Environmental conflict analysis (henceforth ECA) has become a key factor for the viability of projects and welfare of affected populations. In this study, we propose an approach for ECA using an integrated grey clustering and entropy-weight method (The IGCEW method). The case study considered a mining project in northern Peru. Three stakeholder groups and seven criteria were identified. The data were gathered by conducting field interviews. The results revealed that for the groups urban population, rural population and specialists, the project would have a positive, negative and normal social impact, respectively. We also noted that the criteria most likely to generate environmental conflicts in order of importance were: access to drinking water, poverty, GDP per capita and employment. These results could help regional and central governments to seek appropriate measures to prevent environmental conflicts. The proposed method showed practical results and a potential for application to other types of projects. A new integrated method for environmental conflict analysis.The grey clustering method applied to quantify qualitative information.The entropy-weight method applied to identify divergent criteria.A case study of a mining project in northern Peru.

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Environmental conflict analysis using an integrated grey clustering and entropy-weight method

Groundwater quality which relates closely to human health has become as important as its quantity due to the demand for safe water. In the present study, an entropy-weighted fuzzy water quality index (WQI) has been proposed for performing groundwater quality assessment in and around an industrial park, northwest China, where domestic water requirements are solely met by groundwater. The human health risk was assessed with the model recommended by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. In addition, the sources of major ions and main contaminants were also analyzed. The study shows that groundwater in the study area has been contaminated conjunctively by natural processes and industrial and agricultural activities. Nitrate, manganese (Mn), fluoride, total dissolved solids, total hardness and sulfate are major contaminants influencing groundwater quality. Nitrate and heavy metals such as Mn are mainly affected by human agricultural activities and industrial production, while other contaminants are mainly originated from mineral weathering and water-rock interactions. The results of water quality assessment suggest that half of the groundwater samples collected are of medium quality thus require pretreatment before human consumption. The mean health risk caused by the consumption of contaminated groundwater in the area is 8.42 × 10(-5) per year which surpasses the maximum acceptable level (5 × 10(-5) per year) recommended by the International Commission on Radiologic Protection. The entropy-weighted fuzzy WQI proposed in this study can not only assign proper weights to parameters but also treat uncertainties associated with water quality classification. This study will be of interest to international environmentalists and hydrogeologists. It will also be useful in regional groundwater management and protection.

Origin and assessment of groundwater pollution and associated health risk: a case study in an industrial park, northwest China.

Drinking water is susceptible to the poor quality of contaminated water affecting the health of humans. Thus, it is an essential study to investigate factors affecting groundwater quality and its suitability for drinking uses. In this paper, the entropy theory, multivariate statistics, spatial autocorrelation index, and geostatistics are applied to characterize groundwater quality and its spatial variability in the Sylhet district of Bangladesh. A total of 91samples have been collected from wells (e.g., shallow, intermediate, and deep tube wells at 15-300-m depth) from the study area. The results show that NO3-, then SO42-, and As are the most contributed parameters influencing the groundwater quality according to the entropy theory. The principal component analysis (PCA) and correlation coefficient also confirm the results of the entropy theory. However, Na+ has the highest spatial autocorrelation and the most entropy, thus affecting the groundwater quality. Based on the entropy-weighted water quality index (EWQI) and groundwater quality index (GWQI) classifications, it is observed that 60.45 and 53.86% of water samples are classified as having an excellent to good qualities, while the remaining samples vary from medium to extremely poor quality domains for drinking purposes. Furthermore, the EWQI classification provides the more reasonable results than GWQIs due to its simplicity, accuracy, and ignoring of artificial weight. A Gaussian semivariogram model has been chosen to the best fit model, and groundwater quality indices have a weak spatial dependence, suggesting that both geogenic and anthropogenic factors play a pivotal role in spatial heterogeneity of groundwater quality oscillations.

Characterizing groundwater quality ranks for drinking purposes in Sylhet district, Bangladesh, using entropy method, spatial autocorrelation index, and geostatistics

Rare earths (RE), chemically uniform group of elements due to similar physicochemical behavior, are termed as lanthanides. Natural occurrence depends on the geological circumstances and has been of long interest for geologist as tools for further scientific research into the region of ores, rocks, and oceanic water. The review paper mainly focuses to provide scientific literature about rare earth elements (REEs) with potential environmental and health effects in understanding the research. This is the initial review of RE speciation and bioavailability with current initiative toward development needs and research perceptive. In this paper, we have also discussed mineralogy, extraction, geochemistry, analytical methods of rare earth elements. In this study, REEs with their transformation and vertical distribution in different environments such as fresh and seawater, sediments, soil, weathering, transport, and solubility have been reported with most recent literature along key methods of findings. Speciation and bioavailability have been discussed in detail with special emphasis on soil, plant, and aquatic ecosystems and their impacts on the environment. This review shows that REE gained more importance in last few years due to their detrimental effects on living organisms, so their speciation, bioavailability, and composition are much more important to evaluate their health risks and are discussed thoroughly as well.

