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1996 Annual Report:New Jersey Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility Siting Board |
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1996 Annual Report:New Jersey Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility Siting Board |
The Siting Board continued its two-track
approach, using the voluntary siting process to locate a suitable
site in a willing community while at the same time moving ahead
to develop the plans for site characterization and facility
design that will be needed wherever the disposal facility is
located.
Public discussions were held in a
half-dozen municipalities which explored the possibility
of hosting New Jersey's disposal facility for low-level
radioactive waste. Although the prospect of hosting the
disposal facility raises controversy wherever it is
discussed, some officials and residents in each of these
six towns believe that the facility could be a safe and
beneficial light industrial development for their area.
The discussions ended in four of the twons - Springfield
(Burlington County), Lower (Cape May), Fairfield and
Commercial (Cumberland) - with votes by the governing
body. In two other towns - Pennsville (Salem County) and
Bethlehem (Hunterdon) - the Board determined that no
suitable sites seemed to be available.
Two forums for local officials,
underwritten by the Fund for New Jersey and the SIting
Board , were sponsored by the New Jersey League of Women
Voters' Education Fund, the New Jersey State League of
Municipalities, and Rutgers University. One focused on
the issues surrounding low-level radioactive waste; the
second addressed how a potentially interested community
can begin an open public discussion of the issues, and
provided attendees with tools to help ensure that all
voices and opinions are heard during this discussion.
Statewide outreach continued, with talks,
discussions, and presentations at a variety of forums.
The Board's display was exhibited at major conferences,
including those sponsored by the New Jersey Conference of
Mayors, the New Jersey State League of Municipalities,
and the Medical Society of New Jersey.
The Siting Board expects to continue with
the approach it has used since adopting the Voluntary Siting Plan
in February 1995. This will include:
For 1997, the Siting Board has scheduled meetings usually on the first Thursday of each month in the 10th floor conference room, 44 S. Clinton Avenue, Trenton, located one half-block from the train station and adjacent to a public parking garage. Meetings commence at 9:30 AM and generally conclude between noon and 1:00 PM.
These meetings are open to the public:
TOTAL EXPENDITURES $ 1,397,994
Siting Board Operations $ 630,335
Professional Services from State Departments $ 344,337
Other Professional Services $ 292,172
Northeast Compact Commission $ 131,150
ENCUMBRANCES
The Siting Board receives all of its funding through fee assessments on New Jersey generators of low-level radioactive waste. The Board will assess fees for the first time in four years to provide sufficient funds in FY'98 for site characterization - a comprehensive and expensive analysis and evaluation of a potential site - to begin as soon as a community and the Board agree that such an undertaking is warranted.
As noted above, the Board received professional services during FY'96 from seven entities. Four - the Department of Environmental Protection, the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of Dispute Settlement, and Foster Wheeler Environmental Corporation - provide assistance to the Board on an on-going basis. The other three were hired for discrete projects: New Jersey Network for the production of the Board's informational videotape; the Center for Public Interest Polling at the Eagleton Institute of Politics to conduct and analyze two focus groups during the development of the voluntary siting process; and the League of Women Voters' Education Fund to convene a statewide conference in Jamesburg on low-level radioactive waste management.
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Last updated September 1997