Managing Environmental, Health, and Safety Risks: A Comparative Assessment of the Minerals Management Service and Other Agencies

This study compares and contrasts regulatory and related practices—in particular, regulatory decisionmaking, risk assessment and planning processes, inspection and compliance, and organization structure, budgets, and training—of the Minerals Management Service (MMS, now the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement, or BOEMRE) with those of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Comparing MMS practices with those of other federal agencies that also manage low-probability but high-consequence environmental risks provides a basis for identifying opportunities for enhancing regulatory capacity and safety performance in managing deepwater energy exploration and production. Our research finds important differences in processes for setting standards; peer review contribution to the rulemaking process; establishment of tolerable risk thresholds; and training of key staff. The paper concludes with several recommendations for how various EPA and FAA practices might be modified and used at BOEMRE to strengthen its regulatory and risk management processes.Minerals Management Service, Federal Aviation Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, risk management

SNIFFER WFD119: Enhancement of the River Invertebrate Classification Tool (RICT)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Project funders/partners: Environment Agency (EA), Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), Scotland & Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research (SNIFFER), Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) Background to research The Regulatory Agencies in the UK (the Environment Agency; Scottish Environment Protection Agency; and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency) now use the River Invertebrate Classification Tool (RICT) to classify the ecological quality of rivers for Water Framework Directive compliance monitoring. RICT incorporates RIVPACS IV predictive models and is a highly capable tool written in a modern software programming language. While RICT classifies waters for general degradation and organic pollution stress, producing assessments of status class and uncertainty, WFD compliance monitoring also requires the UK Agencies to assess the impacts of a wide range of pressures including hydromorphological and acidification stresses. Some of these pressures alter the predictor variables that current RIVPACS models use to derive predicted biotic indices. This project has sought to broaden the scope of RICT by developing one or more RIVPACS model(s) that do not use predictor variables that are affected by these stressors, but instead use alternative GIS based variables that are wholly independent of these pressures. This project has also included a review of the wide range of biotic indices now available in RICT, identifying published sources, examining index performance, and where necessary making recommendations on further needs for index testing and development. Objectives of research •To remove and derive alternative predictive variables that are not affected by stressors, with particular emphasis on hydrological/acidification metric predictors. •To construct one or more new RIVPACS model(s) using stressor independent variables. •Review WFD reporting indices notably AWIC(species), LIFE (species), PSI & WHPT. Key findings and recommendations : Predictor variables and intellectual property rights : An extensive suite of new variables have been derived by GIS for the RIVPACS reference sites that have been shown to act as stressor-independent predictor variables. These include measures of stream order, solid and drift geology, and a range of upstream catchment characteristics (e.g. catchment area, mean altitude of upstream catchment, and catchment aspect). It is recommended that decisions are reached on which of the newly derived model(s) are implemented in RICT so that IPR issues for the relevant datasets can be quickly resolved and the datasets licensed. It is also recommended that licensing is sought for a point and click system (where the dataset cannot be reverse engineered) that is capable of calculating any of the time-invariant RIVPACS environmental predictor variables used by any of the newly derived (and existing) RIVPACS models, and for any potential users. New stressor-independent RIVPACS models : Using the existing predictor variables, together with new ones derived for their properties of stressor-independence, initial step-wise forward selection discriminant models suggested a range of 36 possible models that merited further testing. Following further testing, the following models are recommended for assessing watercourses affected by flow/hydromorphological and/or acidity stress: • For flow/hydromorphological stressors that may have modified width, depth and/or substrate in GB, it is suggested that a new ‘RIVPACS IV – Hydromorphology Independent’ model (Model 24) is used (this does not use the predictor variables width, depth and substratum, but includes a suite of new stressor-independent variables). • For acidity related stressors in GB, it is suggested that a new ‘RIVPACS IV – Alkalinity Independent’ model (Model 35) is used (this does not use the predictor variable alkalinity, but includes new stressor-independent variables). • For flow/hydromorphological stressors and acidity related stressors in GB, it is suggested that a new ‘RIVPACS IV – Hydromorphology & Alkalinity Independent’ model (Model 13) is used (this does not use the predictor variables width, depth, substratum and alkalinity, but includes a suite of new stressor-independent variables). • Reduced availability of appropriate GIS tools at this time has meant that no new models have been developed for Northern Ireland. Discriminant functions and end group means have now been calculated to enable any of these models to be easily implemented in the RICT software. Biotic indices : The RIVPACS models in RICT can now produce expected values for a wide range of biotic indices addressing a variety of stressors. These indices will support the use of RICT as a primary tool for WFD classification and reporting of the quality of UK streams and rivers. There are however a number of outstanding issues with indices that need to be addressed: • There is a need to develop a biotic index for assessing metal pollution. • WFD EQR banding schemes are required for many of the indices to report what is considered an acceptable degree of stress (High-Good) and what is not (Moderate, Poor or Bad). • A comprehensive objective testing process needs to be undertaken on the indices in RICT using UK-wide, large-scale, independent test datasets to quantify their index-stressor relationships and their associated uncertainty, for example following the approach to acidity index testing in Murphy et al., (in review) or organic/general degradation indices in Banks & McFarland (2010). • Following objective testing, the UK Agencies should make efforts to address any index under-performance issues that have been identified, and where necessary new work should be commissioned to modify existing indices, or develop new ones where required so that indices for all stress types meet certain minimum performance criteria. • Testing needs to be done to examine index-stressor relationships with both observed index scores and RIVPACS observed/expected ratios. Work should also be done to compare the existing RIVPACS IV and the new stressor-independent models (developed in this project) as alternative sources of the expected index values for these tests. • Consideration should be given to assessing the extent to which chemical and biological monitoring points co-occur. Site-matched (rather than reach-matched) chemical and biological monitoring points would i) generate the substantial training datasets needed to refine or develop new indices and ii) generate the independent datasets for testing

