Earth Sciences Division Berkeley Lab
Research Summaries 2006-2007
Research Program
ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION AND WATER RESOURCES PROGRAM Susan Hubbard 510-486-5266 sshubbard@lbl.gov
The key driver for the Environmental Remediation and Water Resources Program (ERWR) within ESD is to provide the scientific foundation needed to guide the management of our shallow subsurface contaminants and resources. Over the last decade, it has become increasingly clear that if we are to face the environmental and water challenges of the future, we must view the earth as a complex system, one that includes many components that are coupled and highly dynamic over various spatial and temporal scales. The DOE is responsible for the environmental health of over 140 waste sites across the United States, created from the production and testing of nuclear weapons. Metals and many radionuclides pose particularly daunting remediation challenges for DOE at these sites because, unlike organic contaminants, they do not irreversibly degrade to benign products (or only do so through very slow radioactive decay). Because understanding the complexity of the subsurface systems is a pre re q u isite to successful stewardship at these waste sites, a significant fraction of the research within the ERWR program focuses on investigating, measuring, and predicting coupled physical, geochemical, and microbiological processes that govern contaminant fate and transport and that impact remediation efficacy. The inability to accurately measure and predict water cycle phenomena hinders our ability to effectively inform water resources management and policy. Because adequate and clean water resources are particularly important for the vitality of water-stressed regions such as California, much of the waterresources research performed in the ERWR focuses on development of techniques and insights that will lead to better management of California water resources. In addition to State
water issues, the DOE is responsible for promoting America’s energy security, while at the same time protecting the environment—this necessitates water-related research. For example, as worries over the world energy crisis and climate change intensify, the link between such issues and water is becoming ever more apparent and is leading to various challenges. The energy demand for generating and distributing clean water is tremendous; so too is the water demand for generating conventional and sustainable energy and biofuels. Although water issues are currently only a small fraction of the ERWR research portfolio, we anticipate more emphasis on research in this area, as both energy and water needs continue to increase. Brief descriptions of re s e a rch advances within the Environmental Remediation and Water Resources Program are given below.
ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION ESD scientists participating in the ERWR conduct multidisciplinary environmental research using theoretical, characterization, modeling, and experimental approaches that range from the molecular to the field scale. The synergy offered by the ensemble of competencies within the ESD facilitates investigation of complex natural systems. Many of the projects within the ERWR are associated with one of the following five themes: • Development of advanced approaches for characterizing and predicting subsurface biological, hydrological, and geochemical properties and processes at the molecular to field scales • Improved understanding of mechanisms and rates associated with complex subsurface system processes • Improved understanding of the impact of subsurface system complexity on contaminant distribution and remediation efficacy • Development of a basis for in situ remediation, especially for metals and radionuclides that respond to redox manipulation and microbial community stimulation. • Development of remote approaches for detecting and discriminating unexploded ordnance (UXOs)
53