HPLC Detection of the Possible Presence of 17-a-ethindyl estradiol in Treated Effluents Released from the Chattanooga Water Treatment Plant

Research has confirmed that elevated synthetic estrogen in surface waters can lead to intersex characteristics in aquatic vertebrates. Unmetabolized antibiotics, hormones from animal wastes, including humans, and discarded pharmaceuticals are some ways synthetic estrogen enter aquatic ecosystems through the release of contaminated effluents. In this investigation, the Agilent 1260 Infinity HPLC was used to detect the possible presence of 17-α-ethindyl estradiol in effluents released from the Chattanooga Sewer Treatment Plant. Results were analyzed by comparing HPLC chromatograms from effluent and spiked samples. We detected a possible peak of synthetic estrogen in the effluent samples with a retention rate of 6 minutes detected at 280 nm. This method could be used to determine if synthetic estrogen is present, within the mdl, in the Tennessee River at various distances downstream from the Chattanooga Sewer Treatment Plant and to compare these levels with those documented as being able to feminize male fish

Social License to Operate : integration into mine planning and development

This thesis is a compilation and analyses of research into Social License to Operate as applied to the mining industry. Mining companies have increasingly been criticized for their conduct, primarily as a result of high profile environmental mishaps, the cyclicality of the business (boom & bust) and the resultant socio-economic impacts resulting from mine closures. The purpose of this thesis is to advance the understanding of social license to operate, as well as assist the understanding of how it is acquired and maintained. The key aspects of the research relate to understanding several key issues: what is a social license to operate; how mining companies earn and maintain it; who gives a social license to operate; why a social license to operate is important and why companies are eager to obtain it; and how social license to operate principles are placed into practice. The research was based on an extensive literature review of both published and unpublished documents, as well as qualitative data from field studies and data from a social license survey conducted in 2005/2006. This thesis presents key findings from an industry survey which was the starting point to identify what social license is, how it is earned, maintained and monitored at each phase of mine development. It also identified companies or projects recognized for being a role model for leading in the development of social license principles. The thesis reviews some of the identified companies in order to further elaborate on key aspects of social license. The thesis also explores Situational Analysis and its importance to social license to operate. A brief discussion also outlines the potential future use and benefits of social license as a Real Option to enhance project flexibility and assist in the decision making process with respect to the investment in a new mine. The research led to the following conclusions: 1. Stakeholders are increasingly demanding a more participatory role in decisions affecting their neighborhoods and environments. 2. Social license is vital to ensuring business continuity and success, and provides a significant competitive advantage to those companies who have earned it. 3. Many companies have learned that voluntary initiatives beyond regulatory compliance are a key element to earning a social license. 4. Industry is generally well aware of the changing value systems surrounding mining, and recognizes that project success is primarily based on stakeholder and economic approval. 5. Although there is a high level of awareness and a significant level of implementation with respect to social license, there is no real consensus with respect to the means and effectiveness of the implementation. 6. Project success appears to be based on building and maintaining sustainable relationships. A participatory approach with adaptive and co-management strategies appear to be fundamental to this success. The key projects or mines identified by survey respondents as being role models for and/or leading in the development of social license are large, world leaders and internationally diversified, with the experience and financial resources dedicated to earning a social license. However, the data showed that small companies do have an almost equal opportunity to earn a social license as well as their larger peers. Industry in general is becoming well aware of the need to earn community support to advance their projects. The use of situational analysis appears to be an effective tool to provide exploration and mining companies with the foundation from which to build a strategy for the acquisition of a social license. Social license forms the basis of 'Reputational Capital', thereby offering to reduce business risk and uncertainty, resulting in long-term stakeholder value. This thesis indicates that there are three recommended tasks for further research. One is to further derive and test methodologies for quantitative and/or qualitative evaluation of social license. The second is to test situational analysis methods with more field case studies, and adapt them as necessary towards developing a scorecard methodology. The third is to characterize the transferability of social license, for example, from the target company to the acquiring company, following a merger or acquisition.Applied Science, Faculty ofMining Engineering, Keevil Institute ofGraduat

British Columbia copper mining development : a sixty-year economic and political retrospective

Mining is a significant economic driver in British Columbia (BC). There has been a long history of copper mining in BC and with a strong forecasted global demand for copper it remains an important socio-economic opportunity. In the last 15 years, only one copper project has progressed beyond the federal-provincial review system to proceed into production. Why has it been so difficult for such new mines to be built in BC? A conceptual framework of political ecology is used to determine the relationship between factors, actors and sectors in order to characterize their influence on mine development in BC between 1952 and 2014. The dissertation is organized in two parts: first, an analysis of economic, social and technological; and, (Part 2) political analysis. Part 2 analyzes seven current copper projects to determine their quality and economic viability. It analyzes the political factors, actors and sectors that are shown to have significantly influenced the development of mineral policy and regulatory frameworks in BC. This analysis showed that political, economic, social and technological forces (political parties, commodity prices, operating and capital cost inflation, environmental regulations, land access issues, environmental and social movements, and a change in voter values) have driven miners to restart or expand old mines rather than build new ones. It considers the potential consequences of what ultimately could result in a punitive cycle of discovery drought. In addition, factors, and actors need to come together in order for such large, low-grade deposits to be built in BC. Building a mine in the current climate is shown to be far more complex and regulated than at the height of BC mining development when Premier W.A.C. Bennett (1952-1972) was in power. The research demonstrates that significant development issues relate in particular to: First Nation land claims; the environmental movement and protected areas; regulatory duplication and inconsistencies; and provincial, federal and international relations that hinder mine development in BC. Overall, highlighting the decline in BC’s copper industry as being a political-economic issue opens up discussion and debate on how to resurrect the industry and how to make it sustainable for future generations.Applied Science, Faculty ofMining Engineering, Keevil Institute ofGraduat