Carlsbad, Sep 30, 2004 - The federal Energy Department has awarded $600,000 to a Carlsbad environmental center for independent monitoring of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

The money will allow the Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring and Research Center to take over monitoring duties previously handled by the Environmental Evaluation Group.

The EEG closed its doors this spring citing insufficient Energy Department funding.

The funding problem also plagued CEMRC, which has not done independent WIPP monitoring for about a year because it exhausted its DOE funding.

“There really needs to be independent monitoring. We were promised that. The community needs that,” said Jim Conca, CEMRC’s new director. “This is what (CEMRC) was made for.”

The Energy Department funds are intended to fill the gap until the fiscal year 2005 budget year begins and a new contract is awarded.

Although the 2004 fiscal year ends this week, it will likely be a number of months before a new federal budget is approved. At that point, legislation sponsored by Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., would allow the DOE to seek an EEG
replacement.

Conca said CEMRC would be a logical choice to continue the monitoring role, as “we have the best facilities and the history.”

Last week on a Carlsbad Department of Development-sponsored trip, local leaders talked with officials in Washington, D.C., about the need for $1.2 million annually for CEMRC.

That level would allow the center to resume its prior activities, plus give it $200,000 to handle the monitoring activities that were unique to the EEG, said state Rep.
John Heaton, D-Carlsbad.

Heaton had been critical of the EEG before its closure, noting some of its efforts duplicated those of other organizations and suggesting its oversight reports were too antagonistic.

This week’s $600,000 award will allow CEMRC to fulfill all of the monitoring duties until a new contract is awarded, he said.

“This will allow the community to have the monitoring they were promised,” Heaton said. “The monitoring of the site was one of the things that was instrumental to get the site open, and it’s critical that it continues.

“I’m glad the congressional delegation responded so quickly,” he said about last week’s trip. “It shows they recognized the need for it.”

Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., met with Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham on Tuesday to discuss WIPP issues, he said, in a news release.

“I’m extremely pleased that … he recognized the need and acted so quickly,” Pearce said. “This money will ensure the safety and efficacy of WIPP and is the reason the residents of Carlsbad feel so secure with WIPP.”

“This award is a good indication that DOE is serious about independent monitors at WIPP,” said Domenici, who chairs the Senate subcommittee that funds WIPP.

While CEMRC will use DOE funds, “independent monitoring” means there is no direct DOE oversight.

CEMRC was created in 1991 and is part of New Mexico State University. Los Alamos National Laboratories and Washington TRU Solutions use the facility, and the center also conducts research projects utilizing a variety of funding sources.

This summer, in the wake of the EEG’s closure, the Energy Department also released $600,000 to the state of New Mexico to re-open a WIPP oversight office.

When the EEG closed, the Energy Department said the group was mismanaged and it had other unanticipated budget requests. The EEG’s director said the group was consistently underfunded and the DOE was not interested in independent oversight.

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