Oak Ridge Reservation Annual Site Environmental Report Summary, 2004

The Department of Energy (DOE) and our contractors strive to provide our stakeholders a comprehensive understanding of the consequences of DOE operations past and present. Toward this end a far-reaching multimillion-dollar annual monitoring and surveillance program collects and analyzes tens of thousands of air, surface and groundwater, soil, mud, plant, and animal samples. This effort represents the work of many dedicated environmental scientists who carry out these extensive programs and work hard to protect and enhance the environment. We publish the results in a detailed Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER), and a separate Data Volume for those who wish to see the supporting data. These documents present all the facts and figures, but are highly technical and not easily understood, and it's essential we provide a summary document simple to read and understand. So each year I team with Karns High School and ask students to write an Annual Site Environmental Report Summary that will be both informative and enjoyable to read. These environmental documents are perhaps the most important DOE reports because they explain the environmental monitoring programs and show the consequences of our operations in great detail to our legislatures, stakeholders, and the public. This ASER summary is written for you, the public, our most important stakeholder, with the hope that you find it comprehensible and of value in gaining an accurate understanding of the Oak Ridge Reservation. All three documents can be found on the web, along with previous publications, at http://www.ornl.gov/aser. It's a great pleasure to meet my new class each year and capture fresh creative ideas. I'm always delighted to see their interest and desire to learn and to produce a document for the public that reflects their personality and skills, and one the public will utilize and find of value. I sincerely thank these talented Karns High School students and their exceptional teacher, Mrs. Heather Bock, for accepting my challenge to think out of the box and put together this DOE document. Thanks go out as well to each contributing art student, and of course to Principal Clifford Davis, Jr., for his enthusiastic support. When I gave this College Preparation English 4 Class the challenge I was given back all smiles, eagerness, and an ardent zeal to succeed. I hope you, our public, find this product of their effort of value and quality