1st Edition

Engineering Tools for Environmental Risk Management 1. Environmental Deterioration and Contamination - Problems and their Management

Edited By Katalin Gruiz, Tamas Meggyes, Eva Fenyvesi Copyright 2014

    This is the first volume of the five-volume book series “Engineering Tools for Environmental Risk Management”, dealing with the following topics:
    • types and management of environmental deterioration, particularly pollution;
    • environmental toxicology as a versatile tool in monitoring and risk management;
    • risk assessment of chemical substances and contaminated land;
    • risk reduction measures, focusing on bio- and ecotechnologies;
    • case studies demonstrating the interaction between regulation, management and engineering and the individual application of engineering tools.

    The book series focuses on the state of knowledge concerning the environment and its conscious and structured application in environmental engineering, management, decision making and legislation. This first volume provides an overview of the behavior and function of the healthy environment and the capacity of the ecosystem to serve mankind and to compensate for adverse changes. The prime causes of these changes are production and use of chemical substances, abandoned and contaminated land, intensive agriculture, mining and the complex problem of waste.

    The first volume establishes the foundation of the holistic approach used in a progressive environmental protection by:
    • striking a balance between nature’s needs and engineering capabilities;
    • understanding the interaction between regulation, management and engineering;
    • applying novel technologies and innovative scientifi c and engineering tools.

    The aggregated information and knowledge disseminated in this volume provides a broad perspective for engineers to adjust their tools to the best management practices and for managers and decision makers to fi nd synergy between their goals and existing engineering solutions.
    This book series focuses on the state of knowledge about the environment and its conscious and structured application in environmental engineering, management and decision making.

    Preface
    List of abbreviations
    About the editors

    1 Environmental problems –An overview
    K. GRUIZ
    1 Introduction
    2 Ecosystem
    3 Ecosystem and man: Ecosystem services
    4 Extension and time frame of environmental risks and their management
    5 Environmental compartments: Air, water, and soil
    6 Deteriorated ecosystems in general
    6.1 Damage in the ecosystem’s provisioning services
    6.2 Damage in the ecosystem’s regulating services
    6.3 Damage in the ecosystem’s habitat services
    6.4 Nature and biodiversity protection
    6.5 Invasive species
    6.6 Urban ecosystems

    2 Threat by chemical substances: Legislation, production, use and waste
    K. GRUIZ
    1 Introduction
    2 Production and use of chemical substances world-wide
    3 Risk of hazardous chemicals during their whole life cycle
    4 Regulation of chemical substances in Europe
    4.1 GHS pictograms and hazard categories
    4.2 European Regulatory Framework
    5 Which are the most dangerous chemical substances?
    5.1 Practical grouping of environment-contaminating chemicals
    5.2 Pesticides
    5.3 Biocides
    5.4 Cosmetics
    6 Carcinogens
    7 Mutagens
    8 Reprotoxic substances
    9 Pollutants of emerging concern

    3 Abandoned and contaminated land
    K. GRUIZ
    1 Deteriorated land and contaminated soil: An introduction
    2 Contaminated land
    3 Typical soil contaminants
    4 Soil deterioration other than contamination
    5 Some European facts

    4 Environmental risk of chemical agriculture
    A. ANTON, G. FEKETE, B. DARVAS & A. SZÉKÁCS
    1 Introduction to the risk of chemicals in agriculture
    2 Regulation of pesticides in the European union
    3 Environmental impacts of fertilizers and pesticides
    3.1 Environmental impacts of fertilizers
    3.2 Environmental impacts of pesticides
    4 Output intensity of agrochemicals
    5 Sustainable agriculture

    5 Environmental risk of mining
    E. VASZITA
    1 Environmental problems caused by mining: An introduction
    2 Nonrenewable resources
    2.1 Oil and gas production
    2.2 Coal, ore and nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying
    2.2.1 Extraction
    2.2.2 Mineral processing
    3 Environmental impacts
    4 Mining production data
    5 Managing environmental risk of mining
    6 Environmental problems caused by mine accidents
    6.1 The Stava tailings dam failure
    6.2 The Los Frailes tailings dam failure
    6.3 The Baia Mare cyanide spill
    6.4 The red mud catastrophe at the Ajka bauxite processing plant
    7 Towards more sustainable mining

    6 Environmental risk of waste and its management
    K. GRUIZ & O. KLEBERCZ
    1 The waste problem and its management: An introduction
    2 European waste legislation
    3 Waste classification and consequent duties
    4 Waste management hierarchy
    5 Waste statistics for Europe
    6 Waste evaluation: Environmental risks and benefits
    7 Life cycle thinking should be integrated with environmental risk assessment of chemicals

