| Abstract: |
The Department of Energy and other federal facilities are reclaiming
land through the process of remediation and restoration, and this land
will eventually be turned over for future land uses that may involve
recreation. Understanding the amount of recreation that is likely (and
thus individual exposure) is an essential element in decisions about
cleanup standards. In this article the number of days people engage in
different recreational activities as a measure of potential exposure
is examined. People attending a Mayfest celebration (n = 399) and the
Palmetto Sportsmen's Classic (n = 285) in Columbia, SC, were
interviewed regarding their recreational activities. In most cases
reported in the literature, recreational activities are examined as
the mean number of days people engage in each activity per year, but
to determine risk it is essential to know the distribution of these
activities. In descending order of frequency, people attending the
mayfest reported their activities as birdwatching, photographing,
fishing, hiking, camping, and hunting. There were significant gender
differences in the frequency of activities, with men spending more
days in every activity except birdwatching and photography. There were
ethnic differences in recreation, with whites engaging in higher
levels of most recreational activities than blacks, but the percentage
of black men who reported fishing more than 100 d per year, was
greater than for white men. Most people reported their participation
in most activities less than 30 d per year; however, a higher
percentage of people reported participating in photography,
birdwatching, and fishing more than 30 d per year compared to the
other activities. Further, individuals at the Sportsman's Classic
reported far higher rates of hunting and fishing per year than the
general public. These data can be used to examine potential exposure
of recreationists on remediated and restorecl land. The data clearly
indicate that over 25% of the people engage in at least one
recreational activity over 20 d per year, and thus exceed the
Department of Energy's 14-d recreation assumption in its future land
use document. |