By Anonymous
The area I chose was the area right next to Mason Pond, it’s an area I personally pass every time I enter campus. This area is the bridge between the actual pond and where it runs off into the woods. It has now started to become a place of construction due to a new project called ‘Necklace Phase One and Stream Restoration’. Its goal is to restore the main channel that will run through it. That is the main human interaction we see with construction because you have not only people but machines tearing down the trees and giving off chemicals into the atmosphere. We also have human interactions with the students. I know as one myself that I also interact with that area by being able to sit amongst the trees and have small picnics. This will continue with the project making more human interaction because the goal is to have the clear channel and more pathways to go through.
Next thing is the characteristics of the resource system the one primarily seen is the physical changes made to achieve their plan. “It was found that ‘Transportation Resource’, ‘Noise Pollution’, and ‘Dust Generation with Construction Machinery’ are the greatest environmental impacts,(Enviromental impacts Assessment).” These were examples seen in this study in Malaysia that we are also seeing here at Mason for the construction. They have cleared out mainly the trees and any vegetation that was grown there. It was tall before as we can see in neighboring trees and will take quite a while before it returns to the same stature as before. Not only for the trees but the water and ground as well which has been disrupted will take time to correct itself from any runoff that occurs from the construction. Now, going back to human interactions that is a part of this project, it also ties in with the governance characteristics as well as the political and social to the Mason Community.
This involves the whole Mason community, specifically when talking about governance. This involved different parts of the Mason campus from talking specifically about Mason Sustainability to the contractors Mason hires to start construction of this root. This comes into play because the University owns the land and to start the project it has to go through several protocols, not just the University board but also several other approvals to make sure in a whole sense everyone agrees with the plan. This comes into common when we also see other projects being worked on, “professional bodies and private organizations have started several programs in order to enhance the awareness and knowledge of construction practitioners, and also to promote the application of sustainable principles within construction projects (Enviromental impacts Assessment).” Like mentioned previously this tie in with Mason’s political and social idealisms that they stand for. The sustainable Mason is main goal is to reach the campus to net carbon neutral. With this construction even if it is to make a spot that brings us closer to nature, the campus does have to disrupt some of the current natural growth. What that means is that many students thought and concerns were heard about when the project was first proposed and they made a goal to make sure they could disrupt as little plant life as possible. While also preventing the any excess environmental hazards from coming into the waters as well. They have already taken other actions in a general university wide interest in helping hazards from coming into our waters. “There are also ongoing efforts at the Innovation Food Forest to maintain stormwater features and reduce erosion in the walkway there. Volunteers can help clean out drainage trenches and return deposition after rainstorms (GMU Stormwaters).” There are also several other projects still working on campus to act on this issue of keeping the runoffs clean not only from the construction but also in case of things like bad weather conditions.
References
Parking. Center for the Arts. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://cfa.gmu.edu/plan-your-visit/parking
Zolfagharian, S., Nourbakhsh, M., Irizarry, J., Ressang, A., & Gheisari, M. (2012). Environmental impacts assessment on construction sites. In Construction Research Congress 2012: Construction Challenges in a Flat World (pp. 1750-1759).
Stream restoration on Fairfax Campus Will Create Scenic Pathway. George Mason University. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://www.gmu.edu/news/2022-08/stream-restoration-fairfax-campus-will-create-scenic-pathway
Communication, P. B. F. (n.d.). Stream restoration update. Facilities. Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://facilities.gmu.edu/stream-restoration-update/
Stormwater FAQ. University Sustainability. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://green.gmu.edu/stormwater-faq/