Brown, Voinovich request full funding for Piketon cleanup

Brown, Voinovich request full funding for Piketon cleanup

U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and George V. Voinovich wrote to Senate Leadership requesting full funding for decommissioning and

decontamination (D&D) activities for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS) in the Fiscal Year 2011 Energy

and Water Development appropriations bill. The letter was sent to Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Bob Bennett (R-WY), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, respectively, according to a news release from Brown.

"Full funding will accelerate work that is long overdue while driving critical economic development in the Scioto Valley," said Brown. "Piketon

and the surrounding region have been neglected too long. These funds will go a long way toward ensuring clean water, clean air, and clean land while also creating jobs."

“We must maintain momentum on this vital project,” Sen. Voinovich said. “The sooner the site is cleaned up and turned over to the community, the sooner it will be available for use and additional job creation. While ensuring full funding for the site in Congress’ Fiscal Year 2011 budget is important, we must also not lose sight of the fact that Congress will still need to pass the budget before the end of this fiscal year. Otherwise, funding for this activities could revert back to last year’s levels, potentially resulting in a detrimental impact on jobs in the region and also proving a setback to the federal investment made to date.” 

  In April, Ohio EPA and the United States Department of Energy (DOE) agreed to the utilization of more than $118 million in Recovery Act funds for decontamination and cleanup at PORTS. The funds were provided as part of the Recovery Act.

The PORTS site began producing enriched uranium in 1954 in response to the nation’s need for fissionable material for military reactors and nuclear weapons production. In 2001, the decision was made to consolidate operations at PORTS’s sister site in Paducah, Kentucky. This left the region without its largest employer. The devastating economic impact of the plant closure is still felt today.

Cleanup activities include demolishing structures, dismantling building contents and foundations and deactivating equipment. The former DOE Portsmouth GDP ended production of enriched uranium in 2001. The cleanup agreement addresses this and other hazardous and industrial wastes, substances and pollutants as a subset of the entire facility, namely the plant-related structures and equipment located on DOE's property. The agreement provides for Ohio EPA's oversight of the cleanup and will govern DOE's performance of the decontamination and disposal activities at the site under the terms of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, also known as Superfund.

Brown has been fighting for federal funds to promote economic development in Piketon. He has been working closely with USEC and DOE to ensure coordinated efforts for the American Centrifuge Project. Brown also led the fight in Congress to accelerate the Piketon cleanup and create new jobs. He successfully secured an expedited timeframe for the cleanup, moving the completion date up by more than 20 years. As a result of Sen. Brown's efforts, Piketon received $118 million in cleanup funds through the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. President Obama's FY 2011 budget request also includes nearly $500 million for the project. Federal funds for Piketon will have helped to create more than 275 jobs in the region.

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Voinovich has led a bipartisan group of the Ohio Congressional delegation to accelerate environmental cleanup work at the site. As result, the DOE issued a Request for Proposal for the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant Decontamination & Decommissioning (D&D) Project in 2009. This RFP was a huge step forward towards implementing a plan to clean up the site for reuse as a clean energy park and this FY2011 funding request continues the RFP plan to accelerate the completion of the D&D effort from a 35-year effort to completing D&D of the Portsmouth site within 14 years. The expedited schedule means DOE will be investing more money into the project upfront which will bring more businesses and jobs to the area. More recently, he has been pleased with the startup of the depleted uranium plant at the site and USEC’s announcement that it had lined up financial partners to develop its new centrifuge facility. 

U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and George V. Voinovich wrote to Senate Leadership requesting full funding for decommissioning and

decontamination (D&D) activities for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS) in the Fiscal Year 2011 Energy

and Water Development appropriations bill. The letter was sent to Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Bob Bennett (R-WY), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, respectively, according to a news release from Brown.

"Full funding will accelerate work that is long overdue while driving critical economic development in the Scioto Valley," said Brown. "Piketon and the surrounding region have been neglected too long. These funds will go a long way toward ensuring clean water, clean air, and clean land while also creating jobs."

“We must maintain momentum on this vital project,” Sen. Voinovich said. “The sooner the site is cleaned up and turned over to the community, the sooner it will be available for use and additional job creation. While ensuring full funding for the site in Congress’ Fiscal Year 2011 budget is important, we must also not lose sight of the fact that Congress will still need to pass the budget before the end of this fiscal year. Otherwise, funding for this activities could revert back to last year’s levels, potentially resulting in a detrimental impact on jobs in the region and also proving a setback to the federal investment made to date.” 

  In April, Ohio EPA and the United States Department of Energy (DOE) agreed to the utilization of more than $118 million in Recovery Act funds for decontamination and cleanup at PORTS. The funds were provided as part of the Recovery Act.

The PORTS site began producing enriched uranium in 1954 in response to the nation’s need for fissionable material for military reactors and nuclear weapons production. In 2001, the decision was made to consolidate operations at PORTS’s sister site in Paducah, Kentucky. This left the region without its largest employer. The devastating economic impact of the plant closure is still felt today.

Cleanup activities include demolishing structures, dismantling building contents and foundations and deactivating equipment. The former DOE Portsmouth GDP ended production of enriched uranium in 2001. The cleanup agreement addresses this and other hazardous and industrial wastes, substances and pollutants as a subset of the entire facility, namely the plant-related structures and equipment located on DOE's property. The agreement provides for Ohio EPA's oversight of the cleanup and will govern DOE's performance of the decontamination and disposal activities at the site under the terms of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, also known as Superfund.

Brown has been fighting for federal funds to promote economic development in Piketon. He has been working closely with USEC and DOE to ensure coordinated efforts for the American Centrifuge Project. Brown also led the fight in Congress to accelerate the Piketon cleanup and create new jobs. He successfully secured an expedited timeframe for the cleanup, moving the completion date up by more than 20 years. As a result of Sen. Brown's efforts, Piketon received $118 million in cleanup funds through the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. President Obama's FY 2011 budget request also includes nearly $500 million for the project. Federal funds for Piketon will have helped to create more than 275 jobs in the region.

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Voinovich has led a bipartisan group of the Ohio Congressional delegation to accelerate environmental cleanup work at the site. As result, the DOE issued a Request for Proposal for the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant Decontamination & Decommissioning (D&D) Project in 2009. This RFP was a huge step forward towards implementing a plan to clean up the site for reuse as a clean energy park and this FY2011 funding request continues the RFP plan to accelerate the completion of the D&D effort from a 35-year effort to completing D&D of the Portsmouth site within 14 years. The expedited schedule means DOE will be investing more money into the project upfront which will bring more businesses and jobs to the area. More recently, he has been pleased with the startup of the depleted uranium plant at the site and USEC’s announcement that it had lined up financial partners to develop its new centrifuge facility.