Uncertainty Underground: Yucca Mountain and the Nation's High-Level Nuclear Waste. A. M. Macfarlane and R. C. Ewing, eds. 2006. Island Press, Washington, DC. 416 pp. $72 cloth, $29 paperback.

What options exist for the safe and reliable disposal of spent high-level radioactive material? From an engineering viewpoint, reprocessing makes the most sense. If such spent material is reprocessed, which is being done in various parts of the world, the volume of waste can be reduced by 80–90%. Many of the radioisotopes can find beneficial uses, and only the remaining long lived, high energy, lower volume residues need to be addressed as wastes. The benefit, of course, is that substantial volume reduction has occurred, which many believe reduces, yet does not totally eliminate, risk. No matter how attractive this volume reduction and the partial beneficial use option definitely are, reprocessing has become a political football in Washington with no practical policy change in sight. As a result only two disposal options remain: (1) store this spent material on site, where it is likely that such long-term storage was not contemplated and facility capacity becomes taxed, or (2) move the spent material to a central repository for long-term storage. Option #2 is the focus of this book, Uncertainty Underground: Yucca Mountain and the Nation's High-Level Nuclear Waste.

The Chemistry and Technology of Magnesia. M. A. Shand. 2006. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 266 pp. $89.95 cloth.

When information about specific materials, chemicals, and chemical technology is desired, those references beyond Lang's Handbook of Chemistry and the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics that are traditionally consulted are the Kirk Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Mellor's A Comprehensive Treatise on Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry, and the American Chemical Society's Monograph Series. Therefore, any new text regarding a specific material and its technology is usually compared with these classics: What information is new? Have there been new advances of knowledge? How comprehensive is the discussion of the subject matter?

I read with great interest Cynthia J. Branton's piece titled “An Introduction to Religion and Ecology” in the December 2006 issue of Environmental Practice. It took me back some 20-plus years ago, when I heard Russell Brenneman, Esq.—a distinguished member of the Hartford, Connecticut, law firm of Murtha, Cullina, Richter and Pinney, but more importantly known as Amy Brenneman's dad—speak to a congregation on “How to Paint Your Church Green.” This was a grassroots program as to how to be better stewards of your environment and build your faith simultaneously. Russ always embodied the basic tenets of environmental stewardship and was considered the dean of New England's environmental law community. He is presently the elder statesman of our environmental stewardship movement and through his presentations has hopefully created many a “green church” and “green congregation.”

What's Toxic, What's Not. Gary Ginsberg and Brian Toal. 2006. Berkley Books, the Penguin Group, New York. 376 pp. $15.00 paperback.

“Get the Facts—and Guard Your Family's Health” … “Everything You Need to Know about: Mold, Lead, Radon, Asbestos, Food Additives, Power Lines, Cancer Clusters, etc.”. Wow! If the descriptors on the covers are to be believed, this is the be-all and end-all of reference books. Yet this is a 376-page paperback with no mathematical or chemical equation in sight, not even an appendix of technical information or tables. In reality, the objective of this text is not to educate the technical specialist per se (although I did pick up a few interesting facts and some information that will be useful in my adult education outreach courses), but instead to cater to the average, non-technical person. It is this latter, target audience that requires factual, solid, non-jargony information presented in a competent, logical, and easy-to-comprehend manner.

Sustainable Business Development: Inventing the Future through Strategy, Innovation, and Leadership. David L. Rainey. 2006. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 734 pp. $85.00 hardcover.

In the introduction to Sustainable Business Development, the author states that sustainable outcomes result from “profound changes in strategic thinking, leadership, and management,” which essentially result from enterprise thinking, visionary leadership, strategic thinking, and product and technological innovation. The book's philosophy is to show how corporations can use these qualities to support their sustainable business development and sustainable progress.

Basic Concepts of Environmental Chemistry, 2nd Edition. Des W. Connell. 2005. Taylor and Francis/CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 462 pp. $79.95 cloth.

Over the years, there have been many excellent environmental chemistry texts written; however, due to the dynamic nature of this field, the entrance of a more current and timely text is always welcomed. There are essentially two types of scientific texts. The first type is an objective assessment of the scientific field that focuses on the essential information and concepts needed to rigorously assess a situation. The second type presents a slightly biased perspective, which perhaps could lead the reader to preclude an assessment away from the full spectrum of possible conclusions; it is important that authors be ever vigilant of the latter. For example, science has determined that the major reasons for pollution and environmental impairment are due both to Mother Nature (volcanic action, hurricanes, floods, forest fires, etc.) and societal needs (such as transportation related emissions, air conditioning power demands, higher lifestyle requirements, etc.). Industry is not the culprit it once was, and what impairment it creates is now attributed to increased societal demands. The initial impression I received from this text, however, is that industry is more of a major culprit than a segment of the whole problem.

