Attenuation of Herbicides in Sub-Arctic Enviroments: Continental Climate Study

The purpose of this project is to investigate the environmental fate and attenuation of three herbicides currently being evaluated for use along Alaska's transportation corridors. Building upon results obtained in previous studies, this work seeks to contribute to the knowledge base necessary to minimize environmental risks associated with herbicide application in Alaska's sensitive, cold region ecosystems. As transportation-related entities such as the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) and the Alaska Railroad Corporation (AKRR) require strict vegetation management practices in order to safely conduct operations, these entities have an interest in evaluating herbicides as a potential management tool. As a consequence, the AKRR (current study and previous study) and the ADOT (previous studies) are collaborating with the Alaska University Transportation Research Center (AUTC) to fund research efforts pursuant to herbicide application. In a current project joint funded by the AKRR and AUTC Razor® Pro and Oust® Extra were applied on two study plots near the southern section of AKRR rail line near Seward, Alaska. Soil and groundwater samples from each of these study plots are being analyzed for each herbicide over time. In the proposed study, Razor® Pro and Oust® Extra will be applied on the northern section of AKRR rail line near Fairbanks, Alaska. As in the ongoing study, researchers from the UAF Water & Environmental Research Center (WERC) will evaluate the fate of these herbicides over a two-year time period through a series of soil and groundwater samples in order to obtain site-specific attenuation data. As part of the current, lysimeters were installed at the UAF Fairbanks Experiment Farm to better quantify the attenuation of different herbicides that may possibly be used on Alaskan right-of-ways. These lysimeter studies will continue as part of this proposed project.

• Record URL:
  http://ine.uaf.edu/autc/projects/attenuation-of-herbicides-in-subarctic-environments-phase-2/

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $200000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  DTRT06-G-0011

  309026 / G00003238

• Sponsor Organizations:

  RITA: Research and Innovative Technology Administration

  1200 New Jersey Ave, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Alaska Railroad

  327 West Ship Creek Avenue
  Anchorage, AK  United States  99501

  Alaska University Transportation Center

  University of Alaska, Fairbanks
  P.O. Box 755900
  Fairbanks, AK  United States  99775-5900
• Project Managers:

  Barnes, Dave

• Performing Organizations:

  Alaska University Transportation Center

  University of Alaska, Fairbanks
  P.O. Box 755900
  Fairbanks, AK  United States  99775-5900
• Principal Investigators:

  Schnabel, Bill

  Barnes, Dave

• Start Date: 20090501
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20121231
• Source Data: RiP Project 22613

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Attenuation (Engineering); Ecosystems; Environmental impacts; Frigid regions; Herbicides; Research projects; Vegetation
• Geographic Terms: Alaska; Arctic Regions
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Railroads; Research; I15: Environment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01486764
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Alaska University Transportation Center
• Contract Numbers: DTRT06-G-0011, 309026 / G00003238
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jul 17 2013 1:00AM