Terracing in the Andagua Valley, southern Peru : a socio-geomorphic landscape in the Anthropocene

Agricultural terraces and canals are ubiquitous across the southern Peruvian Andes, the patterns of their use and disuse a product of Indigenous engineering and social and environmental historical processes. Their construction creates a geomorphologically unstable landscape without the continued social relationships and practices to maintain the features that enable their use such as retaining walls and water management. This dissertation engages with these intensely humanized landscapes through a socio-(hydro)geomorphic lens, which meaningfully integrates geomorphic forms and processes with human practices, perceptions, and processes of power. This relational framework informed the collection and analysis of interviews and remotely sensed imagery on the terraced, intermontane landscapes in Andagua, a rural town in the southern Peruvian Andes, focusing first on the landscape scale and then moving across finer and coarser social, spatial, and temporal levels to better understand the physical and social variables on the landscape. Farmer interviews reveal that terraces are important not only for subsistence and local food security, but also for cultural relationships to the animate features on the landscape such as Earth Mother. Labor practices, such as kinship-based labor exchange and community canal cleaning, contribute to strengthening social relations across generations and ensuring the agricultural productivity of the terraces through time. These practices and relationships are bound up in complicated and contradictory perceptions of social and climate change, altering decision-making about land use and impacting visions for the future. This dissertation explores local knowledge and local landscape analytics, revealing unique terrace typologies and patterns, new understandings of the physical manifestations of land tenure, refined knowledge of mid- to late-twentieth century Valley of the Volcanoes, and new uncertainties about the impacts of mechanized technologies and concrete canals on soil health and fertility and terrace stability.Geography and the Environmen

