RE-VEGETATING, RESTORING, AND MITIGATING NATIONAL PRIORITY LIST SITES

Plutonium production operations at the 560-square-mile Hanford Site created one of the largest and most complex hazardous waste site cleanup projects in the nation. As the site is cleaned up, the Department of Energy is required to restore the land to its native vegetation. Since 2006, the EAS team has worked with prime contractors on the Hanford Site to develop mitigation plans and successfully restore native plant communities. Revegetation of semi-arid land poses a unique set of restoration challenges, including heat extremes and relatively low soil moisture throughout much of the year, which slows plant regeneration. EAS’s knowledge and experience working in the region has shown that selecting appropriate mitigation sites and preparing them appropriately is key to successful restoration.

We develop individual restoration prescriptions based on soil type and aggregate size, aspect and topography, naturally occurring adjacent vegetation, and pre-existing site conditions. To save clients time and money and foster revegetation success, we select specific site-preparation techniques and applications necessary and appropriate for each site.