RCRA\u27s New Causation Question: Llinking Ubiquitous Wastes to Specific Defendants

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) imposes liability on defendants whose handling of solid waste may present an imminent and substantial danger to the environment. For most of RCRA’s history, there was no need to prove a link between waste that was harming the environment and the waste handled by the defendant, because the highly specific materials litigated under RCRA only could have come from the defendant. However, now that plaintiffs have sued defendants over the handling of naturally occurring wastes, courts must decide what level of proof is required to demonstrate the link between the defendant’s waste and the waste causing the harm. This Note argues that courts should use the same low standard of proof of causation that applies throughout the rest of the statute

Hidden landscapes of the ancient Maya: transect excavations at Arvin\u27s Landing southern Belize

Transect excavations at Arvin’s Landing in southern Belize revealed evidence of ancient Maya settlement indiscernible from surface inspection. The synthesis of archaeology and geography in field and laboratory methods and analysis provided the framework for this thesis. This study involves a transect survey with systematic shovel tests. Artifacts were recovered and recorded in the field and analyzed in the LSU archaeology laboratory in Punta Gorda, Belize. The entire survey area was mapped by transit and measurements and coordinates were combined with artifact data in a GIS. Prior research at Arvin’s Landing had revealed a Postclassic mound on the bank of Joe Taylor creek at Arvin’s Landing. The present surrounding landscape is forested with secondary growth devoid of artifacts mounds or other surface features indicative of settlement. In this transect survey extending away from the creek and mound a rich artifact assemblage of obsidian, chert and ceramics was recovered. The presence of such an expansive artifact assemblage suggests a much larger settlement area than previously known. Analysis of artifact densities in GIS revealed hotspots in the data set indicative of concentrated cultural activity and settlement locations. In addition to the single mound, evidence suggests up to two more households and a lithic tool production area are located within the survey area. This research serves as a point of departure for future research exploring the extent and patterns of hidden ancient Maya settlement. Future research including mobile GIS technology will increase efficiency of research in the field and allow better use of time and resources during limited field seasons

Sustainability implications of carbon delivery in microalgae cultivation for the production of biofuel

2018 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.Supplementation of carbon is critical for high productivity cultivation of most microalgae. Moreover, using microalgae for atmospheric CO2 mitigation to combat climate change is promising, as waste sources and atmospheric CO2 can be utilized to produce useful products. The challenge is developing technologies, processes, and strategies that utilize carbon effectively such that the overall system is sustainable. Through engineering systems modeling combined with techno-economic and life-cycle assessments, this study examined the implications of various delivery methods of carbon to a production-scale algal biorefinery. Five primary carbon sources were considered: atmospheric CO2; CO2 from direct chemical or power plant waste emissions; CO2 that has been concentrated from waste sources and compressed; inorganic carbon in the form of sodium bicarbonate salt; and organic carbon in the form of cellulosic sugars derived from corn stover. Each source was evaluated assuming co-location as well as pipeline transportation up to 100 km. The sensitivity of results to carbon utilization efficiency was also considered. Sustainability results indicate that economics are more prohibitive than energy and emissions. Of the scenarios evaluated, only two met both the economic and environmental criteria of contributing less than $0.50 GGE−1 and 20 gCO2-eq MJ−1 to the overall system, respectively: uncompressed, pure sources of gaseous CO2 with pipeline transportation of 40 km or less; and compressed, supercritical CO2 from pure sources for pipeline transportation up to 100 km. The scalability of algal biofuels based on these results shows carbon to be the limiting nutrient in an algal biorefinery with a total US production capability of 360 million gallons of fuel per year

Spatial analysis of the preserved wooden architectural remains of eight late Classic Maya salt works in Punta Ycacos Lagoon, Toledo District, Belize

