Reclamation activities

In the United States, the largest concentration of atmospheric vanadium occurs over Eastern seaboard cities where residual fuels of high vanadium content from Venezuela are burned ia utility boilers. Coal ash ia the atmosphere also coataias vanadium (36). Ambient air samples from New York and Boston contain as much as 600—1300 ng V/m, whereas air samples from Los Angeles and Honolulu contained 1—12 ng V/m. Adverse pubHc health effects attributable to vanadium ia the ambieat air have aot beea deteroiiaed. lacreased emphasis by iadustry oa controlling all plant emissions may have resulted ia more internal reclamation and recycle of vanadium catalysts. An apparent drop ia consumption of vanadium chemicals ia the United States since 1974 may be attributed, in part, to such reclamation activities. 

When effects of pollutants are seen at the community or ecosystem levels, it may be too late to start reclamation activities, which become inefficient and extremely costly. That is why invertebrates have been effectively used as sources of biomarkers. They can be extrapolated to actual or potential changes at the population level, and considered as predictive tools to assess changes and consequences on community and ecosystem levels. Only some biomarkers identified in invertebrates are highly specific and sensitive, the majority are less specific to chemicals and then indicate the exposure or toxic effects of their mixture. In invertebrates biomarkers can be used as the diagnostic tools of their health or would give the basis for predicting the fate of stressed environment and to start remediation activities. 

Reclamation is often considered only in association with surface mining, but, as reflected in the previous discussion, the activities of underground mining may also necessitate reclamation. However, the reclamation activities required in association with underground mining are almost always less numerous and less extensive. 

Reclamation operations are complex and extensive. The time sequence for reclamation activities in surface coal mining is summarized as follows ... 

Transboundary shipping requirements (/.e., notice and consent paperwork) are a potential impediment to such movement, however, if they are unnecessarily burdensome and time consuming. This is important both from the perspective of encouraging collection and shipment for recycling, and in order to assure the economic success of reclamation activities. The facilities that process and recycle Ni-Cd batteries require a degree of certainty about the availability and time of arrival of their feedstock. Delay or uncertainty of supply adds to costs and undermines the recycling process. 

Querol, X., Alastuey, A., Lopez-Soler, A., Plana, F., Mesas, A., Ortiz, L., Alzaga, R., Bayona, J. M., and de la Rosa, J., Physico-chemical characterisation of atmospheric aerosols in a rural area affected by the aznalcollar toxic spill, south-west Spain during the soil reclamation activities, Sci. Total Environ., 242, 89-104, 1999. 

Periodic reclamation may occur at area strip mines, where reclamation activities may follow the advancing strip pit by a specified distance. Alternatively, as may occur with a large open pit, reclamation may have to be deferred to the end of the mining operations where the pit expands with time or is needed to provide space for production and mining support traffic. 

Boundary conditions are often site and project specific as well. Physical site conditions, such as wave climate, currents, water depth, subsoil properties and the vulnerability of the environment to dredging and reclamation activities will differ from one site to another. The quahty and quantity of the fill available for construction will strongly depend on the location of the project. These conditions will not only affect the design of a reclamation, but they must also be taken into account when selecting the most suitable dredging equipment and construction method. 

Before starting the filling operations, a plan should be made of the dredging, transport and reclamation activities. Such a plan could include ... 

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