Environmental Sciences Division. Annual progress report for period ending September 30, 1975

Abstract

Aquatic ecology activities reported include results from the growing projects on reservoir and stream studies and on Legionnaires' Disease Bacterium. Also included are the final results from the two long-term projects on ana'ysis and modeling of aquatic populations and ecosystems and on toxicant formation in condenser cooling systems.Research in the Environmental Resources Section included regional pattern analysis, large waterway regional analyses, regional analysis of likely impacts of coal production and use in the Western Kentucky area, regional wildlife habitat analysis, acidic deposition, and evaluation of potential conflicts between mineral deposits and renewable resources in the conterminous United States. Modeling studies included ecosystem risk analysis, the study of aggregation problems in ecology, and work on positive feedback in natural systems. Environmetrics emphasized organization, management, and reporting for several large data sets used for examining the effects of by-products of synthetic fuel manufacture on various biota; reporting lower Mississippi River impacts studied by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; reporting gasiikr research data from the University of Minnesota; studying global carbon issues; and correlating information in the Orwnlnoy Hata base with country-wide issues. Research park activities emphasized characterization of Oak Ridge Reservation communities, habitat studies for wildlife oi. an interagency basis, management of softwood plantations, and management and research on reservation wildlife populations.Earth Sciences research efforts included nonnuclear solid waste technology, an outreach activity involving liner evaluation for disposal of uranium mill tailings, and stuuies of sediment and contaminants in the New York Bight. The solid waste activity emphasized the evaluation of procedures to remove organics from selected wastes, and the liner study was concerned with bench-scale tests of organic grouts to reduce permeability. The New York Bight study summarized trace metal and radionuclide distribution in the sediments.Terrestrial ecology activities reported address the effects of air pollution on vegetation (including effects on carbon allocation, regulation of gaseous uptake, and fluoride exposure), modeling whole plant systems with respect to water and nutrient utilization, forest dynamics, acid rain (including effects on forest soils and agricultural crops), and studies of global carbon cycling.Emphasis within the Advanced Fossil Energy Program continued to shift toward microcosm or field studies. Initiation of a risk assessment project provided a mechanism for utilizing data r :he decisionmaking process while identifying areas where funding requires enrichment or can be decreased.The Toxic Substances Program continued to develop new information on the behavior of radionuclides (the transuranium elements, "Tc and 95 Nb) in the environment. New research and test protocol development was initiated for the U.S. EPA-Office of Toxic Substances, and substantial progress on ...