WINTERVILLE--Dr. Jane Summerson, a geologist with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), spoke at Pitt Community College Friday about governmental procedures for protecting the environment and developing clean energy sources.

    With students from PCC and East Carolina University in attendance, Summerson discussed the importance of the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) of 1969 and how it requires government entities to consider how projects could impact the environment. She said each Environmental Impact Statement created for a project provides for public comment, which is a chance for citizens to hold the government accountable and be involved in the decision-making process.

    Click Here for a video of Dr. Summerson's presentation.

    "We are required to ask the public what they think," Summerson said, adding that she must respond to each comment from the public.

    Public feedback, Summerson said, ensures the DOE has as much information as possible about the potential environmental impacts of their projects and that all options have been considered.

    As an example of the NEPA process and the development of Environmental Impact Statements, Summerson discussed the Yucca Mountain Project. She spent 20 years researching and planning the Nevada site, which was a proposed repository for the country's spent nuclear reactor fuel and other radioactive waste.

    Currently, the federal government has determined the Yucca Mountain site to be an option that is not workable and has ceased funding for the project.

    Summerson said she was disheartened to think she had spent so much of her life working on a project that may not have been as worthwhile as she thought it was. She pointed to the NEPA process in explaining why the project took so long and had still not resulted in a workable solution.

When asked by students for comment on the Yucca Mountain Project, Summerson said she personally felt the site was a good option for nuclear waste storage.

    In her current role with the DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Summerson works in support of the Obama Administration's effort to invest in clean energy technology that strengthens the economy.

    "We have not identified an energy source that doesn't have some type of environmental impact," Summerson said. As a result, she said, DOE must determine the benefits of an energy source while at the same time identifying ways to lessen its impact.

    Summerson said EERE is working on solutions for a cleaner environment in the United States and that NEPA is a part of that effort.

    "If NEPA is a part, you can be a part," she said. "... This is your world, and as current college students, figuring out solutions to the global energy crisis is your challenge."

    Please go to www.pittcc.edu for more information on Dr. summerson's visit.