    7 Management of abandoned and contaminated land
    Y. SPIRA, K. GRUIZ, N. UZINGER & A. ANTON
    1 European action programs in aid of the management of contaminated land
    2 Thematic strategy and the upcoming soil framework directive in Europe
    3 Research and development on soil at EU level
    4 Basic theory of contaminated land management
    5 Risk-based management of degraded and contaminated land in Europe
    5.1 Problem definition and conceptual risk model of contaminated sites
    5.2 Risk assessment of contaminated land
    5.3 Risk reduction and remediation of contaminated land
    5.4 Management is more than assessing and reducing risk

    8 Environmental risks and impacts
    K. GRUIZ
    1 Introduction
    2 Environmental management at company level
    3 Managing the environment in general
    4 Managing the risk of projects, plans and programs
    5 Life cycle approach for environmental management
    6 Integrated and risk based management of the environment
    7 Environmental efficiency, eco-efficiency and sustainability
    8 How to manage the environment efficiently?
    9 Environmental management of chemical substances and polluted land
    9.1 Environmental legislation in the context of chemical pollution
    9.2 Environmental monitoring
    9.3 Risk assessment
    9.4 Risk reduction measures
    10 Increasing efficiency of environmental management
    11 Decision making and decision-support tools

    9 Risk management of chemicals and contaminated land – from planning to verification
    K. GRUIZ, B. SÁRA & E. VASZITA
    1 Introduction, definitions
    1.1 Risk management and RMOs
    2 Phases of environmental risk management and decision making
    2.1 Assessment phase of ERM
    2.1.1 Types of problems and their assessment
    2.2 Assessment of the problem before implementing a risk management measure
    2.2.1 Chemical substances, products, wastes
    2.2.2 Contaminated land and waste disposal sites
    2.3 Selection and planning of the RMO
    2.4 Implementation and maintenance phase
    2.5 Retrospective evaluation of the applied RMO
    2.5.1 Verification of the environmental technology and the risk management measure
    2.5.2 Technology verification as a regulatory tool
    3 Necessary information for ERA, SEA and LCA
    4 Environmental risk assessment of chemicals and contaminated land
    4.1 Environmental risk assessment
    4.1.1 Qualitative RA
    4.1.2 Quantitative RA
    4.2 Generic and site-specific quantitative ERA
    4.3 ERA of contaminated land
    4.4 Special risk management measures for ecological areas
    4.5 Environmental risk assessment tools
    4.6 Uncertainties in environmental risk assessment
    4.7 Risk communication
    5 Life cycle assessment
    5.1 Concept of LCA
    5.2 Methods and tools
    5.3 Application trends
    5.4 Application of LCA for contaminated land management
    5.5 Integration of LCA and ERA
    6 Socio-economic assessment for environmental management and decision making
    6.1 Traditional forms of socio-economic assessment
    6.1.1 Cost effectiveness analysis (CEA)
    6.1.2 Cost–benefit analysis (CBA)
    6.2 Multi-criteria analysis (MCA)
    6.3 Social impact assessment
    7 Environmental technology verification (ETV)
    7.1 ETV in the world
    7.1.1 ETV in the US
    7.1.2 ETV in Canada
    7.2 EU policy: ETAP
    7.2.1 About ETAP
    7.2.2 Necessity, principle and role of an EU ETV
    7.2.3 The ETV pilot program

    10 Site-specific risk assessment and management of point and diffuse sources
    K. GRUIZ, E. VASZITA & A. CLEMENT
    1 Introduction
    2 Characteristics and differences between point and diffuse sources
    2.1 Pollution sources
    2.1.1 Definitions
    2.1.2 Typical pollution sources
    2.2 Origin of point and diffuse pollution
    2.2.1 Point sources and point-source pollution
    2.2.2 Diffuse pollution from point and diffuse sources
    2.3 Characterization of point and diffuse pollution
    2.3.1 Characteristics of point sources
    2.3.2 Characteristics of diffuse pollution sources
    3 Different risk management approaches for point and diffuse pollution
    3.1 Management of point source pollution
    3.2 Management of diffuse pollution
    4 Transport modeling for point and diffuse sources
    4.1 Transport and fate modeling of point source pollution
    4.2 GIS-based watershed-scale transport and risk modeling of diffuse pollution
    4.2.1 Emitted amount from diffuse sources and the risk management concept
    4.2.2 Model calibration using the RRR rate of the watershed
    4.2.3 GIS transport model types
    4.2.4 Combined approach for watershed-scale transport and fate modeling of diffuse pollution
    4.3 Site-specific target value for point and diffuse sources
    4.3.1 Setting the target value and its application to point sources
    4.3.2 Setting the target emission from diffuse sources and planning risk reduction at watershed scale
    5 Assessment and management of diffuse sources from agriculture
    5.1 General characterization of agricultural diffuse pollution
    5.2 Measures to reduce diffuse pollution from agriculture
    6 Assessment and management of diffuse sources from mining
    6.1 General characterization of diffuse pollution from mining
    6.2 Risk management approach of diffuse pollution from mining
    6.3 Conceptual risk model of diffuse pollution from base metal ore mining
    6.4 Modeling of the fate and transport of diffuse pollution from mining
    6.5 Measures to reduce diffuse pollution from mining
    7 Conclusions about the site-specific risk assessment and management for point and diffuse sources

