GEOSTRATA Magazine

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines environmental justice as ensuring the “just treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of income, race, color, national origin, Tribal affiliation, or disability, in the decision-making processes and Federal activities impacting human health and the environment.” In its Code of Ethics, ASCE emphasizes the responsibility of civil engineers to uphold public health, safety, and welfare, treat all individuals with respect, dignity, and fairness, avoid discrimination and harassment, and address the diverse historical, social, and cultural needs of the community. Integrating environmental justice into civil engineering practices, such as remediating contaminated sites, is ethically imperative and necessary. The impact of hazards associated with contaminated sites or waste facilities is not uniform across all individuals and population groups. Certain individuals and groups are disproportionately affected by such exposures. Specifically, disadvantaged populations, such as those with lower income levels residing near contaminated sites or waste facilities, are more severely impacted. This heightened vulnerability is attributed to increased exposure to contaminants and limited resources available for self-protection. Therefore, the agency in charge of the remediation program (e.g., the EPA) needs to prioritize environmental justice when civil engineers design remediation strategies for contaminated sites.

Since 2005, unmanned aerial vehicles and satellite-based remote sensing have gained a lot of attention in civil and geotechnical engineering because of their ability to aid in surveying and post-disaster reconnaissance. In both research and practice, a host of remote sensing technologies are now commonly used to produce 3D digital elevation models and track surficial movements of geo-features like embankments, dams, slopes, and faults. The sessions at the annual G-I Geo-Congress now commonly host presentations and talks on use of UAV-based Structure from Motion photogrammetry, terrestrial or aerial LiDAR, and satellite-based In-SAR for geotechnical, mining, and geologic engineering applications around the world. Many universities have converted their traditional surveying courses to broader instruction in geomatics using these tools. Industry and government now have practice groups with more than a decade of experience in these tools and applications.

By now, the term “climate change” is familiar to most of us. Despite its somewhat abstract nature, there's mounting evidence of its real-world impact on our planet. Take, for example, the devastating wildfire in Lytton, B.C., Canada, in 2021. The village recorded unprecedented high temperatures for three consecutive days in June 2021, leading to a fierce wildfire that impacted thousands of lives and properties. This is just one of many incidents that showcase the reality of climate change and its consequences. Nations worldwide have recognized the urgency of addressing climate change. A landmark initiative in this direction is the Paris Agreement, which was endorsed in 2015 by 196 countries. This agreement aims to curb global warming by keeping the rise in global temperatures well below 2°C.

Landfilling has been the primary means of managing a wide variety of wastes and byproducts, ranging from municipal solid waste and industrial, agricultural, and mining waste to coal combustion ash, in the U.S. as well as globally. Gas, leachate, and heat are the main byproducts of landfilling. The main components of landfill gas from municipal solid waste landfills are methane and carbon dioxide, which are both primary greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide is the first, and methane is the second most significant positive radiative climate driver that adversely impacts earth's climate, with nearly monotonically increasing atmospheric concentrations recorded over the last several decades. Overall, anthropogenic, or human derived, GHGs consist of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases.

California's iconic landscapes come with a fiery threat: wildfires. These blazes have ravaged the state for decades, causing economic losses, social disruption, and environmental damage. The past two decades have seen a worrying increase in wildfires, fueled by climate change and human expansion into wildlands. Despite significant investments in wildfire management and suppression, metrics from California wildfires (described below) reveal a sobering reality: the flames continue to ravage vast swathes of land, wreaking havoc on the state's economy, society, and environment.

Few nightmares in modern society conjure up such apocalyptic visions as radioactivity let loose in the environment. This fear is commonplace despite the fact that Mother Earth is naturally very radioactive, and living organisms have evolved and thrived in the presence of natural radioactivity, primarily from uranium and its decay products, over eons of time. Natural background concentrations of uranium in soil seldom exceed 11.7 mg/kg, a level that poses no health risk. However, when radioactive materials are concentrated to levels that pose risks to human health, concerns about exposure to them are justified and can pose challenges to geoprofessionals.