## ![](media/image1.png){width="1.2291666666666667in" height="1.5902777777777777in"}[Full Board Meeting]{.smallcaps} 

##### Crosby Township Senior Center

## Thursday, July 13, 2005

### Draft Minutes 

The Fernald Citizens Advisory Board met from 6:15 -- 9:00 p.m. on
Thursday, July 13, 2005 at the Crosby Township Senior Center.

Members Present: Jim Bierer

Lisa Crawford

Steve Depoe

Pam Dunn

> Lou Doll
>
> Graham Mitchell

Bob Tabor

> Bill Taylor

Members Absent: Marvin Clawson

> Gene Jablonowski

Gary Storer

Gene Willeke

Katie Brown

Designated Federal Official: Gary Stegner

The Perspectives Group Staff: Douglas Sarno

Stephanie Kavanaugh

Fluor Fernald Staff: Con Murphy

> Sue Walpole
>
> Eric Woods

Approximately 14 spectators also attended the meeting, including members
of the public and representatives from the Department of Energy and
Fluor Fernald.

Jim Bierer called the meeting to order at 6:15pm.

Jim distributed copies of the New Mexico CAB's yearly report to the
group. He announced that the September Chairs' meeting was scheduled for
September 21-23, 2005. Lisa Crawford and Pam Dunn volunteered to attend
on behalf of the FCAB. Waste disposition will be a major agenda item, as
it has made national news recently.

# Updates

Gary Stegner announced that 80%, or 203 of 255, of the buildings are
demolished. Of the 179 trailers, 173 have been demolished. The AWWT is
down, and the soils are 80% certified clean on the site. Work continues
on the parking lot and the restoration is moving very quickly. It has
been a record construction season due to the dry weather. The crews are
still working double-shifts and the CWAT construction is near
completion. The waste pits are complete, and trains are moving Soil Pile
7, with completion planned for the end of the calendar 2005 year.

Con Murphy updated the CAB on progress on Silo 3. He explained that
there are two crews on one night shift due to the heat, and that the
safety record is good. Silo 3 is expected to be complete by the end of
August or in early September. Arrangements are being made to extract
materials at the rate of 16-17 bags per night. He continued that morale
is good, which maximizes performance. In response to a question by Jim
Bierer, he explained that 3-4 square yards of material would remain at
the bottom of the Silo.

Con explained that there are now 150 canisters of material from Silos 1
and 2. They are averaging 5-10 per shift. With a focus on safety and
stability, they will average 20-22 canisters of material per day. He
continued explaining that as they step up waste loading, they have to
ensure that the mix design is validated and is in compliance with the
WAC. There will be a report and recommendations for improvement.

Con said that they will install a glass pipe in the line so that
operators can see what kind of water is in the Silo. Incremental
improvements are being made as work continues. There was only one
recordable injury last month. Industrial safety has been the focus. Even
though hazards are going down, the program needs to stay very robust.

# LM Update from Jane Powell

Jane Powell told the group that she enjoyed the History Roundtable. She
is still working to develop and use the matrix as an internal management
document. There are over 700 items in the matrix, and Fluor items will
be incorporated. The matrix indicates that LM is mainly on track, with
paperwork still due for some projects. Internal tools are being
developed jointly by Stoller and Fluor, EM and LM. She stated that
things went well during a joint meeting between all parties.

Audrey Berry of DOE LM explained that a white paper regarding the Local
Stakeholder Organization (LSO) had been given to the local elected
officials, and that she'll give copies to Gary Stegner. Gary and Audrey
met with the Morgan Township trustees and there will be a meeting with
Crosby Township on Monday night. The purpose is to bring all interested
local elected officials together to discuss whether they have an
interest in forming an LSO. Audrey said that Morgan Township was very
interested, and once they understand a bit more, there would be some
good dialogue.

Audrey explained that on November 15^th^, 2005 a plan will be back to
LM, including the naming of LSO members. Jim Bierer asked if there was a
process built in to help the local officials determine how the
membership should be comprised, and if they were aware that the public
wants to be involved. Audrey responded that the townships were really
seeing how the LSO can be beneficial to the site and all of the
different people who could be members. She recommended that members of
the CAB who are interested in joining the LSO write letters to the
townships and attend meetings.

Doug Sarno of The Perspectives Group explained that the process of
having the townships design the LSO is new information for the group,
and that every prior discussion said that DOE will decide, based on
talking to the townships. Audrey offered to make up some more of the
information packets for distribution to CAB members. Pam Dunn requested
that notice of the upcoming meetings with the townships be sent via post
card, phone, and email, not just through the Federal Register.

