Environmental Forensics (Issues in Environmental Science and Technology, 26) - Hardcover

 
9780854049578: Environmental Forensics (Issues in Environmental Science and Technology, 26)
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0854049576 ISBN 13: 9780854049578
Verlag: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2008

Inhaltsangabe

'Environmental forensics' is a combination of analytical and environmental chemistry, which is useful in the court room context. It therefore involves field analytical studies and both data interpretation and modelling connected with the attribution of pollution events to their causes. Recent decades have seen a burgeoning of legislation designed to protect the environment and, as the costs of environmental damage and clean-up are considerable, not only are there prosecutions by regulatory agencies, but the courts are also used as a means of adjudication of civil damage claims relating to environmental causes or environmental degradation. As a result is the increasing number of prosecutions of companies who have breached regulations for environmental protection and in civil claims relating to harm caused by excessive pollutant releases to the environment. Such cases can become extremely protracted as expert witnesses provide their sometimes conflicting interpretations of environmental measurement data and their meaning. It is in this context that environmental forensics is developing as a specialism, leading to greater formalisation of investigative methods which should lead to more definitive findings and less scope for experts to disagree. Now a significant subject in its own right, at least one journal devoted to the field and a number of degree courses have sprung up. As a result of the topicality and rapid growth of the subject area, is the publication of this book - the 26th volume in the highly acclaimed Issues in Environmental Science and Technology Series. This volume contains authoritative articles by a number of the leading practitioners across the globe in the environmental forensics field and aims to cover some of the main techniques and areas to which environmental forensics are being applied. The content is comprehensive and describes a number of the key areas within environmental forensics - topics covered by the authors include: - Source identification issues - Microbial techniques - Metal contamination and methods of assigning liability - The use of isotopes to determine sources and their applications - Molecular biological methods - Hydrocarbon fingerprinting techniques - Oil chemistry and key compound identification - The emerging role of environmental forensics in groundwater pollution Additionally, the volume considers specific pollutants and long-lived pollutants of groundwater such as halocarbons which have presented particular problems and which are described in some depth, as well as the way in which chemical degradation processes can lead to compositional changes which provide valuable information. The book provides a comprehensive overview of many of the key areas of environmental forensics written by some of the leading experts in the field. It will be both of specialist use to those seeking expert insights into the field and its capabilities as well as of more general interest to those involved in both environmental analytical science and environmental law.

Die Inhaltsangabe kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

Ronald E Hester is at the University of York, UK Roy M Harrison OBE is at the University of Birmingham, UK



The series has been edited by Professors Hester and Harrison since it began in 1994.

Professor Roy Harrison OBE is listed by ISI Thomson Scientific (on ISI Web of Knowledge) as a Highly Cited Researcher in the Environmental Science/Ecology category. He has an h-index of 54 (i.e. 54 of his papers have received 54 or more citations in the literature). In 2004 he was appointed OBE for services to environmental science in the New Year Honours List. He was profiled by the Journal of Environmental Monitoring (Vol 5, pp 39N-41N, 2003). Professor Harrison’s research interests lie in the field of environment and human health. His main specialism is in air pollution, from emissions through atmospheric chemical and physical transformations to exposure and effects on human health. Much of this work is designed to inform the development of policy.

Now an emeritus professor, Professor Ron Hester's current activities in chemistry are mainly as an editor and as an external examiner and assessor. He also retains appointments as external examiner and assessor / adviser on courses, individual promotions, and departmental / subject area evaluations both in the UK and abroad.

Von der hinteren Coverseite

'Environmental forensics' is a combination of analytical and environmental chemistry, which is useful in the court room context. It therefore involves field analytical studies and both data interpretation and modelling connected with the attribution of pollution events to their causes. This is becoming a significant subject in its own right with at least one journal is devoted to the field and a number of degree courses have been introduced. As a result of the topicality and rapid growth of the subject area, is the publication of this book - the 26th volume in the highly acclaimed Issues in Environmental Science and Technology Series. This volume contains authoritative articles by a number of the leading practitioners across the globe in the environmental forensics field and aims to cover some of the main techniques and areas to which environmental forensics are being applied. The content is comprehensive and describes a number of the key areas within environmental forensics - topics covered by the authors include: - Source identification issues - Microbial techniques - Metal contamination and methods of assigning liability - The use of isotopes to determine sources and their applications - Molecular biological methods - Hydrocarbon fingerprinting techniques - Oil chemistry and key compound identification - The emerging role of environmental forensics in groundwater pollution Additionally, the volume considers specific pollutants and long-lived pollutants of groundwater such as halocarbons, which have presented particular problems and which are described in some depth, as well as the way in which chemical degradation processes can lead to compositional changes which provide valuable information.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Environmental Forensics

By R. E. Hester, R. M. Harrison

The Royal Society of Chemistry

Copyright © 2008 Royal Society of Chemistry
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-85404-957-8

Contents

Environmental Forensics and the Importance of Source Identification Stephen M. Mudge, 
Microbial Techniques for Environmental Forensics Andrew S. Ball, Jules N. Pretty and Rakhi Mahmud, 
Spatial Considerations of Stable Isotope Analyses in Environmental Forensics James R. Ehleringer, Thure E. Cerling, Jason B. West, David W. Podlesak, Lesley A. Chesson and Gabriel J. Bowen, 
Diagnostic Compounds for Fingerprinting Petroleum in the Environment Scott A. Stout and Zhendi Wang, 
Perchlorate – Is Nature the Main Manufacturer? Ioana G. Petrisor and James T. Wells, 
Tracking Chlorinated Solvents in the Environment Ioana G. Petrisor and James T. Wells, 
Groundwater Pollution: The Emerging Role of Environmental Forensics Stanley Feenstra and Michael O. Rivett, 
Subject Index, 173,


CHAPTER 1

Environmental Forensics and the Importance of Source Identification

STEPHEN M. MUDGE


1 Introduction

The scientific community has been taking samples and identifying the source of the materials in those samples for many years – this is the basis of all environmental forensics, the identification and source apportionment of compounds in environmental samples. What is different, however, is that with source apportionments comes blame, and blame these days means costs.

