Kentucky Research Consortium for Energy and Environment: Seismic Characterization

ABSTRACT The Kentucky Research Consortium for Energy and Environment (KRCEE) was founded at the University of Kentucky in 2003 through the efforts of US Senator Mitch McConnell. The consortium was created to provide research, service, and public engagement in support of the US Department of Energy’s efforts for the environmental clean-up and restoration of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant National Priority List Superfund site, the Western Kentucky Wildlife Management Area, and surrounding areas. The consortium provides technical services regarding the on-going clean-up and environmental monitoring of the site. It also serves in a liaison role for the local community, and the principal government stakeholders: DOE, US EPA, the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection, and the Kentucky Department of Public Health. Now in its 20th year, the consortium and CAER support the project by: • The provision of technical expertise and services to advance new technologies and methods for the accelerated clean-up of the site focusing on minimizing public health and environmental impacts. • The establishment of problem-specific work groups drawn from a range of disciplines who work with DOE and its site contractors on geological investigations, environmental monitoring and assessment of air, ground and surface waters, waste disposal sites, wildlife and other ecological resources. • Serving in a liaison role and as a sounding board for DOE, the national laboratories, EPA, and state regulatory agencies to achieve consensus solutions related to the clean-up of the site, including technical review and input for remediation plans. • Serving as an important information conduit about the plant site - its storied history, clean-up, and future use - via the project’s web site, Virtual Museum, and extensive public databases of historic and current environmental data. • Public engagement with the local community, including a citizen advisory group and area high schools, about the plant site and its future, including developing a community-based end-state vision serving local perspectives and preferences for the site''s future use after US DOE closes the facility.