This dissertation examined the remains of wooden architecture at eight Late Classic Maya sites found beneath the surface of Punta Ycacos Lagoon in southern Belize. The presence of briquetage on the surface and embedded among the clusters of wooden architectural features implies association with salt production activity. This research is significant in that the preservation of wooden structures at the salt works has not previously been reported for the ancient Maya. This dissertation includes a detailed discussion of documented evidence of salt production throughout Mesoamerica from archaeological, historical and modern examples. The discussion also addressed the evidence of Maya wooden architecture from archaeological, historical and modern examples with attention to wooden features reported at salt production sites. Additional background discussion includes a description of the physical landscape of the region and study area. The methods used in this dissertation involved specialized strategies adapted from conventional research methods to overcome the challenges of gathering data in the inundated context of Punta Ycacos Lagoon. Additionally, this research involved the post-processing of a large body of survey data to build the project GIS used in the analysis of this study. The results of the study included the discovery of 372 wooden posts as well as scatters of ceramic and lithic artifacts distributed among the eight sites. Analysis of a sample collection of artifacts recovered revealed the presence of Late Classic Maya ceramic types found in association with salt production sites elsewhere. Stone tools made of non-local materials were also present. Analysis of the wooden posts recorded in the field survey, used GIS to compare patterns in the distribution of posts to modern and historical distributions of posts in Maya architectural features discussed during the background portion of the text. The comparison included the use of templates, based on the modern and historical examples, to identify similarities in the post distributions. This research found that there are patterns in post distribution, some of which compare to modern and historical examples of Maya wooden architecture. This study emphasizes that there are rectilinear patterns in the placement of posts. This research demonstrates how GIS analysis offers an effective interactive medium from which to investigate and test patterns in this archaeological dataset. The use of GIS also demonstrated effective in-the-field potential for investigative decision making. The use of GIS in fieldwork may serve to direct efforts in a more effective and efficient manner, maximizing the output of often-limited time in the field. Like many scholars before me, my research combined archaeological field methods and data, ethnographic and ethnohistoric accounts with geographic spatial analysis methods. My research examined the spatial distribution of wooden posts at Late Classic Maya salt workshops with GIS in an attempt to explain what these posts represent in the ancient Maya relationship with the coastal lagoon environment of Punta Ycacos Lagoon. In this analysis my research uses salt production examples from the pan-Maya lowlands and Mesoamerica to look for similarities with documented sources from the greater region. Following in the footsteps of a long history of anthropogeography in the Department of Geography and Anthropology at LSU my dissertation was intended to continue in this tradition under the recently formalized concentration in anthrogeography

An airfoil for general aviation applications

A new airfoil, the NLF(1)-0115, has been recently designed at the NASA Langley Research Center for use in general-aviation applications. During the development of this airfoil, special emphasis was placed on experiences and observations gleaned from other successful general-aviation airfoils. For example, the flight lift-coefficient range is the same as that of the turbulent-flow NACA 23015 airfoil. Also, although beneficial for reducing drag and having large amounts of lift, the NLF(1)-0115 avoids the use of aft loading which can lead to large stick forces if utilized on portions of the wing having ailerons. Furthermore, not using aft loading eliminates the concern that the high pitching-moment coefficient generated by such airfoils can result in large trim drags if cruise flaps are not employed. The NASA NLF(1)-0115 has a thickness of 15 percent. It is designed primarily for general-aviation aircraft with wing loadings of 718 to 958 N/sq m (15 to 20 lb/sq ft). Low profile drag as a result of laminar flow is obtained over the range from c sub l = 0.1 and R = 9x10(exp 6) (the cruise condition) to c sub l = 0.6 and R = 4 x 10(exp 6) (the climb condition). While this airfoil can be used with flaps, it is designed to achieve c(sub l, max) = 1.5 at R = 2.6 x 10(exp 6) without flaps. The zero-lift pitching moment is held at c sub m sub o = 0.055. The hinge moment for a .20c aileron is fixed at a value equal to that of the NACA 63 sub 2-215 airfoil, c sub h = 0.00216. The loss in c (sub l, max) due to leading edge roughness, rain, or insects at R = 2.6 x 10 (exp 6) is 11 percent as compared with 14 percent for the NACA 23015

NASA Occupant Protection Standards Development

Historically, spacecraft landing systems have been tested with human volunteers, because analytical methods for estimating injury risk were insufficient. These tests were conducted with flight-like suits and seats to verify the safety of the landing systems. Currently, NASA uses the Brinkley Dynamic Response Index to estimate injury risk, although applying it to the NASA environment has drawbacks: (1) Does not indicate severity or anatomical location of injury (2) Unclear if model applies to NASA applications. Because of these limitations, a new validated, analytical approach was desired. Leveraging off of the current state of the art in automotive safety and racing, a new approach was developed. The approach has several aspects: (1) Define the acceptable level of injury risk by injury severity (2) Determine the appropriate human surrogate for testing and modeling (3) Mine existing human injury data to determine appropriate Injury Assessment Reference Values (IARV). (4) Rigorously Validate the IARVs with sub-injurious human testing (5) Use validated IARVs to update standards and vehicle requiremen

Local Ecological Knowledge and Communitybased Management of Wildlife Resources: A Study of the Mumbwa and Lupande Game Management Areas of Zambia

The aim of this study was to investigate the scope of local ecological knowledge (LEK) in the Lupande and Mumbwa Game Management Areas (GMAs) of Zambia and to assess the extent to which such knowledge has been used in the management of wildlife resources in the two areas. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through interviews and surveys in the two case-study areas. It was found that LEK in the study areas included taboos associated with the sustainable use of natural resources, traditional teachings that guided the local people as to the correct time to harvest their natural resources and providedknowledge of the natural distribution of plants in the two areas. Finally, it is recommended that, in order to complement modern scientific knowledge in the realisation of sustainable wildlife resource management, greater attention be paid to the LEK possessed by communities