June 16, 2022 – The Department of Energy (DOE) and cleanup contractor CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley partnered with Scouts BSA Troop 643 and Cattaraugus County Department of Public Works’ Adopt‐A‐Highway Program to cleanup Thornwood Drive in West Valley.

Sponsored by the West Valley Demonstration Project, Troop 643 worked with the County to adopt one mile of Thornwood Drive to enhance the attainment of a park‐like appearance on this roadway.
The troop has an agreement with the County to clean this section of Thornwood Drive a minimum of two times per year.

“Scouting helps to provide basic skills and promotes teamwork,” said Adam Fischer, Troop 643 scoutmaster. “However, this activity went beyond that by encouraging our youth to be environmental stewards in their community. In addition, it combined personal responsibility with a life‐long value. Link to article

June 16, 2022 – The Department of Energy (DOE) and cleanup contractor CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley partnered with Scouts BSA Troop 643 and Cattaraugus County Department of Public Works’ Adopt‐A‐Highway Program to cleanup Thornwood Drive in West Valley.

Sponsored by the West Valley Demonstration Project, Troop 643 worked with the County to adopt one mile of Thornwood Drive to enhance the attainment of a park‐like appearance on this roadway.
The troop has an agreement with the County to clean this section of Thornwood Drive a minimum of two times per year.

“Scouting helps to provide basic skills and promotes teamwork,” said Adam Fischer, Troop 643 scoutmaster. “However, this activity went beyond that by encouraging our youth to be environmental stewards in their community. In addition, it combined personal responsibility with a life‐long value.” Link to article

June 14, 2022 – EM has emerged from a challenging period with achievements under its belt and now is positioned for a new era of sustained progress in environmental cleanup, a program leader told a stakeholder and industry audience last week.

As it dealt with the COVID‐19 pandemic, “EM continued its important mission and realized a set of pivotal accomplishments across the country. It is thanks for many of you here today that we achieved these accomplishments and positioned EM for a new era,” said Jay Mullis, acting associate principal deputy assistant secretary for regulatory and policy affairs.

“I’m optimistic that building on our accomplishments, we can work this year to address some longstanding issues and advance EM further into this new era of steady and sustained progress for years to come,” Mullis said.

The EM official served as the keynote speaker at the 2022 RadWaste Summit, an annual conference focused on cleanup. A number of EM field managers and other program representatives also participated in the event. Link to Update

May 27, 2022 – The draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Phase 2 decision on cleanup at the West Valley Demonstration Project will be published in 2023.

A decision on the Phase 2 cleanup probably will not occur until 2025, a spokesman for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority told those attending a quarterly public (virtual) meeting for the West Valley Demonstration Project on Wednesday.

Lee Gordon, the NYSERDA spokesman, said when released next year the draft SEIS will provide for extended public comment with a six‐month comment period. Link to article

May 16, 2022 – On May 4, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released an eye‐opening report quoting over $310 billion as the total cost of completing cleanup at the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management’s (EM) major sites. Of this total, $180.5 billion is expected for cleanup completion at the Hanford Site alone. The report reminds us of the challenges ahead and how much work still needs to be completed at the sites in the near term and long‐term.

The report only covers known cleanup issues and does not address or identify areas/sites that EM is still characterizing, nor does it address the unknown of waste disposal. There is currently no plan for a permanent repository at Yucca Mountain or for interim storage of Defense high‐level waste in EM’s estimates. Many of the largest sites cannot be cleaned up without a disposition pathway for high‐level waste, indicating that the total cleanup figure and the estimated time frames will likely be even higher. The report also highlights that the current completion schedule for all EM work will last until 2081 – nearly 60 years from now – assuming that the funding is available. Link to ECA Update