Approved November 10, 2004, Meeting Minutes

 

The Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board (ORSSAB) held its regularly scheduled monthly meeting on Wednesday, November 10, 2004, at the DOE Information Center in Oak Ridge, beginning at 6 p.m. A video of the meeting was made and may be viewed by phoning the Information Center at 865-241-4780.

 

Members Present

 

Ben Adams

Rhonda Bogard, Secretary

Heather Cothron

Amy DeMint

Steve Dixon

Pat Hill

Zach Ludwig¹

Bob McLeod, Vice chair

Katie Meersman¹

John Million

David Mosby

Norman Mulvenon

Tim Myrick

Sandy Reagan

Christopher Smith

Kerry Trammell, Chair

 

¹Student representative   

 

Members Absent

 

Dick Berry

Donna Campbell

Luther Gibson

Stephanie Jernigan^{1, 2}

John Kennerly

 

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

Steve McCracken, Deputy Designated Federal Official

Jeff Crane, on behalf of Connie Jones, Ex Officio, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

John Owsley, Ex Officio, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC)

 

Others Present

Jeannie Brandstetter, Spectrum

Paul Clay, Bechtel Jacobs Company (BJC)

Mike Hughes, BJC

Pete Osborne, Spectrum

 

Eighteen members of the public attended the meeting.

Presentation

 

Mike Hughes, president of Bechtel Jacobs Company LLC, provided the Board with an update (Attachment 1) on the EM Program at the Oak Ridge Reservation. His discussion included the scope and milestones associated with Accelerated Cleanup

 

According to Mr. Hughes, Project Planning and Execution have been revised to ensure they are consistent with the scope and mission of Accelerated Cleanup. The company is “challenging everything,” including:

·         Execution strategy

·         Organization and staffing

·         Skill mix

·         Risk and opportunities

·         Cost and schedule

 

They have also analyzed scopes of work to determine the best approach:

·         Site-wide subcontracts

·         Stand-alone subcontracts

·         Construction management

·         Self-performance

 

After Mr. Hughes presentation, Mr. McCracken discussed the major areas on which he believes focus should be maintained:

·         Melton Valley – Work is going well and is ahead of schedule, in spite of frequent rains.

·         Legacy Waste – DOE is monitoring BJC with traditional cost and performance indexes and in  volume of material moved. The bulk of the work is going well. There are some small waste streams for which no treatment technology exists, but Volatile Thermal Disorption might be an option.

·         ETTP Closure/Balance of Reservation – Schedule and cost performance is currently hard to judge, with the project in the “flat part of the spending curve.” Heavy focus is being maintained on safety because the work being done (EX: operating heavy equipment while wearing respirators) creates potential for workers to get hurt.

1.       Doing Waste Handling Plans at the “ground level” has aided in getting more work done more quickly.

2.       Cylinder shipments have not progressed as was hoped, but the state of Ohio has signed the final order to allow DOE to ship materials after the Department of Transportation allows it.

3.       A responsiveness summary to comments received on the Proposed Plan  for the Zone 2 ROD at ETTP is being compiled.

4.       There is a public meeting to discuss the Haul Road Monday, Nov. 15 at the DOEIC. Mr. McCracken favors a route to transport waste where there is no interaction with public traffic.

He closed by assuring Board members that although DOE and BJC are working to accelerate cleanup, they will not let those plans “leave behind those people or groups who have a stake or interest in the cleanup.”

After the presentation, there was a question and answer period.  One of the issues raised was whether we would fill up the CERCLA Waste Facility too quickly.  The BJC contract requires them to leave 300,000 cubic yards free out of the total 1.7 million cubic yards capacity.   DOE will place close attention to this because the capacity of the Waste Facility cannot be expanded without crossing a creek, which would be difficult to do.

Mr. Myrick asked about waste transition issues at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12, saying it was a topic he is interested in learning more about.

 

Deputy Designated Federal Official and Ex-Officio Comments

 

Mr. McCracken introduced new Board members Steve Dixon and Sandy Reagan and noted his appreciation for their willingness to participate as volunteer members of the organization.

