Land Use and Remedy Selection: Experience from the Field — The Industri-Plex Site

As the United States Congress debates revisions to the federal Superfund law, one of the most important topics of discussion is the degree to which cleanups at Superfund sites should be based on their expected future land use. This discussion has engaged the Superfund community for several years. Despite this apparent interest in linking cleanup with land use, however, surprisingly little analysis has been done on what role land use already plays in selecting remedies. RFF researchers have addressed the shortfall with case studies at three Superfund sites—Abex Corporation in Portsmouth, Virginia, Industri-Plex in Woburn, Massachusetts, and Fort Ord near Monterey, California—where land use has played a prominent role in the remedy selection process. Each of the case studies includes a description of: the contamination at the site; the different stakeholders involved in the remedy selection process; and the influence that land use considerations have had on this process. The three case studies are part of a larger RFF research project on land use and remedy selection that was funded in part under a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Regulating Government

Federal, state, and local governments are major polluters of the environment. They account for more than 7% of SO2 air pollution emissions and more than 5% of all NO2 air emissions in the United States. Public entities are more likely than private ones to be in violation of the Clean Water Act, and they account for two-thirds of all major facilities in significant noncompliance with the act. Department of Energy nuclear sites are the worst hazardous waste problems in the nation. A lack of adequate data makes it difficult to fully characterize the extent of pollution caused by government agencies and to compare the performance of the public and private sectors. There are many reasons why government pollution is difficult to regulate. The paper discusses political dimensions, legal problems, resource constraints, psychological dimensions, and public opinion. Further research is urgently needed, and the paper delineates areas that require more investigation.pollution control, federal facilities, regulation, intergovernmental relations

Basing Superfund Cleanups on Future Land Uses: Promising Remedy or Dubious Nostrum?

Abstract: Supporters of the effort to link cleanups at hazardous waste sites to the sites' expected land uses claim that amending language in the federal Superfund statute to allow this may yield a number of benefits. These include rationalizing the cleanup process and decreasing cleanup costs, promoting economic development in the local communities that host Superfund sites, and helping such communities exercise more control over the cleanups. However, interviews with Superfund stakeholders and a detailed case study call into question these arguments. The current role of land use in cleanup, uncertainties about whether economic development is likely at the bulk of Superfund sites, the long-run viability of institutional controls, the willingness of communities to accept cleanups that leave contamination on-site, and the nature of public involvement all suggest-that the benefits of tying land use to remedy selection may not be so straightforward.

Cleaning Up the Nuclear Weapons Complex: Exploring New Approaches

In recent years, policy experts have increasingly decried the "piecemeal" approach to environmental protection embodied in existing laws and regulations. This paper analyzes one aspect of the call for more integration: the feasibility and advisability of developing an integrated approach to regulating the cleanup of the nation's nuclear weapons complex. The Cold War has left an unprecedented set of difficulties at sites across the country where vast quantities of hazardous and radioactive materials must be properly managed. Regulatory fragmentation�particularly the phenomenon of multiple regulators and regulations driving the allocation of resources in an uncoordinated fashion�is nowhere more evident than in the current statutory and regulatory framework governing environmental management activities at this array of sites�the nuclear weapons complex. The objective of an integrated approach is to give regulators and the regulated community incentives to look holistically at environmental hazards, both existing and future, and to develop creative ways of setting priorities such that risk, cost effectiveness, and public concerns are taken into account. This paper describes recent efforts to achieve integration in the environmental arena, surveys the unique technical, regulatory, and political circumstances surrounding cleanup of the weapons complex, and offers some preliminary thoughts on how integration might be attained in this vital area. While administrative and regulatory changes could achieve some important steps in this direction, the authors conclude that legislative change is necessary for implementation of a truly integrated approach.

A systematic literature review of the effect of anthocyanins on gut microbiota populations

Background: Evidence has shown that anthocyanins, a subclass of polyphenol, are metabolised in the gut, modulate bacterial species and exert bioactive effects through this interaction. Methods: A systematic literature review was undertaken to determine the level of current evidence for the association between anthocyanin intake and changes in gut microbiota populations. The studies included were also assessed for the different techniques used in microbiota determination. Following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, scientific databases, including Scopus, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science and MEDLINE, were searched up to June 2017. Details on population/sample, study design, intervention/control, dosage and method of microbiota determination were extracted. Results: Six studies (three in vitro, two animal and one human trials) were included in the review, which showed that anthocyanins induced a significant proliferative effect on Bifidobacterium spp., known for their wide use in probiotics and for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. There was also an observed inhibition of Clostridium histolyticum, which was shown to be pathogenic in humans. The depth of analysis is an important consideration for the choice of microbiota determination technique with respect to a comprehensive, high-resolution microbiota analysis or analysis of the main microbiota taxa. Conclusions: Very limited research has been carried out in the area of anthocyanins and gut microbiota; beneficial effects have generally been observed, and further clinical trials in humans are needed to confirm changes to gut microbes in relation to dietary anthocyanin intake and potential health benefits. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetic

Lipid analysis of CO2-rich subsurface aquifers suggests an autotrophy-based deep biosphere with lysolipids enriched in CPR bacteria.

