The UnQuanifiable Environment

Question Posed By: Douglas Britz, Johannesburg South Africa

Question: Is the Environment Quatifiable?

Answer: No; no completely. There are to many slight influncing factors for each item in the environment. the environment is unquantifiable and thus one needs to manage that accordingly. Its called cummulative environmental management which takes into mind all the different aspects and risks associated with the environment to be able to manage it effectively.Its like controlling the climate one cant do that. One also cant control / manage the ... Read moreenvironment so this is why we have to have standerdised systems to achieve maximum and effective management in a state of continuous chaos. Its based on Fuzzy logic and the Chaos theory of mathamatics and statistics.

Douglas Britz:. i agree with everything above (for it is what i basically said ...) except for one thing the environment is quantifiable, we may not be able to detect everything but classification is possible.

Couple of Extracts from a couple of Journal Articals:.

Environment, security and the question of quantification - Joseph Alcamo.

The link between environmental change and human security brings together two important issues having to do with nature and society. In the last ten years, great progress has been made in understanding this link, but this new knowledge has been mostly in a descriptive and qualitative form. But now there are some compelling reasons to move from qualitative to quantitative analysis. Quantifying this issue could help researchers to better understand the historical record of environmental change and security threats. It could also help to harmonise the assessment of different global environmental threats, and provide a quantitative foundation to future scenarios of the impact of environmental change on human security. To carry out this quantification, at least three measures of environmental change and human security need to be elaborated:''environmental stress'',''state susceptibility'', and''crisis''. The concept of''transient environmental stress''is introduced to describe an undesirable short-term departure from''normal''conditions. The concept''state susceptibility''(in the context of environment and security) is suggested as the degree to which a state can resist and recover from crisis brought on by environmental stress; and''crisis''is defined as an unstable time. brought on by environmental stress that requires extraordinary emergency measures to counteract. Various methods are possible for quantifying these measures. For example, for transient environmental stress, newly developed global environmental models can be used. For state susceptibility, it may be possible to build on existing quantitative indices of political capacity and the level of democracy. For quantifying the occurrence of crises, researchers may be able to draw on various compilations of disasters and related events. Finally, a method called a''security diagram''is suggested for tying all of these measures together quantitatively. This and other methods may prove to be successful in quantifying the concept of environmental security, if the methodological challenges can be overcome.

http://www.inderscience.com/search/index.php?action=record&rec_id=1551&prevQuery=&ps=10&m=or

http://www.apsnet.org/pd/PDFS/1985/PlantDisease69n06_461.PDF.

Not only in doing environmental management do we deal with the environment but people and sustainablity of the future environment and the human being and culture is so unique and complex that those too are completely un quantifiable.

Increasingly, environmental agencies are engaged in public participation activities. Unfortunately, the limited evaluation of public participation programmes also makes improvement of such programmes more difficult. To encourage further thinking about the evaluation of environmental public participation programmes, this article discusses some of the basic issues raised by evaluators of social programmes (e.g. unemployment and housing, etc.) that have served as methodological proving grounds for evaluation. These issues include why evaluate and what and how to evaluate, as well as questions concerning the role of evaluators. To illustrate ways in which evaluators of environmental public participation programmes have grappled with these issues, examples of different methodological approaches are included. Finally, based on this review, recommendations are made to improve evaluations of environmental public participation programmes, such as increasing evaluation aimed at making mid-course corrections, which includes involving participants in evaluation and assessing a variety of participatory goals.

HSE Risk Management in Oil & Gas

January 26 - 27, 2010 Berjaya Times Square Hotel & Convention Center, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Attending the 7th Annual HSE Summit for the Oil & Gas industry could give you the trick, tip, solution or tool to be able to not only prevent injury but reduce the cost of your company’s HSE bill. Weigh up the costs. Can you really afford to miss out?

