CRESP Update: Savannah River

Vol. 3 No. 1

March 1998

Savannah River Site Stakeholder Study

by Lynn Waishwell, Ph.D.

Who exactly are the people who live near SRS? How do people who live near SRS perceive environmental risks from SRS? What are the best methods to communicate with local people? What are the factors that create trust between agencies and local people? These questions need to be answered as part of a plan to continue to share information about SRS with various communities.

Last year, CRESP-EOHSI conducted a telephone survey with 1,671 residents from the 14 county region that surrounds SRS. We developed and tested the Risk Communication Profile Instrument (RCPI) to ensure the quality of the information. One purpose of the questionnaire was to identify the frequently used and credible methods for public education, outreach and risk communication at SRS. Other questions asked about perceptions of risk and trust related to variety of environmental concerns at SRS

The most frequently used sources of information reported by all those interviewed were the television, followed by the newspaper, radio, personal contacts (like friends and family), other written media (like brochures), and religious groups. The least used sources of information were the computer and government agencies. There were several differences among the black and white interviewees as to the frequency of use of information sources.

Respondents were then asked, "How credible do you find these sources of information?" Professional contacts like doctors and lawyers, followed by community organizations and religious groups, and personal contacts were found to be the most credible sources of information. The least credible were identified as government agencies, and "other written materials" like written brochures.

The study also includes other questions about risk perception that may be useful to organizations and agencies that conduct educational programming in various settings. The results have been shared with local citizen advisory groups that advise both the SRS-CAB Outreach Subcommittee and the CDC-SRS Health Effects Subcommittee. For more information, please contact Lynn Waishwell, Director of Outreach and Communication for CRESP-EOHSI at lwaishwe@eohsi.rutgers.edu.

Ecological Health

The Ecological Risk Assessment Group is proceeding with its three main objectives: 1) developing bioindicators of ecological health that can also be used to assess human health risk, 2) developing ecosystem bioindicators, such as the Index of Biotic Integrity, and 3) assessing the importance of ecological services.

Bioindicators. Our work with bioindicators has included examining the use of wood ducks, mourning doves, and raccoons for both ecological and human health risk assessment. The wood duck work indicates that eggs and eggshells can be used for biomonitoring. Levels of mercury are sufficiently low that they do not pose a problem to either the ducks themselves, or to human consumers. The work with mourning doves indicates that there would be human health concerns about radioactive cesium if hunters consumed large quantities of Doves that lived on drawn-down Par Pond, but otherwise levels of cesium and mercury heavy metals are sufficiently low not to pose a problem to either the Doves themselves or to human consumers. The human health risk assessment of consuming Mourning Dove meat will be presented at the Society of Risk Analysis meetings in Washington DC in December, 1998.

The work with raccoons is proceeding on schedule. Tissues from raccoons have been collected from Fly Ash sites on SRS, and from roadkills outside of SRS. The analysis for mercury levels has begun, and results for cesium will be presented shortly. We are just intiating a study of the movement of raccoons living on the periphery of SRS to examine the potential for off-site movement of contaminants.

Since raccoons feed on a wide variety of foods and move over large distances, we expect them to be useful bioindicators. Further, raccoons are distributed widely over the DOE-complex, and are hunted extensively outside of the site.

Index of Biotic Integrity. The work with the Index of Biotic Integrity is progressing, and we are currently collecting fish and frog samples from a number of streams and wetlands on SRS. This risk method evaluates population and ecosystem structure and health. This is a time-consuming project, and is being led at Savannah River Ecology Laboratory(SREL) by Dr. Joel Snodgrass. In addition, we are evaluating some of the technical difficulties of using frogs, namely that they ingest dirt with their food, and soil that remains in their stomachs may complicate analyses. We are also examining whether they can deposit heavy metals in their tails.

Ecological Resources. Our third area of research involves evaluating ecological services, in collaboration with W. Gibbons at SREL. We have interviewed the general public, hunters and fishermen, residents of Aiken, and hunters who actually hunt on SRS. Our objective was to determine recreational rates, and how ecological services relate to future land use of SRS. The results from the hunters and fishermen were published in Risk Analysis (June 1997, Vol. 17:313-320), and those from the Columbia Mayfest were published in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health (September 1997, Vol. 52:269-284; and Vol 53:255-262). All three groups engage in recreational activities more than the 14 days a year that DOE assumes in their future land use report.

The work on environmental perceptions is being continued at the INEEL (Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory) in cooperation with D. Roush. We have interviewed four groups in Idaho: people at a Fishermen's Breakfast, people at festivals in Boise and Lewiston (which is closer to Hanford than INEEL), and Native Americans and others attending a Shosone-Bannock Festival at Fort Hall. Results from interviews with Native Americans suggest that they are more concerned about holistic concepts of wildlife protection and ecosystem health than other populations interviewed.

We just finished interviewing 258 fishermen along the Savannah River, to understand fishing behavior, consumption patterns, and cooking methods. Our results have been presented to the CDC Health Effects Subcommittee and the SRS-Citizens Advisory Board and the respective state and federal agencies of EPA and DOE. Our results indicate substantial individual fishing activity along the river by both blacks and whites, with an average of 13 oz. of fish consumed per meal. On average, blacks eat more fish meals a week than do whites, leading to significantly higher fish consumption per year. There were many other ethnic differences in fishing behavior, and these were not due to differences in income. This information will be useful in answering questions about appropriate fish advisories.

