Northern New Mexico Citizens' Advisory Board Meeting Minutes

Jemez Pueblo

June 30, 1999

I. OPENING

A. Call to Order

MJ Byrne, Deputy Designated Federal Official called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m. and turned over the meeting to the Chair George Chandler. The following Board members were present:

Present:

George Chandler, Chair John Alejandro
Anthony Armijo
Fran Berting
Bob Clark
Tim Gallegos
Augustin Garcia
Tammie Gomez
Jim Johnston
James Leach
Domingo Martinez

Absent:

John Alejandro
Royallynn Allen
Anthony Dorame
Patrick Feehan
Menice Manzanares
Gilbert Tafoya
Connie Thompson-Ortega
Gary Valdo

Ex-Officio Members Present:

James Bearzi, NMED
MJ Byrne, Deputy Designated Federal Official
Julie Canepa, for Tom Baca, LANL-ER
Michael Taylor, NMED

Staff:

Ray Armenta
Ann DuBois, PWT
Elmer Torres, LANL-CIO

Guest:

George Rael, ER Director
Albuquerque Operations

B. Lt. Governor Rubin Sando gave Governor Toya’s greetings to the Board. George Chandler expressed the Board’s thanks for the Pueblo’s hospitality.

The Board approved the agenda as amended. The Board approved the May 26, 1999 Board meeting minutes.

II. PUBLIC COMMENT

No one signed up for public comment.

III. REPORTS

A. CHAIR REPORT

Mr. Chandler described the Albuquerque Operations Stakeholder meeting held on June 11, 1999. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the proposed Albuquerque Operations budget. Mr. Chandler announced the July 7 public meeting in White Rock on the BioRelease Program.

Mr. Robert Sanchez from the General Accounting Office in Denver spoke about a fact-finding investigation of the In-Situ-Vitrification (ISV) technology being tested at LANL. The study is being conducted for Senator Bancus, Missouri. An oral report will be given to the Senator in six weeks. He will be contacting SSABs at other sites that are using the ISV technology or are looking at its possible use. Those sites include Oak Ridge and Rocky Flats. He encouraged Board members to contact him with their comments.

B. REPORT from DOE

Mr. George Rael, Director for Environmental Restoration for the Albuquerque Operations Office discussed the proposed FY2000 through 2006 budgets for the Albuquerque Environmental Restoration office.

Bob Clark asked why does DOE fund expensive new technology such as the equipment used at the R-25 well, and LANL is stuck with the bill when it does not work. George Rael explained that In-Situ Vitrification is explorative technology but the R-25 well is not. New technology is funded from another part of DOE. George Chandler added that the government subsidizes new technology at sites all across country because many limited-use technologies would not be developed without government support.

James Bearzi, Chief of the Hazardous and Radioactive Materials Bureau, NMED talked about the experience with the R-25 well. He said the technology in that well is not developmental and was used with the support of NMED. He said the problems there were not with the technology but with the application of it. The groundwater team is now changing their procedures and finding other funding sources for the academic parts of the project.

James Leach asked if the LANL budget for ER keeps getting extended, are we saving or expending more money? George Rael answered that if the small sites are not cleaned up and remain open, they will continue to cost the DOE money, so it makes sense to close them first.

Janet Gerwin emphasized the need for additional funds for the wells needed to chase the possible plume near the R-25 well. James Bearzi responded that NMED would increase its confidence in LANL when they implement the lessons learned from the R-25 well.

MJ Byrne reported that the staff would move next week into the new office space. The CAB office is 1640 Old Pecos Trail, Suite H. We will hold an open house as soon as possible. Board committees can use the space for their meetings. Documents collected by the Board and staff will be available in a library. Some documents will remain in Ms. Byrne’s office in Los Alamos, and the staff will bring additional documents to Board members when necessary.

Ms. Byrne promised that Board members would have access badges to the LAAO building within the next month.

Ms. Byrne described the proposed BioRelease program and distributed a press release, fact sheets and a New Mexican article quoting NNMCAB member Patrick Feehan as saying this bacteria release probably would not cause a problem for even cancer patients. A public meeting will be held on July 7 in White Rock. Elmer Torres will schedule a briefing on this topic for the July Board meeting.

Ms. Byrne distributed the letter from David Gurulé responding to Recommendation 99-1 including his letter to John Browne about adding other stakeholders to LANL’s monthly meeting.

C. COMMITTEE REPORTS

1. Environmental Restoration Committee - Fran Berting distributed a written report.

Bob Clark asked Ann DuBois to give our Board members the address list of Boards members from the other Site-Specific Advisory Boards and put this list on our website.

