Projects and Grants per year
Grants and Contracts Details
Description
Faculty and staff at the University of Kentucky have been involved with environmental
investigations at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) since off-site contamination was
originally discovered in 1988. Initial studies largely focused on ecological and toxicity
investigations in Little and Big Bayou Creeks. In response to a request by the state of Kentucky,
the University established a Federal Facilities Oversight Unit in 1993. The unit was charged
with assisting both the Kentucky Natural Resources Environmental Protection Cabinet
(KNREPC) and the Kentucky Cabinet for Human Resources (KCHR) with environmental
remediation of the federal facilities in the commonwealth and in particular the Gaseous Diffusion
Plant in Paducah. Funding for the unit came from the Federal Facilities Agreement (FFA) and
the federal Agreement in Principle (AIP). The unit was administrated through the Kentucky
Water Resources Research Institute under the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies
at the University of Kentucky. When fully staffed, the unit had 26 personnel and an operational
budget of approximately 1.5 million dollars. Of the 26 personnel, 23 operated out of Frankfort
while the remaining three were located in Paducah. In addition to the full-time professional and
staff employees, the unit was supported by faculty, staff, and graduate students from six
academic departments of the University including: the school of Biological Sciences, Civil
Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Geological Sciences, Preventive Medicine and
Environmental Health, and the Kentucky Geological Survey. Environmental studies conducted
during this time focused on such topics as: baseline geologic and groundwater concentrations, instream
toxicity studies, groundwater flow modeling, seismic investigations, and TCE attenuation
studies. Additional studies were conducted to investigate the feasibility of different remediation
strategies. In 1998, the KNREPC decided to move all the non-radiological responsibilities of the
FFOU into the Division of Waste Management thus terminating the university's responsibilities
in FFA related activities, although some AlP activities have continued to be funded with
individual faculty both through the KNREPC and the KCHS. As a consequence, the University
of Kentucky is uniquely qualified to provide scientific and engineering expertise in support of
ongoing cleanup activities associated with the PGDP.
The current research project will draw upon many of the same and faculty and staff that that have
been previously involved in scientific investigations at Paducah, as well as additional expertise to
be drawn from the University of Louisville and Murray State University. Such expertise
includes geologists, hydrologists, civil engineers, mechanical engineers, chemical engineers,
environmental chemists, toxicologists, agronomists, and seismologists.
Status | Finished |
---|---|
Effective start/end date | 9/15/03 → 9/30/15 |
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Projects
- 1 Finished
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Kentucky Research Consortium for Energy and Environment
Andrews, R., Andrews, W., Anyaegbunam, C., Bhattacharyya, D., Filson, A., Fryar, A., Hampson, S., Ormsbee, L., Price, S., Rohrbacher, G., Wang, Z., Woolery, E., Zhu, J. & Dinger, J.
9/15/03 → 5/31/16
Project: Research project