2007
ORSSAB Kicks Off
Oral History Initiative
In spring 2007, ORSSAB formed a subcommittee to explore the
possibility of facilitating an oral history program for the Oak Ridge
Reservation. This history contains invaluable information to the
Environmental Management program when determining the scope and the data
necessary to approach areas of the reservation requiring remediation or
in determining if an area does not require remediation.
About 275 oral history interviews have been conducted to date with Oak
Ridge scientists, engineers, community leaders, and residents, but there
is no central location housing all of the existing tapes, and no
mechanism exists to manage an active oral history program in terms of
cataloguing and transcribing tapes, identifying and interviewing people,
and providing access to material to researchers and other interested
parties.
The subcommittee has begun looking into funding options and how other
DOE sites similar to Oak Ridge have conducted or are conducting oral
history programs. In addition, the subcommittee organized a workshop
that brought together many groups and individuals interested in
preserving Oak Ridge history. The workshop, which was held October 11,
2007, was intended to help resolve several issues, including:
• What is the definition of an oral history?
• What are sources of funding?
• Should all oral histories be housed at one location along with
the transcripts and other relevant files?
• Should a “permanent” administrative group/advisory committee be
formed to oversee the oral history program, and if so, who?
• What existing regulations/legislative acts control or influence
an oral history program?
• Who are the individuals who need to be interviewed in the near
future?
• What format of the end product will be most desired and easy to
access?
• What organization will handle transcribing oral histories that
have not yet been transcribed?
ORSSAB’s work on the oral histories program was an important step in
bringing cohesion to the various interests in the community on an issue
of importance not only to the public but to the DOE Environmental
Management program as well.
Melton Valley Closure Marks End of 10-Year ORSSAB Involvement
For many years the Melton Valley burial grounds posed the highest
risk at the Oak Ridge Reservation to human health and the environment.
As a result of more than 50 years of operation, production, and research
activities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a legacy of disposal sites,
contaminated facilities, and areas of secondary contamination were
spread over 160 acres of the watershed’s 1062 acres. In the 1950s the
area was also used as the Atomic Energy Commission’s Southeastern
Regional Burial Ground, where largely uncharacterized radioactive wastes
from over 50 other federal facilities were disposed.
DOE’s cleanup project for the valley included a wide array of
complicated and difficult activities, such as hydraulic isolation
through installation of multilayer caps; removal, treatment, and
disposal of retrievable transuranic waste; and in situ grouting.
In March 2007, DOE completed remedial actions in the valley, bringing
the project to a close and ending a decade of involvement and oversight
by ORSSAB.
Beginning in January 1998 with its “End Use Recommendation for the
Disposal Areas in Melton Valley,” the board made 20 recommendations to
DOE related to various aspects of Melton Valley cleanup. An inestimable
number of hours were devoted by the board members in studying, debating,
and writing recommendations on numerous issues related to the project
and the acceptable end state for the area.
The remediation work was a huge undertaking that addressed 219 release
sites over the course of six years at a cost of $360 million. It could
have cost as much as $1.6 billion had all the waste been removed and
shipped off site, but the board played an instrumental role in the
decision to leave some relatively short-lived contamination in place in
order to save taxpayers millions of dollars.
ORSSAB Sponsors Public Meeting on the Remediation Effectiveness
Report/CERCLA Five-Year Review
DOE is spending hundreds of millions of dollars in Oak Ridge each year
cleaning up environmental contamination left from decades of nuclear
enrichment and other activities. But how do you know it’s working?
The answers lie in an annual report and a rigorous review that occurs
every five years. The annual report is the Remediation Effectiveness
Report, and every five years it is expanded to include the Five-Year
Review that’s required under CERCLA.
Because the Five-Year Review is so important, ORSSAB issued its
“Recommendations on Logistics for a Public Meeting on the 2006
Remediation Effectiveness Report and CERCLA Five-Year Review” in
November 2006. The board made several general recommendations about
conducting the meeting, as well as specific recommendations concerning
the agenda and publicity. A primary suggestion was to use an ORSSAB
monthly meeting as a forum for the public meeting.
DOE agreed and set the date for May 9, 2007. About 50 people attended
the meeting, which gave local stakeholders an important forum to express
their views on both the Remediation Effectiveness Report and the CERCLA
Five-Year Review.
Board Helps Out with Public Involvement Plan Update
Both the Comprehensive Environmental Restoration, Compensation, and
Liability Act (CERCLA) and the “Federal Facility Agreement for the Oak
Ridge Reservation” require DOE Oak Ridge to publish a Public Involvement
Plan. The plan is updated every three years. The purpose of the plan is
to communicate to the public its opportunities for participation in the
decision-making process regarding the remediation of contaminated areas
on the Oak Ridge Reservation. As such, the plan is one of the most
important documents to citizens that the Environmental Management
program prepares.
In 2007 DOE began working on an update of the 2004 plan. ORSSAB supplied
numerous comments and suggestions, which were incorporated into the
final document. Because of the board’s involvement, important additions
and changes were made to better serve the community. DOE said in its
response to the recommendation: “Thanks to the board’s knowledgeable
input, we believe the document has been greatly improved since its
previous update three years ago.”
