Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
9/26/2014
After South Carolina and the Environmental Protection Agency denied a request from the Department of Energy to extend a Savannah River high-level waste tank closure milestone, DOE late last week invoked dispute resolution on the matter. Citing technical and funding issues, DOE in August requested an extension of the closure dates for Tanks 12H and 16H from September 2015 to December 2016, which regulators denied last month. However, in a Sept. 18 response, DOE cited the Federal Facilities Agreement with South Carolina as stating that new technical information could be good cause for an extension. “DOE looks forward to working with SCDHEC and EPA in the informal phase of the dispute resolution process, as it provides a constructive opportunity to gain clarification and resolve the issues,” the response states.
DOE emphasized that it hopes to be able to mitigate any schedule delays in the upcoming tanks. “DOE believes the diligent efforts implemented to achieve early closure of tanks 5F and 6F (two of the four tanks included in this 2015 commitment) twenty months ahead of the milestone date, demonstrate that DOE will similarly work to mitigate any schedule delays associated with tanks 12H and 16H,” the response states.
Would Be First Missed Milestone, With More Likely
The potentially missed milestone involves the first two tanks in what is likely to be a string of tank closure delays and missed deadlines DOE has attributed to a combination of a lack of funding and a change in schedule for the startup of the Salt Waste Processing Facility, among other factors. In DOE’s latest SRS liquid waste system plan, the closure date for all old style-tanks was moved to 2032, 10 years beyond regulatory commitments. Enacted funding for the Savannah River liquid waste program stood at $838.5 million in Fiscal Year 2013, which has dropped down to a current level of $690.5 million. DOE’s FY’15 budget requests $722.8 million for the liquid waste program. Meanwhile, the SWPF is expected to greatly increase tank processing rates, but has had its startup pushed back from 2014 to 2018, at the earliest.
South Carolina: ‘We Are Holding the Agency Accountable’
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control rejected DOE’s first extension request, stating it did not believe any technical issues were cause for extension and that DOE did not make timely efforts to obtain necessary funds. SCDHEC only agreed to a 27-day extension to make up for last year’s government shutdown. “The liquid radioactive and toxic waste in aging tanks at Savannah River Site is currently one of the greatest environmental threats to the State of South Carolina,” SCDHEC said in a statement. “By not accepting the DOE’s request to extend the closure date for two tanks, we are holding the agency accountable to its responsibility of meeting its timeline and supporting risk reduction.” The EPA also opposed the request, stating that it was “not totally supported by the existing information, and instead suggesting a 30-day and seven-month extension.
DOE: Regulators Did Not Explain Basis of Decision
According to DOE’s original request for an extension on Aug. 12, “technical issues, complicated by these funding constraints, have all caused schedule delays which are not recoverable. The issues were emergent, unforeseeable and unplanned but most importantly all unavoidable.” In its recent response calling for dispute resolution, DOE said that the EPA and SCDHEC “did not include an explanation of the basis for the agencies’ positions that the technical information and barriers DOE experienced do not constitute good cause for an extension for the period of time DOE has requested.”
