Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
2/6/2015
Lawmakers and state officials largely saw mixed news this week in the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management Fiscal Year 2016 budget request, which seeks to boost tank waste cleanup funds but proposes cuts to many other cleanup efforts across the complex. Hanford’s Office of River Protection saw the biggest boost, totaling $202 million over enacted levels, while Savannah River’s liquid waste budget came in $77 million above enacted funding. South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control has pushed DOE to increase tank waste funding to mitigate the risk of missing milestones. “DHEC believes it is appropriate for DOE to direct more money to liquid waste at SRS; however, we need more treatment now for DOE to meet its risk-reduction commitments,” DHEC spokesman Jim Beasley said in a statement.
The additional Savannah River funds would largely go towards wrapping up construction of the Salt Waste Processing Facility, which is intended to greatly increase Savannah River tank waste processing rates. However, it would keep the site’s interim tank waste processing capability at far below its maximum capacity. “Treating waste in existing facilities at half to a third of their capacity gets us farther and farther away from meeting milestones. Added treatment now saves possible decades of additional lifecycle cost later in addition to penalty savings,” Beasley said. With multiple tank closure milestones in jeopardy, DHEC has threatened to levy up to $150 million in fines if DOE does not request adequate funding to meet its commitments, and is currently in dispute resolution with DOE on a milestone extension request.
Sen. Murray: Hanford Request ‘Good and Bad News’
At Hanford, while ORP saw the largest increase in DOE’s cleanup program, reaching $1.41 billion, the site’s Richland Operations Office saw the largest cut, totaling $93 million, for an FY’16 request level of $914 million. “The President’s budget proposal for Hanford cleanup in Fiscal Year 2016 includes good and bad news for the site,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement. “I applaud the President’s proposal to increase funding for the Office of River Protection by $202 million, but I am very disappointed that he has again proposed nearly $100 million in cuts for Richland Operations. Last year, I successfully fought to restore Hanford cleanup funding after the Obama Administration proposed similar cuts, and I’m hopeful that the Republican majority in Congress will work with me to get this done this year too.”
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) said that the ORP budget appears promising, but noted “uncertainties about the costs associated with the Consent Decree, the tank vapor plan, AY-102, and other activities could have major impacts on the amount of actual cleanup progress achieved by this request,” according to a statement. “Further, the legal dispute between the State of Washington and the Department of Energy must be resolved as quickly and completely as possible to best position Hanford for appropriate funding from Congress. All parties should redouble their efforts – both in and out of court – to reach a workable solution.”
The proposed cut for Richland “is challenging by any standard,” Newhouse said. “It’s difficult to imagine a scenario where this budget truly provides adequate funding to meet milestones and keep cleanup work on track at projects within the River Corridor, Plutonium Finishing Plant and K Area. The Obama Administration must provide additional details on the impact of today’s request on Fiscal Year 2016 – as well as potential mortgage and maintenance costs associated with delays on overall project costs shouldered by taxpayers.”
WIPP Funding Level Would Allow Recovery to Continue on Schedule
At the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, which is still recovering from incidents that occurred last February that have shut down the facility, the FY’16 budget would cut funding about $76 million below the enacted level, to $248 million. However, DOE said the requested funding would allow initial waste emplacement operations to resume at a limited pace in March 2016, roughly in line with the schedule set by the WIPP Recovery Plan DOE released last fall. Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) noted that the enacted funding “included an unprecedented extra $103 million that I secured above and beyond WIPP’s usual budget to allow its recovery to stay on track.” He said in a statement: “This year, the president’s funding request includes additional resources above the usual budget levels for construction of a new ventilation system and exhaust shaft. WIPP’s recovery is an ongoing process, and I’ll be pressing the administration to fully explain whether its request is adequate and ensure WIPP has the resources it needs so it can ultimately reopen safely.”
Due to the increased funding in FY’15, DOE was able to “front load” much of the recovery cost, and higher funding levels in FY’16 wouldn’t mean a faster WIPP restart, EM officials said following the budget rollout this week. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) called the WIPP FY’16 budget a “good starting point.” He added in a statement, “I will continue to advocate for the resources WIPP needs to carry out its critical mission and return safely to operations.” Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) said in a statement: “The objective has always been to resume operations at WIPP as quickly and safely as possible. The funding level ensures this will happen as scheduled, at the beginning of 2016.”