NEWS BRIEFS Older, grandfathered power plants emit 4 to 10 times more pollution than modern plants that comply with Clean Air Act regulations, according to a new report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, an environmental group. Requiring the 559 dirtiest plants to meet current new source emissions standards would eliminate 69% of the NO x and 77% of the S0 2 released into the air each year by electric utilities. The report also notes that the industry is responsible for one-third of all U.S. emissions of mercury and carfjon dioxide For a cODV of Lethal Loophole call (202) 546-9707. Total volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions during vehicle refueling may be significantly higher than current methods suggest, report scientists from the University of Texas-Austin. Quigley et al. measured total and speciated VOC emissions over a oneyear period, with a special emphasis on the summer ozone season. They then compared these results with those predicted using two common emissions algorithms AP-42 and On-board Refueling Vapor Recovery. The researchers found that the algorithms underestimated VOC emissions by 20-25% overall and by 30-42% during the summer For a CODV of the paper VOC Emissions During Gasoline Refueling' Measured Versus Predicted Results contact Air &Waste Management Association at (800) 275-5851. By 2005, the phytoremediation market will swell to between $214 and $370 million, predicts David Glass Associates, a consulting firm, in its third report on phytoremediation. The 1998 U.S. Market for Phytoremediation estimates that it will generate between $16.5-$29.5 million in U.S. revenues in 1998. The use of plants to treat organic contaminants in groundwater, soil, wastewater and leachate should see "strong steady growth" in coming years, according to the report,
which predicts that phytoremediation techniques for removing metals and radionuclides are "capable of dramatic growth." Call (617) 726-5474, or e-mail
[email protected] for more information.
Canal estates and marinas should be designed to maximize wetland flushing, reports the World Conservation Union (IUCN), an international conservation organization. According to IUCN, poorly engineered waterfront developments in or near low-relief areas can result in nutrient loading, loss of habitat, lower biological diversity, decreased water quality, sedimentation, and erosion. The report suggests mitigation techniques to minimize adverse environmental impacts and includes a bibliography of papers on the subject A copy of Report on Canal Estates is available on the Web at http:// wwwiucn ore/themes/ramsar/ wurc_topic_l_report.htm. 200 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and 1.3 million metric tons of methane emissions could be eliminated over the next 60 years as the result of 32 U.S. companies' investments in international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to the businesses participating in a pilot program. Its purpose is to evaluate joint implementation projects in which U.S. companies invest in endeavors to decrease greenhouse gas emissions outside the U S The pilot program's projects include efforts to capture greenhouse gases through forest management schemes A GAO report on the oroeram Climate Change: Information on the U.S. Initiative on
Joint Implementation (RCED-98154), is on the Web at http://www. gao.gov/new.items/rc98154.pdf. Sustainable development could benefit their businesses, say more than 80% of companies surveyed in North America and Europe by the consulting firm Arthur D. Little. Only 4% of the 450 respondents said that sustainable development would be too difficult to implement. But most companies are still focused on short-term environmental initiatives, and little progress is being made in implementing advanced sustainability concepts, such as full-cost accounting, environmental performance mea~ surement closed-loop manufacturing and design-for-theenvironment The survey nonetheless predicts that sustainability will become a higher priority for companies For a copy of Arthur D Little's 1998 Survey on Sustainable Development and Business call 617-498-5777 All production and use of DDT should be banned worldwide by 2007, according to a new report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a wildlife conservation group. The report stresses that there are safer and equally effective alternatives to DDT in disease-vector control, DDT's only remaining official use throughout the world. Alternatives for malaria control are emphasized in the report, which examines a range of insect-borne disease control programs in West Africa, Tanzania, India the Philippines South America and Mexico Resolving the DDT Dilemma: Protecting Biodiversity and Human Health is online at httrW/wwwwwf org/ new/news/prl51.htm. People in the news. In August, the American Chemical Society's Environmental Chemistry division presented research paper awards to five graduate students: Barbara Bergen, University of Rhode Island; John Lendvay, University of Michigan; Huizhong Ma, University of Delaware; Mahalingam Ravichandran, University of Colorado; and Lisa Totten, Johns Hopkins University.
SEPT. 1, 1998 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / NEWS • 3 9 9 A
