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EM Weekly Report 10/06/00
With regard to item 2 in II. below, the Oak Ridge Reservation Local
Oversight Committee's Citizens' Advisory Panel requested that Oak Ridge
stakeholders be allowed to nominate a technical representative to the
Blue Ribbon Panel on Alternatives to Incineration, as Oak Ridge is the
site of DOE's TSCA Incinerator, the only incinerator in the country
permitted to burn LLW, hazardous waste, and TSCA waste. We never
received a reply to our request.
Upon looking at the makeup of the "Blue Ribbon Panel" I noted that it
was heavily weighted towards lawyers (3, including one from NRDC), plus
a rep from a Wyoming conservation group, an expert in atmospheric
modeling, a Wyoming hazwaste regulator (geology degree), and a nuclear
fuel cycle expert--but no experts on either incineration or mixed waste
treatment technologies.
My conclusion is that this panel is another political response by
Secretary Richardson, with no scientific background from which to make
informed treatment-technology decisions. In that the incinerator in
question (originally planned for INEEL) has already been cancelled, I'm
not sure what the continuing role of this panel is.
All opinions expressed are my own.
Susan Gawarecki
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT WEEKLY REPORT
October 6, 2000
I. Schedule
II. Key Departmental News
Grand Junction Office (GJO) Site Transfer: A Letter of Intent to
transfer ownership of the GJO site to the Riverview Technology
Corporation (RTC) was signed by the RTC and GJO on September 28. A
sales agreement will not be signed until all legal issues are resolved.
The transfer will occur following approval of a Request for Deferred
Remediation by the Governor of Tennessee. [Note: a phone call to D.
Mathes clarified that this should be the Governor of COLORADO.]
Media Interest: Local
Program Contact: D. Mathes, 301-903-7222
Blue Ribbon Panel on Alternatives to Incineration: The next Blue Ribbon
Panel meeting will be on October 11 in Denver, CO. Agenda topics
include DOE's Research and Development Plan for alternatives to
incineration, evaluation of industrial responses to the Panel's Commerce
Business Daily request for information on alternative technologies, and
review of the Panel's revised report outline.
Media Interest: Regional
Program Contact: Carl Cooley, 301-903-7276; George Dixon, 301-903-3792
Denial of Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory
(INEEL) Waste Experimental Reduction Facility (WERF) Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Part B Permit Application and
Revocation of Interim Status: On October 3, the Idaho Department of
Environmental Quality issued the final decision to deny the Hazardous
Waste Management Act Permit for the WERF Incinerator. The permit denial
will become effective November 2, at which time all hazardous and mixed
waste thermal treatment at WERF must cease. DOE must then submit a RCRA
Closure Plan for the WERF incinerator. DOE-Idaho Operations Office has
decided not to resume operation of the WERF incinerator, currently in a
stand down mode. All mixed low-level waste targeted for treatment at
the WERF from both the INEEL and other DOE sites will be redirected to
other treatment units.
Media Interest: Regional
Program Contact: Ed Muszkiewicz, 301-903-1386; Lori Fritz, 208-526-1878
Safety Milestone: As of the end of all shifts reporting on September
22, Bechtel Savannah River Company, Incorporated (BSRI) employees
(Project, Engineering and Construction Division, and BSRI employees
assigned to Environmental Restoration) worked 10 million safe hours
without a lost workday case. Progress towards this achievement began
with the last lost workday case on June 28, 1998.
Media Interest: Local
Program Contact: William Huxford, 803-557-5257
The Department of Justice (DOJ) Support to DOE on the South Valley
Lawsuit by New Mexico Attorney General Continues: The DOJ and the DOE
legal staff are jointly preparing to contest the Attorney General's $2
billion lawsuit against the Government of the United States for damage
to the groundwater resources at South Valley. A notice was served for
the lawsuit in October 1999. Staff from the DOJ is tentatively planning
to visit Albuquerque during the week of October 9. Albuquerque staff
will provide the DOJ staff with a briefing on the South Valley Superfund
Site history, work done to date and work planned with regard to the
damage suit.
Media Interest: Local, State
Program Contact: A. Das, 301-903-7603
The Department of Energy Announces that the Richland Operations Office
is Among Six Selected as Winners for a Program and Project Management
Award 2000: The Special Recognition Team Award was awarded to the
Hanford Reactor Interim Safe Storage Team, a partnering of the
Environmental Restoration Contractor (ERC) and the Richland Operations
Office.
Media Interest: Local
Program Contact: Lisa Treichel, 301-903-8177
WIPP Shipments: The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) received four
transuranic waste shipments from the Idaho National Engineering and
Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) from September 26 to October 1. This
week, INEEL is scheduled to make three shipments, and RFETS is scheduled
to make two. From March 1999 through October 3, WIPP has received 92
shipments.
Media Interest: Local
Program Contact: Alton Harris, 301-903-8466; Chuan-Fu Wu, 505-234-7552
Portsmouth Selects a New Site Manager and a Deputy Site Manager: The
new Portsmouth Site Manager, Sharon J. Robinson, will assume her
responsibilities on October 8. The Portsmouth Deputy Site Manager,
Russell Vranicar, assumed his responsibilities on September 24.
Media Interest: None
Program Contact: Autar Rampertaap, 301-903-8191
Lost Time Accidents: Employees of the Idaho Nuclear Technology and
Engineering Center achieved one million work-hours without a lost time
accident. The last lost time accident occurred on April 21, 2000.
Media Interest: None
Program Contact: Colette Broussard, 301-903-5452
Environmental Management Advisory Board Meeting (EMAB) Recognized: As a
result of its 1999 Annual Review Comprehensive Report of advisory boards
subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), the General
Services Administration (GSA) found the EMAB narrative submission under
"Accomplishment of Purpose" to be one of the most thorough narratives in
annual reporting history.
Media Interest: None
Program Contact: James T. Melillo, 202-586-4400
III. Work on Secretarial Initiatives
IV. Press Inquiries
V. FOIA Requests
VI. Grants, Economic Announcements and Publications
VII. Climate Change
VIII. Disaster Assistance
--
.....................................................
Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director
Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee
-----
The LOC newsletter "Insights" is posted on our Web site
http://www.local-oversight.org - E-mail loc@icx.net
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