Approved December 10, 2003, Meeting Minutes

The Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board (ORSSAB) held its regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, December 10, 2003, at the DOE Information Center in Oak Ridge. The business portion of the board meeting was held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and was followed at 7:00 p.m. by a public meeting on the Oak Ridge Environmental Management (EM) Program. A video tape recording of both the business meeting and the public meeting was made and may be viewed by contacting the Information Center at 865-241-4780. Minutes of the public meeting are not included in this document.

Members Present

Ben Adams
Jake Alexander
Dick Berry
Rhonda Bogard
Donna Campbell
Heather Cothron
Luther Gibson
John Kennerly
Norman Mulvenon, Vice Chair
Linda Murawski
Luis Revilla, Secretary
George Rimel
Atur Sheth¹
Christopher Smith

¹Student representative

Members Absent

Amy DeMint
Pat Hill
Barbara Kosny¹
Bob McLeod²
John Million
David Mosby, Chair,
Kerry Trammell

²Second consecutive absence

Deputy Designated Federal Official and Ex-Officios Present

Dave Adler, Ex Officio, DOE-Oak Ridge Offices (DOE-ORO)
Pat Halsey, Federal Coordinator, DOE-ORO
Connie Jones, Ex Officio, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Steve McCracken, Deputy Designated Federal Officer, DOE-ORO
John Owsley, Ex Officio, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC)

Others Present

Jim McBrayer, Bechtel Jacobs Company LLC (BJC)
Pete Osborne, BJC

Three members of the public attended the meeting.

Deputy Designated Federal Officer and Ex-Officio Comments

None.

Public Comment

None.

Announcements and Other Board Business

The minutes of the November 12, 2003, Board meeting were approved with two minor editorial changes.

Board Finance Committee – Mr. Mulvenon reported that the Board Finance Committee met on November 20. The committee discussed the need to supply an ORSSAB FY 2005 budget request to DOE by March 2 and so has asked all standing ORSSAB committees to provide the Board Finance Committee with their proposed FY 2005 budgets by the end of January. The committee discussed various costs associated with operating the board and recommended that paid advertisements be limited to the Oak Ridger to save money.

EM Committee - Mr. Gibson reported that the EM Committee met on November 19 and discussed costs to install an under-cell drain at the EM Waste Management Facility. Costs have escalated from $1.5 million to $2.2 million. The committee also heard from Tom Busmann and Jim Cudahy of Focus Environmental on their efforts to keep the Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator open beyond its projected closure in 2006. The committee was interested in the concept but was unsure whether it fell with ORSSAB’s scope. The EM Groundwater Subcommittee met December 8 and will formulate comments on the DOE Groundwater Strategy Document by the end of the month for presentation to the board at its January meeting. Two environmental impact statements have been released for depleted uranium hexafluoride conversion facilities in Portsmouth, Ohio, and Paducah, Kentucky. The committee will discuss whether to comment on the documents at its December 17 meeting. A presentation will be given at the meeting on Melton Valley cleanup activities.

Public Outreach Committee – Mr. Rimel reported that the committee met on December 2; minutes of the meeting were distributed (Attachment 1). The committee approved limiting ads to the Oak Ridger, which will save about $11,000 per year. The committee’s standard meeting date will be on the first Tuesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. Mr. Alexander reported that he had spoken to the Oak Ridge High School Environmental Club.

Stewardship Committee - Ms. Campbell reported that the Stewardship Committee met on November 18 and heard a presentation on Official Use Only documents. The committee pointed out several discrepancies, which DOE noted. Also at the meeting, Al Brooks reported on a meeting between several Stewardship Committee members and the Anderson County Registrar of Deeds, the purpose of which was to understand the registrar’s process as it relates to stewardship. Minutes of the November 24 meeting of the Stewardship Status Team were distributed (Attachment 2). Mr. Adams reported that he and several other Stewardship Committee members met with Mr. McCracken and other DOE staff on December 5 to discuss outstanding stewardship issues.

Executive Committee – Mr. Mulvenon  reported that the committee met on November 25, and he invited all board members to attend the meetings. He explained that the Executive Committee had discussed staff member Jeannie Brandstetter’s layoff from BJC and how support office work has been apportioned to cover the loss.

Board Process - Mr. Revilla reported that the committee met November 19 to discuss outstanding  actions from August retreat and ORSSAB member term limits. Editorial changes to the bylaws are in development.

Federal Coordinator Report

None.

The meeting adjourned at 6:20 p.m.

Motions

M12/10/03.1

Mr. Revilla moved to approve the November 12, 2003, meeting minutes. Mr. Alexander seconded the motion, and the motion was unanimously approved.

Action Items

1.          Mr. Skinner will relay to the board DOE-Headquarters comments on the Risk-Based End State Vision document. Carryover item from November 12, 2003

Respectfully submitted,

Luis Revilla, Secretary

Attachments (2) are available upon request from the SSAB support office.

LR/plo