general counsel for the first ten months of the Clinton administration. He concludes in his article that environmental justice implementation by EPA is stalled. His article provides an insightful perspective in support of his conclusion and suggests a way for EPA to rethink its approach to environmental justice.
Locations and environments of U.S. army training and testing lands: An ecoregional framework for assessment
Authors: Doe William W. , Shaw Robert B. , Bailey Robert G. , Jones David S. , Macia Thomas E. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThe U.S. Army manages over 12 million acres of federal training and testing lands contained within military installations throughout the 50 United States. These lands are a critical national asset for defense readiness, dedicated to providing realistic training and testing environments for army units and equipment. The locations and physiographic diversity of the Army's current land inventory is a function of historical precedent, modern‐day land expansions, and requirements for strategic projection of forces. Many Army lands are relatively undeveloped, providing important ecological settings for a variety of flora and fauna, including many threatened and endangered species. As a responsible land steward, the Army is committed to protection and sustainable use of these natural resources, with concurrent benefit to both the army and the public. Army training and testing activities can cause environmental impacts that may be detrimental to the long‐term sustainment of ecological functions. These realities pose significant land management challenges to the Army. The application of established ecologicalframeworks for strategically assessing land‐use impacts and land management approaches is demonstrated for 31 major Army installations, using Bailey's “ecoregion classification system,” developed by the U.S. Forest Service. The Ecoregions framework is used to (1) classify and catalog the ecological diversity of Army lands, (2) provide a comparative framework for assessing land resiliencyfrom Army impacts, and (3) extrapolate knowledge of perturbed ecosystem behavior and response from one army installation to others in similar ecoregions.
The regulation of radioactive materials and wastes by federal agencies
Authors: Rudolph Thomas E. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractPerhaps no area of environmental law is less understood than the law that regulates radioactive materials and wastes. Radiation experts such as health physicists who talk in terms of “curies,” “Sierverts,” and “critical mass” have a language and methodology that seem alien to most environmental practitioners used to dealing with the intricacies of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean Air Act, or the Clean Water Act. When I think of how most environmental engineers and attorneys view the rules that regulate radioactive materials, I am reminded of a Churchill quote that Russia was “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”Many people assume that virtually all rules pertaining to radioactive materials and waste are governed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations. While the NRC obviously is a major “player,” it is not the only one. Depending on the quantity and type of substance involved, the activity involved, that is, possession, use, transportation, disposal, or cleanup of contamination, other agencies may be “players” as well. Those agencies include the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), other federal agencies such as the Department of Defense (DOD), and even state radiation protection agencies.
An interagency approach to managing cost and performance data for site remediation
Authors: Weisman Richard J. , Kingscott John 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThe Federal Remediation Technologies Roundtable, an interagency working group, was created to build a more collaborative atmosphere among federal agencies involved in the remediation of hazardous waste sites. A major initiative of the Roundtable is to improve the type and availability of cost and performance data about remediation technologies. To date, the Roundtable has published 140 case studies, available on‐line at http://www.frtr.gov/cost, that document full‐scale and demonstration‐scale projects, covering in‐situ and ex‐situ technology applications for soil, groundwater, and solid media. This article provides an overview of the Roundtable's current inventory of case studies, overall approach to data management, standard reporting procedures, and observations and lessons learned.
Enzyme‐enhanced bioremediation at Thule Air Base, Greenland
Authors: Vinson Rob , Garret Ken 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThule Air Base (TAB) experienced a 23,000 gallon J‐8 fuel release in March 1997. Versar mobilized an emergency response team to prevent the fuel from reaching locations where it could impact the arctic marine wildlife the indigenous population depends upon for sustenance level hunting. Versar excavated 16,000 cubic yards (CY) of fuel‐contaminated soil, then placed 9,000 CY of backfill to reconstruct the riverbank impacted by the release. Human health and ecological risk assessments were performed to establish a risk‐based cleanup criteria. Remediation technologies were screened for cost, logistical constraints and probability of success in an Arctic location. Enzyme‐enhanced bioremediation was selected and a treatability study conducted during summer of 1998. The study assessed (1) applying a multienzyme compound break down the fuel into simple fatty acids; (2) adding nutrients to promote bacteria growth, and (3) watering and mixing the soil maintain suitable moisture and oxygen content to enhance the bioremediation process.
Relative risk data guidance on DOD's assessment of overall environmental quality and restoration
Authors: Prasad Surya S. , Danilowicz Andrew 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThis article addresses the validation of data generated by the Department of Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP) Relative Risk Site Evaluation process, the process used to determine the relative risk of sites containing, or potentially containing, Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)‐designated contaminants. Relative risk data are used to categorize sites, establish cleanup priorities, and report on progress in the Department of Defense's (DOD's) environmental restoration program. To ensure the validity of these data, the military services submit data twice a year to the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Environmental Security (ODUSD[ES]) for verification. The core of the validation process is the recalculation of quantitative data on contaminants. This article describes the validation process and reports the results from the fall 1998 review period. The findings from this review indicate that relative risk site evaluations are generating meaningful data for categorizing sites and prioritizing work.