ORSSAB Sponsors Workshop on “A General Overview of the
Decommissioning Process”
On March 9, 2007, ORSSAB sponsored a day-long workshop on the
decommissioning process to give members a better understanding of what
it takes to deal with structures like the K‑25 building. Seven board
members attended, plus DOE and state personnel. The workshop was held at
the DOE Information Center
and led by Larry Boing of Argonne National Laboratory.
New Member Tours & Training Held
On July 27, 2007, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., ORSSAB hosted a training
meeting at the DOE Information Center for new members and student
representatives Bill Bass, John Coffman, Charles Jensen, David Martin,
Hubert Gibson, and Ashlyn Hall.
Two tours of the Oak Ridge Reservation were held for members on
September 16, 2006 (Donna Campbell, Norman Mulvenon, Ron Murphree,
Donnie Patterson, Sondra Sarten, and Kevin Westervelt); and February 24,
2007 (Mike Haygood, Ted Lundy, Norman Mulvenon, Lou Rizzo, Jan Teague).
Board Members Attend Five National Meetings and Conferences
Each year, ORSSAB members take part in various meetings, workshops, and
conferences to: participate in discussions on EM and waste management
policy, gain understanding of relevant technical issues, discuss
subjects of mutual interest with SSAB counterparts at other sites, and
present technical papers on EM-related topics. Following are the
meetings attended in FY 2007.
• EM SSAB Chairs Meeting; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Sept. 6–8,
2006; Attendees: Ben Adams, Steve Dixon, Norman Mulvenon
• Energy, Technology, and Environmental Business Association
Business Opportunities Conference; October 31–November 2, 2006;
Knoxville, Tennessee; Attendee: Steve Douglas
• EM SSAB Chairs Meeting; Las Vegas, Nevada; March 28–30,
2007; Attendees: Steve Dixon, Norman Mulvenon, Steve Stow
• Long-Term Stewardship Roundtable & Training; San Diego,
California; April 4–5, 2007; Attendees: Ben Adams, Donna Campbell
• EPA Community Involvement Conference; Jacksonville,
Florida; June 19–22, 2007; Attendee: Ted Lundy
Annual Planning Retreat Held in August
The Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board held its annual planning
retreat on Saturday, August 11, 2007, at Rothchild Catering in
Knoxville.
Becky Brunton facilitated the meeting and began the day by focusing on
board member responsibilities. She used the concept of obtaining the
various levels of martial arts belts as an analogy for how one gains
experience and takes on more responsibility within the board. New
members are at a white belt level. As they gain experience and take on
more responsibility they progress through yellow, green, brown, and
black belts. She then asked retreat participants to work in groups to
list the different board duties and assign a belt color to them.
The remainder of the day was spent reviewing results of a board member
survey Brunton conducted prior to the meeting, reviewing the results of
the annual Stakeholder Survey, and prioritizing and assigning work plan
topics to the board’s committees for the 2008 fiscal year. Those topics
included over a dozen key items.
Membership, Officers, Liaisons, and Staff
Members serving during FY 2007 were: Ben Adams, Bill Bass, Rhonda
Bogard, Darryl Bonner, David Branch, Donna Campbell, John Coffman,
Heather Cothron, Steve Dixon, Steve Douglas, Mike Haygood, Charles
Jensen, Ted Lundy, David Martin, Gloria Mei, Lance Mezga, Norman
Mulvenon, Ron Murphree, Tim Myrick, Robert Olson, Sandy Reagan, Sondra
Sarten, Steve Stow, Jan Teague, Kevin Westervelt
Students serving in FY 2007 were Sarah Lewis from Oak Ridge High School
and Sean Purdy from Webb School of Knoxville (for the term May
2006–April 2007), and Ashlyn Hall from Oak Ridge High School and Hubert
Gibson from Oliver Springs High School (for the term May 2007–April
2008).
Board officers for the year were Chair—Lance Mezga, Vice Chair—Norman
Mulvenon, Secretary—Steve Douglas (until his resignation in January
2007; replaced by Ben Adams). Committee chairs were: Board Finance—Steve
Dixon, EM—Rhonda Bogard, Executive—Lance Mezga, Public Outreach—Steve
Stow, and Stewardship—Darryl Bonner.
Agency liaisons and DOE staff remained unchanged from FY 2006: Deputy
Designated Federal Officer—Steve McCracken, DOE Liaison—Dave Adler,
Federal Coordinator—Pat Halsey, EPA Liaison—Connie Jones, TDEC
Liaison—John Owsley. Support staff were Spencer Gross and Pete Osborne.
2006
Orssab
Presented with Prestigious National
Epa Award
In June 2006 ORSSAB and its Stewardship Committee were presented with
the Citizens Excellence in Community Involvement Award. The national
honor is given annually by EPA to recognize an individual or community
group for outstanding achievement in the field of environmental
protection. The award was presented at EPA’s 2006 Community Involvement
Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
ORSSAB Chair Kerry Trammell and Board member
Heather Cothran, center, display the Community
Involvement Award with EPA's Suzanne Wells
The award recognizes two major achievements by the ORSSAB
Stewardship Committee between October 2004 and September 2005.
The first achievement was development of the Stewardship
Education Resource Kit, which was created to provide local educators
with materials to teach students about environmental cleanup and
long-term stewardship issues (see “Teacher’s Workshop” story).