2. Monitoring and Surveillance Committee - Augustin Garcia gave the written report distributed with the Board mailing. He said that NMED would monitor monthly the public drinking water wells at Los Alamos.

Anthony Armijo expressed his concern about the integrity of the R-25 well. He said that the Committee wonders if the efforts to re-grout and re-cement the casing will be sufficient. He asked what confidence do we have that fixing this well will work and when should LANL cap this well.

Julie Canepa offered to ask for a liaison from the ESH division to the Monitoring and Surveillance Committee. She suggested that the ER Committee receive a briefing on the new plume-chasing wells above the 32 baseline wells and near the 260 outfall.

Bob Clark asked about the cost of the well. Ms. Canepa said that she made the decision to drill deeper than originally planned when the High Explosive contamination was discovered. The well’s scope was expanded and it was not just a clamp failure. She suggested that Charlie Nylander present LANL’s findings to the Board. James Bearzi said that NMED approved drilling deeper and expanding the original scope. George Chandler asked about progress on the Hydrological Work Plan that was to drill 32 deep and 50 shallow wells over a six-year period. Ms. Canepa said that last year was the first year of the project. LANL drilled two wells to depth. This year they were supposed to drill three wells more than the one that LANL is working on now. LANL dropped one well due to the additional unexpected costs.

James Bearzi of NMED said that last year LANL promised to finish well R-15 by this fiscal year. They are now at 400 feet and will go deeper later this year. By December 31, LANL will finish wells R-9, R-12, R-15, R-27 and R-31. They will be on target to finish by 2006. NMED thinks that LANL is taking the proper corrective action and applying the lessons learned.

Bob Clark asked if the proposed number of wells is adequate given the high explosive contamination. James Bearzi said that the plume-chasing wells would be funded separately from the ER budget. Mr. Bearzi said that in 35-40 days NMED will have results from these wells.

Mr. Larry Sanders described the NEWNET program that monitors air quality in the communities surrounding LANL.

Waste Management Committee - Jim Johnston gave the written report that was distributed in the Board mailing. He said that 14,000 drums containing TRU waste would be shipped from LANL to WIPP. The Recovery Off-Site Sources Program will gather 700 drums of waste.

James Leach moved, and Domingo Martinez seconded that the Board send Jim Johnston to the DOE Transportation External Coordination Working Group. MJ Byrne said that budget was available for this trip. Fran Berting asked if this group would develop new strategies. Jim Johnston said this Working Group would identify issues that are common to all the DOE sites. George Chandler asked if this group could explore the short supply of trucks for transporting waste. Mr. Chandler wondered aloud if five trucks would be enough to ship all this waste from the various sites. He asked if the ER Committee or the Waste Management Committee could deal with this issue. The motion passed with the vote 9-1- 0.

Tim Gallegos moved and Domingo Martinez seconded that the Board adopt the recommendation approving the Off-site Recovery Project. There was no discussion. The motion passed by a vote of 10-0.

The Waste Management Committee would like to hold a local Transportation Seminar. The Chair directed the Committee to explore this and report back to the Board with more details.

Budget Committee - In the absence of the Chair Connie Thompson-Ortega, Ann DuBois presented the Committee’s recommendations. James Leach moved and Fran Berting seconded that the Board adopt the Committee’s recommendation to move the various line items. The motion passed 10-0.

5. Outreach Committee - In the absence of the Chair Menice Manzanares, Ray Armenta distributed a written report. The Committee suggested a tour of Taos Pueblo before the July Board meeting. George Chandler will now be interviewed monthly on KRSN radio. This month, Mr. Chandler will do a special TV interview on Channel 4. Jim Johnston requested that the Committee gather the TV and radio broadcast tapes and put them in the Board’s library. LANL offered to digitize the interviews and put on them on the Board’s website.

IV. BOARD COMMENTS

Fran Berting suggested that the Chairs of the various Committees could get together and formalize the data for the annual report. MJ Byrne recommended that the consultants follow the format of the Rocky Flats Board’s report. Ann DuBois will give a copy of this report to the Committee Chairs.

George Chandler requested a Leadership Committee meeting. He asked Ann DuBois to organize the meeting. The proposed topics are the Annual Report, general issues and the nomination for Chair and Vice Chair for the election in September.

MJ Byrne recognized George Chandler’s twenty-five year anniversary of his employment at LANL.

V. ADJOURNMENT

George Chandler adjourned the meeting at 9:00 p.m.

The minutes are an accurate and complete summary of the matters discussed and conclusions reached at the Northern New Mexico Citizens' Advisory Board meeting held on June 30, 1999.

Certified by:

 

George Chandler, Chair Date