We are in the middle of a study to examine mercury and cesium levels in fish from the Savannah River and have largely finished the fish collection, and are analyzing cesium (at SRS with K. Gaines and I. L. Brisbin) and mercury (at EOHSI).

We welcome any comments or questions regarding this research, which can be directed to Joanna Burger at burger@biology.rutgers.edu.

Outreach and Communication Task Group

On January 26 - 29, 1998 three representatives from the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center at the University of South Carolina-Aiken and one scientist from Westinghouse at SRS received teacher training of a new curriculum developed by EOHSI. The curriculum is called Toxicology, Risk Assessment and Pollution (ToxRAP). It was developed through funding to EOHSI from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and features the exploration of a risk assessment framework to identify and manage risks. This curriculum or earlier versions of K-12 environmental health curricula developed by EOHSI are now used in 23 states.

Over the next two years, Ruth Patrick Science Education Center representatives will use the new curriculum to train 80 teachers in the Savannah River area to teach basic toxicology and risk assessment concepts to students K-6. CRESP has funded this training curriculum to assist in developing a local population who can fully participate in making effective decisions about environmental issues through increasing scientific literacy among youth.

Remediation Technology Task Group

Cleaning contaminants from ground water is often done by pumping the water out, removing the contaminants, then pumping the water back in--called "pump and treat." On February 23, 1998, Dr. David Kosson, Remediation Technology Task Group Leader-EOHSI, described the potential impact of CRESP research on understanding the effectiveness of the groundwater pump and treat remedies currently used at SRS to the Environmental Management and Waste Management Subcommittee of the SRS CAB. He described CRESP research that is characterizing the ways contaminants are transported through various soils and groundwater systems. This is a complex process as contaminants move at different speeds through soils and groundwater. These differences, called heterogeneity, are not anticipated or included in the models used by scientists and regulators to forecast groundwater flow. Good estimation of the pace of contaminant flow is particularly important for some radionuclides that have long half-lives. Others may have short half-lives, thus may decay before they reach receptors like humans or animals. For more information contact David Kosson at kosson@rci.rutgers.edu.

Social, Land Use, Demographic, and Economic Task Group

On January 23 at the request of DOE, this Task Group traveled to DOE Headquarters in Washington, DC to provide an overview of current projects. Employees from Environmental Management and other DOE offices attended the well-received presentations. This half day presentation described information related to the Savannah River Site as well as other DOE sites. This was an opportunity for the Task Group to obtain useful feedback. A follow-up talk and working meeting is planned for early spring.

This Task Group recently finished a project that evaluated the economic impact of accelerated clean-up in regions surrounding the DOE’s major nuclear weapons sites. The communities around the largest of these sites, including SRS, are now facing downsizing, mission changes and some expected closures within the decade. The loss of jobs can affect local incomes, property values, retail sales, housing demand and cause other economic stresses that can impact the fiscal health of these communities. This project examined problems facing local government in the regions surrounding the seven largest facilities of DOE by surveying officials in 26 towns and counties. The study found that ripple effects from job reductions are most severe at sites located in the rural regions that are least equipped to respond to these changes. For more information or a copy of the report contact Karen Lowrie at klowrie@rci.rutgers.edu.

OTHER NOTES

Dr. Bernard Goldstein, CRESP Principal Investigator, presented an overview of CRESP to a workshop sponsored by the DOE Center for Risk Evaluation in Oak Ridge, Tennessee on February 25, 1998. Although there was insufficient time to detail the more than 100 CRESP projects, he described those projects that are particulary important to stakeholders in the near future. These are also described in the recent CRESP publication, "CRESP, a Summary of it’s Work, February 1998" which contains a listing of the over 200 CRESP journal articles or other written products published or in press. These products are cited in a booklet, "CRESP Scholarly Products," and are on the CRESP Web site at www.cresp.org.

CRESP Assists in Development of Fact Sheet

At the request of Region IV USEPA and SRS-Department of Energy, a team of CRESP researchers provided input into a new fact sheet that provides guidelines for eating fish from the Savannah River to be distributed by both Georgia and South Carolina. Data from a current study on Savannah River fish consumption by Joanna Burger, Ecological Health Task Group Leader-EOHSI, was used to help determine the amount and kinds of fish described and the groups of people who are of particular concern.

EOHSI Seminars

On December 9, Dr. Joanna Burger, presented a seminar entitled, "Almost a Midnight Snack and Other Stories."

On February 10, Dr. Michael Gochfeld presented a seminar entitled, "Screening for Genetic Susceptibility: New Markers and Old Questions."

On February 16, Dr. Dorothy Canter, USEPA and EOHSI, presented a seminar entitled, "Developing and Peer Reviewing Toxicity Values for Contaminants in Hazards Waste."

CRESP

The Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation (CRESP) is a university-based national organization created specifically to develop a credible strategy for providing information needed for risk-based cleanup of complex contaminated environments, especially those for which the Department of Energy is responsible. The Consortium specifically responds to the request by the Department of Energy and the National Research Council for the creation of an independent instituional mechanism capable of integrating risk evaluation work. As a result of a national competition, a five-year cooperative agreement was awarded to CRESP in March of 1995. With the agreement of Citizens Advisory Board members, "CRESP UPDATE" is one approach that we are using to share research plans and programs with SRS stakeholders.