GOVERNMENT & POLICY ised to shave costs and time needed to clean up the weapons sites. Some think this time might be different, but most are watching with skeptical hopefulness. Everyone would like to see Abraham succeed—ifthe result is real cleanups, done quicker and better. Abraham's plan includes contract management reforms; development of accelerated cleanup strategies for each site; renegotiation ofpast cleanup agreements with an eye toward speeding them up; and an overall emphasis on quicker, cheaper cleanups. The plan also indicates that there maybe a shifting ofcleanup functions within the government. In particular, the department is considering moving long-term stewardship of former cleanup sites away from DOE. Last month, Abraham also announced a major staffing shift, transferring 27 of 40 senior executives in the environmental management program. Headquarters staff were reassigned to thefield;fieldstaff, to headquarters or to new sites.
HANFORD CLEANUP Preparation of irradiated nuclear fuel for long-term storage is one of the processes that might be sped up under new.agreement.
NEWS
ANALYSIS
COURSE CHANGE FOR DOE CLEANUPS? Many urge reform for nuclear waste cleanups, but most remain skeptical of latest attempt JEFF JOHNSON, C&EN WASHINGTON
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HE PROGRAM IS A MESS, SAYS AL-
most everyone touched by nuclear and chemical cleanups at former and current Department of Energy weapon sites. The DOE environmental management program has faced overhaul after overhaul, yet, like a bloated federal behemoth, it has stumbled on undaunted, carrying the heft to flatten any hint of reform that may cross its path. Its size is staggering. In the past 10 years or so, the government has spent some $60 billion on cleanups, which have mostly resulted in waste containment. At least anHTTP://PUBS.ACS.ORG/CEN
other $200 billion and 70 years are thought to be needed to address environmental damage to more than 100 sites that participated in the nation's nuclear weapons program. When Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced in early February the results ofhis "top-to-bottom" review, his proposed reforms, and his accelerated cleanup plan, there was a strong smack of déjà vu. Almost exactly four years ago, the Clinton Administration announced its 'Accelerated Cleanup: Paths to Closure," the last significant reform proposal. Like Abraham, the previous Administration also prom-
THE SHIFT IS an attempt to "stimulate new thinking and creative solutions," says Jessie Roberson, assistant secretary of energy for environmental management. The biggest overhaul change, Roberson and Abraham say, is creation of a special $800 million "expedited cleanup account" to provide cleanup funds to sites where DOE, regulators, and state and local officials have agreed to a plan leading to faster cleanups. Abraham calls it an incentive program; critics call it "blackmail" to drive states and regulators to accept lower cleanup standards in return for more DOE money They note that DOE has proposed a 12% acrossthe-board cut in baseline site funding next year, and in order for sites to get the cleanup money back, states, regulators, DOE site managers, and others will need to hammer out new accelerated cleanup deals. However, several local government officials and former DOE staff say that more important than the reform plan may be Abraham's choice of top officials to implement it: Roberson and Robert G. Card, energy undersecretary Card was president of Kaiser-Hill Co. and directed its predecessor, CH2M Hill Co. In that role, he ran the company chiefly responsible for the cleanup at the DOE Rocky Flats Site, outside Denver. Roberson was manager of DOE's Rocky Flats Field Office. The two were responsible for a fundamental overhaul of the Rocky Flats cleanup, which is frequendy cited byAbraham and others as the model for DOE C&EN / MARCH 25, 2002
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Share your expert knowledge of polyethers and polysaccharides WANTED ACS Short Course Instructor Water Soluble Polymers The American Chemical Society Short Courses program invites proposals for a new course on water soluble polymers. This course will consist of a two-day program designed for chemical scientists and engineers working in industrial R&D and will be scheduled in conjunction with ACS and other meetings. Your course proposal should include the following: • A detailed content outline • A list of the learning objectives for the course • A short resume of the instructor's background and experience • The names and contact information for three professional references ACS pays an honorarium and reimburses travel expenses for teaching the course. Expertise on current industrial R&D applications of water soluble polymers is required. Proposal deadline: April 5, 2002 Submit your proposal to: Ms. Cyrelle Gerson American Chemical Society 1155 Sixteenth Street, N. W. Washington, D.C. 20036 E-mail:
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C & E N / M A R C H 2 5 , 2002
