Decentralized Sewer Unit Packages as an Alternative for Bulloch County to Manage Fast Growth

Throughout the state of Georgia, rural areas rely on septic tanks to dispose of bodily waste for small commercial, industrial, and residential construction. Septic tanks act as the most conventional system when properties fall outside the service areas of municipal and private wastewater treatment facilities. Bulloch County has a vast number of rural dwellings within its boundaries. Moreover, the County experienced a steady 3 to 5% annual growth over the last several years. Therefore, an examination of alternatives to the traditional septic systems is warranted if the County wishes to maintain continued sustainable growth. This study focuses on the factors driving growth in Bulloch county including: population, housing, commercial and industrial development, subdivision development, assessed property values, and future development projections. Next, we compare two waste disposal systems that could substitute for traditional septic systems: a Small Diameter Gravity System (SDGS) and the Bioclere Onsite Wastewater Treatment System. Working Paper Number 2005-001

Identifying Criegee intermediates as potential oxidants in the troposphere

Abstract and poster presented at the AGU Fall meeting, San Francisco 2015.Criegee intermediates (CI) are formed during the ozonolysis of unsaturated compounds and have been intensively studied in the last few years due to their possible role as oxidants in the troposphere. Stabilised CI (SCI) are now known to react very rapidly, k(298 K) = 10-12 to 10-10 cm3 molecule-1 s-1, with a large number of trace gases (SO2, NO2, organic acids, water dimers). Still, it remains challenging to assess their effective oxidative capacity, as CI chemistry is complex, spans a large range of rate coefficients for different SCI conformers reacting with water dimers and trace gases, and in addition no reliable measurement technique able to detect ambient SCI concentrations is currently available. In this study, we examine the extensive dataset from the HUMPPA-COPEC 2010 and the HOPE 2012 field campaigns, aided by literature data, to estimate the abundance of SCI in the lower troposphere. The budget of SCI is analyzed using four different approaches: 1) based on an observed yet unexplained H2SO4 production; 2) from the measured concentrations of unsaturated volatile organic compounds (VOC); 3) from OH reactivity measurements; 4) from the unexplained production rate of OH. A SCI concentration range between 5 x 103 and 2 x 106 molecule cm-3 is calculated for the two environments. The central weighted estimate of the SCI concentration over the boreal forest of ~ 5 x 104 molecules cm-3 implies a significant impact on the conversion of SO2 into H2SO4. In addition, we present measurements obtained using our inlet pre-injector laser-induced fluorescence assay by gas expansion technique (IPI-LIF-FAGE) for the above-mentioned campaigns. A recent laboratory study performed with the same instrumental setup showed that the IPI-LIF-FAGE system is sensitive to the detection of the OH formed from unimolecular decomposition of SCI. Building on these measurements, the background OH (OHbg) measured during the two field campaigns is investigated in comparison with many other trace gases to assess if the observations in controlled conditions are transferable to ambient conditions

Estimating the atmospheric concentration of Criegee intermediates and their possible interference in a FAGE-LIF instrument

We analysed the extensive dataset from the HUMPPA-COPEC 2010 and the HOPE 2012 field campaigns in the boreal forest and rural environments of Finland and Germany, respectively, and estimated the abundance of stabilised Criegee intermediates (SCIs) in the lower troposphere. Based on laboratory tests, we propose that the background OH signal observed in our IPI-LIF-FAGE instrument during the aforementioned campaigns is caused at least partially by SCIs. This hypothesis is based on observed correlations with temperature and with concentrations of unsaturated volatile organic compounds and ozone. Just like SCIs, the background OH concentration can be removed through the addition of sulfur dioxide. SCIs also add to the previously underestimated production rate of sulfuric acid. An average estimate of the SCI concentration of similar to 5.0 x 10(4) molecules cm(-3) (with an order of magnitude uncertainty) is calculated for the two environments. This implies a very low ambient concentration of SCIs, though, over the boreal forest, significant for the conversion of SO2 into H2SO4. The large uncertainties in these calculations, owing to the many unknowns in the chemistry of Criegee intermediates, emphasise the need to better understand these processes and their potential effect on the self-cleaning capacity of the atmosphere.Peer reviewe

