Joanna Burger¹, Robert Furness² & I. Lehr Brisbin Jr.²

With the ending of the Cold War, nations are left with a range of contaminated sites, containing nuclear wastes and toxic chemicals. Nations are faced with how to clear these sites with insufficient funds. Decisions must be made regarding what sites to clean up, how much to clean them up, who to involve in the decision, and how to determine the relative costs and benefits to society. In the U.S. the Department of Energy has sites in 34 states, with over 600 billion gallons of contaminated groundwater. The DOE complex houses over 3000 tons of spent nuclear fuel, some of which is in pools that threaten to contaminate groundwater supplies. The potential for accidents increases with each passing year, and the risk to humans and ecosystems must be evaluated. Avian studies can contribute to the evaluation of these risks to ecosystems, including humans. Birds can be used as biomonitoring tools for ecosystem health, as well as indicators of potential human exposure. Ornithologists need to exchange information on the ways that birds can be used to increase our knowledge both of contaminant dynamics within birds, and as indicators of ecosystem degradation. Our combined knowledge base can be very important in the decision process of what to do with nuclear facilities and the degree of clean-up necessary. Our objective is to examine the usefulness of birds as monitors of potential health hazards for ecosystems and their component parts with respect to the legacy of the Cold War.

Note: For complete report see under Congress Business, Appendix 2.