    11 Scientific and engineering improvement of environmental risk management
    K. GRUIZ
    1 Introduction
    2 Technological efficiency of environmental risk management
    3 Innovation is the driving force for the improvement of environmental risk management
    4 Technology demonstration is the key element of the market entry of innovations
    5 Innovative concepts in environmental risk management
    5.1 More than risk-based environmental management
    5.2 Eco-efficiency and sustainability in environmental risk management and decision making
    5.3 Innovative environmental data acquisition, evaluation and interpretation
    6 Efficient characterization of contaminated land
    7 Trends in environmental risk and impact assessment – life cycle thinking
    8 Innovative risk reduction technologies
    9 Data, information and knowledge in environmental decision making
    10 Uncertainty and variability in ERM
    11 What is necessary to further develop risk management and increase its efficiency?

    12 Managing environmental knowledge and the necessary IT tools
    Z. SIKI & K. GRUIZ
    1 Introduction
    2 The example of the environmental information (ENFO) knowledge base
    2.1 The objective of the ENFO knowledge base
    2.2 The structure and content of the ENFO knowledge base
    3 The informatics background of the ENFO knowledge base
    3.1 IT tools used for creating the ENFO knowledge base
    3.2 The developed applications

    Subject index
    Preface

    Biography

    Katalin Gruiz graduated in chemical engineering at Budapest University of Technology and Economics in 1975, received her doctorate in bioengineering and her Ph.D. in environmental engineering. Her main fields of activities are: teaching, consulting, research and development of engineering tools for risk-based environmental management, development and use of innovative technologies such as special environmental toxicity assays, integrated monitoring methods, biological and ecological remediation technologies for soils and waters, both for regulatory and engineering purposes. Prof. Gruiz has published 35 papers, 25 book chapters, more than hundred conference papers, edited 6 books and a special journal edition. She has coordinated a number of Hungarian research projects and participated in European ones. Gruiz is a member of the REACH Risk Assessment Committee of the European Chemicals Agency. She is a full time associate professor at Budapest University of Technology and Economics and heads the research group of Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology.

    Tamás Meggyes is a research co-ordinator specialising in research and book projects in environmental engineering. His work focuses on fluid mechanics, hydraulic transport of solids, jet devices, landfill engineering, groundwater remediation, tailings facilities and riskbased environmental management. He contributed to and organised several international conferences and national and European integrated research projects in Hungary, Germany, United Kingdom and USA. Tamás Meggyes was Europe editor of the Land Contamination and Reclamation journal in the UK and a reviewer of several environmental journals. He was invited by the EU as an expert evaluator to assess research applications and by Samarco Mining Company, Brazil, as a tailings management expert. In 2007, he was named Visiting Professor of Built Environment Sustainability at the University of Wolverhampton, UK. He has published 130 papers including eleven books and holds a doctor’s title in fluid mechanics and a Ph.D. degree in landfill engineering from Miskolc University, Hungary.

    Éva Fenyvesi is a senior scientist, a founding member of CycloLab Cyclodextrin Research and Development Ltd. She graduated as a chemist and received her PhD in chemical technology at Eötvös University of Natural Sciences, Budapest. She is experienced in the preparation and application of cyclodextrin polymers, in environmental application of cyclodextrins and in gas chromatography. She participated in several national and international research projects, in the development of various environmental technologies applying cyclodextrins. She is author or co-author of over 50 scientific papers, 3 chapters in monographs, over 50 conference presentations and 14 patents. She is an editor of the Cyclodextrin News, the monthly periodical on cyclodextrins.

    "Volume 1 in the Engineering Tools for Environment Risk Management series, this book addresses engineering, management and legislation tools for caring for the environment. As it is the first volume, the book begins with a look at the important functions of a healthy ecosystem. The contributing authors then explore ways in which chemical substances, contaminated land, intensive agriculture, mining and waste management have changed the landscape and made it less able to provide important services to humans. Volume 1 concludes with an introduction to the foundations of progressive environmental protection including balancing the needs of nature and the desires of man, understanding how regulation can be used to your advantage, and the potential for the use of novel technologies to create a more promising future for the environment."
    Ringgold, Inc. Book News, February 2015