Chemical speciation and bioavailability of rare earth elements (REEs) in the ecosystem: a review

Prediction of groundwater quality using efficient machine learning technique.

Ground water of the farm settlements in the bitumen deposit area of Western Nigeria were tested for pH, conductivity, turbidity, total dissolved solid, sulphate, phosphate, nitrogen nitrate, chloride, alkalinity, total hardness, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium and total coliform in the dry season (March) and rainy season (August) of years 2008 and 2009 using atomic absorption spectrometer and standard analytical methods. Conductivity, pH, turbidity, phosphate ions and total coliform values obtained in some of the wells were out of the recommended range for drinking water. Water quality index analysis was carried out using information entropy method. Water quality index of the wells when compared with the permissible limits of international standards, ranked the bore hole as ‘excellent’ in the dry season of year 2009 and just ‘good’ in the rainy season of the same year. Ground water sampling stations were ranked extremely poor at least once out of the four seasons considered. Water quality index ranking also showed that the quality of the wells declined over the years. The correlation coefficient matrix (p < 0.05) of water quality index and the parameters showed significant relationships between water quality index and total coliform (0.99), total dissolved solids and conductivity (0.96), hardness and Ca2+ (0.68), hardness and Mg2+ (0.75). Water quality index also showed moderate significant relationship with total dissolved solid, conductivity and N–NO3
 −. High concentration of total coliform in most of the shallow wells in the environment, due to bitumen deposit, renders them unfit for human consumption unless properly treated.

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Water quality index of the ground water of bitumen deposit impacted farm settlements using entropy weighted method

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls were investigated in sediment of bitumen deposit impacted area of Agbabu, Nigeria, to determine the present level of contamination with these toxic compounds prior to exploitation. Samples were collected during the dry season (March) and the wet season (August) of year 2008. Analysis was carried out with gas chromatography using mass spectrometry detector for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and flame ionization detector for polychlorinated biphenyls. In the dry season sum of concentration of PAHs ranged from zero to 0.12 ± 0.06 ppm, while in the wet season the minimum was 0.18 ± 0.07 ppm and the maximum was 1.04 ± 0.16 ppm. Most of these values were higher than sum of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons concentrations of 1–10 μg/kg indicating that they were likely to come from anthropogenic sources. Average concentrations of PAHs such as naphthalene and benzo (a) pyrene obtained in sediment in the wet season in some of the stations were higher than recommended limits. The linear regression analysis between sum of concentrations and percentage organic carbon showed no significant correlation in sediment in the dry season (r2 = 0.0025) and in the wet season (r2 = 0.1345). The predominance of 4–6 ringed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and the ratios between pairs of individual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons showed that they are likely to have come from pyrolytic sources. No polychlorinated biphenyl congener was detected in the samples.

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Levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls in sediment of bitumen deposit impacted area.

Speciation of heavy metals Cu, Cd, Pb, Ni, Zn, Mn, Fe, Cr and Hg was carried out on sediment of Agbabu with a sequential extraction procedure in the dry and rainy seasons of year 2008. Hg was not detected in all the fractions in the two seasons. In the dry season, all the metals were mostly abundant in Fraction-5, however, Cr (30%) and Mn (23.73%) had high abundance in Fraction-1, Zn (30.97%) was high in Fraction-III, Cu (45.14%) and Fe (31.67%) were also high in Fraction-4. In the rainy season, Cr (35.82%) was mostly abundant in Fraction-1, Zn (36.71%) was high in Fraction-3, Cu (29.28%) was high in Fraction-4 and the remaining metals were mostly abundant in Fraction-V. From the results of the two seasons, the metals had high abundance in Fraction-5 indicating firstly, low mobility and bioavailability, secondly, low degree of pollution by the metals considered and thirdly, the origin of the metals in the environment was likely to be lithogenic. The average potential mobility was calculated for the metals in the two seasons and the following decreasing order was obtained: Cr>Zn>Cu>Mn>Fe>Cd>Ni>Pb>Hg. @JASEM J. Appl. Sci. Environ. Manage. December, 2010, Vol. 14 (4) 47 - 51

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E. O. Fagbote

Papers

Water quality index of the ground water of bitumen deposit impacted farm settlements using entropy weighted method

Levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls in sediment of bitumen deposit impacted area.

Speciation of Heavy Metals in Sediment of Agbabu Bitumen deposit area, Nigeria