Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
1/16/2015
With no resolution yet in its dispute with the Department of Energy over Savannah River tank waste milestones, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control this week asked to elevate the issue to the Dispute Resolution Committee. “We acknowledge that the discussions between representatives of the Department of Energy, SCDHEC and the Environmental Protection Agency have been constructive and that there has been a helpful exchange of information,” states a Jan. 13 letter from DHEC to DOE and EPA officials. “However, we do not agree that the circumstances support DOE’s extension requests for operational closure of four High-Level Waste Tanks. No resolution can be reached at this level.”
Citing technical and funding issues, DOE in August requested an extension of the closure dates for Tanks 12H and 16H from September 2015 to December 2016. The milestone DOE requested an extension for covers four tanks total, but the other two tanks were closed in 2013 well before the deadline. Regulators DHEC and the U.S. EPA denied DOE’s extension request in September, questioning the technical issues. The state also said DOE did not make the efforts necessary to obtain money for the program, as it did not include sufficient funding in its budget requests. SCDHEC only agreed to a 27-day extension to make up for the 2013 government shutdown.
The potentially missed milestone involves the first two tanks in what is likely to be a string of tank closure delays and missed deadlines DOE has attributed to a combination of funding cuts at the site and a change in schedule for the startup of the Salt Waste Processing Facility, among other factors.
First Meeting Held in October
The three parties held their first informal dispute resolution meeting in October between project managers and immediate supervisors. Since it was not resolved in those talks, DHEC has elevated the issue to a dispute resolution committee with officials from the EPA, DOE and SC DHEC. If it is not unanimously resolved there within 28 days, the statement is forwarded to a senior executive committee for resolution, with includes DOE’s Savannah River manager, the EPA Region 4 Administrator and a DHEC deputy commissioner. If it is still not resolved, the parties could elevate it to the EPA Administrator, who may resolve the dispute in conference with the Secretary of Energy and DHEC Commissioner.
DHEC “remains strongly committed to the timely closure of the HLW tanks at SRS and looks forward to resolution of this dispute within 28 days … in order to move forward and achieve additional HLW tank closures to reduce risks to the public and environment,” according to this week’s DHEC letter.
DOE ‘Committed to Fulfilling Our Responsibilities’
DOE said that it will continue to work towards meeting the milestones. “The Department is committed to fulfilling our responsibilities under the Federal Facility Agreement,” DOE Savannah River spokesman Jim Giusti said in a written response. “We appreciate the interaction with the Environmental Protection Agency and South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control and look forward to continuing that collaborative dialogue. SRS, with continued cooperation from its regulators, has resumed the closure schedule for Tank 16 and has made progress, in light of all the factors involved, toward resuming the closure schedule for Tank 12.”
