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Approved
The Oak Ridge Site Specific
Advisory Board (ORSSAB) held its monthly meeting on
Members Present
John Kennerly
Zach Ludwig1
David Mosby
Tim Myrick
Christopher Smith
1Student representative
Members Absent
Pat Hill
Deputy Designated Federal Official and Ex-Officios
Present
Dave Adler, Ex Officio,
Department of Energy -
Connie Jones, Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), Region 4
Pat Halsey, Federal
Coordinator, DOE-ORO
Steve McCracken, Deputy
Designated Federal Official, DOE-ORO
Others Present
Jim Donnely, National
Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Y-12 Site Office
Spencer Gross, Spectrum
Harvey Rice, DOE-ORO
Mac Roddey, DOE-ORO,
Twelve members of the public
attended the meeting.
Presentation
Mr. Rice gave a Power Point
presentation (Attachment 1) explaining the status of the transfer of newly generated
waste (NGW) at the Y-12 National Security Complex and at ORNL.
He began by briefly
explaining the history of the project. Currently, the DOE-ORO
Mr. Rice said NGW activities
include characterization, packaging, and all the activities
Mr. Rice said while steady
progress is being made at Y-12, a number of issues still need to be resolved at
ORNL. He said ORNL has been doing a number of things to prepare to assume the
responsibilities of handling NGW, but no target date for transfer has been set.
The transition scope at ORNL
includes the Hazardous Wastes Operations Group storage facilities, NGW
disposition activities, and perhaps liquid/gaseous treatment. It is uncertain
if liquid/gaseous treatment is something ORNL needs or if it would transfer.
In his presentation, Mr.
Rice noted a number of steps ORNL is taking to prepare for the NGW transition (Attachment
1, page 8).
He finished his presentation
with the ORNL NGW Transition Status (Attachment 1, page 9).
A question and answer period
followed Mr. Rice’s presentation.
Deputy Designated Federal Official and Ex-Officio
Comments
Mr. McCracken said the President’s proposed budget for
2006 is very supportive of the work that has to be done in
He referenced the ORO 2006 budget (Attachments 2, 3, and 4) and noted that since 2005 is the date for Bechtel Jacobs to complete its work, it was expected that appropriations in that area would go down; however, appropriations went up for continued work by Foster Wheeler, the subcontractor handling transuranic (TRU) waste.
Mr. McCracken also
commented about Corehole 8 at ORNL. He described an area near the old cafeteria
at ORNL that is highly contaminated and will probably have to be treated as
remote-handled TRU waste. He said
Mr. McCracken also talked about the property transfer of four office buildings to the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee at East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP). Progress is slow but steady and should be complete by June.
Mr. Adler reported on the David Witherspoon cleanup work
in
Ms. Jones had several comments:
· DOE has notified EPA that there is sufficient funding to complete the fiscal year 2005 milestones.
·
Based on DOE’s forecast figures,
· She announced that Patricia Goldberg has joined EPA and will be overseeing the decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) projects at ETTP and ORNL.
· The Remedial Action Core Team, the D&D Remaining Facilities Core Team, and K-25 Core Team held a conference call to talk about methodology for the on-site disposal of concrete.
· EPA Region 4 has been asked by EPA Headquarters to provide names of groups that are involved in conservation stewardship issues. She provided the names of the ORSSAB and the Local Oversight Committee (LOC). The White House is attempting to convene a workshop this summer on conservation and stewardship issues to receive input from stakeholders.
·
EPA has signed the Explanation of Significant
Differences for construction of the
Regarding the proposed 2006 budget, Mr. Owsley said DOE
must comply with regulations regarding active waste management. Cleanup
criteria are somewhat more flexible, and DOE, EPA, and the state of
Mr. Owsley said one of the major issues being worked on is the ETTP Zone 2 ROD. He said the D1 draft is being reviewed; this particular decision covers soil, buried waste, and subsurface structures. He said that would leave a number of questions to be answered in the subsequent site-wide ROD.
Concerning the Upper East Fork Poplar Creek Proposed Plan, which is the plan for the phase 2 ROD for Y-12, he said the state has approved the plan for public review, but he was not sure of the date. Ms. Halsey noted that the date for public review will be set around the end of March.
The state’s report of ambient monitoring will be issued in April. Mr. Owsley said there are no imminent health concerns related to releases from the Oak Ridge Reservation. He offered to report to the Board when the information became available.
Public Comment
Jim
O’Connor, Oak Ridge City Manager, reported on actions the city is taking. The
city has endorsed the designation of a conservation area on Black Oak Ridge and
hopes the state of
Also he said the city has endorsed the management
plan for the conservation easement. The city believes it will be a good asset
for the citizens of
He also said the city is still taking public comment
on the historic heritage plan for ETTP.
