This section discusses engineering opportunities for pollution prevention through selecting appropriate control technologies to apply as pollution prevention techniques for each identified ecosystem disturbance from the organization's operations. It describes how each technique is expected to affect effluent permit limits. [DOCUMENT] Potential Ecological Health Impacts The primary ecological pollutants in this context involve TSS, ammonia, TKN, and TDS. Also, the involved herbicides and pesticides used in the site are presumed to manifest chemical pollutants such as organophosphorus, organochlorines, and carbamates, which manifest critical ecological health impacts. Mining activities relevant to the caliche and gypsum excavation sites can potentially lead to

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A Pollution Prevention Plan (P4) Pre-Assessment Study
Abstract
This undertaking entails a Pre-Assessment study on behalf of
the board of directors at ABC Agriculture Production Inc; it
explores the general operational characteristics, potential
ecological health effects, potential human health impacts,
potential societal health impacts, and risk assessment and
regulatory requirements.
General Operational Characteristics
In this context, we will review the General Operational
Characteristics of the organization. In essence, ABC Agriculture
Production Inc. is located in Southwestern Nebraska, covering
640-acre land. Besides this land, particularly to the west, a
privately owned rancher’s property harbors a commercially
producing and leased natural gas well. A major river’s small
active salt fork exists east of the 640-acre land. Production
offices and barns meant for confined animal feed operations are
presumed to cover an area of 160 acres; this involves separate
large, full barns set for chicken, beef cattle, and swine
operations, six barn-discharge wastewater lagoons, and one feed
mill. Alfalfa and corn hay fields are presumed to cover 320

2. acres of the land; groundwater irrigation wells supply the
irrigation sprinkler systems to sustain these crops. The
remaining 160 acres manifest caliche and gypsum open pit
excavation mines; these products are essentially excavated and
traded by the truckload.
The organization primarily uses commercial nitrogen fertilizers
to sustain crops, commercial herbicides to control weeds, and
commercial pesticides to manage relevant pests. The involved
animals are sustained through relevant administration of routine
injections; antibiotics and vitamin supplements are also
critically and routinely appreciated. Dead animal remains are
usually disposed of in a pit; the pit has to be covered with
calcium hydroxide daily. The facility manifests an EPA-
recognized National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
permit. It is often applied as a combined wastewater/stor mwater
effluent permit. Also, the organization appreciates a hazardous
waste permit for discarding all rejected pharmaceutical,
pesticide, and herbicide wastes. Relevant rainfall and wind
speeds should be 21 inches annually and 12 mph, respectively.
Humidity should manifest an average provision of 65.8 % and a
dew point of 37.9°F. Furthermore, high/Low temps range from
summer (91°F/63°F) to winter (40°F/14°F).
Potential Ecological Health Impacts
The primary ecological pollutants in this context involve TSS,
ammonia, TKN, and TDS. Also, the involved herbicides and
pesticides used in the site are presumed to manifest chemical
pollutants such as organophosphorus, organochlorines, and
carbamates, which manifest critical ecological health impacts.
Mining activities relevant to the caliche and gypsum excavation
sites can potentially lead to the leaching of calcium carbonate
and calcium sulfate dihydrate to the nearby surrounding
attracting potential environmental consequences. This includes
disruption of the existing biodiversity as the surface gets
cleared with eventual surface mines. The provisions of chemical
oxygen demand and biochemical oxygen demand required in
this context to oxidize and degrade relevant organic materials

3. are presumed to be relatively enhanced; these substances
manifest the capacity to potentially impede the degradation of
released contaminants (Wu et al., 2018).
Deceased animal remains and animal feed operations manifest
the capacity to cause enhanced levels of methane gas
production. This may also involve the realization of extreme
levels of growth hormones, animal blood, antibiotics, silage
from leachate from corn feed, and pathogenic manure, which is
detrimental to the environment's well-being. The levels of the
mentioned contaminants, especially heavy metals, herbicides,
pathogens, and pesticides, may concentrate to the extent of
leaching to the immediate surrounding with eventual critical
environmental pollution. Additionally, the organization’s
confined animal feeds operations may attract the concept of the
disrupted ecosystem; the potential spread of pathogens and
associated diseases in this context can interfere with the
relevance of organisms and bacteria in the immediate
environment, which may lead to an ecological imbalance.
Potential Human Health Impacts
The organization’s implications critically manifest the capacity
to threaten the health and well-being of humans. This can be
captured from the concept that it not only leads to the release of
potentially harmful products but also threatens the immediate
environment that harbors relevant people. For instance, the
organization’s operations that favor the growth and
sustainability of pathogens pose a significant threat to the
health of the immediate population. These pathogens can attract
critical human diseases as the ecosystem sustains disruption
from the implications of the relevant pollution (Gwenzi et al.,
2018). The relevance of gypsum and caliche mining activities
also manifests a critical capacity to threaten the well -being of
the immediate people. For example, the emission of extreme
dust to the involved persons can attract essential breathing
complications.
The unfilled mines may be breeding environments for disease-
causing organisms such as mosquitoes; this may be revealed