 

Mr. Adler made a series of announcements:

·         There will be a Haul Road meeting Monday, Nov. 15 at 5:30 p.m. at the DOEIC.

·         A day-long meeting of the concerned parties will meet to discuss Historic Preservation beginning at 9 a.m. Nov. 18 in the DOEIC.

·         DOE expects to issue its D1 ROD containing the Responsiveness Summary to the comments from the public for Zone 2 on Dec. 17

 

Mr. Crane announced that a series of changes have been made to Appendix E of the FFA. (Attachment 2)

He said the milestones for FY 2005-2007 are in good order. He also noted the new branch chief for DOE EPA Region 4, Ken LaPierre, has visited Oak Ridge to meet with Mr. McCracken and may soon be able to attend Board or committee meetings of the Board. EPA new chief of the Kentucky/Tennessee DOE Oversight Section is Harold Taylor. Mr. Adams noted that Mr. Crane has been helpful to the Stewardship committee.

 

Mr. Owsley had no announcements, but offered to respond to Board member questions.

 

Public Comment

 

Terry Cothron of the Environmental Compliance Group at BWXT Y-12, announced that at Y-12 with buildings are being taken down and others being constructed. A priority is getting new office space and in an effort to model work after that done at ORNL, the organization has been working with EPA for six months to gain a Convenant Deferral Request to allow actual transfer of two parcels of land to a private developer. Under CERCLA 128, a 30-day public comment period is required and notice of that will appear in the Friday, Nov. 12 Oak Ridger and the Saturday, Nov. 13 Knoxville News Sentinel.

 

Ms. Hill asked about the cemetery near Y-12 and its disposition. Mr. Cothron said this project does not impact it, but he took her contact information with the intention of locating a contact person for her.

 

Announcements and Other Board Business

The agenda was approved without change.

 

The next Board meeting will be Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2004, at the DOE Information Center. Presentation topic: Update on the Witherspoon site in South Knoxville. Speaker: Jason Darby of DOE

 

Rhonda Bogard broached the subject of further summarizing the question-and-answer portion of the monthly Board minutes. After some discussion, members agreed to test moving to a more abbreviated version.

 

The minutes of the Oct. 13, 2004 (Attachment 3) Board meetings were unanimously approved with one editing change.

 

Committee Reports

 

Board Finance - Mr. Mosby reported that the Board Finance Committee has continued to discuss the FY 05 budget has been reduced from $450,000 to approximately $350,000. The biggest cut will be to the facilitation and technical support. The committee’s next meeting is Nov. 30.

 

Environmental Management – Mr. Mulvenon reported that the Environmental Management Committee had heard a presentation from Jason Darby on the Oak Ridge Reservation Ecological Strategy. He reported that the Q&A table will also be omitted from the EM minutes. The haul road was also discussed but many questions remain and a recommendation was not formulated. He encouraged members to read the meeting minutes and to attend the haul road meeting on Monday, Nov. 15 at 5:30 p.m. at the DOEIC. The committee’s next meeting is Nov. 17, at which Upper East Fork Poplar Creek is the primary topic. A Corehole 8 report will be also be discussed by Elizabeth Phillips of DOE and Charlie Mansfield of BJC, and Pat Halsey will discuss the Appendix E milestones.

 

Mr. Trammell noted that Mr. Darby’s ecological and monitoring strategy and Risk-Based End States (RBES) were in conflict. Mr. McCracken noted that Acting Assistant Secretary for EM Paul Golan has announced a change in the nomenclature relating to Risk-Based End States. It will be referred to only as End States and the term variances will be dropped.

 

Public Outreach - Mr. Mulvenon advised Board members to review the Public Outreach minutes of Oct. 26. The committee has overseen several projects recently including the publication and distribution of The Advocate newsletter and continued work on the display for the American Museum of Science and Energy. They also continue to research ways to procure shirts for the Board. He encouraged members to view the Board Web site and review the 2003 Annual Report and the Public Involvement Plan. He also noted the new design for the Board’s monthly public notice in the Oak Ridger, and invited Board members to the committee’s next meeting on Nov. 23.