Invest your money in knowledge and not injury. By attending this event you will benefit from:

Two full days of back to back sessions covering various topics from cost cutting to process safety, human errors and the environment

The combined knowledge and experience of speakers from various regions including Asia, The Middle East, North America, Europe and Australia

Two solution based networking sessions focused on providing you with strategies and solutions for those areas which you are finding challenging in your job

A poster exhibition and special campaigns session, highlighting the importance of putting together an effective strategy

Four half day workshops enabling you to delve deeper and with a hands on approach on those crucial aspects of HSE

The keynote address of Waluyo Dirum, Director for General Affairs and HR within Pertamina who is in charge of the overall management of the HSE activities within the company

http://www.hsemanagementoilandgas.com/Event.aspx?id=222912 WORKSHOPS

http://www.hsemanagementoilandgas.com/Event.aspx?id=218008 DOWNLOAD SITE

http://www.hsemanagementoilandgas.com/Event.aspx?id=208078 EVENT DETAILS

SOUNDS GOOD TO ME!!

XOXO

NIKI

Soil Samples in Environmental Impact Assessments

So was doing sme research todaay on environmental impacts and this is some of the great stuff i found:










http://www.mustangeng.com/AboutMustang/Publications/Publications/0209CEPEnvironmentalImpactAssessment.pdf



http://www.entek.chalmers.se/~anly/miljo/EIA.pdf



http://www.iris.ba.cnr.it/sksb/PAPERS/12-45o.pdf









For Soil samples:



http://soiltesting.tamu.edu/files/soilwebform.pdf



http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/agr/agr16/agr16.pdf



http://www.crcv.com.au/viticare/vitinotes/Viti-Notes/vineyard%20activity%20guides/Vineyard%20activities%2001%20Taking%20soil%20samples.pdf



http://www.agr.state.nc.us/agronomi/pdffiles/samhome.pdf



http://www.mda.state.mn.us/chemicals/spills/incidentresponse/gd11.htm



http://www.rainbowplantfood.com/agronomics/efu/sampling.pdf









GOOD PAGE!! DESCRIPTIVE:



\http://www.soilandplantlaboratory.com/pdf/articles/TakingProperSoilSample.pdf









This is good to know:



http://www.epa.sa.gov.au/pdfs/guide_composite.pdf



http://www.extsoilcrop.colostate.edu/SoilLab/documents/0500Soilsamplingqualityfertilizerrecommendation.PDF









Soil Sampleling and Collecting HOW TO!!



http://www.oces.tulsacounty.org/docs/HowtoCollectaSoilSample.pdf



http://www.crimeandclues.com/soil_analysis.htm



http://www.soil.ncsu.edu/publications/Soilfacts/AG-439-30/



http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/HO-71.pdf



http://www.howtodothings.com/home-and-garden/a3951-how-to-sample-test-and-analyze-soil.html









Soil Sampleing Procedures:



http://www.epa.gov/region6/6pd/qa/qadevtools/mod5_sops/soil_sampling/ertsop2012-soil.pdf



http://www.css.cornell.edu/courses/260/Soil%20Sampling%20Procedures.pdf



http://info.ag.uidaho.edu/resources/PDFs/EXT0704.pdf



http://www.mn.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/ecs/nutrient/plant%20nutrient/mnnutr3.pdf









This is Helpful from Colorado state university



http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/TRA/PLANTS/index.html#http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/TRA/PLANTS/soiltest.html









Interperating the results:



http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pdf/ec/ec1478.pdf (Soil test interpretation guide)



http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1310.pdf

Water Testing

So with soil testing comes water and ground water testing! So here are some links for the hand in hand!










