Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
5/1/2015
After months in the dispute resolution process, South Carolina, the Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have reached an agreement extending by eight months the closure date for a Savannah River Site high-level waste tank. Under the agreement, the parties agreed to prepare Tank 12H for grouting by Sept. 30, 2015, the original milestone for closure. The actual closure date will be extended eight months to May 31, 2016. In an effort to potentially accelerate tank closure, DOE also agreed to “pursue commercial sources for pretreatment of salt waste to supplement existing and planned salt waste processing capabilities through an expression of interest by July 31, 2015,” according to a DOE release.
Citing technical and funding issues, in August 2014 DOE requested an extension of the closure dates for Tanks 12H and 16H from September 2015 to December 2016. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control originally only agreed to a 27-day extension for both tanks, citing the length of the 2013 government shutdown. The EPA and DHEC questioned the technical issues, and the state also said DOE did not make the efforts necessary to obtain money for the program. The parties then entered the dispute resolution process to attempt to come to an agreement.
In February , the parties agreed to a 27-day extension for 16H, but were unable to reach a deal on Tank 12H, which is further behind in the closure process. That elevated the dispute to the senior executive committee made up of DOE Savannah River Manager David Moody, EPA-4 Regional Administrator Heather McTeer Toney and Elizabeth Dieck, SCDHEC Director of Environmental Affairs, who came to the final agreement.