Announcements and Other Board Business
The next Board meeting will
be Wednesday, March 9, at the
Minutes of the
Ms. Bogard reported that Ms.
Hill’s absences, including this meeting, were due to illness. The item to vote
on her consecutive absences was removed from the agenda.
Board Finance – Mr. Mosby reported that
the committee did not meet in January but will meet in February and will redouble
its efforts.
The committee will meet
again on Feb. 16 and hear an update from Joy Sager on the Toxic Substances
Control Act Incinerator.
Public Outreach – Mr. Mulvenon showed the
design for an ORSSAB shirt (Attachment 5). He asked how many members would be
interested in purchasing a shirt. A show of hands was taken and 15 people
responded they would like to have one. Cost of the shirt is estimated to be
between $20 and $30. The shirt is part of the 10th anniversary of
the ORSSAB. He said a celebration is also planned in September.
The ORSSAB exhibit at the
Feb. 17 at 1 p.m. A number
of dignitaries will be on hand to participate in a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Mr. Mulvenon reported that
the Public Outreach Committee will take over the publicity and marketing of the
The committee has
volunteered to help with the membership drive for East Tennessee Public
Television. Mr. Mulvenon said 10 people are needed to commit to the drive. The
ORSSAB is scheduled to work March 17 from
The committee is looking at
the editorial plan for the next Advocate newsletter and the 2004 annual report.
A question was asked about
billboard advertising. Mr. Mulvenon reported that the cost varied depending on
location and number of boards. The range is $1,200 to $4,500 per month.
Mr. Adams said work is still
being done to fully implement the Geographic Information System with
Ms. Campbell said the
One of the subcommittees is
the
said work continues on the plan. He went on to say the
Executive – Mr.
Trammell said work is being done to have a national forum on waste disposition sponsored
by the all the SSABs. At the Executive Committee meeting in February,
preliminary discussions will begin about what issues the ORSSAB would like to
provide input. Mr. Trammell said he has volunteered to be on the steering
committee for that forum.
Mr. Trammell said the city of
is to try to get understanding about how all groups can communicate to DOE the public’s
view on issues. Mr. Trammell said he will explain how the Board works with DOE,
how members are selected, and will emphasize the independence of the Board. He will
also point out that government officials are always welcome to attend ORSSAB
meetings for input.
She discussed the requirement
in the current Bylaws for an annual board meeting. The committee recommended deletion
of the requirement for the meeting. Deletion doesn’t mean an annual meeting won’t
be held; only that the Bylaws would not require one. She asked for input about
that item.
She also talked about
Article V.G that addresses a quorum for a meeting. The committee recommended striking
the word “official.” The committee also deleted the line about teleconferencing
to establish a quorum.
Ms. Bogard encouraged all
members to send her comments about how best to establish a quorum.
When revisions of the Bylaws
are finished, the Board will vote on the proposed Bylaws as a package.
She said the committee also talked
about issue managers, how effective they have been, and how to make them more
effective. Ms. Halsey took on the responsibility to strengthen the
communication between issue managers and DOE personnel.
Ms.
Halsey is working with the Executive Committee to try out some facilitators for
the
Additions to the Agenda
Mr.
Smith asked what the mission of the LOC was, if there is overlap with the
ORSSAB’s mission, and is there any significant redundancy with the existence of
the two organizations.
Mr.
Owsley explained that the LOC is made up of local and county government
officials. When DOE set up the ORSSAB, the LOC established its Citizens
Advisory Panel (CAP) to expand its own public participation on environmental
issues. As a result, he said, there is some overlap of missions between the
ORSSAB and the CAP. But he said the state sees no overlap of the two. He noted that
among the states that have SSABs, only
Board
Minutes Format
Mr.
Gibson noted that in November 2004, the Board decided not to include in the
minutes annotated questions and answers related to meeting presentations. He
felt like inclusion of questions and answers in the minutes provided for ready
reference in the minutes for later use.
Mr.
Trammell suggested putting the topic on the agenda for the Executive Committee
to discuss. He asked that if anyone has any comments about the issue that they be
discussed with members of the Executive Committee.
The
meeting adjourned at
Motions
M2/09/05.1
A motion was made and seconded to approve the agenda
with additions. The motion was unanimously
approved.
M2/09/05.2
A
motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes from the January 16
meeting. The motion was approved. Mr.
Gibson voted no.
M2/09/05.3
A
motion was made and seconded to remove
Respectfully
submitted,
RB/rsg
Action Items