What we test for and why?



http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/dw/Publications/331-262_water_sampling_6-30-04.pdf



http://www.epa.gov/tio/tsp/download/gw_sampling_guide.pdf



http://www.nrw.qld.gov.au/factsheets/pdf/water/w32.pdf









Some Standard Operating Procedures:



http://www.dem.ri.gov/pubs/sops/wmsr2013.pdf



http://www.sfei.org/volunteermonitoring/water_chem_protocol.pdf



http://www.kitsapcountyhealth.com/environmenta_health/drinking_water/docs/Policy_Collect.pdf



http://www.wastenotnc.org/ust/docs/Preparation4.pdf



http://www.victurfconsultancy.com.au/downloads/water_sampling_procedure.pdf









Surface water:



http://www.datcp.state.wi.us/arm/agriculture/land-water/environ_quality/pdf/SurfaceWaterSamplingJuly09.pdf



http://www.dem.ri.gov/pubs/sops/wmsf14.pdf



http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/eap/qa/docs/ECY_EAP_SOP_015ManuallyObtainingSurfaceWaterSamples.pdf



http://fl.water.usgs.gov/PDF_files/ofr95_279_hatzell.pdf









Ground Water



http://groundwater.ucdavis.edu/Publications/Harter_FWQFS_8085.pdf



compendium of ground water procedures......:



http://www.epa.gov/region09/qa/pdfs/fieldsamp-ertsops.pdf



http://www.geotechinc.com/downloads/Groundwater_Sampling.pdf



http://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/deq-rrd-OpMemo_2_Attachment7_283511_7.pdf









Sea Water



http://ndep.nv.gov/bmi/docs/appendix_c07.pdf



http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/eap/qa/docs/ECY_EAP_SOP_025SeawaterSampling.pdf



http://legacy.sname.org/committees/technical/standards/ISOCD11711.pdf

Link Posting

Today im adding some rocking links....changing my weekly favorite picture.....(I've been so busy; i havent had the time to update at all this week!) Also adding some cool news if there is any i stumble across...




Ok so my first rocking Webby is:



www.environmental-expert.com really cool and full of useful info!









Then (if you in thailand its even more helpful) but its the thailand oilpatch directory.....and even though its in thailand it contains a TON of useful companies etc thtare into drilling, mining, oil and gas etc. www.jst-thailand.com









Just for all you greeners out there....this is such a rocking site!










http://www.supergreenme.com/index.php?view=Main









XOXOX



นีคคี

MELT DOWN

I was doing some chemical research and needed some really good MSDS information. I found 3 really great sites for that:




www.sciencelab.com



I found this a rocking resource for iformation esppecially when it came to PPE and handelling and the movement of chemicals. It also (on the MSDS) supplies you with the Hazard Diamond. Which is great if you printing it for your office as well as the fact that it is in PDF so easily savable and printable.



http://msds.chem.ox.ac.uk/msds-searcher.html



This site is great because it gives you all the important images that go along with your chemical as well as a list of all the safety ratings.



The final site was Merck. Which is really great but you have to take time to sign up which is a bit of a bother but worth it in the end as you can then make your own company MSDS's with a little program they have online; which is EASY to use and helpful for all staff involved.









Remerber if you are dealing with chemicals....BE SAFE! Your own safety is ALWAYS priority. Because you and your staff are all endangered species.









Now onto staff and the protection of staff. I have recently had to update our staff evaluations and in the process decided to try a new approach as in my personal life i think it is important to maintain a balance between work and home. So in the evaluation was asked how do you feel you are fairing on a scale of; activity; personal relationships; home environment; what do you aspire to be; visions of the future etc..... this had a rather great responce and really started seeing some positive input and feed back from the staff.









So rember; think positive; be positive and be the positive change you want to see! And KEEP SAFE! :)









XOXO



Niki

Environmental Impacts

Good morning avid Environ-Metalist Readers.




This morning i have chosen the topic of discussion to be.... Environmental Impacts!



I first though what I'll do here today is list my personal way of completeing a basic Impact/Risk Assessment and what topics I look out for. I personally like to call it a Cumilative Imapact/Risk assessment as it takes all the aspects associated with impacts and combines them into one easy to read document.



