Prevalent Remediation Technologies for Organic Contaminants | Author : Moustafa Gamal Snousy | Abstract | Full Text | Abstract :Any chemical spill that may affect the surrounding ecosystems must be remediated quickly and efficiently to minimize possible contamination. When the problem of groundwater pollution began to be discovered, the initial approach to remediation assumed that most of contamination was in the soil at the site of the spill; from where it was reasoned that the contaminated soil could be treated, and contaminated water. Various physical, chemical, biological, and their combined (i.e. Physico-chemical, thermal) technologies have been attempted to remediate or remove the pollutants from soils and groundwater or to reduce the contamination to a safe and acceptable level. There are several methods used for the clean-up of contaminated soils and groundwater, combination of processes (treatment trains) may offer the most effective remediation and easily to applied where soils and groundwater were contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons. |
| Seasonal Impacts on Indoor Fungal Concentrations After Mold Remediation | Author : G.T. Kleinheinz | Abstract | Full Text | Abstract :Fungal contamination of the indoor air environment is a concern for building owners, residents, landlords, realators, and environmental health professionals. These health effects can vary greatly from person-to-person. These potential health effects are not just related to the concentration of fungi, but also the type of fungi present. There are a number of methods for enumerating indoor fungi, but the use of non-viable Air-O-Cell cassettes has become a common, standardized, and well established method for air sampling during or after mold remediation. The overarching objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of time of year on Air-O-Cell fungal testing results after professional remediation. This project relied on data from 138 sampling events that occurred over the course of several years. The data collected in outdoor samples during the summer months revealed much higher concentrations of fungi when compared to indoor air samples. However, in winter months the outdoor samples were found to have very low concentrations of fungi relative to indoor samples. The mean concentration of fungi in each sample location varied greatly with respect to season of the year. Thus, absolute concentrations of fungi should only be one piece of information used to assess a succesful remediation. Additional information to be considered includes a visual inspection of the remediated site, the season, the relationship of fungal type between sample locations, and the proportion of various fungal types in each sample. |
| Geohazards assessment in longwall coal mining using monitored seismic events | Author : S. Mahdevari | Abstract | Full Text | Abstract :This research was conducted to focus on geohazards usually occurred in underground mining environment especially in longwall coal mining. Typical geohazards which encounter during mining and need to be identified ahead of time include rockburst, coalburst and coal/gas outburst – all of which may have a crucial impact on mining operations and personnel safety. The risk of such geohazards due to rock failure is significant at the area around the active faces and adjacent tunnels. For this purpose, the seismic events result from rock failures surrounding the mine structures were monitored, recorded and analyzed to identify and delineate such geohazards. In order to assess the risk of seismic geohazards in a burst-prone coal mine, the moment tensor inversion technique was employed. The results show that mining-induced seismic events can provide useful information with regard to imminent geohazards ahead of time. The proposed approach based on the moment tensor inversion is a reliable technique to estimate seismic moment tensor, and consequently to control or mange such geohazards in advance of disaster. |
| THE BALOCHISTAN EARTHQUAKE 2013: EMERGENCE OF A NEW ISLAND IN THE ARABIAN SEA | Author : Iftikhar A Raja | Abstract | Full Text | Abstract :A massive earthquake of 7.7 magnitude struck south-central Pakistan on September 24, 2013. The epicenter of the earthquake was 63 km north-north-east (NNE) of Awaran in Baluchistan. The earthquake caused the death of 386 people, leaving thousands homeless. The earthquake also affected different cities in Iran, India and Afghanistan. The fundamental cause of the earthquake was displacement along oblique-strike-slip fault at a depth of only 15 km (9.3 miles). The quake has created an island in the Arabian Sea which is an unusual in case of strike-slip faulting and it raises the question of the nature and original mechanism of the earthquake. The formation of the island indicates that there is a significant push of the northward moving Indo-Pakistani plate along with oblique-strike-slip faulting which was the original motion of the earthquake. These facts were discussed and explained in this paper. |
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