Wetland mitigation
Wetland mitigation is the process in which wetland functions that are previously stopped or slowed are resumed through new or improved wetlands. The primary aim is to resume these wetland functions that may benefit the public, such as preventing floods, maintaining the water quality and quantity, habitats for fauna and floras, and such.
The goals which the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) are hoping to meet are as follows:
- Wetland permit applicant may benefit because the permit processing time is shorter and the costs are lower, and there is a higher availability of adequate mitigation sites.
- It benefits the state's wetland resources because new mitigation banks are created before foreseen loses, by combining small mitigation projects into a larger one in which it would be easier and more efficient to handle, and by encouraging integration of wetland mitigation projects with watershed based resource planning.
Prairie restoration
Prairie restoration is an environmentally-friendly way of bringing back a portion of the prairie lands that were previously lost to Man’s interest. That includes removing them to build factories, agriculture and business interests. A prairie land is a patch of land in which the predominant vegetations are grasses and shrubs. They are considered to be part of the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome by ecologists.
The soils of which prairie lands reside on are extremely fertile. This allows farmers to plant crops such as wheat, barley and corn. Many prairie plants can stand extreme periods with lack of water. As a result, they are often used in projects and experiments involving vegetation that do not require watering as often.
The benefits of prairie restoration are significant. A small part that is restored would assist in holding in soil and slowing down or preventing soil erosion. They would also absorb any excessive rainwater into the ground to prevent surface flooding. The flowers are also attractive to insects that promote pollination. Looking on a wider impact, organisms thrive and areas in which organic carbon are stored in the soil are created. This helps to maintain the biodiversity that depends on these prairie lands for survival.
Hazardous wastes management
Hazardous wastes often has the potential to incur illness in people that can have long term effects or death, and they pose a danger to the environment and human race if they are not handled with care and treated carefully. These wastes can be in various states, including gaseous, liquid and solid. Depending on the different states, it is handled differently. They must be specially treated because it cannot be disposed off by conventional methods.
The facilities that process these wastes must obtain a permit from the relevant authorities to do so. The hazardous wastes are broadly sorted into 4 categories. The ignitability of the wastes determines that the wastes is highly combustible, or can start a fire in temperatures less than 60 degree Celsius, examples are oils and used solvents. Corrosive wastes, such as battery acids, have pH values of at most 2, and can corrode the container that are used to contain them. Reactive wastes can result in an explosion or release poisonous particles when exposed to high temperatures. Toxic wastes contain poisonous materials that exceed the allowed level, and can cause harm to people or the environment.
Modern landfills are capable of storing these hazardous wastes in large amounts, whilst at the same time having little impacts on the environment. Alternative methods of handling these hazardous wastes include recycling them into new products, be mixed with cement to produce cements that have different properties such as being stronger. Neutralization is done so that the dangerous materials are removed. They can also be burned in very high temperature to destroy them, or burning them as energy sources to produce electricity. An alternative landfill can be created to separate these hazardous wastes, or may be disposed off in the presence of electricity to keep them stable and not react.
De-icing procedures and salt reduction
Deicing is the process in which frozen materials such as ice, are removed from a surface. In the past, they do harm to the environment because the additives that are mixed with the deicing compounds to improve their performances are toxic. However, in the present times, organic compounds that are sprayed on roads are created that reduces the impacts it has on the environment connected to chemical compounds. Moreover, mixing these deicing chemicals with some other common household items allows the compound to work effectively even at lower temperatures.
In some airports, the planes are deiced on special surfaces, in which the deicing chemicals, along with the melted ice and snow, are channeled from the surface into storage areas, which are later processed and later used again as deicing chemicals. This process produces heat in which are stored and used to heat the airport terminal.
Storm water management
Storm water management is the process in which storm water which remained as surface runoff are treated so that they would not pose a danger to the environment. They do not go into the ground and flow on the surface. As they flow over buildings, pavements and roads, they gather debris, chemicals and other sediments that may be unhealthy to us, and flow with them to water bodies. These could affect the water quality. Moreover, floods can be controlled and aquatic life can be preserved, and the water would remain safe for humans to use. Some of the approaches used include filters and separators. More advanced techniques such as the usage of ultra-violet disinfection units may also be utilized.
In USA, the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) is in-charged of the water bodies in the country. Their goal is to restore all the water bodies in USA to be in “fisable” and “swimmable” conditions. Despite the efforts done by the EPA, a lot of water bodies in USA are still pretty much unsafe.
Noise monitoring and noise walls
Noise can come from a variety of sources and they can upset the balance of our lives, and likewise to any other living things in the vicinity. This is because the stress level increases when one lives in an area which is noisy, and thus they could not relax. This could give rise to anxiety, high blood pressure, heart problems, and even death.
Noise walls, also known as noise barriers, are built along roads to absorb unwanted noise from vehicles on the road. They have been built in USA since the mid-20th century when the amount of vehicles on the road rose sharply. However, some limitations, such as that it would be impracticable in some areas, pose problems for the building and development of noise walls. The final costs of building the structure also determines if it is actually built. The designing of the noise walls takes place inside a computer, using computer simulations. With the introduction of noise walls, people living in residential areas near roadways can enjoy their sleep longer, more able to enjoy the outdoor life better, can communicate better because there is not sound disturbance, and reduced stress level.
The presence of extra soil in the vicinity of the noise barrier allows constructors to use them for berm construction. It would cost less because they can use the soil to construct an earth berm noise barrier than remove them. In fact, the cost may be negligible, save for the fact that moving the earth upwards may not be cheap.
Done by: Francis Cheng, C Vaahsan, Ren Yonglin, Ong Tian Hua (10S20)
No comments:
Post a Comment