The second achievement focuses on maintaining
information about contaminated land. In 2004 the Stewardship Committee
worked with Anderson County to test a system where plat maps of
contaminated land would be placed in the county geographical information
system. The test was successful, so in 2005 the board recommended that
DOE standardize its language for land with notices of contamination so
they could be easily found by anyone doing land searches in the county
land records. DOE adopted the recommendation and is standardizing its
language when filing notices of contamination with Anderson County. The
county also sends the same information to the City of Oak Ridge. A
similar effort is underway for Roane County.
ORSSAB
Hosts Teacher’s Workshop on the Stewardship Education Resource Kit
In February 2006 ORSSAB sponsored a two-day workshop on how to use the
board’s Stewardship Education Resource Kit in the classroom. The event
was attended by twenty-four ecology and environmental science teachers
representing public and private high schools in Knox and Anderson
counties.
The kit, which was completed in March 2005, contains
lesson plans, videos, a fictional case study based on actual cleanup
operations, an appendix of supporting materials, and a video CD on the
background and use of the kit.
Teachers get hands-on training with the
Stewardship
Education Resource Kit.
During the workshop, held February 9 and 11, ORSSAB
members and facilitators from the University of Tennessee explained how
to use each lesson, showed videos included with the kit, and
demonstrated the use of support materials and related Internet sites.
The teachers participated in group activities and listened to a panel
discussion on stewardship that included representatives from ORSSAB,
DOE, and the state of Tennessee.
Kit materials are available on the ORSSAB website at
www.oakridge.doe.gov/ em/ssab/stewardship-kit/kit.htm. Organizations
that have an interest in stewardship and the environment may request a
version of the kit.
ORSSAB Hosts National SSAB Chairs Meeting
The chairs and other representatives of SSABs in Oak
Ridge, Colorado, Kentucky, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, South
Carolina, and Washington state meet semiannually to discuss individual
and common concerns. The spring 2006 meeting was sponsored by ORSSAB and
held in Knoxville April 27–28.
Heading the list of DOE officials at the meeting was
James Rispoli, assistant secretary for EM, who came to thank the boards
for their dedication and to challenge them to continue their work to
represent the concerns of their communities.
Other DOE visitors from DOE headquarters included Charlie
Anderson, principal deputy assistant secretary for EM; Mark Frei, deputy
assistant secretary for business operations; Douglas Tonkay of the
Office of Commercial Disposition Options; and Melissa Nielson and Doug
Frost of the Office of Internal/External Coordination.
Gerald Boyd, DOE-Oak Ridge manager, and Steve McCracken,
Oak Ridge assistant manager for EM, were present at the meeting to
welcome the attendees, along with Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam and Dave
Mosby, representing the city of Oak Ridge.
During the meeting, the representatives crafted two
recommendations to DOE (see http://www.oakridge.doe.gov/em/ssab/recc.htm).
New Member Training Meeting
On August 11, 2006, ORSSAB hosted a training meeting at the DOE
Information Center for new members and student representatives. The
agenda included:
-
ORSSAB Mission and the Issues the Board Addresses (Rhonda
Bogard)
-
The SSAB Within DOE (Pat Halsey)
-
ORSSAB History (Pete Osborne)
-
ORSSAB Organization and Activities (Rhonda Bogard)
-
Stewardship Overview (Ralph Skinner)
-
EM Overview (Dave Adler)
-
FFA and CERCLA Documentation (Dave Adler)
-
Training Methods (Rhonda Bogard)
-
Annual Planning Retreat (Sandy Reagan)
Annual Planning Retreat
On August 12, 2006, a few days before ORSSAB embarked on its 12th year,
the group paused for its annual retreat, as it does each August, to step
back and reflect on the past year’s performance and look forward to
what’s ahead.
Many of the issues that have driven past retreats—mission, committee
structure, and roles and responsibilities, for example—have been largely
resolved through the years. So the focal point of this year’s retreat,
held at Pollard Auditorium, was somewhat more philosophical as the board
looked to better focus the procedures and processes it has already
established.
Becky Brunton, who assumed the role of committee facilitator in
January, led the group through a morning session devoted to discussion
of how members feel about interaction between members, the board in
general, and the roles DOE, EPA, and TDEC play in board activities.
The group reviewed the results from a survey of members Brunton
conducted prior to the retreat. It indicated satisfaction with the way
the board and its committees function. Other morning discussions focused
on streamlining processes for getting information to board members,
mentoring and training, and follow-up on DOE responses to board
recommendations.
Facilitator Becky Brunton leads the 2006
retreat
The afternoon session addressed the retreat’s second principal goal:
setting a work plan for FY 2007. To do this, the group studied the
results of the annual Stakeholder Survey and reviewed topics suggested
by DOE, EPA, and TDEC.
The retreat concluded as these and several other issues were parceled
out to the standing ORSSAB committees for potential inclusion in 2007
committee work plans.
ORSSAB Members Meet
with Assistant Secretary Rispoli
DOE Assistant Secretary for EM James Rispoli visited the Oak Ridge
Reservation on October 25, 2005. ORSSAB chair Kerry Trammell and board
member Steve Dixon had an opportunity to meet with him briefly at the
DOE Information Center. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for EM
Charlie Anderson also attended the meeting.
ORSSAB Chair Kerry Trammell, second from right, and
board member Steve Dixon, right, meet with DOE Asst. Sec. James Rispoli,
left, and DOE Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for EM Charlie
Anderson.
