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Pas d'enregistrements
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Raina Maier |
2022 |
Identifying drought adapted, native metal hyperaccumulating plants, and optimizing their phytoextraction potential in the Santa Cruz River Valley region. |
PHYTOEXTRACTION
PHYTOMINING
PHYTOREMEDIATION
HYPERACCUMULATION
XRF ANALYSIS
ECOCATALYSTS
HEAVY METALS
GREEN CHEMISTRY
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Southeastern Arizona, including the upper valley of the Santa Cruz River, has one of the most diverse mining localities in the state. Mine wastes at many legacy mine sites in this region are sources and sinks of toxic heavy metals and they directly cause the ecological, economic, and social damage. A new, transformative strategy via interdisciplinary collaborative efforts is urgently needed to drive a wedge between an unsafe and altered environment and the natural ecosystem including its native inhabitants. We propose a series of field surveys and greenhouse experiments, to perform screening of elemental concentration of plants growing naturally on legacy mine sites across the Southeastern Arizona. By identifying native plants that accumulate high concentrations of metals into their leaves, we will not only be able to accelerate the development of “green” remediation techniques at the impacted lands across Santa Cruz River valley, but also greatly contribute to our ongoing efforts towards developing a new generation of “eco”-catalysts – so far not addressed in the Santa Cruz Valley region – by returning the extracted heavy metals to supply chain. Further, we see this research as the initial step to create the socio-ecological infrastructure in the upper valley of the Santa Cruz River region. We anticipate that in longer time perspective our findings and contribution to development of novel technologies will stimulate local communities on an economic level, by creating new job opportunities in plant-based technological operations towards overall landscape enhancement. |
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Larry Fisher |
2020 |
Building capacity to assess watershed health, water quality, and the anticipated impacts of mining in Southern Arizona |
Watershed management
monitoring
mining
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The purpose of this project is to produce an assessment report and database of indicators available to the public, further develop and refine CWP’s State of the Watershed model, as well as extend this work to other networks to enhance capacity on watershed health assessment in the region. The project also seeks to publish more widely the results and experience to date, in order to further extend the reach of this work, and to engage and mentor university students and partners from other local watershed groups on these important science-based and participatory research methods. |
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Luís Novo |
2020 |
Distribution and accumulation of metals in soil and vegetation surrounding a molybdenum roasting facility at the Sierrita mine, Pima County |
Phytomining
Metal pollution
Rhenium
Phytoremediation
Mine tailings
Pima County
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Mining provides essential raw materials for an industrialized society. However, it often comes at a great cost. Mining activities, including mineral processing-related emissions and the disposal of tailings, can be severely hazardous to human health and the environment. In Pima County, copper mining began in the 1870s. Today, the combined output of its three major mines represents nearly a quarter of the US total copper production. The Sierrita mine is an open-pit copper and molybdenum mining complex, whose first claims were recorded in 1895. Today, the Sierrita operation comprises a 100,000-metric ton-per-day concentrator that produces copper and molybdenum concentrate. Molybdenite (MoS2), is one of the by-products in this concentrate, and the main host of rhenium (Re). Following oxidation roasting of the concentrate, Re is released as rhenium heptoxide (Re2O7) with the flue gases, and then dispersed on the soil in its most stable and bioavailable form - the perrhenate ion (ReO4-). Rhenium is one of the scarcest (7 × 10^−8 %) and most broadly dispersed elements on Earth’s upper crust. Because of its rarity and distinguishing physicochemical properties, rhenium is also one of the costliest metals. Recent reports suggest that certain plants may have the ability to accumulate economically profitable amounts of Re, opening a window of opportunity for phytomining – a plant-based technique to retrieve valuable elements from natural and waste substrates. The main objectives of this project are to investigate the occurrence of metal contamination due to molybdenum roasting emissions, and assess the viability of field-scale Re phytomining. |
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Monica Ramirez |
2016 |
Improving Environmental Health Literacy at Mining Sites: Framing Community Perspectives via a Citizen Social Science Program |
environmental health
citizen social science
mining
environmental literacy
public perception of mining
public participation
community-engaged research
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Mining operations pose a potential risk to human health and the environment. Climate change will only exacerbate the risks posed by mining in arid and semi-arid environments like the desert Southwest. When combining the issues associated with mine-site rehabilitation and sustainability, the most critical issue that arises is generating a standard for determining the ‘acceptable’ rehabilitation of the land and how to reduce environmental health threats. Understanding the current state of environmental health literacy, the needs of community members neighboring mining areas, and the community’s perspective on the extent of health, social, cultural and biophysical disruption from mining activities must be properly addressed to conduct and improve environmental health promotion programs. The aims are to build community-academic partnerships in mining communities in Pima County and the Tohono O’odham Nation and capture the voice of communities via the community based participatory research method known as photovoice. |
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Franck Poupeau |
2016 |
Participation publique et conflit environnemental : la question des conditions sociales de l’engagement dans la controverse, le cas du projet de mine de cuivre de Rosemont (Pima County). |
Pima County (Arizona)
activités minières
régulation environnementale
sustainable mining
conflit environnemental
participation publique
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Cette proposition de recherche s’inscrit dans la continuité d’une première mission réalisée au sein de l’OHMI Pima County du 1er septembre au 20 décembre 2015. Cette étude exploratoire a consisté en un travail d’état de l’art sur les contextes historiques et miniers de l’Arizona et du Pima County, prolongé par une analyse du conflit environnemental de Rosemont à travers une Analyse des Correspondances Multiples (ACM) de la participation organisée par l’United States Forest Service (USFS). En effet, aux Etats-Unis, la régulation environnementale qui encadre les effets des actions anthropiques sur les écosystèmes locaux est régie depuis les années 1970 par un arsenal législatif contraignant. Ces lois incluent une dimension de participation publique obligatoire dans la perspective de construire l’acceptation environnementale et sociale du projet, dans un contexte où la résolution, voire la prévention des conflits environnementaux est devenue « une obsession des sociétés démocratiques contemporaines » (L. Laslaz, « Conflit environnemental », Hypergéo, 2014). S’ajoutent à cette participation publique normative les stratégies de participation de la population au processus décisionnel mises en place par la compagnie minière dans le cadre du sustainable mining, réponse des entreprises à l’impératif mondial de développement durable. Ce projet de recherche a ainsi pour objectif de poursuivre l'enquête sur la question de l'efficacité de ces dispositifs de participation top down par la voie statistique, approfondie par une campagne d’entretiens semi-directifs, dans un cadre d’emboitement d’échelles et de compétences (locale, comté, Etat, fédérale) qui démultiplie les instances possibles de dialogue sans pour autant parvenir à un consensus. |
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