4. when the mines accumulate stagnant rainwater. Also,
uncontrolled disposal of pharmaceutical, pesticide, and
herbicide rejects manifests the capacity to threaten human
health (Brusseau et al., 2019). For instance, these chemicals
may find their way into consumable water and raw edibles;
people can consume the chemicals indirectly, which proves to
be a critical health risk. This is also emphasized by the heavy
use of commercial fertilizers and supplements. Though these
provisions tend to boost production significantly, they are
presumed to amount to compromised consumables as their
relevance to health and well-being is concerned. Essentially, the
concept of potential toxication finds its relevance in this
context since the mentioned chemicals are hazardous.
Potential Societal Health Impacts
The organization's effluents can influence and corrupt societal
health critically. This is emphasized by the relevance of
emissions such as TDS, TKN, ammonia, and TSS. Accumulating
these chemical substances in the environme nt can corrupt the
well-being of the environment that harbors societal and global
populations (Pervin et al., 2008). This is because they generally
interact and compromise the essentials that sustain human life.
For instance, when the mentioned pollutants deviate from the
acceptable limits, they are considered harmful. An excellent
example involves a situation whereby drinking water manifests
high TDS levels involving heavy metals. It is presumed that
such water may attract diseases such as kidney infections,
especially when the amounts prove to be highly elevated. This
proves to be a societal risk since the concerned water is
accessible to the entire society. Ammonia may cause critical
health issues such as burns and swellings in one’s airways and
eventual lung damage. Since this provision is uncontrollable
when released into the environment, it can affect many people
indiscriminately, leading to a society that sustains an unhealthy
population. This concept is still expressed by the uncontrolled
disposal of hazardous chemical wastes, primarily
pharmaceutical, pesticide and herbicide rejects. Whenever they

5. are released into the environment, they manifest risk to society
at large, not at a specific party alone. Another critical
illustration involves the implication of the mining activities on
the site; the generated dust by the involved machinery and
automotives proves to be a societal threat. The dust, which
undeniably has the potential to attract critical health
complications, is sustained by the public.
Risk Assessment and Regulatory Requirements
The various activities and disposed of substances by the
organization critically have an element of attracting significant
risks and hazards. The concept of having the organization
possess several effluent permits with no relevant pollution
control initiative critically highlights the possibility of ignored
risks. In essence, the potentially harmful implications should be
evaluated primarily based on the well-being of the relevant
internal and external population and environment (Zhou et al.,
2019). For instance, the evident mining activities in the site can
attract health complications emanating from released dust. The
unfilled pits pose a danger of critical accidents; also, they can
prove to be breeding sites for disease-causing organisms upon
assuming rainwater. The continued application of commercial
fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides has the potential to pollute
and corrupt the environment critically.
The following assessment illustrates the explored risk
implications of the involved hazardous provisions;
i) Hazard identification
· Pesticide, fertilizers, herbicides and pharmaceutical wastes;
drinking water pollution, deactivation of essential bacteria for
sewage treatment, toxication and critical diseases
· Mining activities; dust pollution, diseases, accidents, water
pollution
· Machinery and automotives; air pollution due to exhausts and
dust generation, noise pollution, drinking water pollution by
oils and fuels

6. · Manure, feeds, and carcass remains; water pollution, gas
(methane or ammonia) generation
ii) Exposure assessment
· Pesticide, fertilizers, herbicides and pharmaceutical waste;
routes of exposure include drinking water and consumables such
as aquatic animals. The vulnerable population is unlimited, and
the critical level of exposure may vary. For instance, it is
presumed that for pharmaceutical exposure, the limit is 0.0001
ppm.
· Dust; the primary route is via breathing. The number of
victims is unlimited, and the level of critical exposure may vary
from one individual to another. The implications are influenced
by the frequency of exposure as well.
· Gases (methane and ammonia); the primary route of exposure
is through breathing. The vulnerable population is unlimited.
The manifested frequency and amount significantly influence
the implications of exposure. For instance, the exposure limit
for ammonia is 300 ppm.
· Exposure limits of phosphorous, potassium, calcium,
magnesium, oil and grease, TDS, TKN, and TSS are 2.5 ppm,
1.5 ppm, 2.0 ppm, 0.5 ppm, 15 ppm, 100 ppm, 500 ppm and 100
ppm, respectively. The relevant exposure route in this context is
drinking water. BOD and COD have exposure limits of 150 ppm
and 150 ppm, respectively.
iii) Dose-response assessment
The following shows limits that, when exceeded, attract critical
implications;
· Pharmaceutical wastes; over 0.0001 ppm
· BOD; over 150 ppm
· COD; over 150 ppm
· TSS; over 100 ppm
· TDS; over 100 ppm