Countryside Survey: Headwater Streams Report from 2007

This technical report describes methods and results from the headwater streams component of Countryside Survey. Countryside Survey (CS) consists of a field-based survey of 591 1km x 1km sample squares spread across England, Scotland and Wales, undertaken approximately every eight years. Around 60% of these squares contain at least one linear water feature such as a stream or ditch. Surveys of a headwater stream or ditch/drain site have been undertaken as part of Countryside Survey in 1990, 1998 and 2007. Since 1998, the survey has consisted of three elements: the macroinvertebrates (small aquatic animals visible to the naked eye which live on the stream bed), the macrophytes (larger aquatic plants) and the habitats (the structure of the channel and riparian zone). A single water chemistry sample is taken for supporting information. In 1990, only the macroinvertebrate component of the survey was undertaken. Compared with larger rivers, headwater streams are relatively poorly covered by the monitoring of national agencies. The data collected in Countryside Survey allow for an integrated description of the changes in ecological status and biodiversity of headwater streams through time, and the description of these changes is the main aim of this report. Additionally, for macroinvertebrates, their status against a minimally-impacted reference condition may be assessed. The vast amount of data available for the terrestrial survey component of Countryside Survey allows many potential linkages to be examined between human activities and stream ecological response. In this report, we detail some of these linkages, which will be elaborated further as part of the Countryside Survey Integrated Assessment to be published later in 2010. Results show many areas of improvement over the period 1998 to 2007. Notable improvements have occurred to macroinvertebrate status indicators in England, although south east England in particular is starting from a lower baseline of headwater stream biological quality when compared to other parts of Great Britain. Numbers of sites at good or high macroinvertebrate status in south east lowland England are still relatively low (30%). Increases in the number of macrophyte species and habitat quality appear to have occurred throughout Great Britain. Finally, improvements to trophic (nutrient) status, as indicated by the macrophyte communities, have occurred in Scotland. Substantial improvements in macroinvertebrate indicators occurred between 1990 and 1998 for all parts of Great Britain, however part of this observed improvement may be due to drought conditions in 1990. Declines have been observed in macroinvertebrate status for the Scottish Highlands, which had the highest proportion of sites at good or high status in 1998, but in 2007 this proportion has dropped to a level comparable to that of the rest of Scotland and upland England. Unfortunately it is not currently possible to pinpoint causes of this decline. There is an indication of increased extent of resectioning (engineering of the channel to widen, deepen and straighten), particularly in lowland Scotland, however this may be due to this feature being better recorded in 2007 compared to 1998. The example from Scotland is unusual in that for other indices and countries, there is no evidence for differences in trends between Environmental Zones. Quantification of changes in Wales is limited by the smaller sample size. A provisional integrated assessment has linked land management characteristics taken from the Countryside Survey square containing each headwater streams site, to an indicator of stream biological quality based on the mean stress sensitivity score of the macroinvertebrate taxa present. This has indicated logical negative relationships between intensive land uses such as arable and improved grassland and ecological status. Indicators of management of the river channel, such as the extent of resectioning (for land drainage and flood defence purposes), are also negatively associated with ecological status. Characteristics of the riparian zone, such as the amount of woody cover, are positively associated with ecological status. Overall, the headwater streams component of Countryside Survey is now beginning to build up a picture of the changes occurring to the ecological status of headwater streams. The changes are broadly positive, although some negative changes will need further investigation. The Headwater Streams Report was produced by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology CEH), with contributions by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), and Bournemouth University (BU)

Age-related differences in breast cancer mortality according to race/ethnicity, insurance, and socioeconomic status.

BackgroundWe assessed breast cancer mortality in older versus younger women according to race/ethnicity, neighborhood socioeconomic status (nSES), and health insurance status.MethodsThe study included female breast cancer cases 18 years of age and older, diagnosed between 2005 and 2015 in the California Cancer Registry. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to generate hazard ratios (HR) of breast cancer specific deaths and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for older (60+ years) versus younger (< 60 years) patients separately by race/ethnicity, nSES, and health insurance status.ResultsRisk of dying from breast cancer was higher in older than younger patients after multivariable adjustment, which varied in magnitude by race/ethnicity (P-interaction< 0.0001). Comparing older to younger patients, higher mortality differences were shown for non-Hispanic White (HR = 1.43; 95% CI, 1.36-1.51) and Hispanic women (HR = 1.37; 95% CI, 1.26-1.50) and lower differences for non-Hispanic Blacks (HR = 1.17; 95% CI, 1.04-1.31) and Asians/Pacific Islanders (HR = 1.15; 95% CI, 1.02-1.31). HRs comparing older to younger patients varied by insurance status (P-interaction< 0.0001), with largest mortality differences observed for privately insured women (HR = 1.51; 95% CI, 1.43-1.59) and lowest in Medicaid/military/other public insurance (HR = 1.18; 95% CI, 1.10-1.26). No age differences were shown for uninsured women. HRs comparing older to younger patients were similar across nSES strata.ConclusionOur results provide evidence for the continued disparity in Black-White breast cancer mortality, which is magnified in younger women. Moreover, insurance status continues to play a role in breast cancer mortality, with uninsured women having the highest risk for breast cancer death, regardless of age

Hybridisation rates, population structure, and dispersal of sambar deer (Cervus unicolor) and rusa deer (Cervus timorensis) in south-eastern Australia

Context. Introduced populations of sambar deer (Cervus unicolor) and rusa deer (Cervus timorensis) are present across south-eastern Australia and are subject to local population control to alleviate their negative impacts. For management to be effective, identification of dispersal capability and management units is necessary. These species also readily hybridise, so additional investigation of hybridisation rates across their distributions is necessary to understand the interactions between the two species. Aims. Measure the hybridisation rate of sambar and rusa deer, assess broad-scale population structure present within both species and identify distinct management units for future population control, and measure the likely dispersal capability of both species. Methods. In total, 198 sambar deer, 189 rusa deer, and three suspected hybrid samples were collected across Victoria and New South Wales (NSW). After sequencing and filtering, 14 099 polymorphic single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were retained for analysis. Hybridisation rates were assessed before the data were split by species to identify population structure, diversity indices, and dispersal distances. Key results. Across the entire dataset, 17 hybrids were detected. Broad-scale population structure was evident in sambar deer, but not among the sites where rusa deer were sampled. Analysis of dispersal ability showed that a majority of deer movement occurred within 20 km in both species, suggesting limited dispersal. Conclusions. Distinct management units of sambar deer can be identified from the dataset, allowing independent population control. Although broad-scale population structure was not evident in the rusa deer populations, dispersal limits identified suggest that rusa deer sites sampled in this study could be managed separately. Sambar × rusa deer hybrids are present in both Victoria and NSW and can be difficult to detect on the basis of morphology alone. Implications. Genetic analysis can identify broad-scale management units necessary for population control, and estimates of dispersal capability can assist in delineating management units where broad-scale population structure may not be apparent. The negative impacts associated with hybridisation require further investigation to determine whether removal of hybrids should be considered a priority management aim. © 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Do agri-environment schemes result in improved water quality?

