Archives of Environmental Protection is the oldest Polish scientifi c journal regarding environmental engineering and protection. It has been published by the Institute of Environmental Engineering of PAS in Zabrze since 1975. The Committee on Environmental Engineering of PAS became its co-publisher in 2011. The quarterly publishes original articles (earlier, also announcements) concerning broadly understood areas of the environmental engineering and protection. The subjects include: air, land and water protection; technologies of fl ue gases, soil and wastewater treatment; transformations and transportation of pollutants in the environment; measurement techniques used in research and engineering as well as environmental monitoring. The published articles also focus on the reclamation and management of derelict lands, environmental management and other questions related to the environmental engineering and protection. The journal has been abstracted by Thomson Scientific since 2006 in the following databases: Science Citation Index Expanded, Biological Abstracts and BIOSIS Previews. Moreover, the journal was given the impact factor (IF) in 2010. The following article presents statistical data as well as a brief history and description of the journal.

Oil derivatives are commonly used and they play a key role in the economy. They are used in many industries. Such big amounts of oil derivatives products generate vast quantity of pollution. Those pollutants can get into the ground and water beyond any control during catastrophes or due to inadequately managed waste and storage. The aim of the paper was to determine the level of oil derivatives pollution in the groundwater on the area of a former airbase, where between 1950 and 1990 the Soviet Army stationed. Analysis was carried out on groundwater samples from three piezometers placed on the area of the former airbase. In the samples some parameters were determined, i.e. temperature, reaction, electrolytic conductivity, the depth of groundwater surface, the content of aliphatic hydrocarbons, monoaromatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Determined amount of dissolved hydrocarbons was large what proves unsatisfactory effectiveness of previous rehabilitation processes.

The compost derived from cellulosic material coming from the Public Utility Company in Zabrze

(Poland) was investigated for its capability for adsorbing acid dyes from aqueous solution at various concentrations of the dyes and the compost dosages. Four acid dyes were investigated: Acid Red 18 (AR-18), Acid Blue

9 (AB-9), Acid Green 16 (AG-16) and Acid Black 1 (ABk-1). The adsorption isotherms were determined by

comparing the experimental data with the isotherm models (Freundlich, Langmuir and Dubinin–Radushkevich

models). The sorption capacity of the compost depended on the initial concentrations of dyes in the solution,

compost dosage, and on the structure of dyes. The maximum sorption capacities of the compost for adsorbing

particular dyes may be ordered as follows: ABk-1 > AG-16 > AB-9 > AR-18. The amounts of bound and the

percentages of removed acid dyes from effluent depended on the adsorbent dosage. The growth of the dye removal percentages with growing adsorbent mass may be attributed to the growth of the adsorbent uptake surface

with growth of the adsorbent mass. The dyes were bound onto the surface of compost through the electrostatic

interaction between the surface (negatively charged at pH > pHPZC) and the dye cations (AG-16), and/or through

the hydrogen bond between the functional groups of the humic matter in compost (–OH, –COOH) and the

functional surface groups of AR-18, AB-9 and ABk-1 dyes (–OH, –NH2

). At the experiment conditions, the

Freundlich and Dubinin-Raduskevich adsorption isotherm models fitted the equilibrium data very well (much

better than the Langmuir one). The values of 1/n in the Freundlich equation and E in the Dubinin-Raduskevich

one indicate the favourable adsorption. The studied compost may be used as a low-cost sorbent for the removal

of acid dyes from wastewater released by textile industries. However, elevated values of chemical oxygen demand (COD) in the final solutions may enhance the solubility of humic compounds.