Daily News
Creek Awareness Project
Day 6 Summary
On the sixth day we broke into two teams and interviewed six people in the upper management positions, regarding their environmental responsibilities. Attached are pictures with Lynn Kszos, Director Strategic Planning and Administration for Neutron Sciences Directorate; Carol Scott, ESHQ Operations Manager; and David Buhaly, ORNL DOE Site Office .
Day 5 Summary
We dressed up in boots and waders and met John Smith at White Oak Creek. We entered the creek and collected macroinvertebrate samples and then examined and identified the species collected. Among the many species found, John identified crayfish, damsel fly larva, clam shells, mayfly larvae, penny beetle larva, and a snail shell. We then met Mike Ryon from the Environmental Sciences Division. Mike electroshocked fish in White Oak Creek and we netted and collected them. Species collected include: bluegill, sunfish, large mouth bass (juvenile), darters, stonerollers, and a green frog (we named it Kermit the Bad and the Brave).
We learned that fish with mouths that angle up mostly eat from the water’s surface. Other fish have a finger-nail-like growth under their mouths to scrape algae from the rocks to eat.
We went to the ORNL Sign Shop and a saw our new watershed signs ready to install and learned how custom signs are made at ORNL.
Day 4 Summary
Learned about BMPs (Best management policies) in PowerPoint like organizing, good housekeeping, and construction techniques involving hay bales and fabric fences by Lori Muhs. Talked to water sampling technician, Steve Lewis, who told us how drinking water standards are less stringent than those for protecting fish. Steve told us he has to change gloves every time he went to a new site to collect a sample to avoid contamination, and that some water needs to be dechlorinated using sodium bisulfite tablets or liquid in a tank. He told us that if he misses a required sample, then ORNL can be fined up to $50,000. He used a Horiba instrument to collect field measurements.
We collected samples of invasive plant species including Johnson grass, Crown vetch, Lespedeza, Japanese stilt grass, Japanese honeysuckle, Chinese yam, and Privet. Then we stopped by the isotope development building and got an overview of their program and the expensive elements they produce.
Day 3 Summary
Today we learned to use 2 different handheld video cameras for our final project video interviews.
We toured the Creative Media organization operations to learn from professionals how science and technology can be communicated. We learned about the entire process, from bringing an idea to a creative media professional to turning it into a video, poster, 3D rendering. We also saw examples of diagrams used for patent applications. We saw a wide format printer that prints up to 58 inches wide. We were introduced to the ORNL photography operation and learned about the 40+ year photo archive.
We then brainstormed key concepts that we have learned related to watersheds and riparian zones and formulated the following questions for our video interviewees:
- Is there an ideal width for a creek buffer zone?
- Are you satisfied with the biodiversity around our creeks?
- What affects do pH and oxygen have on fish?
We interviewed Pat Parr, Oak Ridge Reservation Natural Resources Manager. Pat then gave a presentation on the how the Oak Ridge Reservation has special habitat areas and the wildlife in them.
Scott Reasor and Clair Campbell of the Environmental Science Division gave a talk on the Reptile and Amphibian survey they are conducting the summer on the ORR.
Day 2 Summary
Today we used maps and models to learn about topographic maps and how water drains off of the highest topography to create a watershed. We started as a group with a simple model and drew what we saw on paper. Then we broke into two groups to draw two models; one was a peak and one was a valley (out of Duplos). We looked for shapes like we drew on the topographic map of the Oak Ridge Area. Then we put the two models together to see “hollers” and how the peak drained to the low “holler” and would create a creek. We each drew the outline of the White Oak Creek Watershed on a topographic map, and saw where that watershed intersects Bethel Valley Road. We learned different types of sedimentary erode differently, that the rocks here are folded and then eroded. Limestone in the middle of the ORNL plant erodes most easily. We looked at watershed signs from Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, Alabama, and the one here in Tennessee. On U-Tube we watched Representative Frank Nicely address the Tennessee legislature, by asking the question, “What difference does it make what watershed you are in?”
Day 1 Summary
ORNL is in the White Oak Creek Watershed. We looked at an aerial photograph of the main plant and saw how the facility has changed the way water drains within this watershed. The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) allows industries in the State of Tennessee to get a permit to discharge water to any body of water. As of 2009, the ORNL site has about 150 pipe outfalls, and we are mainly dependent upon best management practices to maintain water quality in White Oak Creek Watershed. ORNL has its own treatment plants for sewage, and for chemical and radiological wastewaters.
We learned about how the chemical chorine in our drinking water is toxic to macroinvertebrates and fish.
Mike Ryon is an aquatic ecologist and he works on native grasses, fish, extending riparian zones and invasive plant control. He showed us a restored riparian zone and native grass research area on upper First Creek.
We started learning about the functions of riparian zones:
- how natural flooding of the stream creates levies and rids the stream of excess sediment
- riparian vegetation shades and moderates the temperature of the stream, provides food sources for aquatic species and terrestrial species,
- native tall grasses give deer and birds places to rest and nest as well as places to hide from predators.
Mike talked to us about how native plants
- have more extensive root systems, and
- the diversity of native plants (rather than one invasive species that takes over) is important for wildlife.
- are more able to survive the local climate.
- Some invasive plant seeds (like those of Lespedeza) can lay dormant for up to 5 or 6 years and can grow in disturbed soil and grow fast.