 

Mr. Osborne said the Board meeting will be televised on Oak Ridge Cable Channel 12 Monday, Nov. 22 at 6 p.m.

 

Stewardship - Mr. Adams reported that the Stewardship Committee had 19 people at the last meeting. He has instituted a policy at meeting attendees wear nametags and strictly adhere to the agenda. Mr. Mulvenon has been acting as committee facilitator. He invited Board members to join a committee tour of ETTP at 3 p.m. Nov. 22. Rhonda Bogard, Amy DeMint and Kerry Trammell asked to go on the tour. Mr. McCracken also agreed to go.

 

Work on the Stewardship Education Resource Kit continues, with Ms. Campbell being the driving force behind it. She is making plans to meet with local teachers and determine how best to distribute the kit. Completion is expected by the end of the year. Mr. Trammell noted that others in attendance at the October chairs meeting are very eager to see the finished product.

 

Mr. Adams also reported on the activities of the Stewardship Status Team which has begun meeting regularly to discuss existing laws which regulate stewardship.

 

Mr. Smith reported on his trip to the RBES meeting Oct. 7-8 in Chicago, and agreed that attendees primarily had problems with the term “variance.” He said it did not seem to be a substantive change to him.

 

The next Stewardship meeting is Tuesday, Nov. 16.

 

Executive - Mr. Trammell reported that the previous committee meeting had focused on the historic preservation meeting on Nov. 18 and the haul road meeting on Nov. 15. They also discussed December’s Board meeting topic – the David Witherspoon Inc. site. He said there are plans for the committee to discuss an additional topic for the December Board meeting. He noted that meeting visitors are being asked to wear nametags. Members also discussed the importance of capturing the work of the SSAB with photographs of Board member activities. The next meeting is Nov. 30.

 

Board Process - Ms. Bogard said she plans to include a “Board Process Minute” every month to continually educate members about various aspects of the bylaws. Her first topic addressed how to go about changing the bylaws, since one of the committee’s current major tasks is revising the bylaws. “The bylaws may be changed at any regular meeting of the Board by a two-thirds vote of the entire Board provided that the proposed change is submitted in writing, and read at a previous regular business meeting.

 

The committee’s plan includes putting proposed changes before the Board each month as they are reviewed so that when the full set of changes is ready to propose, the Board will be familiar with the material.

 

At Mr. Myrick’s request, she agreed to address voting requirements in the December “minute.”

 

She also alerted members to the presence of the FY 2005 Work Plan for the Board, which consists of the committees’ work plan that were formulated beginning at the annual retreat in August.

 

The next committee meeting is 4:45 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 17. At that meeting, the committee will cover the first two articles and the definitions. She said the committee is working from a draft that was marked-up about a year ago. They also plan to discuss orientation materials for new members. She encouraged newer members to attend and lend input on that topic. 

 

She asked members who consider themselves members of the committee to be identified and urged members with concerns about the bylaws to attend committee meetings. Two Board members who were identified by staff as committee members at the outset of FY 05 – Pat Hill and John Million – are not committee members. Mr. Mosby expressed his desire to be on the committee. Members are Ms. Bogard, Mr. Mosby, Mr. Mulvenon and Mr. Trammell.

 

Federal Coordinator Report

 

Ms. Halsey made several short announcements:

·         The membership count is at 18, with one appointment still held up in Washington since January.

·         Jake Alexander turned in his resignation. His new position with ORAU requires too much travel to effectively participate.

·         James Miller has been appointed and accepted. He will be the Board’s 19^th member.

·         The LUCIP for Melton Valley has been sent to the regulators for review

·         Mr. Osborne is trying to schedule a tour for new members

·         She has received unofficial word that Sandra Waisley will be moving to another position at DOE-HQ. Her replacement is said to be Mark Frei.

 

Public Comment Period

 

There were no public comments.

 

The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

 

Motions

 

M11.10/04.1

Mr. Mulvenon moved to approve the draft minutes of the Oct. 13 Board meeting with one editing change. Mr. Myrick seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved by a voice vote.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Rhonda Bogard, Secretary

 

RB/kjb

 

Attachments (3) to these minutes are available on request from the ORSSAB support office.