Environmental forensics could be summarized as an investigation of what is in the environment, where it has come from and using that data to prosecute those who have contravened particular laws. There are other aspects to environmental forensics which include data mining and prediction to understand better what is going on, helping industries at the design stage to ensure they comply with relevant legislation and simply reconstructing environmental histories – who did what, when and where?


2 The Legislative Framework for Environmental Forensics

One of the key aspects of environmental forensics is the bringing together of data in order to have a successful prosecution. There are many debates as to what prosecutions are for (deterrent, punishment, revenge, etc.), but they are beyond the scope of this chapter; however, there is a considerable framework in law to enable either the State or individuals to seek redress with regard to contamination or injury due to damage to the environment.


2.1.1 National Legislation

2.1.2 UK. Most of the recent legislation protecting the environment in the UK has been derived from European Directives, which are discussed later. However, prior to 1995, there were several key pieces of legislation that have formed the basis of many prosecutions by the State through the Environment Agency or the National Rivers Authority, its precursor. The Environment Act 1995 brought the United Kingdom Environment Agency and Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) into being and outlined the requirements of a range of bodies with regard to contaminated land and abandoned mines to enhance some aspects of pollution control.

The majority of actions against environmental crimes in the UK appear to be under this Act or the Water Resources Act 1991. In this Act, there are several sections concerned with management of water resources, but a key section with regard to environmental forensics is Section 85, Offences of Polluting Controlled Waters. The subsections of this Act are the most frequently cited offences in environmental cases (N. Evans, personal communication).

(1) A person contravenes this section if he causes or knowingly permits any poisonous, noxious or polluting matter or any solid waste matter to enter any controlled waters.

(2) A person contravenes this section if he causes or knowingly permits any matter, other than trade effluent or sewage effluent, to enter controlled waters by being discharged from a drain or sewer in contravention of a prohibition imposed under section 86 below.

(3) A person contravenes this section if he causes or knowingly permits any trade effluent or sewage effluent to be discharged –

(a) into any controlled waters; or

(b) from land in England and Wales, through a pipe, into the sea outside the seaward limits of controlled waters.

(4) A person contravenes this section if he causes or knowingly permits any trade effluent or sewage effluent to be discharged, in contravention of any prohibition imposed under section 86 below, from a building or from any fixed plant –

(a) on to or into any land; or

(b) into any waters of a lake or pond which are not inland freshwaters.

(5) A person contravenes this section if he causes or knowingly permits any matter whatever to enter any inland freshwaters so as to tend (either directly or in combination with other matter which he or another person causes or permits to enter those waters) to impede the proper flow of the waters in a manner leading or likely to lead, to a substantial aggravation of –

(a) pollution due to other causes; or

(b) the consequences of such pollution.

(6) Subject to the following provisions of this Chapter, a person who contravenes this section or the conditions of any consent given under this Chapter for the purposes of this section shall be guilty of an offence and liable –

(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding £20 000 or to both;

(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine or to both.

Section 85(1) of the Water Resources Act 1991 provides the over-arching legislative power to bring a criminal prosecution against individuals or companies if they allow 'poisonous, noxious or polluting matter' to enter controlled waters. To bring such a prosecution, however, it would be necessary to demonstrate 'beyond all reasonable doubt' that a discharge had been made by a person or company to controlled waters. Notwithstanding the considerable amount of case law that has developed regarding the meaning of individual words in this section of the Act, the science required to bring a successful case must unambiguously identify the source of the contamination and also make estimates of the amount discharged to demonstrate that it exceeded an authorization to discharge.

There are other UK Acts that are used in environmental prosecutions, including the Water Industry Act 1991. Much of this Act is to do with the supply of water and provision of sewerage services, although Section 111 sets out the restrictions on the use of public sewers and specifically forbids the discharge to public sewers of items that may lead to failure of the treatment processes or lead to unauthorized discharges from the sewage treatment works.

(1) Subject to the provisions of Chapter III of this Part, no person shall throw, empty or turn or suffer or permit to be thrown or emptied or to pass, into any public sewer or into any drain or sewer communicating with a public sewer –

(a) any matter likely to injure the sewer or drain, to interfere with the free flow of its contents or to affect prejudicially the treatment and disposal of its contents; or

(b) any such chemical refuse or waste steam or any such liquid of a temperature higher than one hundred and ten degrees Fahrenheit, as by virtue of subsection (2) below is a prohibited substance; or

(c) any petroleum spirit or...

„Über diesen Titel“ kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Verlag
Royal Society of Chemistry
Erscheinungsdatum
2008
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0854049576
ISBN 13 
9780854049578
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Auflage
1
Anzahl der Seiten
190
Herausgeber
Hester R. E., Harrison R. M.
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
preigu
mail@preigu.de

Lengericher Landstr. 19
Osnabrück
49078
Deutschland