Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Annual Technical Progress Report of Ecological Research, June 30, 2002

The Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL) is a research unit of The University of Georgia (UGA) and has been conducting ecological research on the Savannah River Site (SRS) near Aiken, South Carolina for 50 years. The overall mission of the Laboratory is to acquire and communicate knowledge of ecological processes and principles. SREL conducts fundamental and applied ecological research, as well as education and outreach programs, under a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The Laboratory's research mission during the 2002 fiscal year was fulfilled with the publication of 76 journal articles and book chapters by faculty, technical staff, students, and visiting scientists. An additional 50 journal articles have been submitted or are in press. Other noteworthy events took place as faculty members, staff, and graduate students received awards. These are described in the section titled Special Accomplishments of Faculty, Staff, Students, and Administration on page 51. Notable scientific accomplishments include work conducted on contaminant transport, stable isotopes, sandhills ecology, and phytoremediation: (1) A collaborative study between Dr. Tom Hinton at SREL and scientists at SRTC demonstrated the feasibility of using illite clay to sequester 137Cs in sediments along the P and R reactor cooling canal system, where approximately 3,000 acres of land are contaminated. Overall, the study showed significant decreases in cesium concentrations and bioavailability following the addition of illite with no sign of harm to the ecosystem. While the cesium remains sequestered from the biosphere, its radioactivity decays and the process progresses from contaminant immobilization to remediation. (2) SREL's stable isotope laboratory is now fully functional. Stable isotope distributions in nature can provide important insights into many historical and current environmental processes. Dr. Christopher Romanek is leading SREL's research in this area, which focuses on identifying the sources and fate of environmental contaminants and on identifying historical patterns of environmental change. (3) Dr. Beverly Collins is a coauthor of a report published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on a workshop that was held at SREL in March 2001 on sandhills ecology and ecosystem management. The workshop, sponsored by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP), brought together scientists and land managers from throughout the Southeast. SREL currently has two SERDP-funded projects, including one that was awarded in 2002. (4) A cooperative, multidisciplinary study was initiated with the U.S. Forest Service and Environmental Restoration in the 488-D ash basin on the SRS. This work involves the use of a vegetative cover and common soil additives to mitigate the high acidity and salinity resulting from the oxidation of pyrite in the coal refuse piles. Coal combustion residues from electrical power facilities constitute a major source of solid waste at many DOE and commercial sites