As mentioned above, funding equity for ETTP cleanup will decline in FY 2001 in response to the proposed funding increase for Paducah and Portsmouth. Secretary Richardson announced in March that DOE will not proceed with the construction of a new incinerator at the Idaho National Environmental Engineering Laboratory. Oak Ridge stakeholders informed the Secretary that they were concerned that the panel did not include a representative from Oak Ridge. These decisions were made without adequate input from the affected public and have put Oak Ridge in the position of having the only active mixed waste treatment incinerator in the DOE complex. ORR disposal options for Resource Conservation and Recovery Act mixed waste, including remote-handled transuranic waste, at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, NTS and the Hanford Reservation need to be finalized.
Cleanup levels continue to be a serious concern.
The State wants permanent remedies. The federal government prefers short-term, less costly remedies that sometimes include perpetual institutional controls. Senior management of each agency is now committed to rapid resolution of cleanup issues. That effort is in progress. Disposal of ORR currently generated and legacy waste has increased in FY 2000.