Sediment-hosted CO2-rich aquifers deep below the Colorado Plateau (USA) contain a remarkable diversity of uncultivated microorganisms, including Candidate Phyla Radiation (CPR) bacteria that are putative symbionts unable to synthesize membrane lipids. The origin of organic carbon in these ecosystems is unknown and the source of CPR membrane lipids remains elusive. We collected cells from deep groundwater brought to the surface by eruptions of Crystal Geyser, sequenced the community, and analyzed the whole community lipidome over time. Characteristic stable carbon isotopic compositions of microbial lipids suggest that bacterial and archaeal CO2 fixation ongoing in the deep subsurface provides organic carbon for the complex communities that reside there. Coupled lipidomic-metagenomic analysis indicates that CPR bacteria lack complete lipid biosynthesis pathways but still possess regular lipid membranes. These lipids may therefore originate from other community members, which also adapt to high in situ pressure by increasing fatty acid unsaturation. An unusually high abundance of lysolipids attributed to CPR bacteria may represent an adaptation to membrane curvature stress induced by their small cell sizes. Our findings provide new insights into the carbon cycle in the deep subsurface and suggest the redistribution of lipids into putative symbionts within this community

Clades of huge phages from across Earth's ecosystems.

Bacteriophages typically have small genomes1 and depend on their bacterial hosts for replication2. Here we sequenced DNA from diverse ecosystems and found hundreds of phage genomes with lengths of more than 200 kilobases (kb), including a genome of 735 kb, which is-to our knowledge-the largest phage genome to be described to date. Thirty-five genomes were manually curated to completion (circular and no gaps). Expanded genetic repertoires include diverse and previously undescribed CRISPR-Cas systems, transfer RNAs (tRNAs), tRNA synthetases, tRNA-modification enzymes, translation-initiation and elongation factors, and ribosomal proteins. The CRISPR-Cas systems of phages have the capacity to silence host transcription factors and translational genes, potentially as part of a larger interaction network that intercepts translation to redirect biosynthesis to phage-encoded functions. In addition, some phages may repurpose bacterial CRISPR-Cas systems to eliminate competing phages. We phylogenetically define the major clades of huge phages from human and other animal microbiomes, as well as from oceans, lakes, sediments, soils and the built environment. We conclude that the large gene inventories of huge phages reflect a conserved biological strategy, and that the phages are distributed across a broad bacterial host range and across Earth's ecosystems

The Problem of the Color Line: Spatial Access to Hospital Services for Minoritized Racial and Ethnic Groups

Examining how spatial access to health care varies across geography is key to documenting structural inequalities in the United States. In this article and the accompanying StoryMap, our team identified ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) with the largest share of minoritized racial and ethnic populations and measured distances to the nearest hospital offering emergency services, trauma care, obstetrics, outpatient surgery, intensive care, and cardiac care. In rural areas, ZCTAs with high Black or American Indian/Alaska Native representation were significantly farther from services than ZCTAs with high White representation. The opposite was true for urban ZCTAs, with high White ZCTAs being farther from most services. These patterns likely result from a combination of housing policies that restrict housing opportunities and federal health policies that are based on service provision rather than community need. The findings also illustrate the difficulty of using a single metric—distance—to investigate access to care on a national scale

Variants associated withHHIP expression have sex-differential effects on lung function

Publisher Copyright: © 2020 Fawcett KA et al.Background: Lung function is highly heritable and differs between the sexes throughout life. However, little is known about sex-differential genetic effects on lung function. We aimed to conduct the first genome-wide genotype-by-sex interaction study on lung function to identify genetic effects that differ between males and females. Methods: We tested for interactions between 7,745,864 variants and sex on spirometry-based measures of lung function in UK Biobank (N=303,612), and sought replication in 75,696 independent individuals from the SpiroMeta consortium. Results: Five independent single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) showed genome-wide significant (P<5x10 -8) interactions with sex on lung function, and 21 showed suggestive interactions (P<1x10 -6). The strongest signal, from rs7697189 (chr4:145436894) on forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV 1) (P=3.15x10 -15), was replicated (P=0.016) in SpiroMeta. The C allele increased FEV 1 more in males (untransformed FEV 1 β=0.028 [SE 0.0022] litres) than females (β=0.009 [SE 0.0014] litres), and this effect was not accounted for by differential effects on height, smoking or pubertal age. rs7697189 resides upstream of the hedgehog-interacting protein ( HHIP) gene and was previously associated with lung function and HHIP lung expression. We found HHIP expression was significantly different between the sexes (P=6.90x10 -6), but we could not detect sex differential effects of rs7697189 on expression. Conclusions: We identified a novel genotype-by-sex interaction at a putative enhancer region upstream of the HHIP gene. Establishing the mechanism by which HHIP SNPs have different effects on lung function in males and females will be important for our understanding of lung health and diseases in both sexes.Peer reviewe