Citizen Gain: The Story of the West Valley Citizen Task Force

摘要

Throughout the 1980s and 90s, the managers of nuclear waste cleanup sites have expended a great deal ofrntime and energy to enhance public involvement in site operations. The question that we, as site managers, have tornask ourselves is, has it been worth the effort? And, if it has, what have we learned from the experience? At thernWestern New York Nuclear Service Center (Center), the New York State Energy Research and DevelopmentrnAuthority (NYSERDA) learned some valuable lessons while working with a community advisory group.rnIn January 1997, NYSERDA, with participation from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), brought 16rnindividuals of diverse background, experience, and interest together to formulate recommendations on therndevelopment of a preferred option for closing and/or managing the facilities at the Center. The West Valley CitizenrnTask Force began meeting twice a month. From the outset, NYSERDA and DOE were committed to finding outrnwhat was important to the community regarding the future management of the site, though, at the beginning, thernTask Force was wary of the sincerity of this commitment .rnIn July 1998, 19 months since its first meeting, the Task Force submitted a recommendations report tornNYSERDA and DOE containing its policies and priorities regarding the future management of the site and specificrnguidelines for the closure option. All 16 members of the Task Force signed the report. The completion of the reportrnindicates the success of one part of the process -- the consensus of the Task Force regarding the future managementrnof the Center.rnNext, NYSERDA and DOE must forge ahead to address their recommendations in the development of arncleanup plan for the site, while not discarding what has been gained along the way, which is a deeper, more trustingrnrelationship with the Task Force members. Their recommendations are representative of the community’s values atrna given point in time. The relationships, however, are dynamic and, with good faith already established, provide therngreatest opportunity for developing an even deeper level of trust with the community.