The document describes a scenario where an agricultural production company has approved implementing recommendations from a Pollution Prevention Plan pre-assessment study. The company has assigned a 3-person field team to help monitor the program. The tasks involve developing a PowerPoint presentation summarizing the need for monitoring different aspects of the program, including methods for soil/groundwater/surface water/air monitoring, as well as monitoring for sustainable development and global pollution prevention performance. The presentation must cite sources from a textbook and scholarly journal article.
ScenarioYou have completed and submitted your Pollution Preventi
1. Scenario
You have completed and submitted your Pollution Prevention
Plan (P3) Pre-Assessment Study to the board of directors of
ABC Agriculture Production, Inc. They were impressed and
immediately moved to approve working through the capital
funding steps in order to implement your recommendations!
At your suggestion, a combined team approach is obviously
necessary, as it is going to take different people with different
skill sets to monitor the soil, groundwater, surface water, and
air. The team will be responsible for all of the field sampling
for commercial laboratory analysis, on-site field testing, data
collection, and data analysis. Consequently, the board of
directors has assigned you a field team of three internal staff
members to help you with the monitoring of the P3 program.
You have decided that you need to give a general idea of how
you anticipate monitoring the soil and vadose zone,
groundwater, surface water, and ambient air environment during
the P3 program. However, to ensure that you get the appropriate
quality of sampling from your field team, which is going to be
so critical to your monitoring program, you also want your
newly assembled team to see the importance of what they are
doing at the global level. As such, you have decided that this is
also a great opportunity to communicate the big picture of the
company’s new P3 program to them at the same time.
Tasks
Develop a PowerPoint presentation that includes the following:
a. a short summary of the need for P3 monitoring (no less than
two slides),
b. a summary of the monitoring methods for soil and the vadose
zone (no less than two slides),
2. c. a summary of the monitoring methods for groundwater (no
less than two slides),
d. a summary of the monitoring methods for surface water (no
less than two slides),
e. a summary of the monitoring methods for the ambient air
environment (no less than two slides),
f. a summary of the monitoring methods for sustainable
development (no less than two slides),
g. a summary of the monitoring methods for global society’s
pollution prevention performance (no less than two slides), and
h. a references slide containing all of the sources cited during
the presentation of the previous slides (no less than one slide).
Your PowerPoint must be at least 15 slides in length. Keep all
content on the slides, rather than using the notes section for
each slide.
When creating your PowerPoint, you must use your textbook
and at least one scholarly journal article from the CSU Online
Library databases (no more than 10 years old) as sources.
Adhere to APA Style when creating citations and references for
this assignment, while citing every slide where you pull from
your referenced sources to develop the slide content. APA
formatting, however, is not necessary.
1
2
3. 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
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
4. 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/stormwater
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
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
5. 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
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
6. 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 environment 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
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.
7. 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
· 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
8. 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
· 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
9. 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
Business Unit Industry
Ecosystem Disturbance
Available P2 Control Technology Options
Natural gas well
-Hydrocarbon (total petroleum hydrocarbon, or TPH)
contamination of soil and ground water
10. -Chloride contamination of soil and ground water from total
dissolved solids (TDS)
-Groundwater pH alterations
-Ambient air quality (volatile organic compounds [VOC],
vapors including hydrogen sulfide [H2S])
- Air purging and soil air extraction (M Srivastava et al., 2019)
- Phyto transformation (M Stivastava et al., 2019)
- Phytoremediation ( A Talabi & T Kayode, 2019)
- Electrostatic precipitation and scrubbers (JA Nathanson, 2019)
Confined animal feed operations (CAFO) lagoons and carcass
pits
-Biochemical (biological oxygen demand [BOD]), organic
biomatter solids (include oil and grease), fecal matter (fecal
coliform), dissolved solids (TDS), and ammonia (NH3) loading
of surface water, groundwater and soil
-Pharmaceutical products loading of surface water, groundwater
and soil
-Pharma-related ‘sharps’ (needles and scalpel blades) loading of
soil and surface water
-Surface water temperature and pH alterations
-Ambient air quality (odors)
-Rodent and insect control threats
- Phytoremediation ( A Talabi & T Kayode, 2019)
- Rodent birth control and CRISPR technology to regulate insect
fertility and sex determination (M Agarwal & A Verma, 2020)
Gypsum and caliche open pit excavation mines
-Native soil erosion/reduction
-Stormwater flow excess
-Native grass and shrub reduction
-Native animal species reduction
11. -Invasive species population
-Metals (calcium, magnesium) and total suspended solids (TSS)
loading of surface water
-Surface water temperature and pH alterations
-Ambient air quality (dusts and equipment exhaust of
hydrocarbon combustion products)
- Use of ground covers (N Zhang et al., 2020)
-Genetic biocontrol for invasive species (JL Teem et al., 2020)
Corn and alfalfa fields
-Organics (BOD), excessive total Kjeidahi nitrogen (TKN) and
nutrient loading (phosphorus, potassium) of soil, groundwater
and surface water
-Herbicide and pesticide loading of soil, groundwater and
surface water
-Surface water pH alterations
-Native soil erosion/reduction
Use of ground covers (N Zhang et al., 2020)
Feed mill
-Ambient air quality
-Native soil erosion
-Solids (TDS and TSS), turbidity and organics (BOD) loading of
surface water
Integration of water hyacinth plants into waste stabilization
ponds (Z Hoko & TN Toto, 2020)
Engineering Opportunities for Pollution Prevention
Natural gas well: Air sparging
This is a physicochemical process that is used to remove
oil spills from soil and water sources (M Stivastava et al.,
2019). This technique involves pressurized air that is injected
into contaminated ground water causing hydrocarbons to change
state from dissolved to vapor state. The vapor mixes with the air
and is sent to an extraction system where the contaminants are
12. removed. The method is more efficient on sandy soil in
comparison to the other soil types.