I divide my CIA (Cummulative imppact assessment) Into three defining catagories:



1. Physical Impacts



2. Biological Impacts



3. Social Impacts









These then get divied into main topics; depending on the project at hand.



1. Physical



a. Surface water.



b. Ground water



c. Air quality



d. Climate



e. Geology



f. Land Use



2. Biological



a. Fauna



b. Flora



c. Pedology



d. Biodiversity



e. Aquatic Health



3. Social



a. Occupational Health and Safety



b. Hazardous Substances



c. Waste Management



d. Socio-Economics



e. Noise



f. Visual



g. Archealogical



h. Traffic









These are then Sub divided into more catagories depending on the factors influencing the project. If this is a life cycle CIA then it usually completed repeatedly for the following phases:



Construction/Planning

Operation Phase

Shut Down

Rehabilitation Phase

All of which are important to take into consideration as the aspects and impacts if each phhase differ significantly. I find that a personal wieghting score in regards to the CIA is essencial. Your own pernal formula for weighting needs to be justified and scientifically correct.



Many Weighting systems are objective/subjective and are not replicatable as the environment is continuously changing and is difficult to wieght. Although it is not impossible if you take a little time to come up with a scientifically acceptiable and repriducable system.



For more information regarding Environmental Impacts and the assessment there of; Check out:



http://www.iaia.org/default.aspx

Enviro Conventions

I thought a good topic for today could be the Environmental Conventions that everyone accationally foegets about; but are useally a WELL of resources regarding the country you are working in; reasearching etc.




First off the IFC:



Now if you dont already have a set of their guidelines its vital that you get your hands on them. They are helpful and full of useful ways to make SHEQ easy to use.



http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/sustainability.nsf/Content/EnvironmentalGuidelines









Second, the World Bank:



Filled with useful resources on almost ANY topic. Good for a browse and gaining some interesting information that can only benefit any project you are completeting



http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/0,,menuPK:476823~pagePK:64165236~piPK:64165141~theSitePK:469372,00.html









Third up we have WHO (World Health Organisation) Filled with information pertaining to the Occpational health and safety as well as guidelines you may need of researching water topics; its a gem of reseasources......



http://www.who.int/topics/en/









There are some other great links that come around too. Like if you are speciafically looking for companies that may be able to help in your field etc; this is a great global resource center.



http://www.eco-web.com/ini/index.html



Hope these couple of links were helpful and if you want to suggest anything or any topics you'd like to see up; please dont hesitate to ask!



Hope you have a good weekend.



Warmest Regards!



Nicola

E-BOOKS!

Morning all!




Here are a couple of great e-book websites to get your grubbly paws on some awesome books for free! Gotta Love technology!



http://deepakr-dk.blogspot.com/2006/08/tons-of-free-ebooks-links-forums.html



Also if you happen to be looking for a certain MSDS i found this web site particullarly helpful:



http://www.msdsonline.com/



As well as some other great goodies at:



http://www.digitalbookindex.com









Digital books can be a real help when you are on site/ out of the office and need a resource quickly. Just by spending some time in the morning doing some research on your topic of interest can leave you with bouundless information. Also as a suggestion to those new to the field. A great way to stay on top of News and Changes in all the fields is to register to the RSS Feed. That way you have access to the latest news and reviews of methodology and planning; which can all be done while you check your emails.....saving you time and giving you the edge!



XOXO



Nicola

General Information

Morning Environmentalists all over the world.....

Thought today would be a good day to post some helpful links regarding Laws in every country.

http://www.lexadin.nl/wlg/legis/nofr/legis.htm

My other helpful hint for day is; is you are googling information that needs to be referenced; the best tip i can give you is when googling add the phrase "Filetype:pdf" at the end of the search. So for example: a search for standard operating procedures for forklifts.

standard operating procedures for forklifts filetype:pdf

This result then gives you a choice of less information but its usually more relevent and can be referenced as it will have names; dates and publications on them. Make sure you have adobe first so that you can read/edit the pdf.