Identifying Criegee intermediates as potential oxidants in the troposphere

Discussion started 24/10/16We analysed the extensive dataset from the HUMPPA-COPEC 2010 and the HOPE 2012 field campaigns in the boreal forest and rural environments of Finland and Germany, respectively, and estimated the abundance of stabilised Criegee intermediates (SCI) in the lower troposphere. Based on laboratory tests, we propose that the background OH signal observed in our IPI-LIF-FAGE instrument during the afore-mentioned campaigns is caused at least partially by SCI. This hypothesis is based on observed correlations with temperature and with concentrations of unsaturated volatile organic compounds and ozone. The background OH concentration also complements the previously underestimated production rate of sulfuric acid and is consistent with its scavenging through the addition of sulphur dioxide. A central estimate of the SCI concentration of ~ 5 × 104 molecules cm−3 (with an order of magnitude uncertainty) is calculated for the two environments. This implies a very low ambient concentration of SCI, though, over the boreal forest, significant for the conversion of SO2 into H2SO4. The large uncertainties in these calculations, owing to the many unknowns in the chemistry of Criegee intermediates, emphasise the need to better understand these processes and their potential effect on the self-cleaning capacity of the atmosphere

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Forensic Accounting in Matrimonial Divorce, Volume II

Published in Forensic Accounting in Matrimonial Divorce, Volume I

2,000-year record of atmospheric methyl bromide from a South Pole ice core

This study reports measurements of methyl bromide (CH3Br) in air bubbles from a South Pole ice core, with gas ages covering the past two millennia. The air was extracted by mechanical shredding of the core under vacuum and the evolved gases were analyzed by gas chromatography with high resolution mass spectrometry and isotope dilution. These samples had estimated mean gas ages ranging from 160 BCE to 1860 CE. The mean CH3Br mixing ratio in the ice core samples was 5.39 ±.06 ppt (1s.e., n = 113). The CH3Br measurements from this core agree with those from a Siple Dome ice core for mean gas ages between 1671 and 1860 CE, where there is overlap between the cores. The data show no linear trend over the 2000 year period prior to industrialization. Together, Antarctic ice core and firn air measurements clearly demonstrate that the increase in atmospheric CH3Br during the twentieth century exceeds natural variability during the past 2000 years. There is evidence of centennial-scale variability in CH3Br on the order of ±10–20% that may indicate a natural climate sensitivity of the atmospheric levels of this ozone depleting substance. The analysis of CH3Br in additional Antarctic ice cores will be needed to confirm that the centennial-scale variability observed in this core represents a southern hemisphere atmospheric history

A 2000 year atmospheric history of methyl chloride from a South Pole ice core: Evidence for climate-controlled variability

Methyl chloride (CH3Cl) is a naturally occurring ozone-depleting gas with a complex biogeochemical cycle involving tropical vegetation, soils, biomass burning and the oceans. This study presents CH3Cl measurements in air extracted from a 300 m ice core from South Pole, Antarctica, covering the time period from 160 BC to 1860 AD. The data exhibit an increasing trend of 3 ppt (parts per trillion) over 100 years and higher frequency variations that appear to be climate-related. CH3Cl levels were elevated from 900–1300 AD by about 50 ppt relative to the previous 1000 years, coincident with the warm Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA). CH3Cl levels decreased to a minimum during the Little Ice Age cooling (1650–1800 AD), before rising again to the modern atmospheric level of 550 ppt. These variations most likely reflect changes in tropical and subtropical conditions, and raise the possibility that a warmer future climate may result in higher tropospheric CH3Cl levels

A 2000 year atmospheric history of methyl chloride from a South Pole ice core: Evidence for climate-controlled variability

Methyl chloride (CH3Cl) is a naturally occurring ozone-depleting gas with a complex biogeochemical cycle involving tropical vegetation, soils, biomass burning and the oceans. This study presents CH3Cl measurements in air extracted from a 300 m ice core from South Pole, Antarctica, covering the time period from 160 BC to 1860 AD. The data exhibit an increasing trend of 3 ppt (parts per trillion) over 100 years and higher frequency variations that appear to be climate-related. CH3Cl levels were elevated from 900–1300 AD by about 50 ppt relative to the previous 1000 years, coincident with the warm Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA). CH3Cl levels decreased to a minimum during the Little Ice Age cooling (1650–1800 AD), before rising again to the modern atmospheric level of 550 ppt. These variations most likely reflect changes in tropical and subtropical conditions, and raise the possibility that a warmer future climate may result in higher tropospheric CH3Cl levels