RE: Accelerate DOE "cleanup" programs...

[Bill_Goldsmith@radian.com]

Susan:
As a long time resident of Oak Ridge and a member of the frustrated
contractor community trying to use good science and engineering to solve
real problems, I must compliment you on this posting.  You have done an
excellent job for years and you have told it exactly like it is.  The real
problem is the regulatory hammer falling on non-problem little nits.
However, the current secretary of energy is beginning to become more and
more obsessed with heavy hammers on political issues that ignore good
science.  Thanks for the excellent problem description.
My opinion does not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.
Bill Goldsmith
Radian Remediation & Operating Services
Oak Ridge, TN
865-220-8265
FAX: 865-483-9061
Bill_goldsmith@radian.com <mailto:Bill_goldsmith@radian.com> 


		-----Original Message-----
		From:	Susan Gawarecki [mailto:loc@icx.net]
		Sent:	January 27, 2000 17:51
		To:	Multiple recipients of list
		Subject:	Re: Accelerate DOE "cleanup" programs...

		As Executive Director of a 'citizen-participation' program
in Oak Ridge,
		I can reply to some of Jim M's comments, especially with
respect to what
		we're seeing in Oak Ridge.  These are my own opinions, based
on several
		years of close study of our situation.

		The DOE and its contractors wasted cleanup money for years.
Times are
		much leaner now, and involved citizens much more saavy.
Also, there is
		a new generation of DOE EM managers who seem to be motivated
to get the
		job done.

		No one wants to spend all the available funding cleaning up
one site to
		background, at the expense of the other problems.  Nor
should it be
		frittered away on routine monitoring or "regulatory
compliance"
		activities that address low to non-existent risks.
Unfortunately, the
		regulators are there to enforce regulations, most of which
are extremely
		conservative.  Only a small percentage of EM dollars
actually go to
		cleaning up radionuclides or hazardous wastes--much more is
spent on
		EPA- or state-mandated routine monitoring and paperwork.  I
personally
		know many DOE project managers who are extremely frustrated
at not being
		able to get to the point of cleanup for all the (expensive)
hoops they
		have to jump through.  Plus we see the self-regulated
hazards given a
		much lower priority so DOE can avoid fines for
non-compliance with EPA
		or state regulations.

		There are also dynamics involving mistrust between the
various agencies,
		personal vendettas, a desire by some regulators to "punish"
DOE, bad
		blood over decisions at one facility spilling over into
negotiations for
		cleanup decisions at others, and a host of political
considerations, not
		the least of which is a reluctance to approve a decision
that may be
		questioned later (we are dealing with technically
challenging problems
		with no guarantees of success).  The citizens have taken the
lead by
		insisting that not just DOE but the regulators justify their
positions. 
		Now there are high-level face-to-face discussions going on
regularly,
		which should help ease some of the past problems between
agencies.

		It's not simple, and it's never going to be cheap.  What is
particularly
		galling, is that DOE (headquarters) cannot manage to
accomplish some of
		the most cost-effective activities without years of
angst--for example,
		opening NTS to Oak Ridge low-level wastes would save
millions of
		survellience-and-monitoring dollars a year that could be
reprogrammed to
		cleanup.

		Members of my Citizens' Advisory Panel have been pushing DOE
		(headquarters) to come up with de minimis levels for release
of
		radioactive contaminants for years.  The standard reply is
there is a
		team working on this in conjunction the NRC and EPA.  The
reality is no
		one wants to propose a number.  This issue has hobbled the
ability to
		pick a target for cleanup, find an appropriate technology,
and dispose
		of the wastes in a cost-effective manner.

		There has been, however, a great deal of progress that DOE
(ORO), for
		some reason, is reluctant to publicize.  One of my CAP
members has
		listed completed cleanups on his Web site:
		http://user.icx.net/~brooks/mov_dirt.html

		We support DOE in accomplishing its cleanups.  We try to
provide
		constructive comments on its decision documents, to
strenthen them
		technically and provide a basis for broad community
acceptance.  Often,
		we seem to be more at odds with regulators who seem to be
"in the way"
		than with DOE the "polluting bad guy."  I can safely say
that we try to
		incorporate the best science and common sense into our
evaluations. 
		Maybe Oak Ridgers are different, or maybe my group attracts
people of
		like minds, but we've found that support--not mindless
criticism--is the
		magic ingredient for progress.

		And of course we'd love to have more federal spending in our
community. 
		If you were experiencing the local financial
impacts--declining sales
		tax revenues, soft real estate market, out-migration of the
most
		civically active citizens due to job losses, declining
school
		enrollments, businesses failing or moving, 25% retail
occupancy in the
		local mall, the constant threat of property tax hikes--you'd
want more
		spending, too. 

		Jim and others, I hope this gives you a little more insight
into what we
		face to get the cleanups done in our community.  I can only
touch on
		some of the variables and issues here, but I have addressed
others in
		previous posts to RadSafe.  Again, these comments represent
my opinions
		only.

		Regards,
		Susan Gawarecki

		==================================================
		Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director
		Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee, Inc.
		136 S Illinois Ave, Ste 208, Oak Ridge, TN 37830
		Phone (865) 483-1333; Fax (865) 482-6572; E-mail loc@icx.net

		==================================================
	
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