Hanford Advisory Board: Working through 2020 challenges for a better Hanford

In 2020, the Hanford Advisory Board (HAB) celebrated 26 years of volunteer service to the citizens of the Pacific Northwest, providing values-based, informed, consensus-based letters of advice, recommendations and white papers about Hanford cleanup.

These documents were issued to leaders of the Tri-Party Agreement (TPA) agencies. Those agencies are the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology). At the December 2020 HAB meeting, Stephen Wiegman was elected chair and he assumed the chair position in March 2021. Susan Leckband stepped back after serving as chair or vice chair for 18 years, noting, “It was the best unpaid job I ever had and it was an honor to serve the citizens of the Pacific Northwest.”

2020 was an extraordinarily challenging year for the Hanford Advisory Board. The COVID-19 pandemic protocols resulted in the cancellation of all in-person HAB meetings. The Department of Energy worked with the HAB, EPA and Ecology to ensure that the HAB could continue its work using virtual technologies to hold HAB meetings, receive and share information, and provide timely advice.

Members continue to encourage the TPA agencies to provide opportunities for the public to learn about and comment on cleanup issues. The Direct Feed Low Activity Waste (DFLAW) vitrification (mixing waste with glass) process continues to be a primary focus of the DOE Office of River Protection, and the HAB continues to support emptying the underground tanks of low activity waste and processing it into a safer form for disposal. 

The HAB worked diligently through all the challenges the pandemic presented to provide five pieces of consensus advice to DOE, EPA and Ecology in 2020, including the HAB’s yearly Hanford cleanup priorities advice. All HAB advice is available on website www.hanford.gov/page.cfm/hab, and we urge you to check it out. Additionally, the website contains all the presentations provided by the TPA agencies to the HAB at full board and subcommittee meetings. Hanford Advisory Board meetings are open to the public and the meeting calendar and locations are on the website as well.

The HAB’s well-informed consensus advice is the result of the members’ dedication to the best, safest Hanford cleanup possible, willingness to learn while working with the Tri-Party Agencies to become educated on issues, challenges, successes and upcoming decisions on Hanford Site cleanup actions.

The HAB members look forward to continuing to overcome the challenges that 2020 has presented: HAB members continue to become educated on current and emerging Hanford issues and actions, work many volunteer hours, work to be flexible and be ready to resume in-person meetings that enhance the development of informed, thoughtful conversations, exchange of ideas, formal consensus advice and recommendations.

2021 will see new HAB membership increase – adding a diverse, potentially underrepresented set of interests and individuals from among those most affected by Hanford cleanup decisions. We welcome new voices working together and developing consensus documents on Hanford cleanup. As always HAB meetings — virtual and in-person — are open to the public with times identified for public comment opportunities.

This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 12:19 AM with the headline "Hanford Advisory Board: Working through 2020 challenges for a better Hanford."