Orchestrating Environmental Research and Assessment for Remediation

• Published in: Ecological applications 1993-11, Vol.3 (4), p.590-594
• Main Authors: Breshears, David D., Whicker, F. Ward, Hakonson, Thomas E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY AND ECONOMY; ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY; GOVERNMENT POLICIES; Letters to the Editor; NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS; NUCLEAR FACILITIES; REMEDIAL ACTION; RESEARCH PROGRAMS; RISK ASSESSMENT; US DOE; US ORGANIZATIONS 290300 > Energy Planning & Policy-- Environment, Health, & Safety
• ISSN: 1051-0761; 1939-5582
• DOI: 10.2307/1942092

The interfaces between science, assessment, and policy have come to the forefront of national attention recently as the result of problems related to pollution and environmental remediation, habitat modification and fragmentation, and endangered and invading species. Issues at these interfaces were recently summarized for the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP) by Levin (1992) and reviewed as a case study. More than half a billion (> 0.5 x 10 super(9)) dollars were invested in NAPAP over more than a decade and thousands of researchers were involved. Due to the magnitude of the program and its role at the science/policy interface. Levin posed the question "Is NAPAP a model for future studies?" Although opinions on the success of the program varied greatly, several common lessons emerged from the papers. We thought it appropriate to ask if these lessons are being applied to another ongoing large-scale environmental program: the remediation of contaminated sites in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapons complex.