Photo courtesy of Joe Henderson, IIA
Public
Meeting on K-25/K-27 Change in D&D
In mid-2006, decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of many buildings
at the East Tennessee Technology Park was underway or had already been
completed. One of these is the original gaseous diffusion plant, K-25,
which was built during World War II to enrich uranium for use in
developing the first atomic bomb. Building K-27 was built later to
enrich uranium for continued nuclear weapons production and for use in
reactors. Operations at K-25 and K-27, along with three other process
buildings, were suspended in the mid-1980s. Work at that time was
underway to not only D&D K-25 and K-27, but eventually demolish both
buildings.
During the D&D process in January 2006, a worker fell
through some weakened floor panels in K-25 and was seriously injured.
That incident led to a reevaluation of how the work is done at both
buildings to prevent subsequent accidents.
The ORSSAB EM committee offered to use one of its
monthly meetings as a forum for a public meeting on the proposed change
in approach to the D&D of K-25 and K-27. The board, with the help of the
DOE Public Affairs Office, publicized the event through several local
media. The meeting was held on July 19, 2006, at the DOE Information
Center, and approximately 50 interested citizens attended to hear the
presentation and ask numerous questions. As a result of the meeting, the
board submitted a recommendation to DOE on the proposed change to the
D&D strategy for K-25 and K-27.
New
Facilitator
In January 2006 the board hired Becky Brunton to facilitate the EM and
Stewardship committee meetings.
Mentoring
In Fall 2005 board member Rhonda Bogard presented a mentoring plan she
prepared. Mentor/protégé pairings were included in the plan, and these
were made on the basis of committee affiliation, mentors already
assigned to students, etc. The plan was presented to board members at
the November 2005 board meeting.
Travel
Board members and staff made the following trips in FY 2006 to (1)
participate in discussions on EM and waste management policy, (2) gain
understanding of relevant technical issues, (3) discuss subjects of
mutual interest and develop personal contacts with SSAB counterparts at
other sites, and (4) present technical papers on EM-related topics.
-
Chairs Meeting;
Idaho Falls; Sept. 21-23, 2005; Gross, Mulvenon, Trammell
-
Intergovernmental Meeting with DOE;
D.C.; Nov. 9–10, 2005; Mulvenon
-
Perma-Fix Mixed Waste Users Forum;
Nashville; Dec. 5–7, 2005;
Douglas
-
WM ’06;
February 26–March 2, 2006; Trammell
-
EPA Public Involvement Conference;
June 27–30, 2006; Cothron, Osborne,
Trammell
National
Volunteer Service Award
In honor of National Volunteer Week, DOE Assistant Secretary for EM
James Rispoli recognized the nine local boards that comprise the
department’s EM SSAB. In a special ceremony held in conjunction with the
semiannual SSAB chairs meeting in Knoxville, April 27–28,
2006, Rispoli presented the President’s Volunteer Service Award pin to
the board representatives. Kerry Trammell received the pin on behalf of
ORSSAB.
ORSSAB Chair Kerry Trammell accepts the
Volunteer Service Award Pin on behalf of the Board from DOE Asst. Sec.
James Rispoli.
Membership
Students serving in FY 2006 were Meredith James and Tonya
Justice (for the term May 2004–April 2005); and Sarah Lewis and Sean
Purdy (for the term May 20065–April 2007).
Board officers for the year were Kerry Trammell, chair;
Rhonda Bogard, vice chair; and Sandy Reagan, secretary. Committee chairs
were Steve Dixon, Board Finance; Sandy Reagan, Board Process; Lance
Mezga, EM; Kerry Trammell, Executive; Heather Cothron, Public Outreach;
and Norman Mulvenon, Stewardship.
Agency liaisons
and DOE staff remained unchanged from FY 2005: Dave Adler, DOE Liaison,
Connie Jones, EPA Liaison, John Owsley, TDEC Liaison; Steve McCracken,
Deputy Designated Federal Officer; and Pat Halsey, Federal Coordinator.
Support staff were Spencer Gross and Pete Osborne.
2005
The Oak Ridge Site
Specific Advisory Board (ORSSAB) celebrated its 10th anniversary this year
with a series of public outreach events as it moved forward in its mission
to provide informed advice and recommendations to the Department of
Energy-Oak Ridge Office (DOE-ORO) Environmental Management (EM) program.
10th Anniversary Celebration
In September 2005, the Board took a break from its busy year to host a 10th
anniversary birthday party at the American Museum of Science and Energy in
Oak Ridge. Attending the festivities were many current and former Board
members, as well as Doug Frost, DOE’s Designated Federal Officer for the
nine SSABs across the DOE complex; Gerald Boyd, DOE-ORO Manager; Steve
McCracken, DOE-ORO Assistant Manager for EM; and David Bradshaw, Mayor of
Oak Ridge. A highlight of the event was the presentation of commemorative
plaques signed by the Secretary of Energy and Mayor Bradshaw. The event also
provided the Board with an opportunity to show off its new museum exhibit
(see following story).
In the 10 years since the SSAB was established in 1995, the Board has issued
137 recommendations to DOE on various issues related to the cleanup
operations on the Oak Ridge Reservation. These recommendations have covered
almost every aspect of the cleanup program—from health and safety issues to
the nuts and bolts of specific project details. The Board has also performed
a very important function by serving as the focal point for community
outreach activities related to the cleanup program. ORSSAB members are
unpaid volunteers who have devoted thousands of hours of their time to the
government as a public service.
