Tuesday, June 10, 2003

CONTACT: Ken Scott, (706) 583-0449, kscott@esd.uga.edu

UGA’S ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY DIVISION WINS WATER RESOURCE AWARD

ATHENS, Ga. — The University of Georgia Environmental Safety Division has been awarded the Water Resources Project of Excellence Award for 2003 from the Georgia Chapter of the American Water Resources Association. The award was given in recognition of the water remediation efforts at the Milledge Avenue hazardous waste landfill site. Ken Scott, associate vice president of ESD, accepted the award on behalf of the university at the GAWRA banquet, which was held at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia.

The Milledge Avenue landfill was an approved chemical disposal site active from before 1969 to 1979. The chemicals deposited at the site resulted in impact to soil, groundwater and a down-gradient stream. ESD worked for many years at this site to investigate and address these conditions. The division’s efforts have included investigation and delineation of soil and groundwater impact; installation of a surface water treatment system; semi-annual groundwater, surface water and sediment sampling; installation of a cap on the landfill; and design and planting of a phytoremediation system in the area along the stream

Scott said this was not a typical remediation site. "This particular challenge took 13 years to find creative solutions for and the best technologies to satisfy the regulators and protect our community. An additional benefit is that we were able to conduct a final UGA research project and planted 9,000 plants for phytoremediation."

Public involvement included an open house, meetings with site neighbors, development of fact sheets regarding the site history, the landfill cap and the phytoremediation system. Educational outreach was conducted including guest lectures and site field trips for various environmental courses on UGA’s main campus.

Other water quality and ecological habitat benefits are anticipated. In addition to the positive impacts on surface water and habitat quality, wetlands were created through the construction of the phytoremediation system. Wetlands are well known as valuable assets in promoting ecological diversity. The division expects to see continued improvements to the water and habitat quality as the phytoremediation system becomes truly established in the current ecosystem. Additionally, the installation of groundwater extraction wells, later in 2003, will compound the improvements from the technologies and systems currently in place.

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