The Evolution of Community Engagement Through Ongoing Services Provided by the Fernald Preserve Visitors Center - 17402

Conference · Sat Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2017

OSTI ID:22802414

Smiley, Sue ^[1]; Borgman, Penny; Homer, John ^[2]

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1. US Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management, Harrison, Ohio (United States)
2. Navarro Research and Engineering, Inc., Harrison, Ohio (United States)

The Fernald Preserve is located on the site of a former uranium-processing plant that underwent extensive environmental remediation followed by comprehensive ecological restoration. It is managed by the US Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management and is located approximately 29 kilometers (km) (18 miles) northwest of Cincinnati, Ohio. Remedial activities and subsequent ecological restoration have converted the site from an industrial production facility to an undeveloped park, encompassing a series of wetlands, prairies, and forested communities. Although the remediation of buildings and soil contamination was completed in 2006, site aquifer remediation is ongoing and remains a topic of interest to the community. Much of the site is open to the public, with approximately 11 km (7 miles) of year-round walking trails within the 425-hectare (1050-acre) site. The Fernald Preserve Visitors Center is open Wednesdays through Saturdays and site staff are available to accommodate program requests as needed. The Visitors Center was originally requested by stakeholders involved in developing recommendations for the site's final land use. Stakeholders requested a 'multi-use educational facility' that would recognize the site's history, serve as a source of site information, and recognize the contributions of energy workers during the Cold War. This building was converted from a warehouse built to support site cleanup and was ultimately awarded a Platinum rating by the U.S. Green Building Council. The Visitors Center was designed to accommodate site history exhibits, free meeting space for nonprofit groups, and public interpretive programs. It was opened to the public in 2008, and today's ongoing visitor services are continually adapted to meet the needs of current stakeholders. Over time, the interpretive services have evolved to include more diverse onsite cultural and natural history public programs, events, and activities. Today's community engagement efforts include public and private onsite programs and exhibits, public and private offsite programs and displays, meeting space, and regular open hours for the Visitors Center. This paper presents the various methods used to engage the greater Cincinnati community at the Fernald Preserve. (authors)

• Research Organization: WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 27646, 85285-7646 Tempe, AZ (United States)
• OSTI ID: 22802414
• Report Number(s): INIS-US--19-WM-17402
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
CONTAMINATION
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
REMEDIAL ACTION
URANIUM