Military Training and Testing activities and the
associated environmental risks

INTRODUCTION

A Military Ecological Risk Assessment Framework (MERAF) for training and testing activities has been developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory in collaboration with the U. S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory and the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This framework provides the U. S. Department of Defense with a logical, quantitative, and potentially standard methodology for conducting environmental impact statements, biological assessments for the Endangered Species Act, and natural resource planning. Novel aspects of MERAF include: (1) the assessment of risks from physical stressors using an ecological risk assessment framework, (2) the consideration of contingent or indirect effects of stressors (e.g., population-level effects that are derived from habitat or hydrological changes), (3) the integration of risks associated with different component activities or stressors, (4) the emphasis on quantitative risk estimates and estimates of uncertainty, and (5) the modularity of design, permitting components of the framework to be used in various military risk assessments that include similar activities.

This generic framework is supported by activity-specific frameworks, which may be used when a military program consists of several activities (e.g., aircraft overflights, vehicle movements, missile firing). An ecological risk assessment framework that is specific to low-altitude aircraft overflights has been completed. The primary stressor is usually sound, although the visual and physical (collision) stressors may also be significant. The characterization of exposure utilizes measurements of locations of wildlife, measurements of sound levels at these locations, measurements of distances from aircraft to wildlife, models that extrapolate sound from the source aircraft to wildlife, and bird strike probability models. The characterization of effects consists primarily of sparse measurements of behavioral thresholds due to sound. Models or measurements that relate behavioral changes to abundance or reproduction are needed to support the risk assessment framework. The ecological risk assessment framework for low-altitude aircraft overflights and the more generic framework for military training and testing activities are among the first adaptations of risk assessment methodology to multiple, non-chemical stressors.

An ecological risk assessment for a testing program at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona was conducted to demonstrate the use of MERAF. The subject of the ecological risk assessment was a testing program at Cibola Range of Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. The program involved an Apache Longbow helicopter firing Hellfire missiles at moving targets, i.e., M60-A1 tanks. Thus, the three component activities of the Apache-Hellfire test were: (1) helicopter overflight, (2) missile firing, and (3) tracked vehicle movement. The demonstration was limited to two ecological endpoint entities (i.e., potentially susceptible and valued populations or communities): woody desert wash communities and mule deer populations.

This work was funded by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) of the U. S. Department of Defense.

REPORTS & PAPERS  [ Top ]
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Efroymson, R.A., and G.W. Suter II. 2001. Ecological risk assessment framework for low-altitude aircraft overflights: II. Estimating effects on wildlife. Risk Analysis 21:263-274.

Efroymson, R.A., G.W. Suter II, W.H. Rose, and S. Nemeth. 2001. Ecological risk assessment framework for low-altitude aircraft overflights: I. Planning the analysis and estimating exposure. Risk Analysis 21:251-262.

Suter, G.W., II. 1999a. Developing conceptual models for complex ecological risk assessments. Hum. Ecol. Risk Assess. 5:395-396.

Suter, G.W., II. 1999b. A framework for assessment of ecological risks from multiple activities. Hum. Ecol. Risk Assess. 5:397-413.

Efroymson, R.A., W.W. Hargrove, M.J. Peterson, D.S. Jones, W.H. Rose, L.Pater, K.Reinbold, and G.W. Suter II. 2001. Demonstration of the Military Ecological Risk Assessment Framework (MERAF): Apache-Longbow–Hellfire Missile Test at Yuma Proving Ground. ORNL/TM-2001/211. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN.

Efroymson, R.A., W.H. Rose, S. Nemeth, and G.W. Suter, II. 2000. Ecological Risk Assessment Framework for Low-altitude Overflights by Fixed-wing and Rotary-wing Military Aircraft. ORNL/TM-2000/289. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN.

Suter, G.W., II, K.A. Reinbold, W.H. Rose, and M. Chawla. 2002. Military Ecological Risk Assessment Framework (MERAF) for assessment of risks of military training and testing to natural resources. ORNL/TM-2002/295. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN.

This work was funded by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) of the U. S. Department of Defense. Related SERDP-funded work appears at http://www.esd.ornl.gov/programs/SERDP/ .

LINKS to RELATED SITES  [ Top ]

Environmental Sciences Division (ESD) & SERDP - work performed by the Environmental Sciences Division (ESD) at Oak Ridge NationalLaboratory (ORNL) for the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP)

Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP)