DON'T SWEAT THE SUMMER HEAT -- SWEAT ABOUT THE COMING NUCLEAR DUMP!

Take action by Tuesday, August 21, 2007

This message comes to you from the Southern Ohio Neighbors Group, watchdog over activities at the federal nuclear site in Piketon. SONG's petition drive to clean up the site, bar high-level nuclear waste from southern Ohio and create a Citizens Advisory Board at Piketon is ongoing, with over 4,500 signatures to date! The petition is available on-line at http://www.progressohio.org/page/petition/DoEpetition. Please pass this address along to others so they can add their names.

In response to SONG's demand for a Citizens Advisory Board, the Department of Energy has initiated a process of " DOE will conduct a "public update" on the cleanup this coming Tuesday, August 21, in Piketon. Please attend, bring friends and family, and voice your concerns.

When: 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Where: OSU Endeavor Center, Room 160, 1864 Shyville Road, Piketon, just south of the traffic light on Rt. 32 (same location as the March 8 public hearing)
Google Map

Note: DOE will host an open house at their Environmental Information Center in the same building, Room 220, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m, just prior to the public meeting.

At this meeting, DOE will announce the agency's intention to issue a CD-1 work plan for cleanup of the old gaseous diffusion plant (GDP) site at Piketon, and also will discuss plans for "stakeholder involvement" at the site. It is important that the people of southern Ohio come and express themselves.

In May, the SONIC partnership submitted a "siting report" that identified the same GDP site for location of a center for storage and/or reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel imported from around the country or around the world. "Cleanup" is a necessary part of preparing the site for its "new mission." DOE waited six years after closure of the GDP before initiating "cleanup," postponing or eliminating thousands of cleanup jobs.

SONG has already expressed concerns about Tuesday's meeting and about the cleanup process. In summary:

1. DOE had been conducting "semi-annual" environmental review meetings at Piketon, but three of the last four such meetings have been canceled, apparently because the people started asking tough questions. This two-hour "public meeting" appears to replace the biennial semi-annual review meetings with a format that permits no regular public involvement or ability for follow-up.

2. DOE has clarified to SONG that the agency's definition of "cleanup" is "preparation for future use." Under this definition, the agency can proceed to prepare the site for high-level nuclear waste storage, requiring only minimal cleanup of the prior contamination.

3. DOE has clarified to SONG that a new stakeholder advisory board will have jurisdiction only over the "cleanup" operations themselves, not over decisions about future use. DOE headquarters is reserving decision-making power over future use of the site.

4. This meeting was announced to the public with less than one week's notice, and is scheduled for a time when many people have vacation plans. It appears that the intent of the agency was to keep public participation to a bare minimum.

5. DOE is suggesting that stakeholder concerns can be considered "informally" at Piketon. On the contrary, SONG has demanded that a Citizens Advisory Board at Piketon be chartered under FACA (the Federal Advisory Committee Act), recognizing that Piketon meets the eligibility criteria as an environmental justice community.

In other words, DOE appears to be proceeding full-steam ahead to ready the site for high-level waste storage, while creating a sham public process that has the appearance of participation, without any real community involvement.

We urge you to attend, bring as many people as you can, and forward this message.

Whether you can come or not, please use the following contact information to express your opinions about DOE's negation of public participation. If you are a stakeholder with particular interests affected by activities at Piketon, please make that clear:

James Rispoli, Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management, phone: 202-586-7709
fax: 202-586-3695, james . rispoli @ hq . doe . gov (Remove spaces after pasting address)

Ines Triay, chief of DOE's environmental management program, phone: 202-586-0738
fax: 202-586-6773, ines . triay @ em . doe . gov (Remove spaces after pasting address)

Bill Murphie, environmental site manager for Piketon, william . murphie @ lex . doe . gov (Remove spaces after pasting address)

David Kozlowski, deputy environmental site manager, phone: 859-219-4009, fax: 859-219-4099, david . kozlowski @ lex . doe . gov (Remove spaces after pasting address)

Sandy Childers, public relations for LATA-Parallax at Piketon, phone: 740-897-2336, schilders @ lpports . com (Remove spaces after pasting address)

For e-mail correspondence, please address to all of the above, use "Piketon Comments" as your subject, and send a copy to SONG at SHIPPSONG @ aol . com (Remove spaces after pasting address)

Thank you!