Why is this Important?
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This project will provide installation and formerly used defense site (FUDS) managers with the risk characterization analysis tools needed to assess contaminant exposure potentials in unique and/or remote Arctic landscapes.
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Why is this Needed?
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Alaska comprises 10% of total Army training lands and contains the second highest number of Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) in the U.S.
- Restoration options for treating contaminated sites in these largely remote and austere terrestrial ecosystems are lacking and/or cost prohibitive.
- Uncertainties surrounding climate change effects on the fate and transport of persistent, recalcitrant military contaminants in at-risk Arctic/subarctic locations hinders risk-based or sustainability-based decision making.
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What is the Desired End State?
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We will develop:
- Scientifically defensible, data driven fate and transport models for risk based determinations and prioritization of remediation options in adaptive site management.
- Metagenomic markers (molecular biology tools or MBT) identifying contaminant transformation pathways in Arctic/subarctic ecosystems.
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What is it?
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An application of a multi-disciplinary approach to obtain new knowledge of site specific Arctic/subarctic biotic/abiotic factors affecting contaminant degradation for use in enhancing fate and transport projections.
Developed predictive models will support risk-based determinations for use in prioritization of on-site remediation technologies/approaches to facilitate adaptive installation management under the paradigm of a continually changing Arctic climate.
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What does it offer?
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Process knowledge of bio-geochemical factors responsible for contaminant degradation/transformation in Arctic/subarctic soils
Understanding of contaminant migration patterns in Arctic/subarctic soils following changes in vegetation patterns and permafrost integrity
Improvements in risk-based management technologies and strategies will reduce both short- and long-term liabilities associated with current cleanup costs estimated to be 16 billion dollars for Army IRP and FUDs sites.
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