Below are articles and other news published since the last West Valley Citizen Task Force Meeting. They relate to the West Valley Demonstration Project, nuclear waste cleanup or are otherwise relevant or of potential interest to stakeholders interested in the Project. After each Citizen Task Force Meeting, these articles are compiled into a single document and may be found with the meeting materials for that month.
June 10, 2021 – DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) budget request for FY 2022 proposes to eliminate payments‐in‐lieu‐of‐taxes (PILT) for communities surrounding only the Hanford Site and Savannah River Site, the communities that bear the burden of the largest environmental cleanup projects in the United States. Link to article
June 9, 2021 – Only one new case of COVID‐19 was reported Tuesday by the Cattaraugus County Health Department.
Health department staff are also following 19 active cases, six who are hospitalized and 48 in contact quarantine….
… On June 17, the health department will partner with CHBWV, the site contractor at the West Valley Demonstration Project, to offer COVID‐19 vaccinations at the Ashford Office Complex on Route 219 in Ashford Hollow from 1‐4:30 p.m. Bring photo identification. Link to article
June 5, 2021 – Representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley, LLC (CHBWV) presented checks on May 12 to Mercy Flight, West Valley Fire District #1, and Bertrand Chaffee Hospital on behalf of the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP).
These three organizations serve as valuable resources for WVDP employees and the surrounding community. Bertrand Chaffee Hospital and its staff provide medical support, Mercy Flight provides air ambulance service, and the West Valley Fire District volunteers provide fire and emergency services. Link to article
June 4, 2021 – You want flood protection for downtown Buffalo, and maybe shorelines along Lake Ontario as well? You got it.
You want more money for clean-water efforts? It’s there, too, in the 72-page pending plan and the 1,422-page appendix that Biden dropped into lawmakers’ in-boxes last week. Link to article
June 4, 2021 – The timeline for the open‐air demolition of the main plant process building at the West Valley Demonstration Project has been put off until late this year.
Crews from CHBWV, the contractor hired to carry out the cleanup at the nation’s first commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing facility, have been hampered in their deactivation of the building by COVID‐19 protocols.
The U.S. Department of Energy, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and CHBWV plan to hold public meetings next month or in early July to detail safety plans for the upcoming demolition. Link to article