Museum Exhibit
ORSSAB unveiled its permanent exhibit at the American Museum of Science and
Energy in February 2005 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by about 50
members of the Board, the public, and the media. Speakers at the event
included Gerald Boyd, Steve McCracken, David Bradshaw, ORSSAB Chair Kerry
Trammell, and Museum Director Steve Stow.
Located on the second floor of the museum, the display uses touch-screen
kiosks, displays, and posters to tell the story of the Oak Ridge EM program.
The centerpiece of the exhibit is a scale model of the EM Waste Management
Facility in Bear Creek Valley, which provides visitors an idea of the
magnitude of the cleanup effort on the reservation. The touch-screen kiosks
take visitors on an interactive journey through the cleanup process at the
Gunite Tanks, one of the highly successful remediation projects at Oak Ridge
National Laboratory. Suspended over the exhibit is one of the remotely
controlled planes that used infrared photography to survey waste disposal
sites on the Oak Ridge Reservation.
Stewardship Education Resource Kit
In March 2005 the Board launched its Stewardship Education Resource Kit,
which was developed over the course of three years to provide high school
educators with materials on the background, science, history, and cleanup of
contaminated areas on the Oak Ridge Reservation and the stewardship of
residually contaminated sites.
The kit contains lesson plans, videos, a fictional case study based on
actual cleanup operations, an appendix of supporting materials, and a video
CD on the background and use of the kit. The kit is exceptional because it
offers teachers a complete resource for educating students about long-term
stewardship of contaminated land. It provides great flexibility for teachers
to tailor the lessons to a number of grade levels and specific subject
areas, such as environmental science, chemistry, biology, ecology, civics,
or history.
ORSSAB is currently working with the University of Tennessee and school
systems in the area to develop a workshop for teachers on how to use the
kit. For more information about the kit, see
www.oakridge.doe.gov/em/ssab/stewardship-kit/kit.htm.
Other Major Accomplishments of the Year:
• The Board issued six recommendations and comments on local cleanup
activities and participated with other SSABs across the DOE complex in
submitting two recommendations to DOE-Headquarters.
• Board members gave fifteen presentations about the Board and the EM
program to local schools, organizations, and elected officials. Members also
set up displays and participated in several community events, including the
Y-12 Safety Expo, the Secret City Festival, and the Oak Ridge National
Laboratory Volunteer Fair.
Other Highlights:
While FY 2004 brought a number of changes regarding committees, no such
changes were made in FY 2005. All committees formed in 2004 remained in FY
2005: Board Finance, Board Process, Environmental Management, Executive, and
Public Outreach.
FY 2005 brought a large turnover in membership. New members joining included
Darryl Bonner, Steve Dixon, Steve Douglas, Linda Grandage, Chris Grove,
Lance Mezga, James Miller, Ken Sadler, and Robert Olson. Linda Grandage
resigned shortly after being appointed, as did Dick Berry, Amy DeMint, and
Chris Smith, all of whom had been on the Board for some time. Luther Gibson,
John Kennerly, Bob McLeod, John Million, and David Mosby retired after
completing their maximum three terms of service on the Board.
Students serving in FY 2005 were Stephanie Jernigan, Zach Ludwig, and Katie
Meersman (for the term May 2004–April 2005); and Meredith James and Tonya
Justice (for the term May 2005–April 2006).
Board officers for the year were Kerry Trammell, Chair; Bob McLeod, Vice
Chair; and Rhonda Bogard, Secretary. Committee Chairs were David Mosby,
Board Finance; Rhonda Bogard, Board Process; Luther Gibson, Environmental
Management; Kerry Trammell, Executive; Norman Mulvenon, Public Outreach; and
Ben Adams, Stewardship.
Facilitator for the EM and Stewardship committees was Catherine
Whitworth. Technical advisor for the “Recommendations on the Proposed
Plan for Contaminated Soil, Buried Waste, and Subsurface Structures In
Zone 2, East Tennessee Technology Park (DOE/OR/01-2110&D2)” was Jerry
Eddlemon.
Ex officios and DOE staff remained unchanged from FY 2004: Dave Adler,
DOE Ex Officio, Connie Jones, EPA Ex Officio, John Owsley, TDEC Ex
Officio; Steve McCracken, Deputy Designated Federal Officer; and Pat
Halsey, Federal Coordinator. Support staff were Spencer Gross and Pete
Osborne.
2004
Several changes were made to the ORSSAB committee
structure at the beginning of the year. During the annual planning retreat
the Board changed its committee structure to combine the Environmental
Restoration and Waste Management committees into a single Environmental
Management Committee. The Stewardship Committee remained the same, but new
Board Finance and Public Outreach committees were added. The Board Process
Ad Hoc Committee was empanelled later in the year.
The creation of the Board Finance Committee was closely
associated with another major change in the board’s structure. In 2003 the
Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management issued direction
that the prime contractors performing cleanup work at DOE sites could no
longer provide support for the SSABs. The Board Finance Committee was formed
in large part to address the guidance. Over the course of several months
committee members met with the DOE Federal Coordinator to develop a scope of
work for a prospective support provider. As a result of these efforts, a
contract was put in place in May 2004 with Spectrum, Inc., an 8(a) company
based in Oak Ridge.