Have a wonderful Monday Environ-Mentalists!

Jeremy Clarkson on: Environmentalists

This article; just made me laugh. Totally true although we never want to admit it! Published May 1996:

Throughout history, there's been a selection of anti-establishment figures whose dreams of creating a new world order have shone like the most brilliant stars in the firmament, and then burnt out and died.


The world has been to the outermost reaches of extremism throughout the nineteenth century - from Fascism to Communism - and it has survived. When The Wall fell down we all breathed a sigh of relief, but there will always be anti-establishmentism, hell bent on suppressing free thought and democracy. Idealists will never go away; they'll just surface again with a new corporate identity.

Now they're back under the environmentalist banner. Only this time, in their quest to bring down commercialism and give power to the people, they really do seem to have hit a raw nerve. ‘If we carry on like this, the planet will die. In five minutes of geological time, we have turned paradise into a rubbish dump.'
Horse shit. They're not the slightest bit bothered about the environment; it's just a weapon which allows them to attack a system which no idealist has ever accepted - democracy.

But they've had a huge effect. Fearful of creeping sympathy for the so-called Greens, stupid, short sighted governments all over the world have imposed Draconian environmental laws on what they see as easy meat - the internal combustion engine.

And the car firms are being equally wet. Why don't they just go along to Downing Street and explain that cars put a massive £18 billion a year into the British exchequer? Instead, we get that idiotic Mercedes ad where some poppies burst into life when an E-Class slides by.

Let me fill you in on a few facts. The London Marathon generates more carbon dioxide than every grand prix in the whole Formula One calendar. A house produces more so-called global warming gases than your car. And, according to a Friends of the Earth advisor I spoke to, 97 per cent of the world's carbon dioxide is generated by nature. And that even if man's three per cent contribution isn't simply absorbed by the oceans, the resultant heat rise will create more dynamic weather, more snowfall over land and therefore lower sea levels!

Cars do not cause asthma. Cars do not shit in the streets and cause typhoid. And, since the catalytic converter came along, every single noxious exhaust emission has been slashed. Lead is down two-thirds. Sulphur is down tenfold.

"If they had their way, they would have us all up in trees, eating lentils and not washing our hair"

But still the eco-twats tell us to leave our cars at home and take the bus. Why? Because that'll slow the economy down to the same pace as the snails who are holding up the Newbury bypass. If they had their way, they would have us all up in trees, eating lentils and not washing our hair. They must do because their views are so completely at odds with what's realistic.

Whenever I suffer from asthma or acne, I take drugs to cure the problem. When I'm cold, I put the heating on. When I go out, I take the Jag. When I'm hungry, I have a Big Mac. And when I'm on edge I have a Marlboro.

These things make life fun and easy. They provide jobs, generate wealth. They keep society moving down its chosen path.

Take them away, and we'd have to think again. We'd have to invent a system where money played no part, so that there was nothing to be gained from making something which may damage the environment.

There is no way that such a system could be implemented by a com-mittee, so the responsibility would have to be shouldered by one man. Elections would be a casualty too.

And he couldn't go about it in a parochial way. There's not much point cleaning up Britain if the French are still filling the Pacific with plutonium. So, this one man would have to be a global dictator. A god.

If the environmentalists ever realise their dreams, you can kiss goodbye to free thought and say hello to the Gestapo or the KGB or whatever they decide to call their secret police.

In fact, environmentalism is every bit as dangerous as Communism or Fascism.

But we need not worry. Extremism will always be defeated by common sense. One day, in the Greenpeace bunker, there'll be the welcome sound of a Luger going off.

XOXO Niki

ENVIROMENTAL MANAGEMENT

http://www.environmentalmanagementnews.net/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/default.stm
The BBC Science and Environment News Page was interesting today. With Great topics like
"Feeding Birds Changes evolution"
Definately Worth a read! :)