Controlling construction stormwater runoff

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has long recognized stormwater runoff as one of the leading causes of impairment of streams, and as a result, developed Phase I stormwater requirements in 1990, which resulted in the first NPDES Stormwater Discharge Associated with Construction Activity General Permit ("General Permit"). In 2003, Georgia adopted a second issuance of its General Permit. Partnering with other riverkeeper groups and watershed protection groups throughout Georgia, the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (UCR) is tackling contamination of our waterways from polluted sediment runoff from construction activities. Through an innovative project called "Get the Dirt Out", the implementation and effectiveness of the General Permit are being monitored. By creating educational materials about the Georgia General Permit for citizens, local governments and developers, the Get the Dirt Out project will target one of Georgia's leading water quality problems associated with runoff from construction sites.Sponsored by: Georgia Environmental Protection Division U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Water Science Center U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Water Resources Institute The University of Georgia, Water Resources Facult

Measurement of χ c1 and χ c2 production with s√ = 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

The prompt and non-prompt production cross-sections for the χ c1 and χ c2 charmonium states are measured in pp collisions at s√ = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using 4.5 fb−1 of integrated luminosity. The χ c states are reconstructed through the radiative decay χ c → J/ψγ (with J/ψ → μ + μ −) where photons are reconstructed from γ → e + e − conversions. The production rate of the χ c2 state relative to the χ c1 state is measured for prompt and non-prompt χ c as a function of J/ψ transverse momentum. The prompt χ c cross-sections are combined with existing measurements of prompt J/ψ production to derive the fraction of prompt J/ψ produced in feed-down from χ c decays. The fractions of χ c1 and χ c2 produced in b-hadron decays are also measured

Measurement of the inclusive jet cross-section in proton-proton collisions at √s=7 TeV using 4.5 fb−1 of data with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive jet cross-section is measured in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.5 fb−1 collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2011. Jets are identified using the anti-kt algorithm with radius parameter values of 0.4 and 0.6. The double-differential cross-sections are presented as a function of the jet transverse momentum and the jet rapidity, covering jet transverse momenta from 100 GeV to 2 TeV. Next-to-leading-order QCD calculations corrected for non-perturbative effects and electroweak effects, as well as Monte Carlo simulations with next-to-leading-order matrix elements interfaced to parton showering, are compared to the measured cross-sections. A quantitative comparison of the measured cross-sections to the QCD calculations using several sets of parton distribution functions is performed

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Applying new regulatory criteria to protect riparian buffer zones

Proceedings of the 2003 Georgia Water Resources Conference, held April 23-24, 2003, at the University of Georgia.The Riparian Buffer Protection Program is one of the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s primary initiatives for protecting water quality and streamside (riparian) greenspace along the Chattahoochee River and its tributaries. In recent years, there has been significant degradation to natural stream buffers throughout the river basin due to development, which has begun to focus on land previously viewed as undesirable, such as floodplains and riparian areas. As a result, water quality in these waterways is declining. A recently-revised variance process, which allows encroachment in stream buffers, given certain conditions, is provided by the Georgia Erosion and Sedimentation Act (GESA) and regulated by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD). Key components of Riverkeeper’s Buffer Program include: (1) review of EPD’s variance permitting program through analysis of individual applications and the agency’s enforcement actions, (2) evaluation of buffer variance criteria for effectiveness and policy reform, (3) educational workshops and materials for the public and the regulated community to better understand stream buffer laws, and (4) support of continuing scientific research on the role of stream buffers in protecting water quality