"focusing on opinions, not results," and so on. She also noted that while the Administration's proposal may not be new, "the vigor with which we are pursing it will be." But Roberson noted, "It's a marathon, not a sprint"—something she did not have to tell the local government officials But they are watching Roberson closely: One of her first acts was to dissolve an oversight board that local officials had fought hard to get on. When quizzed by an Idaho mayor, Roberson reassured her that local government views were important and would be considered in DOE policy How, though, was left vague. Still, the attendees' comments were reserved. They want reforms to succeed, and the Administration's plan is yet to be implemented, they told C&EN. One of the first concrete actions took place early this month when a deal was reached to accelerate cleanup of the Hanford Reservation in Washington state (C&EN, March 18, page 29). With much fanfare, DOE and the state announced a "letter of intent" as well as Abraham's decision to give the site $430 million more for the cleanup out of the $800 million special fund. This would bring Hanford's cleanup fund to about $2 billion forfiscal2003 and would restore the cuts Abraham had proposed for Hanford next year plus add about $100 million. The intent agreement says the parties now have a goal of achieving cleanup by 2035 compared with 2070 in the original plan. However, it is weak on how this will happen, other than identifying a half-dozen areas being targeted for faster cleanups. A draft work plan is due next May and afinalone in August. The plans will lay out a series ofgoals to be met in 2007 and 2012. The local officials note that Hanford alEARLIER THIS MONTH, Roberson rolled ready had a cleanup agreement and had reout her cleanup plans at an annual meet- cently negotiated improvements to it. ing of the Energy Communities Alliance, Whether the new agreement will be difan organization of local elected officials in ferent is yet to be seen, they say Meanwhile, they note that Hanford just communities near DOE sites. In her speech, she criticized contrac- sucked up more than half the cleanup fund. tors, the department, headquarters, and Roberson noted that DOE had approval field offices for "solving the wrong prob- from the Office ofManagement & Budget lems," "measuring process, not progress," to seek another $300 million for the ac-
cleanups. Abraham says the reforms cut the cleanup cost from $37 billion to $7 billion and the completion time from 2065 to 2007 There is a "net positive story here," says Jim Werner, former director of strategic planning and analysis for the DOE environmental management program and now an analyst for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. "If the Administration is really serious about contract reform, Bob Card andJessie Roberson are the people to Roberson do it. It is sort of a 'Nixon goes to China' thing, where Republicans can get away with putting a strong arm on contractors and open up contracts to real competition better than Democrats can," he adds. "We tried this in 1993 and '94 and frankly came up short," Werner continues. There was one big success, though, and that was at the Rocky Flat Site when Bob Card won the contract, he says. 'That contract required the contractor to be dedicated to environmental cleanups—no side missions, no distractions. And they were paid for performing. This may sound basic, but that is a dramatic change from the way business had been done, where people could get paid almost for just showing up for work," he says. CH2M Hill, which won the contract, also had long experience doing environmental work, Werner notes. p 'They didn't make jet airplanes or missiles, like the other contractors," he says. They were accustomed to sitting down and going toeto-toe with regulators and knew how to get to closure, he explains.
In the past 10 years or so the government has spent some $60 billion on cleanups. At least another $200 billion and 70 years is thought to be needed.
HTTP://PUBS.ACS.ORG/CEN
count, but still, a big part of the fund is now gone for next year. The announcement did ratchet up interest among local officials. Several say they plan to work with their site officials and regulators to push for quicker schedules to try to line up new funds through the accelerated account. But several former cleanup officials and others who are watching the program closely warn that D O E must monitor the quality of these agreements. They say it might be in the state's and DOE's interest to reach an agreement even if it falls apart years down the road. DOE, they note, will get publicity for speeding the cleanup; state officials will get credit for bringing in more money for site cleanup; and if the agreement fails in a half-dozen years when goals come due, the signers are all long gone. LOCAL RESIDENTS worry about this, too, as well as having concerns that the accelerated cleanups will result in waste being left at the sites in order to get cleanup money says Robert Schaeffer, public education director for the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, a coalition of groups composed of residents living near the sites. As an example, he points to a suit just filed by two environmental groups and an Indian tribe over D O E cleanup plans at Hanford and two other D O E sites. The suit charges that D O E is proposing to handle previously defined high-level waste as "incidental waste" and will leave "literally thousands of gallons of highly radioactive sediments and sludges in the bottom of underground tanks, cover the waste in place with concrete, and hope for the best." Schaeffer is also worried about rumors that Roberson is reexamining DOE's approach to long-term site stewardship once cleanups are complete. This is no small concern, since much of this waste has a radioactive half-life of millions ofyears, even if at low levels of radioactivity She signaled that D O E is considering placing stewardship responsibilities outside DOE, but still within the federal government. Where, though, is unclear. How all this plays out will be closely observed by groups such as the Energy Communities Alliance. Still, they applaud Roberson and say it is a good thing to push contractors to make them more efficient. But the group's director, Seth Kirshenberg, adds that "the reality is we've heard this many times over. We will be able to tell you in a year or two whether this plan works." • HTTP://PUBS.ACS.ORG/CEN
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