The Regulation of Deep-Well Injection: A Changing Environment Beneath the Surface

Deep-well injection has been a mainstay of hazardous waste disposal for over 70 years. Before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was created, there were concerns as to the proper place for deep-well injection as a waste management technique. Over the years, environmentalists have been concerned with the potential for contamination of drinking water supplies from deep-well injection. Industry has also shown concern about -deep-well injection, but from a different perspective. To industry, deep-well injection is a precious, limited resource. It is within this context that Congress and the EPA have regulated deep-well injection. It is that process of regulation and the development of deep-well injection policy which is the focus of this article

The study of atmospheric ice-nucleating particles via microfluidically generated droplets

Ice-nucleating particles (INPs) play a significant role in the climate and hydrological cycle by triggering ice formation in supercooled clouds, thereby causing precipitation and affecting cloud lifetimes and their radiative properties. However, despite their importance, INP often comprise only 1 in 10³–10⁶ ambient particles, making it difficult to ascertain and predict their type, source, and concentration. The typical techniques for quantifying INP concentrations tend to be highly labour-intensive, suffer from poor time resolution, or are limited in sensitivity to low concentrations. Here, we present the application of microfluidic devices to the study of atmospheric INPs via the simple and rapid production of monodisperse droplets and their subsequent freezing on a cold stage. This device offers the potential for the testing of INP concentrations in aqueous samples with high sensitivity and high counting statistics. Various INPs were tested for validation of the platform, including mineral dust and biological species, with results compared to literature values. We also describe a methodology for sampling atmospheric aerosol in a manner that minimises sampling biases and which is compatible with the microfluidic device. We present results for INP concentrations in air sampled during two field campaigns: (1) from a rural location in the UK and (2) during the UK’s annual Bonfire Night festival. These initial results will provide a route for deployment of the microfluidic platform for the study and quantification of INPs in upcoming field campaigns around the globe, while providing a benchmark for future lab-on-a-chip-based INP studies

Timber: Mine or Crop?

Excerpts: Three outstanding measures are necessary to bring about the growing of timber crops on forest lands. The first is to stop unrestrained forest exploitation, the denudation which is a direct result of timber mining. Timber mining has already left 81 million acres of forest land largely barren, has made 250 million acres more only partially productive, and is adding to these areas from 5 to 10 million acres each year. With little systematic provision for the renewal of our privately owned forests, with a cut four times the present growth of wood, the remaining timber supplies have become so localized as greatly to decrease their general utility. The second step required is to reduce waste in the use of timber. Out of a cut of 22 1/2 billion cubic feet, we waste each year more than 9 billion feet. By the elimination of obvious waste in the woods, in the manufacture of lumber, and in its remanufacture and use, by the general application of technical knowledge already available, and by thorough-going research in the properties, protection, and utilization of wood, it should be possible to save at least 6 1/2 billion board feet of lumber each year and additional amounts of other material. The possible saving in lumber alone is equal to the present yearly growth on 170 million acres. The third important objective is to increase timber production to the full capacity of the land. Only by this course can we hope to grow the equivalent of our present consumption of 22 1/2 billion cubic feet. Full production will require the planting of areas now denuded which will not reforest themselves though fires are kept out. It involves careful methods of cutting areas now bearing timber and their protection from insects and diseases