No new members joined ORSSAB this year, and one member
resigned (George Rimel). FY 2004 officers were Dave Mosby, Chair; Norman
Mulvenon, Vice Chair; Luis Revilla, Secretary. High school student
representatives for the year were Barbara Kosny from Oak Ridge and Atur
Sheth from Farragut. Ex officios and DOE staff remained unchanged from FY
2003: David Adler, DOE ex officio; Connie Jones, EPA ex officio; John
Owsley, TDEC ex officio; Steve McCracken, DDFO; Pat Halsey, DOE Federal
Coordinator.
Committee Chairs were Kerry Trammell, Board Finance;
Luther Gibson, Environmental Management; Dave Mosby, Executive; George
Rimel, Public Outreach; Ben Adams, Stewardship; Luis Revilla (Board Process
Ad Hoc). David Bidwell was retained as facilitator for the Environmental
Management and Stewardship committees.
Major highlights and accomplishments of the year
include the following:
§
The Board generated nine recommendations and comments on
various aspects of the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) cleanup program.
§
Meetings held by the ORSSAB Stewardship Committee with the
Anderson County Register of Deeds and the Property Assessor led to an effort
to ensure that DOE Web-based GIS mapping and land-use restriction
information is provided to the city of Oak Ridge and the counties in which
DOE is performing cleanup activities. This will help ensure that records of
contaminated areas of the reservation are available to future generations.
§
ORSSAB was instrumental in ensuring that a tight schedule was
maintained when DOE sought to make a change to a remediation method
identified in the Record of Decision for Interim Actions in Melton Valley.
The change from in situ vitrification to in situ grouting was to be made as
an amendment to the Record of Decision rather than an Explanation of
Significant Difference (ESD). Because a ROD amendment typically requires a
greater level of public involvement and two documents instead of one for an
ESD, the Board urged DOE to streamline the ROD amendment schedule to match
that of an ESD. DOE and the regulators agreed to the tightened schedule, and
approximately one year was saved on the project.
§
Stewardship of contaminated areas of the ORR following cleanup
has long been an ORSSAB priority. So when DOE signed the “Long-Term
Stewardship Strategic Plan for the ORR” in March 2004, the board’s
Stewardship Committee took the next logical step by producing an “Annotated
Outline for a Long-Term Stewardship Implementation Plan.” DOE
representatives have responded favorably to the outline, noting that it
provides a firm framework for the implementation plan, which is tentatively
slated for publication in Spring 2005.
§
ORSSAB published the second volume of its two-volume “ORR
Stakeholder Report on Stewardship” in 1999. As time passed, though, it
became apparent that the report was too detailed for some audiences—notably
the high school students the board was trying to reach through its public
outreach program. To address the problem, the ORSSAB Stewardship Committee
asked advance placement science classes at Oak Ridge and Roane County high
schools to summarize the report. The resulting “Student
Summary of the ORR
Stakeholder Report on Stewardship” was published in May 2004. The
student summary was widely distributed to local schools and libraries.
2003
At the ORSSAB planning retreat for FY 2003, held August 2 and 3,
2002, the Board elected to keep the same three standing committees as FY 2002:
Environmental Restoration, Stewardship, and Waste Management.
Three new members joined ORSSAB this year, and two members resigned.
Two others retired upon serving the full six years allowed by ORSSAB bylaws (Steve Kopp
and Charles Washington). Officers for the year were: Dave Mosby, Chair;
Norman
Mulvenon, Vice Chair; Donna Campbell, Secretary. Committee Chairs were:
Dave Mosby, Executive Committee; Kerry
Trammell, Environmental Restoration; John Million, Stewardship; Luther Gibson, Waste
Management. High school student representatives for the year were Jenna Carignan from
Oak Ridge and
David Johnson from Karns.
Major highlights and accomplishments of the year include the
following:
ORSSAB worked on several fronts to
help break the logjam that has prevented the movement of remote-handled transuranic (TRU)
waste to more secure storage. In October 2002, ORSSAB wrote to the State of
New Mexico to
endorse DOEs remote handled TRU waste permit modification request to allow shipment
of this waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. In January 2003, ORSSAB members attended
the SSAB Workshop on TRU Waste Management at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, and the
Board subsequently endorsed the workshop recommendations. ORSSAB followed up with a set of
site-specific recommendations, sent to the Assistant Manager for EM.
In FY 2003 ORSSAB provided six
recommendations and comments to DOE on various aspects of long-term stewardship. The
ORSSAB Stewardship Committee established an Education Subcommittee, which prepared the Oak
Ridge Reservation Educational Resource Guide. The guide was written to introduce the
concepts of radiological and chemical contamination, EM, and stewardship to middle and
high school students. The guide is the first part of a planned series of educational
efforts by ORSSAB. The guide is being provided to the community at large through the
ORSSAB web site, the DOE
Information Center, and various ORSSAB public outreach events.
In July 2003, ORSSAB launched its
video lending library at the DOE
Information Center, providing the community with a
valuable educational resource regarding EM Program issues. The library contains over 30
titles related to waste management, radiation, risk, environmental justice, environmental
laws and regulations, history, and EM.
On
October 17-19, 2002, ORSSAB
hosted the fall EM SSAB Chairs Meeting at the Hilton Hotel in Knoxville. Fifty
participants from across the DOE complex met to discuss EM projects and policy, share
ideas and concerns among sites, identify and work on common issues, and gain understanding
of relevant technical issues.
On October 9, 2002, the Board
approved a change to ORSSAB Bylaws Article VII. C5. to allow members of the public to
participate in ORSSAB standing committee business on a voting basis.
