Northern New Mexico Citizens' Advisory Board Meeting Minutes

FEBRUARY 24, 1999

A. Call to Order

Ted Taylor of the Department of Energy called the meeting to order at 6:10 p.m.

B. A quorum was established.

C. The meeting was turned over to the Chair George Chandler.

D. The agenda was approved as amended.

Chris Mechels attended the Board-sponsored Risk Assessment workshop on January 30. He thought that each presenter gave a slight variation on the risk method analysis but each said essentially the same thing.

He said that a communication problem existed with the surrounding communities. He felt that Los Alamos was not doing its part in communication.

At the Risk Assessment Workshop, San Ildefonso Pueblo Council member Eugene Pino said that the Pueblo members feel unsafe walking their own land, or using plants for ceremonial purposes. He said that LANL had an obligation to do something about this situation. Mr. Michaels said that Los Alamos had never taken responsibility for people feeling unsafe. He recommended that the Board review the work of Peter Sandman, Consultant on Risk Analysis. Mr. Sandman analysis is: Risk +Hazard = Outrage. The way that you build trust is by dealing with your critics. He requested that the Board receive a copy of Mr. Sandman’s paper.

The Center for Disease Control has funded a new Dose Reconstruction project at

LANL. Forty people attended the first public meeting held on February 23 in Los Alamos. The project is in the document and retrieval stage which will take three years. Public involvement is an important part of project. ChemRisk has done dose reconstruction projects at other DOE sites. Charles Miller and Tom Widner were introduced.

Michael Smith asked Mr. Renard about what was found at the Savannah River Site. Mr. Renard replied that they have just finished this project. There was good agreement between what site said was released and the project findings. However, he said that twenty times more radiation and four times more plutonium were released than the records showed. These were old releases.

Jeanne-Marie Crockett, 2044A Gallisteo Street, Santa Fe, NM 87502 505-827-1536

Ms. Crockett announced that Anthony Armijo was working on a collaborative public event scheduled for this spring. The New Mexico Environment Department, LANL and some Pueblos will discuss the surveillance data they have collected and describe their programs. This event is sponsored by all the parties including the Northern New Mexico Citizens’ Advisory Board. The public is invited.

A. Ted Taylor described the process to prioritize Environmental Management projects. A copy of his presentation was distributed to the Board.

B. Julie Canepa, LANL described the watershed approach to cleanup that has been used for the past two years. A copy of her report was distributed to the Board.

Connie Thompson-Ortega asked about recycling tritium. David Gurulé responded that LANL does not load tritium for weapons only research and development work is done here. Michael Smith confirmed this statement.

Catherine River-Lyons said that the Board wants to know what contaminants are
on each remediation site. Ms. Canepa answered that the documents were prepared for the State not Board and the State already knows what is on these sites. Each potential release site is listed. LANL can do data sorts based on the chemicals and the Potential Release Site. Ms. Canepa offered to find the level of information that the Board would find the data useful.

Michael Smith asked about the slide photograph on the canyon system. He is interested in the Geomelt plan for vitrification pilot project at TA-21. Mr. Smith asked if the erosion potential been defined for a site that has been vitrified? Ms. Canepa responded that a score has been determined about what could be the potential erosion. She clarified that LANL has not decided about on where the pilot project will be conducted.

Michael Smith asked about the geology of the plateaus eroding into the canyons and the canyons are eroding. If vitrification is done close to the side of a canyon, what effect will that have on erosion. He asked if San Ildefonso Pueblo or the town have been consulted about the vitrification project. Ms. Canepa responded that this is a pilot demonstration project. No decisions can be made without the involvement of the New Mexico Environment Department. Michael Smith expressed his concern about how the public may feel about the use of vitrification technology.

Fran Berting said that vitrification technology is not new. The public would have been upset before now. Westinghouse has learned how to do this process. Tom Baca said that this technology is exactly what you want on a canyon face because it would stabilize everything. Michael Smith wondered if this glass would shatter

if it fell into a canyon. Ms. Canepa responded that experts are looking at this issue. Bill Wyatt said that it could be another million years before erosion gets to this glass. The hazardous materials would have dissipated by that time. A volcano might blow before this time of erosion passed.

Mr. Chandler asked if summary reports or talking documents on these various phases might be available. Mr. Taylor responded that the baseline report had special databases created. The Paths to Closure document had a master database at Headquarters. These databases keep track of status of the sites but do not provide information about the contaminants. FIMAD is only the database that has that information. Perhaps a field could be added to gather this information. He suggested that a Working Group be created to identify these needs.

Mr. Chandler asked about what happened to the priorities that set in 1991? Mr. Taylor responded that TA-21 and almost all of the town sites have been remediated. It is too inefficient to do each Potential Release Site one by one. LANL is following the original schedule but we are adding new factors each time.