7. · TKN; over 500 ppm
· Ammonia; over 300 ppm
· Phosphorous; over 2.5 ppm
· Potassium; over 1.5 ppm
· Calcium; over 2.0 ppm
· Magnesium; over 0.5 ppm
· Oil and grease; over 15 ppm
iv) Risk characterization
The mentioned pollutants can cause critical harm to the exposed
individuals, especially when sustained beyond the respective
limits. They can amount to critical health complications which
could threaten lives. As implicated, the threat isn't limited but a
societal issue. This implies that pollution can compromise the
well-being of the society into an unhealthy population.
The phenomenon of acquiring effluent permits needs to be
accompanied by relevant regulatory provisions to emphasize
their sustainability. Approved strategies that ensure handling
chemicals and facilitating sensitive procedures must be
established. For example, the organization’s approach to
discarding chemical rejects should be fixed to comply with
relevant acceptable regulatory provisions as environmental
conservation is concerned. A detailed risk management plan that
covers all critical dimensions and considers the ecological
conservation requirements must be appreciated (Elleuch et al.,
2018). This involves the embracement of relevant preventive
and corrective measures upon evaluations of the identified
possible risks. Also, a regular assessment program should be
conducted to determine the relevance and efficiency of the
adopted organization’s regulatory initiative. This should
appreciate the involvement of internal and external audit parties
for enhanced competence.
Pollution Prevention Technologies

8. Engineering Opportunities for Pollution Prevention
References
Brusseau, M. L., Pepper, I. L., & Gerba, C. P. (2019).
Environmental and pollution science (3rd ed.).
Academic Press.
https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780128147207
Elleuch, B., Bouhamed, F., Elloussaief, M., & Jaghbir, M.
(2018). Environmental sustainability and pollution prevention.
Environmental Science and Pollution Research,
25(19), 18223-18225.
Gwenzi, W., Mangori, L., Danha, C., Chaukura, N., Dunjana,
N., & Sanganyado, E. (2018). Sources, behaviour, and
environmental and human health risks of high-technology rare
earth elements as emerging contaminants.
Science of the Total Environment,
636, 299-313.
Pervin, T., Gerdtham, U. G., & Lyttkens, C. H. (2008). Societal
costs of air pollution-related health hazards: A review of
methods and results.
Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation,
6(1), 1-22.
Wu, J., Lu, J., Li, L., Min, X., & Luo, Y. (2018). Pollution,
ecological-health risks, and sources of heavy metals in soil of
the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Chemosphere,
201, 234-242.

9. Zhou, S., Di Paolo, C., Wu, X., Shao, Y., Seiler, T. B., &
Hollert, H. (2019). Optimization of screening-level risk
assessment and priority selection of emerging pollutants–the
case of pharmaceuticals in European surface waters.
Environment international,
128, 1-10.
1. Open your current course project document, A Pollution
Prevention Plan (P3) Pre-Assessment Study, and review your
grading feedback from your professor.
2. Make all necessary changes to your Unit VI work, pursuant to
your grading feedback.
3. Under the eighth level 1 (centered, bold) heading titled
Engineering Opportunities for Pollution Prevention, consider
your constructed table of available pollution prevention (P2)
control technology options for each ecosystem disturbance from
the Unit VI work. Now, carefully select at least one control
technology to apply as an appropriate P2 technique for each
industry sector’s identified ecosystem disturbance.
4. As you compare your previously tabulated total maximum
daily load (TMDL) limits from the Unit II work, describe how
each P2 control technique will be expected to affect the
facility’s effluent permit TMDL limits for each considered
ecosystem disturbance. If you find that it is more appropriate to
select more than one P2 technique for a given ecosystem
disturbance, you are encouraged to do so.
5. Be sure and create at least one paragraph for each industry
sector represented within each of the scenario applications
(natural gas well, confined animal feed operations of CAFO
lagoons and carcass pits, gypsum and caliche open pit

