Why we need to do this is not just to protect the public health, safety, and environment, but also to protect and use wisely the public tax dollars that we've been entrusted to manage. The impetus was their realization that cleanup costs were escalating and required new approaches. After a national competition, DOE eventually awarded a five-year cooperative agreement to the consortium in March 1995. Its activities are concentrated at the University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey, Rutgers University, and the University of Washington. The consortium will not be a decision-maker at DOE sites, but will attempt to enrich the information and to validate the database for systematically assessing present and future risks, including those associated with management and restoration options.
Stakeholders comprise local citizens and local and regional businesses.
One model for the Hanford Nuclear Reservation assumes that stakeholders are all groups living within 50 miles. Stakeholders also include signatories to federal, state, and tribal nation agreements. Indian Nations have separate sovereign status treaties with the U.S. government. Management of radioactive, chemical, and physical hazards, and remediation of damage at DOE sites will require decades. The consortium's work focuses on current hazards, long-term effects, and importance of expeditious decision making and timing in implementing restorative action.