Research Projects

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Research Projects

Workers place tubes around seedlings for protection (7094-5).

In 1997, DOE agreed to conduct five environmental projects as part of the Operable Unit 4 dispute resolution agreement with U.S. EPA for missing milestones associated with the Silos Project vitrification facility. One of the projects was to conduct several pilot-scale ecological research projects of possible site restoration strategies. From 1999 to 2002, DOE and Fluor Fernald collected data on the following research projects to plan final site ecological restoration activities:

1.	Representative Vegetation Plots
	Evaluates existing woodlots to establish a baseline and profile of existing local vegetation.
2.	Establishment of Prairie Vegetation on Disturbed Areas
	Evaluates the optimal strategy for re-vegetating prairie grasses on areas where topsoil has been excavated.
3.	American Chestnut Restoration
	Reestablishes a population of blight-resistant American chestnut trees.
4.	Identification and Control of Invasive Plant Species
	Identifies invasive plant species and evaluates control methods to use during restoration.
5.	Literature Compendium
	Provides ecological restoration literature sources for ecologists, scientists and students.

The four other environmental projects resulting from the dispute resolution included metal recycling projects and construction of a new public ecological restoration park. DOE canceled a conservation area project.

PHOTOS

For More Information
Contact Sue Walpole, S. M. Stoller, at 513-648-4026, e-mail: Sue.Walpole@lm.doe.gov .

Together, DOE and Fluor Fernald were committed to safely restoring the
Fernald site to an end state that serves the needs of the community.