Catherine Rivera-Lyons asked if would it help to get the Potential Release Site location, the most hazardous chemicals, the Field reports and conclusions that led to a Voluntary Action then give the summary data to the Environmental Restoration Committee? Mr. Taylor responded that each report is about 5000-6000 pages. The summary tables could be given to the Environmental Restoration Committee and in about two to three hours the Committee could understand the data.

Ms. Canepa said that the Environmental Restoration Report on the Land Transfer parcels has a summary report. She will get copies of this report for each Board members.

Mr. Chandler said that Tom Baca asked the Board to do prioritization of the cleanup sites. How are we going to get involved? Mr. Baca responded that the work has to be at the committee level, to look at the process that LANL has gone through and decide what is the priority as a citizen? What kind of trust level in the process is warranted, what factors were used to arrive at prioritization?

Bill Wyatt said that last month San Ildefonso received confirmation of their suspicions that DOE and not the Pueblos are determining the directions of what the Pueblo should live with. The hazards go beyond radionuclides to organics, metals, and explosives. He said that lots of other things coming off the mountain and impact the flora, fauna and people. The Pueblo studies are documenting diseases in the human population and contamination leading to diseases with long term human health impacts. DOE does not want you to look at these items.

Mr. Chandler said the Board role is to insist on the data we need to see how priorities are set and how determine, focused and informed Board can make a difference at various systems around the DOE sites. Requests by Board be taken seriously.

C. Mr. Chandler distributed his report to the Board. Mr. Chandler distributed to the

Board the LANL sections of the BEMR and the new Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement reports. He recommended that Board members read this material.

Mr. Chandler reported that the Site-Specific Advisory Boards will hold a

Transportation workshop. He asked Jim Johnston help to coordinate our participation. A Stewardship seminar will held this fall in Oak Ridge. The Energy Alliance is holding a workshop in Boulder.

Mr. Chandler asked that the new members call the Chairs of the Committee on which they want to serve. All Board members should serve on at least one committee. The Chairs can recruit people who are not on the Board.

D. Ann DuBois made the report for the Department of Energy. She welcomed the new Board members Fran Berting, Anthony Dorame, and Augustin Garcia. Ms. DuBois distributed the reimbursement guidelines for transportation costs. She said that these guidelines will be strictly followed by the Los Alamos Area Office.

Ms. DuBois said that she has been working on Board member orientation packets that will be ready soon.

Mr. Chandler gave plaques to Catherine Rivera-Lyons and Michael Smith expressing the Board’s appreciation for their service.

E. Catherine Rivera-Lyons gave the report for the Waste Management Committee.

Ms. Rivera-Lyons described the Committee’s perspective on the seventeen recommendations developed at the Site-Specific Advisory Board Low Level Waste Conference. The recommendations and the analysis were distributed to the Board.

Ms. Rivera-Lyons moved, seconded by Menice Manzanares that the Board adopt these recommendations and send them to the Nevada Test Site Advisory Board.

The motion passed 12-0.

Mr. Chandler announced that Connie Thompson Ortega will be the new Chair of the Waste Committee.

F. Michael Smith made the Environmental Restoration Committee report. Mr. Smith said that a summary of the January 30 Risk Assessment workshop is being prepared. Mr. Pino’s presentation at the workshop sparked his recommendation on developing a method of informing the Pueblos. This recommendation is being reviewed by the San Ildefonso Tribal Council and will be sent to the Board in the new future. Mr. Smith announced that Fran Berting will be the new chair of the Environmental Restoration Committee.

G. Menice Manzanares made the report for the Bylaws Committee. Ms. Manzanares introduced three amendments that the Board will vote on at the next meeting.

H. Anthony Armijo made the report for the Monitoring and Surveillance Committee. He distributed the minutes from the February 18 committee meeting. On March 4, representatives from the Environment Protection Agency, the New Mexico Environment Department and LANL will meet with the Committee to discuss well data. Mr. Armijo asked Board members to attend the March 24 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. workshop on monitoring and surveillance. He recommended that Board members take the Rad Worker II training offered by LANL offered each Wednesday. On April 29, the Board, the New Mexico Environment Department and the four Accord Pueblos are co-sponsoring a public meeting on monitoring and surveillance.

I. Menice Manzanares distributed the report for the Outreach and Community Committee. The Commmittee suggested creating a Transportation Committee if we have enough new Board members. Mr. Baca agreed to pay for the creation but not the maintenance of a Board website.

J. Connie Thompson-Ortega made a report for the Budget that expenditures are within limits.

The meeting adjourned at 9:07 p.m.

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