Environmental Instrumentation and Analysis Handbook. R. D. Down and J. H. Lehr. 2005. John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, NJ. 1,068 pp. $150 cloth.

This compendium of information, containing 1,013 pages of text and 53 pages of index, is a comprehensive and authoritative reference work. In its six sections and 44 chapters, virtually all aspects of the field are covered, including Waste Water Monitoring, Air Monitoring, Flow Monitoring, and Ground Water Monitoring. The preface reads, “More than three dozen talented environmental professionals who are experienced and adept at extracting the most telling and accurate data from the ‘field’ have come together in this book to catalog nearly all the equipment and techniques that are available to modern scientists, engineers, and technicians.” This is perhaps the most appropriate description of the text.

Every year I eagerly read the Annual Report of the Connecticut Council on Environmental Quality and use its information in the courses I teach at Rensselaer at Hartford and in the seminars in which I participate. Because of the data it provides, the Annual Report is a very valuable resource and perhaps deserves much more widespread attention than it presently commands. Unfortunately, in recent years many of its findings have been disappointing. This disappointment is not of the Council's making at all, but is a function of the system that is being evaluated. Perhaps the key issue is that, despite all the command and control programs of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CDEP), Connecticut's environment is just not improving. In fact, some of the critical indicators such as “miles driven per person” and “taking the bus” are indicating worrisome trends; miles driven per person per day are up and mass transit utilization is declining. Based on the facts presented, a question arises as to whether the era of command and control regulation of the “usual culprits” is ending, and whether one of collaboration, reeducation, and refocusing should begin.Author's note: This is an embellished version of recent written testimony presented to the Connecticut Council on Environmental Quality. Many points are of universal importance, and its dissemination may have merit, especially if a dialog is fostered.

Illustrated Dictionary and Resource Directory of Environmental & Occupational Health, 2nd Edition. Herman Koren. 2005. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 702 pp. $139.95 hardcover.

According to the Foreword, the 1st Edition contained 7,500 entries, whereas this 2nd Edition contains 16,000; clearly, a substantial upgrading has been accomplished in response to a professional need. As the Introduction eloquently describes the field, “Environmental and occupational health is not a single topic, but rather a colorful, complex, and diversified range of interrelated subjects including all the basic sciences, engineering, computer science, government, disease, injury identification, prevention, and control.” It goes on to list a plethora of other subtopics that are covered. Considering the facts presented thus far, this volume should be an exhaustive compilation of information critical to the effectiveness of the environmental, health, and safety professional. The inclusion or exclusion of a particular term is not an objective of this review; of particular importance are the readability, accessibility, completeness, and user friendliness, which are critical factors in creating a usable, reliable reference volume.

Environmental Law Handbook, 18th Edition. Thomas F. P. Sullivan, ed. 2005. Government Institutes, Rowman & Littlefield, Inc., Blue Ridge Summit, PA. 908 pp. $99 hardcover.

If a reference book makes it to its 18th Edition and has been serving its audience for over 32 years, recognition of its value needs to be accorded the editor and contributors from the outset. If it weren't for their talent and sensitivity to the needs of their audience, this milestone would not have been achieved.

Alfred R. Conklin Jr., with Rolf Meinholtz. 2004. Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York. 355 pp. $135 hardcover.

Whether for remediation, evaluation, design, or regulation, the need for quality information is essential. The two most common questions asked by environmental design and regulatory professionals are, What is the degree of contamination? and What contaminants are present? The actions that must be taken are based on the resulting answers, and quality laboratories are sought to provide accurate and reproducible analyses. The fact usually missed is that the data provided are functions of the quality of samples taken, and unfortunately the weakest link in the system is many times the lack of a quality sample. The quality of a sample can be affected, for example, by where it was taken, how it was taken, how it was preserved, and/or how it was transported.

Frederick W. Pontius, ed. 2003. John Wiley and Sons, New York. 1,029 pp. $150 cloth.

In many cases, the “clean water” focus has been from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) water discharge perspective and on ensuring that the water emanating from various point sources is “clean.” Such a perspective is, of course, necessary, and water that emanates from such sources into an ecosystem does need to be clean in order to mitigate any potential negative ecosystem impacts. For the general populace, however, the most important facet of water regulation and technology is always eclipsed by the USEPA initiative. This equally important facet is that of drinking water.