Welsh Government. Grant Number: 183/2007/0

Expression of LMO4 and outcome in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Identification of a biomarker of prognosis and response to therapy that can be assessed preoperatively would significantly improve overall outcomes for patients with pancreatic cancer. In this study, patients whose tumours exhibited high LMO4 expression had a significant survival advantage following operative resection, whereas the survival of those patients whose tumours had low or no LMO4 expression was not significantly different when resection was compared with operative biopsy alone

Understanding the controls on deposited fine sediment in the streams of agricultural catchments

Excessive sediment pressure on aquatic habitats is of global concern. A unique dataset, comprising instantaneous measurements of deposited fine sediment in 230 agricultural streams across England and Wales, was analysed in relation to 20 potential explanatory catchment and channel variables. The most effective explanatory variable for the amount of deposited sediment was found to be stream power, calculated for bankfull flow and used to index the capacity of the stream to transport sediment. Both stream power and velocity category were highly significant (p<<0.001), explaining some 57% variation in total fine sediment mass. Modelled sediment pressure, predominantly from agriculture, was marginally significant (p<0.05) and explained a further 1% variation. The relationship was slightly stronger for erosional zones, providing 62% explanation overall. In the case of the deposited surface drape, stream power was again found to be the most effective explanatory variable (p<0.001) but velocity category, baseflow index and modelled sediment pressure were all significant (p<0.01); each provided an additional 2% explanation to an overall 50%. It is suggested that, in general, the study sites were transport-limited and the majority of stream beds were saturated by fine sediment. For sites below saturation, the upper envelope of measured fine sediment mass increased with modelled sediment pressure. The practical implications of these findings are that (i) targets for fine sediment loads need to take into account the ability of streams to transport/retain fine sediment, and (ii) where agricultural mitigation measures are implemented to reduce delivery of sediment, river management to mobilise/remove fines may also be needed in order to effect an improvement in ecological status in cases where streams are already saturated with fines and unlikely to self-cleanse

Miocene waterfowl and other birds from central Otago, New Zealand

Copyright © The Natural History Museum 2007Abundant fossil bird bones from the lower Bannockburn Formation, Manuherikia Group, an Early-Middle Miocene lacustrine deposit, 16–19 Ma, from Otago in New Zealand, reveal the “St Bathans Fauna” (new name), a first Tertiary avifauna of land and freshwater birds from New Zealand. At least 23 species of birds are represented by bones, and probable moa, Aves: Dinornithiformes, by eggshell. Anatids dominate the fauna with four genera and five species described as new: a sixth and largest anatid species is represented by just one bone. This is the most diverse Early-Middle Miocene duck fauna known worldwide. Among ducks, two species of dendrochenines are most numerous in the fauna, but a tadornine is common as well. A diving petrel (Pelecanoididae: Pelecanoides) is described, so extending the geological range of this genus worldwide from the Pliocene to the Middle Miocene, at least. The remaining 16 taxa are left undescribed but include: a large species of gull (Laridae); two small waders (Charadriiformes, genus indet.), the size of Charadrius bicinctus and Calidris ruficollis, respectively; a gruiform represented by one specimen similar to Aptornis; abundant rail (Rallidae) bones, including a common flightless rail and a rarer slightly larger taxon, about the size of Gallirallus philippensis; an ?eagle (Accipitridae); a pigeon (Columbidae); three parrots (Psittacidae); an owlet nightjar (Aegothelidae: Aegotheles sp.); a swiftlet (Apodidae: Collocalia sp.); and three passerine taxa, of which the largest is a member of the Cracticidae. The absence of some waterbirds, such as anserines (including swans), grebes (Podicipedidae) and shags (Phalacrocoracidae), among the abundant bones, indicates their probable absence from New Zealand in the Early-Middle Miocene.T. H. Worthy, A. J. D. Tennyson, C. Jones, J. A. McNamara and B. J. Dougla