The Board generated 17
recommendations and comments during the year on various aspects of the ORR cleanup
program.
2002
At its annual retreat, the Board elected to keep the same
four
standing committees as FY 2001 Executive, Environmental Restoration, Stewardship, and Waste
Management. Five new members were added this year, and student representatives were seated
from Oak Ridge and Roane County high schools.
Major highlights and accomplishments
for the year include the following:
·
The Board focused much of its attention on the Accelerated
Cleanup Plan, which DOE introduced this year as a method to speed up cleanup of its Oak
Ridge Reservation. The Board reviewed and commented on major documents associated with the
plan and participated in several public forums. The Environmental Management Committee
cosponsored a public meeting with DOE-ORO on budgets associated with the plan.
·
The Stewardship Committee formed a Stewardship Status Team to
review every aspect of stewardship performance on the reservation and provide written
reports to the public, DOE, regulatory agencies, local governments, and other interested
parties.
·
The Education Subcommittee worked with advanced placement
sciences classes at Oak Ridge and
Roane
County high schools to have the students create summary reports of the
Oak Ridge Reservation Stakeholders
Report on Stewardship, Volumes 1 and 2. The summaries will be distributed to area
middle schools and high schools as part of an educational resource kit to help teachers
introduce the concept of environmental cleanup to their students.
·
The Waste Management
Committee sponsored a public meeting to discuss the proposed closure of the Toxic
Substances Control Act Incinerator. Helen Belencan from DOE-HQ was the featured speaker.
·
ORSSAB members participated in a number of meetings and
conferences around the nation to learn about EM and waste management policy and to gain
understanding of relevant technical issues. Four ORSSAB members participated in the
national SSAB Groundwater Workshop held at the Savannah River Site on January 31
February 2.
The Board submitted 14 recommendations
and comments to DOE. Officers for the year were: Chair Luther Gibson, Vice Chair
Dave Mosby, Secretary Corkie Staley.
2001
At the Boards annual retreat,
four standing committees were formed
Executive, Stewardship, Environmental Restoration, and Waste Management. The Public Outreach
Committee was disbanded, and that function was placed under a staff public outreach
coordinator, reporting to the Executive Committee. Seven new members joined ORSSAB this year, and considering that
seven others had signed on near the end of FY 2000, 14 of the 20 members serving in FY
2001 had been on the Board for just over a year or less. The only three charter members to
have remained on the board for the entire six years of service allowed by ORSSAB bylaws
retired in July. Bill Pardue, Pat Rush, and Lorene Sigal served on ORSSAB since its
inception in August 1995.
Major highlights and accomplishments
of the year include the following:
·
ORSSAB established a Stewardship Education Task Team to reach out
to students and the community at large with long-term stewardship education to help ensure
that stewardship issues are understood.
·
The Board sponsored a tour of western
U.S. disposal sites to
educate ORSSAB members about waste disposal practices at locations where EM wastes are
being disposed or may be disposed in the future. Sites included Envirocare of Utah, the
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the Nevada Test Site, and the Yucca Mountain Project.
·
Ad hoc committees were established to study and make
recommendations on the FY 2001 Remediation Effectiveness Report/CERCLA 5-Year Review,
EPA’s “Draft Public Involvement Policy, ” DOE-Headquarters'
Revised Public Participation Guidance, and the draft Public Involvement
Plan for CERCLA Activities at the U.S. DOE Oak Ridge Reservation.
·
An ad hoc committee was impaneled to participate in creation of
an Oak Ridge Success Story documenta concept developed by a broad
coalition of local community, government, and business groups to portray a factual picture
of environmental conditions in Oak Ridge.
·
ORSSAB members participated in a number of meetings and
conferences around the nation to learn about EM and waste management policy, gain
understanding of relevant technical issues and present technical papers.
The Board submitted 20 recommendations
and comments to DOE. Officers for the year were: Chair Luther Gibson, Vice Chair
Dave Mosby, Secretary Corkie Staley.
2000
The Board continued to streamline its organizational
structure this year, paring down the standing committees to five (Executive, Environmental
Restoration, Project Baseline, Stewardship, and Waste Management) and ad-hoc committees to
two (Board Process and Public Outreach).
Several valuable improvements were made in the Boards operating procedures,
including development of a mentor program and a comprehensive training program and
materials for new Board members. Materials included an orientation booklet, a training
manual, and a reference manual. Extensive work also went into the annual planning retreat,
and a set of guidance documents was developed to assist the Board in developing its work
plan.
Board membership changed dramatically this year with the addition of eight new members
and two new student representatives. Several longtime members stepped down, and charter
member and former ORSSAB chair Randy Gordon died this year of cancer.
Major highlights and accomplishments of the year included the following:
- ORSSAB sponsored the national "SSAB Workshop on Stewardship," October
2527, 1999, during which over 100 DOE stakeholders, including 50 members of SSABs
from 9 DOE sites, met in Oak Ridge to discuss the current state of stewardship and
the related actions and activities that are most important for DOE to pursue.
- ORSSAB continued the broad-based stakeholder effort to follow up on long-term
stewardship initiatives developed by the SSAB over the past 3 years by including area
stakeholders in the activities of the SWG. The group published the Oak Ridge
Reservation Stakeholder Report on Stewardship, Volume 2, in December 1999.
