CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND PUBLIC POLICY

Hazardous Materials, Waste Management, and Cleanup

The Keystone Center’s mediators have helped stakeholders work together to develop and implement cleanup strategies that meet regulatory and environmental requirements, advance the interests of local communities impacted by hazardous material storage or contamination and lead the way to economic renewal. The Keystone staff understand how to convene and facilitate multi-party consensus-building processes that allow all stakeholders to build a new vision of sustainable redevelopment and restoration. We help policymakers, community members and industry representatives align local, state and federal requirements and secure funding for cleanup.

Projects include:

Saint Lawrence Island, Alaska Restoration Advisory Board (2007 - present)
Keystone facilitates the work of the Restoration Advisory Board, a committee of representatives from the local villages on an island in the Bering Sea. The board addresses cleanup issues related to former federal defense facilities in their communities.
Contact:	Janesse Brewer

Snake River Watershed Task Force (1999 - present)
The Snake River, which flows through Keystone, Colorado, is impacted by mining activities that took place at the turn of the century. As pressures for water use in the basin increase, stakeholders have come together to gain a better understanding of the water quality issues in the basin and identify projects that can improve the water quality.
External website:	http://snakerivertaskforce.org/
Contact:	Jody Erikson

Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (1997 - 2008)
This national dialogue on the destruction of stockpiled chemical weapons was an outgrowth of the Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997, which appropriated $40 million to identify not less than two alternatives to the baseline incineration process for the demilitarization of assembled chemical weapons. Participants included stakeholders from affected communities; state and tribal regulators; Department of Defense staff from Headquarters and affected sites; Environmental Protection Agency staff; national activist organizations that regularly work on this issue; and other concerned entities. This effort has broken new ground in the mediation field by involving stakeholders directly in a procurement process. The dialogue produced full consensus on the 100+ page Request for Proposals for evaluating technologies for destroying the weapons, including the development and application of detailed, three-tiered criteria.
External website:	http://www-pmcd.apgea.army.mil
Contact:	Janesse Brewer

Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiel Project (1997 - 2007)
Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiel Project (NSCMP) asked The Keystone Center to develop a public involvement mechanism that brings together individuals who can share their perspectives with the NSCMP as it moves toward disposal of chemical materiel now located at non-stockpile sites.
Final report:	Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiel Project Core Group: The Keystone Center Final Report
External website:	http://www-pmcd.apgea.army.mil/nscmp.aspx
Contact:	Ed Moreno

Sustainable Pueblo (2004 - 2005)
The Keystone Center designed and facilitated a community-based effort to address sustainability issues in Pueblo, Colorado. The U.S. Army’s Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives Program initiated the project to help address the economic impacts of their chemical weapons facility on the community. Keystone convened a steering committee and five working groups (environment, economic development, education, community, and communications) and helped develop a sustainability strategy. The steering committee has partnered with local chambers, Xcel Energy and other regional sustainability efforts to provide community forums and resources. The committee is forming an independent not-for-profit organization to provide Pueblo with ongoing support for sustainability work.
Contact:	Sarah Alexander

Socio-Cultural Controls for Long-Term Stewardship of U.S. Department of Energy Legacy Waste Sites Roundtable (2004)
Keystone and the International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management brought together indigenous people from different communities living near Department of Energy legacy waste sites. Nuclear weapons research, production, and testing left a legacy of radioactive and chemical waste, environmental contamination, and hazardous facilities and materials. The roundtable examined how warnings, concerns and memories are created, expressed and sustained by native people through stories, songs, poems, dance, and other means of expressive communication.
Contact:	Janesse Brewer

Argonne National Laboratory - Biosafety Lab (2002 - 2003)
Keystone assisted the Argonne National Laboratory with its proposal to develop a BSL-4 laboratory as part of the war on terrorism. BSL-4 labs handle diseases for which there is no cure. Keystone worked with university, laboratory, and Department of Energy staff to reach out to community stakeholders.
Contact:	Jeremy Kranowitz

Shattuck Radium Superfund Site Citizens Advisory Board (2000)
After a Keystone-CDR dialogue process, EPA made a precedent-setting decision to reverse a cleanup action already in place at the Shattuck radium site in Denver. To continue the public involvement effort as EPA moved forward in removing the waste left on site, Keystone and CDR helped establish a citizen's advisory board. The board provided EPA with advice on the design and construction plans for removing the waste. Keystone staff facilitated the Citizen Advisory Committee’s input into the cleanup plans and implementation.
Contact:	Jody Erikson

The Keystone National Policy Dialogue on Military Munitions (1998 - 1999)
From product development to use in combat, munitions and their constituents pose varying degrees of risk to human health and the environment. In 1997, the Department of Defense initiated the National Munitions Dialogue to broaden the discussions to all environmental and safety aspects of the life-cycle management of conventional military munitions. The Keystone dialogue gave stakeholders the opportunity to exchange information and make consensus recommendations for managing munitions.
Final report:	National Policy Dialogue on Military Munitions: Final Report
Contact:	Ed Moreno

The Rocky Flats Cleanup Agreement Negotiation (1994 - 1996)
This Keystone Center facilitated the negotiation among the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment over the development of a new cleanup agreement for the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site. The agreement detailed a ten-year road map for completing environmental restoration with total cleanup costs estimated at $10 billion. This innovative agreement has been heralded as a model for the cleanup of other federal facilities for providing a regulatory framework for site closure activities, improving communication and relationships among the parties, and providing a means for all parties to work towards the same goal. As a result, cleanup activities were completed ahead of schedule.
Contact:	Sarah Alexander

