Research and Technology Development Activities to Address the DOE-EM Environmental Mercury Challenge - 17497
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (United States)
Human activities have altered trace metal distributions globally. This is especially true for the trace metal mercury (Hg), a pervasive global pollutant that can be methylated to form highly toxic methylmercury (MeHg), which bio-accumulates in aquatic food webs, endangering humans and other biota. Currently there are more than 3,000 mercury-contaminated sites identified worldwide and the United Nations Environment Programme has recently highlighted the risk of this contamination to human health. The Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) represents an example of one of these mercury-contaminated sites. Unlike other contaminants-metals, radionuclides, and organic solvents-that impact the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) cleanup program at the ORR and other DOE sites, mercury has several unique characteristics that make environmental remediation of the Y-12 National Security Complex one of the most formidable challenges ever encountered. These distinctive physicochemical properties for mercury include the following: it is a liquid at ambient temperature and pressure; it is the only metal that bio-magnifies; and it is the only contaminant transported as a cation, as a dissolved or gaseous elemental metal (similar to an organic solvent), or as both a cation and a dissolved or gaseous elemental metal under environmental conditions. Because of these complexities, implementing cost effective and sustainable solutions that reduce mercury flux from various primary and secondary contamination sources will require linking basic science understanding and applied research advancements into Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management's (OREM) cleanup process. Currently, DOE is investing in mercury-related research through a variety of programs, including the Office of Science-sponsored Critical Interfaces Science Focus Area, EM headquarters-sponsored Applied Field Research Initiative, OREM-sponsored Lower East Fork Poplar Creek (LEFPC) Mercury Technology Development Program, Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR), and EM's Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program. Collectively, these multi-institutional and multidisciplinary programs are generating new tools, knowledge, and remediation approaches that will enable efficient cleanup of mercury contaminated systems locally and globally. In this talk we will highlight the progress made to date in addressing key knowledge gaps required to solve this watershed-scale conundrum. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 27646, 85285-7646 Tempe, AZ (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 22802476
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-19-WM-17497; TRN: US19V0488046870
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WM2017: 43. Annual Waste Management Symposium, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 5-9 Mar 2017; Other Information: Country of input: France; 25 refs.; available online at: http://archive.wmsym.org/2017/index.html
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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