- The Board reached out to local stakeholders by holding meetings in new venues, such as
Pellissippi State and Roane State community colleges.
- ORSSAB expanded its commitment to including the younger generation in its activities by
seating two student representatives on the Board.
The Board issued 15 recommendations and comments to DOE. Officers for the year were:
Chair - Steve Kopp, Vice Chair - Demetra Nelson, Secretary - Rikki Traylor.
1999
At the start of the fiscal year (FY), ORSSAB reconfigured several of its project teams
to reflect current areas of interest and concern to stakeholders. Five teams remained
unchanged: Public Outreach, Budget & Prioritization, Waste Cell Management,
Executive, and Bylaws
(although the Waste Cell Team changed its name to "On-Site CERCLA Waste Disposal
Facility," and Bylaws became "Board Process").
The agendas of the Equity Issues and Technology Development & Deployment teams were
incorporated into the newly formed Waste Management Team, and the agendas of the Federal
Facility Agreement Appendix E Documents and ETTP Remediation & Reindustrialization
teams were included in the Watershed Cleanup Team. The End Use Working Group completed its
mission and dissolved.
Major highlights and accomplishments included the following:
- The Board expanded its outreach effort to educate the public about ORSSAB and the
importance of the DOE EM Program.
- Anne-Marie Wiest became the Boards first high school student participant.
- Interaction and cooperation with other SSABs was improved to address problems of common
concern, most notably in the areas of low-level waste disposal, transportation, and
stewardship.
- The Board sponsored the Stewardship Working Group (SWG)a broad-based community
effort to help DOE and other sites recognize long-term stewardship needs following
remediation. This effort led to a 3-day national SSAB workshop on stewardship, held in Oak
Ridge in October 1999. The Board submitted Volume 2 of the ORR Stakeholder Report
on Stewardship to DOE.
Six members whose terms of service expired chose not to be reappointed to the Board,
and seven new members were seated during the year. In May, the Board voted to change its
name from the Oak Ridge Reservation Environmental Management Site Specific Advisory Board
to the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board. The Board issued
14 recommendations. Officers for the year were Chair - Bill Pardue, Vice Chair - Bob
Peelle, Secretary - Rikki Traylor.
1998
The Board reorganized its committee structure from one that addressed broad subjects to
one that was more focused. Project teams addressed the following subjects:
- Budget & Prioritization,
- Bylaws,
- End Use,
- East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) Remediation & Reindustrialization,
- Federal Facility Agreement Appendix E Documents,
- Equity Issues,
- Public Outreach,
- Technology Development & Deployment,
- Waste Cell Management, and
- Executive.
Major highlights and accomplishments included the following:
- The Board approved the recommendations developed by the EUWG for contaminated sites on
the ORR and submitted to DOE the Final Report of the Oak Ridge Reservation End Use
Working Group.
- The Board approved the recommendations of the EUWGs Stewardship Committee and
submitted the committees groundbreaking Stakeholder Report on Stewardship to
DOE.
- The Board sponsored a public information meeting on the reindustrialization of ETTP in
April, providing an important forum for discussion on a topic that will prove pivotal in
remediation of the site.
- The Board sponsored a public meeting on the Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator
(TSCAI), at which Bill Rickman, a world-renowned incinerator expert, presented his
findings on the incinerator.
The Board submitted 18 recommendations. Officers for the year were Chair -
Bill Pardue, Vice Chair - Bob Peelle, Secretary - Peter Hillis.
1997
In January, the Boards Land Use/Economic Development Committee organized the End
Use Working Group (EUWG) to study future uses for contaminated areas on the ORR. The EUWG
in turn formed the Stewardship Committee to study long-term stewardship on the ORR. In
March, the Board adopted its "Vision, Critical Success Factors, and Principles"
statement, which was developed to provide a set of long-term goals for the group. Several
ad hoc committees were formed during the year to study subjects like the On-Site Waste
Management Disposal Cell, DOEs Accelerating Cleanup: Focus 2006, and the
Human Health Effects Study for Oak Ridge and Vicinity. The Board issued
14 recommendations. Officers for the year were Chair - Randy Gordon, Vice Chair -
Bill Pardue, Secretary - Bob Peelle.
1996
The Board adopted bylaws in February and standing rules in May. The following
committees were formed:
- Executive;
- Environmental Restoration;
- Environmental Health, Safety, and Justice;
- Land Use/Economic Development; and
- Waste Management.
Work began on the Boards newsletter, and a Web page was established in July. Six
recommendations were submitted to DOE. Officers for the year were Chair - Bob Peelle, Vice
Chair - Mary Bryan, Secretary - Donna Campbell.
1995
The SSAB formation process began in January, and informational meetings were held in
the Oak Ridge area through March. A panel was formed in summer to screen applications, and
in September DOE-ORO empanelled its 20-member SSAB. The first meeting of the Board was
held on September 21.
1994
The SSAB steering committee issued its proposal in July and met with DOE Assistant
Secretary for EM Thomas Grumbly in December to discuss it. That same month, the Assistant
Secretary directed that an Oak Ridge SSAB be established.
1993
The first steps toward development of an Oak Ridge SSAB began in May when a local
stakeholder group was formed to discuss environmental restoration and waste management
issues. Six months later, the 45 members formed a steering committee to outline a proposal
regarding establishment of an SSAB in Oak Ridge.
Last Updated:
2/7/08