Cumulative air quality effects assessment
Authors: Rumrill Jeff N. , Canter Larry W. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractFederal agencies in the United States are required to consider the cumulative effects (CEs) of their activities combined with those of others. This requirement has placed a burden on the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process due to the technical complexities involved with cumulative effects assessment (CEA). This article presents a CEA methodology that reduces some of the inherent complexities by focusing on the cumulative influence to a single environmental resource, ambient air quality. An eight‐step method is presented herein as a tool for the assessment of cumulative air quality effects. Procedures for accomplishment of the more difficult steps, such as the determination of what activities to include in the evaluation and how to determine the significance of a cumulative effect, are also included.
Emissions related to munitions firing: A case study of nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and energetic residue from detonable munitions
Authors: Szostak R. , Cleare K. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractOverall, the detonation of munitions represents an environmentally clean reaction. Six kilotons of energetic materials were expended in this case study during training in 1996. These included nitrocellulose (55 percent), trinitrotoluene (TNT) (30 percent), nitroglycerine (5 percent), nitroguanidine (4 percent), dinitrotoluene (DNT) (3 percent), and Royal Dutch Explosive (RDX) (3 percent). Based on previously reported test data (BangBox), energetic detonation emissions of environmental concern were calculated to be less than 1 percent. This residue contains nitrogen oxides (88 percent), a mix of volatile organic compounds (11 percent), and possibly undetonated RDX (<1 percent). Preliminary assessment of emissions produced by munitions in this study indicates that both nitrogen oxide (NOX) and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions are low relative to other NOX and VOC producing activities including emissions from biogenic (natural) sources. Though the amount of undetonated RDX is low, further work is needed to validate this number and determine whether this source represents any significant health or environmental impact.
Articulation of bone identification with native American beliefs, civil authority, and military installation management
Authors: Mann Diane K. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThe Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) reflects the unique relationship between the federal government and Native American Indian nations by increasing their jurisdiction over disposition and treatment of ancestral human remains and related artifacts. Native American Indians who believe that curation and study are not appropriate treatment for the dead obtained explicit legal protection for unmarked graves.The challenge faced by installation commanders in complying with NAGPRA and Department of Defense American Indian and Alaska Native Policy (October 1998) is to attain a balance that ensures appropriate treatment of skeletal remains. This includes economical identification of nonhuman remains, efficient interaction with criminal investigators when appropriate, and respectful treatment of Native American remains until correctly repatriated. Fort Polk, Louisiana, and the Caddo Nation serve as an example for clarifying the roles of civil authorities, Indian religious leaders, and scientists.
The birth of El Niño: Geoarchaeological evidence and implications
Authors: Rollins Harold B. , Richardson James B. , Sandweiss Daniel H. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThe oceanographic phenomenon known as El Niño is the subject of intensive recent study. Any hypotheses regarding physical causes and predictability of El Niño should consider its geological history.New geoarchaeological evidence suggests that the El Niño phenomenon did not exist along the northern and central coasts of Peru before about 5000 years B.P. Molluscan faunas from archaeological sites at Pampa las Salinas and Salinas de Chao permit temporal bracketing of a major structural change in the East Pacific water mass. The boundary between the warm Panamic Province and the cold Peruvian Province, which today occurs at about 5 degrees south latitude, was some 500 km further south from at least 11,000 years B.P. to about 5000 years B.P. This conclusion is corroborated by many other lines of evidence including phosphorite distribution, timing of glacial retreat, sea level change, radiolarian, diatom and fish scale distributions, and beach ridge patterns. The present day arid coastal climate of north central Peru is probably a post‐5000 year B.P. development. Hunter–gatherer populations of the area would most likely have exploited more land‐based seasonal resources from grasslands and forests before 5000 years B.P., and relied less upon the diminished productivity of warm water maritime resources.
