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.
April 29, 2020 – Jacobs (J +2.1%) led joint venture (CH2M Hill BWXT West Valley, LLC) has been awarded a contract extension from the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) at the West Valley Demonstration Project. Link to article
April 28, 2020 – It’s a place of superlatives. Reporters have called it the most polluted place in the Western Hemisphere. It’s also the location of one of the largest construction projects in the world.
At the Hanford Site in south-central Washington state, 177 giant tanks sit below the sandy soil, brimming with the radioactive remnants of 44 years of nuclear-materials production. From World War II through the Cold War, Hanford churned out plutonium for more than 60,000 nuclear weapons, including the atomic bomb that razed Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945. The sprawling enterprise eventually contaminated the soil and groundwater and left behind 212 million liters of toxic waste—enough to fill 85 Olympic-size swimming pools. Decades after the site stopped producing plutonium, the U.S. government is still grappling with how to clean it all up. Link to article
April 23, 2020 – The Ashford Town Board, at its April 15 meeting via teleconferencing, discussed what the town is doing to help prevent the spread of COVID‐19 and heard reports from others within the town who are also taking precautionary steps.
Supervisor John Pfeffer reported a State of Emergency was declared for the Town of Ashford as of April 15 due to emergency conditions produced by COVID‐19. Pfeffer also started soliciting people in the community who would be able to help deliver meals to people in need, with a number of people who offered to help with various organizations including the West Valley Food Pantry. The town is also continuing communication with Cattaraugus County regarding updates with COVID‐19. Link to article
April 20, 2020 – Last year, ECA highlighted major EM contracts that were set to expire in 2020. DOE has announced several extensions and awards in recent months: ….
West Valley Demonstration Project Interim End State
April 14, 2020 – The West Valley Demonstration Project nuclear cleanup contract has been extended for 39 months.
The U.S Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management announced this week it has extended CH2M Hill BWXT West Valley, LLC’s cleanup contract to June 29, 2023.
The extension will enable CHBWV to safely and efficiently complete deactivation, demolition and removal of the Main Plant Process Building, the last remaining major facility at the West Valley site, as well as other facility disposition activities, according to a DOE statement. Link to article