10. excavation mines, corn and alfalfa fields, and the feed mill).
You may find it convenient to use a level 2 heading (left-
justified, bold) to keep these scenario applications separated for
discussion within your document.
6. Be sure to cite every selected control option with APA Style
as you write, using the CSU Citation Guide as your APA
citations style guide. It also provides guidance that will help
you with APA-Style formatting.
7. Under the Abstract heading on p. 2 of the project document,
write a maximum of one sentence that reflects what you have
addressed in the document for this particular unit. This will
conclude the abstract content for this document. Be sure to keep
the abstract blocked (not indented) and double-spaced.
8. Under the References heading on the last page, update your
references to include the source references that you used to
inform your work in this section of your project. This will
conclude the reference entries for this document. Be sure to use
the CSU Citation Guide as your APA references style guide.
9. You must use at least your textbook and at least one
additional scholarly source (either a book or a scholarly journal
article from the CSU Online Library databases) for each section
of this document as indicated in earlier units, and this
requirement applies to this assignment’s section also. Each of
your sections’ content must be at least one full page in length,
in Times New Roman 12-pt. font, and double-spaced, with 1”
margins.
Once you enter your information for this unit, your Course
Project Document should be complete, and it should resemble a
formal research paper. Compare it to the example paper we
provided in Unit II and make sure it is formatted correctly
before submitting it.

11. You have just been hired as the senior environmental manager
for a large corporate agricultural complex in the midwestern
part of the United States, and you will be responsible for
keeping your organization in regulatory compliance with the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and your state’s
department of environmental quality (DEQ).
You quickly realize that your company has several active
effluent permits (one for combined stormwater/wastewater and
one for solid waste hauled off-site) but no pollution prevention
plan (P3). After visiting with the company’s executive team,
you learn that they have never been alerted of the need for a P3,
and they want you to fully explain to them why the organization
needs one.
They have asked you to be as comprehensive as possible so that
you can ultimately present this to the board of directors for
approval. As such, you have decided to conduct a P3 Pre-
Assessment Study to study and document the entire situation,
knowing that this will help you learn the organization’s
complete situation, even while being able to adequately convey
it to the board of directors.
Your organization, ABC Agriculture Production, Inc., has the
following general operational characteristics:
a. It is situated on 640 acres (one section) of land in
southwestern Nebraska.
b. Adjacent to the 640 acres (to the west) is a private rancher’s
property sustaining a commercially leased and producing
natural gas well.
c. Adjacent to the 640 acres (to the east) is a small, actively
running salt-fork of a major river (Platte River).
d. Confined animal feed operations (CAFO) barns and
production offices cover approximately 160 acres, with
separate, large, full barns for swine, chicken, and beef cattle
operations, one feed mill, and six barn-discharge wastewater
lagoons.
e. Corn and alfalfa hay fields span 320 acres, with groundwater
irrigation wells supplying several large center-pivot irrigation

12. sprinkler systems for both crops.
f. Gypsum (CaSO4-2H2O, or calcium sulfate dihydrate) and
caliche (CaCO3, or calcium carbonate) open pit excavation
mines are located on the remaining 160 acres, and the products
are mined and sold by the truckload.
g. Crops are routinely fertilized with commercial nitrogen
fertilizers, weeds are controlled with commercial herbicides,
and pests are controlled with commercial pesticides.
h. Animals are routinely vaccinated (injection) and
supplemented with vitamins and antibiotics (in both feed and
water).
i. Deceased animals’ carcasses are disposed of in a pit and
covered with hydrated lime (Ca[OH]2, or calcium hydroxide)
daily, with weekly pit coverage for a complete carcass burial.
j. There is an EPA-registered National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) permit active with active outfalls
for the CAFO wastewater lagoons and crop fields,
operationalized as a combined stormwater/wastewater effluent
permit. Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) includes limits for
the following:
a. Parameter
Limit
DO
> 11.0 mg/L (ppm)
BOD
150 ppm
COD
150 ppm
TSS
100 ppm
TDS
100 ppm
TKN
500 ppm
ammonia (NH3)
300 ppm

13. fecal coliform
non-detect (ND) (via EPA method 1681)
glyphosate (herbicide)
ND
atrazine (herbicide)
ND
chlorpyrifos (pesticide)
ND
malathion (pesticide)
ND
Phosphorous (P)
2.5 ppm
Potassium (K)
1.5 ppm
Calcium (Ca)
2.0 ppm
Magnesium (Mg)
0.5 ppm
pH
6.5 – 8.5
pharmaceutical scan
0.0001 ppm (via EPA method 1694)
temperature
± 10% ambient water temperatures
oil and grease
15 ppm (via EPA method 1664)
turbidity
< 10 %
flow
< 5,000 gallons per day (gpd)
k. There is a hazardous waste permit for disposing of all
discarded pesticide, herbicide, and pharmaceutical wastes.
l. Wind speeds average 12 mph, and rainfall averages 21
inches/year.

14. m. High/Low temps range from winter (40°F/14°F) to summer
(91°F/63°F).
n. Average humidity is 65.8% with an average dew point of
37.9°F.