Confined animal feed operations (CAFO) lagoons and carcass
pits: Phyto transformation
Phyto transformation, also known as phytoremediation is the
process which involves the use of plants for the degradation,
extraction, and elimination of the contaminants from the air,
water, and soil (M Stivastava et al., 2019). Over the years,
plants have shown a sedentary nature and further developed
various abilities for dealing with hazardous compounds (M
Stivastava et al., 2019). They take up pollutants from the soil
(including surface and ground water) through the roots. These
pollutants are then transported to the rest of the plant parts
where they are either volatilized (made volatile to easily
evaporate to the atmosphere), metabolized or sequestered.
Corn and alfalfa fields: Use of ground covers
Agricultural activities bring about severe, often unseen
soil erosion and denudation through surface runoff (storm
water). The main pollutants are usually nitrates and phosphates
under heavy rainfall and over-irrigation (N Zhang et al., 2020)
given the excessive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and
herbicides. Ground covers can be used to mitigate a large
percentage of these effects. Ground covers are basically plants
(e.g. legumes) that grow thickly spreading close to the ground
and have been proven to reduce the ability of rain erosion,
increase water infiltration below the surface, trap sediments of
pollutants and enhance soil fertility (N Zhang et al., 2020) .
Gypsum and caliche open pit excavation mines:Genetic
biocontrol for invasive species
Species exotic to an ecosystem have the potential to cause harm
to the existing species and to the entire ecosystem. It is,
therefore, paramount that these species be controlled and new
introductions prevented to minimize the harm to human health,
13. agriculture and the environment (JL Teem et al., 2020). One
application of genetic biocontrol involves irradiation of
invasive insects. The male insects are exposed to radiation
waves making the infertile, barring their inability to fertilize the
females.
Feed mill: Integration of water hyacinth plants into waste
stabilization ponds
In their article, Z Hoko & TN Toto (2020) state that they
conducted a study to assess the feasibility of integrating the
problematic water hyacinth plants into the current treatment
process. They concluded that the water hyacinth may be
incorporated into the waste stabilization ponds system to
facilitate contaminant removal. However, the hyacinth should
be harvested from time to time to avoid secondary organic and
nutrient overload from dead plants.
References
Agarwal, M., & Verma, A. (2020). Modern Technologies for
Pest Control: A Review. In M. K. Nazal, & H. Zhao (Eds.),
Heavy Metals - Their Environmental Impacts and Mitigation.
IntechOpen.
https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93556
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
14. earth elements as emerging contaminants.
Science of the Total Environment,
636, 299-313.
Hoko, Z., & Toto, T. N. (2020). Integration of water hyacinth
plants into waste stabilization ponds: a case study of
Donnybrook 4 Sewage Ponds in Mabvuku-Tafara, Harare,
Zimbabwe.
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment,
192(10), 1-12.
Nathanson, J. A. (2019, December 24). air pollution control.
Encyclopedia Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/technology/air-pollution-
control
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.
Srivastava, M., Srivastava, A., Yadav, A., & Rawat, V. (2019).
Source and Control of Hydrocarbon Pollution. In M. Ince, & O.
K. Ince (Eds.), Hydrocarbon Pollution and its Effect on the
Environment. IntechOpen.
https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.86487
Talabi, A. and Kayode, T. (2019) Groundwater Pollution and
Remediation.
Journal of Water Resource and Protection,
11, 1-19. doi:
10.4236/jwarp.2019.111001.
Teem, J. L., Alphey, L., Descamps, S., Edgington, M. P.,
Edwards, O., Gemmell, N., ... & Roberts, A. (2020). Genetic
biocontrol for invasive species.
Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology,
15. 8, 452.
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.
Zhang, N., Zhang, Q., Li, Y., Zeng, M., Li, W., Chang, C., ... &
Huang, C. (2020). Effect of groundcovers on reducing soil
erosion and non-point source pollution in citrus orchards on red
soil under frequent heavy rainfall.
Sustainability,
12(3), 1146.
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.