Steve Depoe stated that he was hopeful that by the time of the September
retreat, the CAB would have conceptualized how it will pass the baton.
Doug clarified by adding that the CAB may offer suggestions, but that
there wasn't a group to pass the baton to until the LSO is formed. Doug
continued that the vision of the future of the site has been at the core
of the FCAB group for a long time, and that the LSO is largely the group
that will shepherd the vision into the future. It's going to be
difficult for the CAB to feel like that's being done if no CAB members
are on the LSO. Doug expressed that the CAB had been very aggressive in
telling EM and LM their wishes, and now suddenly DOE is saying that the
decision makers are the local governments. DOE had been giving the CAB
every indication that it was communicating with the right people at DOE;
that is the cause of the CAB's frustration with this process. Lisa added
that 90% of the site is in Crosby Township.

Gary suggested that the group take a "wait and see" attitude to forming
an LSO, and see what sort of public involvement mechanisms LM has in
place post-closure. Jim stated that the CAB's major concern is
preserving the vision that the community has put together through our
workshops. There is concern that elected officials have their own vision
that isn't informed by the community and that they may not be willing to
implement the CAB's vision. Lisa added that it sounded as if the
community had no say, and that the CAB felt blindsided.

Graham Mitchell announced that congressional staffers would be visiting
the site during the week of August 15, 2005. Regarding the NRD suit, he
stated that they are trying to get the EPA technical and legal staff
together with DOE's staff for a negotiation meeting. The differences
were aired in the judge's chambers and a good conversation was had
afterwards. Graham is hoping to make that happen again. The next meeting
with the judge is in June, 2006.

Gary added that every Thursday, DOE OH, Fernald, and headquarters have
conference calls, though he believes that progress won't be made until
all parties sit down together. The sides are not that far apart, and
want a lot of the same things. The CAB is emphasizing three issues: the
MUEF, trail network, and education. Sue recently met with Bob Warther
and went through education information. Gary was struck by how
antiseptically DOE has talked about education in the past, because the
topic is actually so hands on. He said that Sue would walk the group
through some educational models during the meeting. The community
resource organization has started and is successful in distributing
equipment to the local districts.

Steve Depoe stated that he had interviewed Steve Shank, and that there
are close to 100 interviews now on the Fernald Living History website.
They will be doing 10-12 interviews over the next few months. Their next
meeting will be on Monday, October 3^rd^. He asked the CAB to let him
know if they had any more suggestions for interviewees.

Sue Walpole explained that some of the site's neighbors have been
complaining about noise and dirt. Next week they will hand deliver
invitations door to door, inviting neighbors for a picnic on August
3^rd^. She added that the Audubon society is sending an ornithologist to
determine if Fernald can be a designated Important Bird Area. Sue said
that the Public Affairs department will be moving to the Alpha building.
It is large enough for LM to have meetings, and will have a room large
enough to bring all the artifacts so that they are closer to the site.
Several volunteers from the History Roundtable are willing to help go
through the artifacts.

# Education Update

Sue handed out information on educational modules, including the number
of students that have completed them. There were also suggestions for
post-closure education modules. With funding from DOE, the teachers
would receive training from DOE and would receive a whole kit that would
allow them to teach the lesson 150 times. The archeology program has
been very successful, with video activities and field trips to the park.
Teachers helped to develop a partnership with the museum center.

Gary Stegner added that Sue will soon become an employee of Stoller.

# Retreat Planning

Doug Sarno stated that the FCAB Retreat will be at 8:30 am, on Saturday,
September 10^th^. He asked that DOE and OH EPA come to the meeting with
the priorities for the FCAB. How to allocate the final budget of
\$50,000 will also be discussed. He also invited LM to weigh in. There
will not be a Stewardship meeting that week unless there are specific
burning issues.

**History Roundtable**

On July 13 the FCAB sponsored a History Roundtable to gather input from
local historians on how to best preserve and present Fernald's history.
The event was held at the Hamilton County Educational Service Center and
there were 15 participants from local historical societies, libraries,
colleges, and other organizations.

Doug Sarno stated that the FCAB is excited that the Cincinnati History
Museum has offered to curate the collection of artifacts and photographs
and have a professional, permanent exhibit at TMC as well as at Fernald.
Sue stated that David Conzett, the Artifacts Curator, was excited and
impressed with the oral histories. Steve said that he would like David
Conzett to attend the FLH meeting on October 3^rd^. Sue will contact him
with the invitation.

Rick told the CAB that after sorting through the 60,000 negatives taken
since December of 1992, they have selected 1,195 that tell the story of
Fernald. They are currently in the process of writing captions. The
drawback is that if we send those to be archived, we don't have them
anymore. The majority have matching prints, but some are only negatives.
Doug added that it is important that some protocol be identified to
maintain copies at the site to make sure the photos are not lost.

Meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

James Bierer Date

Fernald Citizens Advisory Board Chairman

Gary Stegner Date

Deputy Designated Federal Official