The formation of farm mounds on the Island of Sanday, Orkney
Authors: Davidson Donald A. , Harkness Douglas D. , Simpson Ian A. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractA recent archaeological site survey of the island of Sanday on Orkney has identified a distinct concentration of 15 farm mounds. An immediate need is to determine the nature, age, and processes of formation of these very distinctive landform features. This paper reports a geoarchaeological investigation of three mounds at Westbrough, Langskaill, and Skelbrae. For the island as a whole, the mounds vary in diameter from 50 to 205 m, with deposits up to a thickness of 4.3 m. The mounds vary in their morphology, reflecting complex processes of accumulation, often intense disturbance, and in some cases, erosion by the sea. Sections at the three sites are described with analytical data also being given for particle size, percent loss‐on‐ignition, total phosphate, δ13C, and radiocarbon dating. The Westbrough and Skelbrae mounds were formed post‐7th century A.D.; more detailed dating was possible for the Langskaill site, which was initiated in the early to mid 13th century. A steady and relatively rapid sedimentation rate (ca. 1.9 cm year−1) took place over the 200 years following the initiation of the mound. The lower part of the Westbrough mound is distinguished by the presence of peat, interpreted as discarded bedding material, but the remainder of the investigated sections are composed dominantly of mineral sediments containing organic matter of terrestrial origin. It is suggested that these materials accumulated from the ash of domestic hearths as well as from the residues of bedding material from the byres (cattle sheds). Turves (vegetation plus some underlying soil) would have been cut, dried, and then used in the byres and such turves would have retained a significant mineral content. The implication is that the inherent fertility of the island made it unnecessary for the farmers to spread the dung over the fields. This may explain why there is the distinct concentration of these mounds on the island of Sanday, an island noted in earlier times for its fertile soils developed on calcareous sands.
Climate change and human settlement around the late‐glacial laguna De Punta Negra, northern Chile: The preliminary results
Authors: Lynch Thomas F. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractMajor bodies of fresh water are extremely scarce in the dry Atacama region. Unlike the Salar de Atacama, which has no outlet, the Salar de Punta Negra (24$ 35′ S, 3000 m elevation) used to spill north into the Atacama drainage. Archaeological survey of the beaches and spillway above today's salar indicates late‐glacial human use of the 800 km2 lake and environs under a contrasting climate regime. The histories and water budgets of the Pleistocene lakes of the south‐central Andes are not well understood, but archaeological data can be interpreted to support (1) hypotheses that would bring westerly storm tracks and winter rain further north 14,000 to 10,000 B.P., especially if accompanied by increasing warmth for part of the period, and/or (2) theories of orbital variation, increased summer insolation, and strengthened monsoons that would provide generally increased rainfall at the Tropics 10,000 to 9000 B.P. Archaeological, paleoclimatological, and geomorphological studies come together to show how this large lake could be a focus of human activity from the time of first settlement of the Atacama region.
Paleosols and prehistoric populations in the high plains
Authors: Jorstad T. , East T. , Adovasio J. M. , Donahue J. , Stuckenrath R. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractExcavations in 1980–1981 at sites (32MZ319 and 32MZ380) along Cinnamon Creek Ridge in the Little Missouri River Badlands of McKenzie County, North Dakota, unexpectedly revealed at each locality the presence of one or more deeply buried paleosols with associated cultural materials. At both sites, 32MZ319 and 32MZ380, multiple paleosols are present, each of which is terminated by an episode of aeolian deposition. Fifteen radiocarbon dates on these paleosols establish an incipient chronology for paleosol development in the study area and permit correlation with other High Plains archaeological complexes. Geological and archaeological data for the two multiple paleosol sites are summarized.
A review of geophysical methods used in archaeology
Authors: Wynn Jeffrey C. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractGeophysical methods have been used with increasing frequency in archaeology since 1946; aerial photography has been used since 1919. The geophysical methods that are most commonly used at present are electrical resistivity, magnetics, and ground‐probing radar. Magnetic detectors, particularly when used in a gradient mode or with a continuously recording base station, are used at almost all sites where any geophysical methods are used. Portable, noncontacting electromagnetic soil‐conductivity systems are also being increasingly used because of their very high rate of data acquisition. Less commonly used methods include self‐potential (sometimes called spontaneous potential), microgravity, radiometric, thermal infrared imagery, and sonic or seismic techniques. Recent developments in image processing and graphic representation have contributed substantially to the archaeologist's ability to do “rescue archaeology,” that is, to carry out high‐speed, nondestructive reconnaissance surveys for ancient human cultural evidence in advance of modern industrial development.
Geoarchaeological research in the coastal plain portion of the Savannah River valley
Authors: Brooks Mark J. , Stone Peter A. , Colquhoun Donald J. , Brown Janice G. , Steele Kathy B. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractSelected archaeological, stratigraphical, sedimentological, hydrological, sea level, and 14C data are considered in order to ascertain the times and rates of saltmarsh, floodplain, river swamp, and alluvial terrace development in the lower Savannah River valley. Archaeological data are emphasized in the elucidation of these developmental trends and their environmental correlates. It is concluded that the modern environments associated with the categories of archaeological sites examined (estuarine shell middens, river swamp point bar sites, raised terrace/point bar sites) are not representative of local conditions during occupation(s). Accordingly, a mid‐Holocene development of lower energy depositional environments is documented, along with a corresponding shift in subsistence‐settlement patterning that suggests more diffuse, or broad spectrum, socio‐economic strategies. A base level (sea level) dominance on river sedimentation, even far inland from the coast, may also be indicated.