A top manager from the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup and Washington state officials told the Hanford Site’s advisory board they are seeking better communication with tribal governments and other minority populations near the former plutonium production complex.
The aim is to find out “what is it they need, what is it that they want from us?” Nicole Nelson-Jean, head of field operations for the agency’s Office of Environmental Management, said this week. DOE plans meetings and listening sessions with the affected groups, she said.
Over time, DOE and the Environmental Management (EM) office have gradually increased the focus on environmental justice, which Nelson-Jean defined as “the fair and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin or income” on development of policy and practices.
President Joe Biden’s administration is developing the “Justice40 Initiative,” Nelson-Jean said; an effort to share 40% of “the overall benefit of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities.”
What separates Justice40 from prior environmental justice efforts is a “benefit calculation,” currently under development, which goes to “specific communities,” Nelson-Jean said.
While the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has the only environmental justice pilot program for EM, Hanford’s efforts on soil and groundwater remediation are covered under the Justice40 Initiative.
