Integrating Environmental Restoration and Ecological Restoration: Long-Term Stewardship at the Department of Energy |
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Authors: | Joanna Burger |
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Institution: | (1) Division of Life Science, Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, and, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Nelson Hall, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA, US |
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Abstract: | With the ending of the Cold War, several federal agencies are reclaiming land through remediation and restoration and are
considering potential future land uses that are compatible with current uses and local needs. Some sites are sufficiently
contaminated that it is likely that the responsible federal agency will retain control over the land for the foreseeable future,
providing them with a stewardship mission. This is particularly true of some of the larger Department of Energy (DOE) facilities
contaminated during the production of nuclear weapons. The use of the term “restoration” is explored in this paper because
the word means different things to the public, ecologists, and environmental managers responsible for contaminated sites,
such as Superfund sites and the DOE facilities. While environmental restoration usually refers to remediation and removal
of hazardous wastes, ecological restoration refers to the broader process of repairing damaged ecosystems and enhancing their
productivity and/or biodiversity. The goals of the two types of restoration can be melded by considering environmental restoration
as a special case of ecological restoration, one that involves risk reduction from hazardous wastes, and by broadening environmental
restoration to include a more extensive problem-formulation phase (both temporal and spatial), which includes the goal of
reestablishing a functioning ecosystem after remediation. Further, evaluating options for the desired post remediation result
will inform managers and policy-makers concerning the feasibility and efficacy of environmental restoration itself. |
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Keywords: | : Environmental restoration Ecological restoration Stewardship Remediation Cleanup Ecosystems Department of Energy |
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