An approach to evaluating and monitoring ecological resources for sustainability on DOE remediation sites: Hanford as a case study - 15524
- Rutgers University (United States)
- Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (United States)
- Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation - CRESP (United States)
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (United States)
Protecting ecological and environmental resources is a worthy aspect of the Department of Energy's site missions, for each of its sites, during and after remediation. Ecological resources are important to a range of stakeholders, including regulatory agencies, resource agencies, natural resource trustees, Tribal governments, and the public, and may be an essential component of Native American cultural resources. Because the nature and value of ecological resources can change over time as a result of remediation, succession, and global climate change, it is imperative for DOE to have instituted an acceptable method of evaluating resources before initiation of active remediation, over the ensuing century when institutional and engineering controls are considered to be in effect. Having such a methodology in place also would be key to resource sustainability. Department of Energy sites generally have environmental programs, so instituting specific unified practices for evaluating resources should not be difficult to implement. Instituting these practices would assure the public that ecological resources, as well as human and cultural resources, are being protected now, and can be protected into the future. Key ecological species and/or unique habitats have been preserved at Department of Energy sites since the mid-20. century because of federal government stewardship. Such preservation is particularly true for the sites with larger land areas, including the Hanford Reservation, the Idaho National Laboratory and the Savannah River Site. Individual sites typically have extensive studies of site biodiversity, but site resources are not routinely examined within a regional or national context (Eco-region). The evaluation of the on-site resources with those resources in the appropriate Eco-region provides a context for 'valuing' on- site resources. On-site resources should also be evaluated in terms of federal and state legislation where species may have legal protection and require legal consideration during remediation if present or adjacent to the remediation site. A method is needed in this study for evaluating ecological resources prior to remediation and during remediation, and a paradigm is proposed that will ensure sustainability. Finally, in a period of climate change and instability, developing methods of evaluating ecological resources is essential to successful protection, enhancement, and sustainability. The ecological methodology is part of a Hanford site-wide Risk Review Project, conducted by the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation (CRESP). Our method adapts an existing methodology that includes using established levels for evaluating ecological resources by expanding the existing methodology to include field work for validating previous resource level designations, to assess the occurrence of invasive/exotic species, and to identify landscape scale features (patch size, connectivity). Evaluations should be conducted in the remediation unit itself, and in a buffer zone surrounding the remediation site. The methodology described has been applied to several remediation areas at Hanford, and issues that emerged during its application are discussed. The methodology can be applied at the major sites. Application of the Eco-region analysis will provide regulators and the public with an understanding of the value of the ecological resources in relation to the region, as well as an appreciation for the stewardship role the Department of Energy has played in protecting these resources since the beginning of the Cold War Era and can continue to do so sustainably. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 27646, 85285-7646 Tempe, AZ (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 22824408
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-19-WM-15524; TRN: US19V0981069454
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WM2015: Annual Waste Management Symposium, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 15-19 Mar 2015; Other Information: Country of input: France; 20 refs.; available online at: http://archive.wmsym.org/2015/index.html
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
CLIMATIC CHANGE
CULTURAL RESOURCES
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
HABITAT
HANFORD RESERVATION
IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY
LEGAL ASPECTS
MONITORING
NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
REMEDIAL ACTION
SAVANNAH RIVER
SPECIES DIVERSITY
SUSTAINABILITY