Federal Facilities Environmental Restoration Policy Dialogue Committee (1991 - 1996)
The Keystone Center facilitated a 5-year, EPA-convened advisory committee designed to address issues of environmental cleanup at federal facilities. This committee is widely credited with serving as a catalyst for the development of over 200 site-specific multi-stakeholder advisory boards that now exist at all Department of Energy sites and all large Department of Defense facilities around the country. These advisory boards have proved useful in providing input and developing support at the community level for cleanup and restoration plans and have also led to a decrease in litigation at many of these sites. In 1992, the Federal Facilities Environmental Restoration Dialogue Committee was federally chartered under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address issues related to federal facility contamination. The goal of the committee was to develop consensus policy recommendations aimed at improving the process by which federal facility environmental cleanup decisions are made, so that these decisions reflect the priorities and concerns of all stakeholders. The final report sets forth the Committee’s consensus recommendations.
Final report:	Please call 970-513-5835 and ask for report #56.
External website:	http://www.epa.gov/swerffrr
Contact:	Mike Hughes

National Commission on Superfund (1992 - 1994)
Keystone and the Vermont Law School convened and facilitated a CEO-level commission to address reauthorization of CERCLA. The commission led to the formulation of a national coalition of over 500 organizations from industry, environmental and citizen organizations, local and state government, and labor in favor of Superfund reform. The commission and the coalition it helped create have often been cited by the press, executive branch leaders, and congressional leaders as the model for pursuing bipartisan environmental legislation.
Final report:	Please call 970-513-5835 and ask for report #19.
Contact:	Mike Hughes

The Keystone Center National Policy Dialogue on Department of the Navy Hazardous Waste Management (1988 - 1991)
The Keystone Center facilitated a policy dialogue on hazardous waste management at federal defense facilities that included environmental groups, state agencies, congressional staff and representatives from all of the services. The dialogue focused on how the Navy handles hazardous waste regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and examined monitoring, enforcement and compliance with state and federal laws and regulations.
Final report:	Please call 970-513-5835 and ask for report #18.
Contact:	Mike Hughes

National Hazardous Waste Management Strategies Dialogue (1989 - 1990)
The Keystone Center served as facilitator of a multi-party policy dialogue on the reauthorization of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
Final report:	Please call 970-513-5835 and ask for report #17.
Contact:	Mike Hughes

The Keystone Financial Responsibility Project (1987 - 1989)
The Keystone Financial Responsibility Project took place in 1987 and 1988 as a policy dialogue involving participants from diverse groups concerned with improving the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Participants in the discussions included representatives from waste management and waste generating companies, the Environmental Protection Agency, the insurance industry, congressional staff members, and the banking community. The Dialogue group examined the growing number of financial requirements being placed on owners and operators of facilities handling hazardous substances.
Final report:	Please call 970-513-5835 and ask for report #13.
Contact:	Mike Hughes

Keystone National Hazardous Waste Management Strategies Report on State and Federal Relations in the RCRA Regulatory Program (1986 - 1989)
This report is the third consensus report issued by The Keystone National Hazardous Waste Management Strategies Project. This national policy dialogue was initiated in 1986 to examine the relationship between the states and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in implementation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulatory program.
Final report:	Please call 970-513-5835 and ask for report #9.
Contact:	Mike Hughes

Keystone National Hazardous Waste Management Strategies Project Recycling Report (1986 - 1989)
In the summer of 1986, The Keystone Center initiated a national policy dialogue addressing the need for a national strategy for reducing and managing hazardous waste. This project was developed with the advice of a steering group drawn from a diverse set of interests including environmental and citizen groups, industry, and the federal and state governments. This report is a summary of the recycling group’s deliberation.
Final report:	Please call 970-513-5835 and ask for report #10.
Contact:	Mike Hughes

Keystone National Hazardous Waste Management Strategies Source Reduction Report (1986 - 1989)
This report is a summary of the conclusions and recommendations of the group concerning source reduction. This report was developed through a consensus decision-making process. In initiating the National Waste Management Strategies Project, the dialogue group began with discussions addressing source reduction and recycling because they are commonly seen as the first and second preferences of a waste management hierarchy.
Final report:	Please call 970-513-5835 and ask for report #11.
Contact:	Mike Hughes

Keystone Siting Process Handbook: A New Approach to Siting Hazardous and Nonhazardous Waste Management Facilities (1982 - 1987)
This handbook was written by participants in two workshops conducted by The Keystone Center under the sponsorship of the Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority in August and October of 1982. The participants from industry, government, environmental groups, labor, and civic organizations designed the handbook to assist both permit applicants and the public in siting environmentally sound waste facilities.
Final report:	Please call 970-513-5835 and ask for report #6.
Contact:	Mike Hughes

How Clean is Clean: A Consensus-Building Project on Waste Site Clean-Up Policy (1984 - 1986)
In an eighteen-month-long consensus building effort, stakeholders from environmental and citizen groups, corporations, federal and state governments, the legal profession, trade associations and the public interest sector developed a consensus approach to determining the appropriate extent of cleanup for hazardous waste sites. While the discussion focused on inactive or abandoned sites on the National Priority List under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the group believes that these recommendations could be generalized to the cleanup of other hazardous waste sites.
Final report:	Please call 970-513-5835 and ask for report #4.
Contact:	Mike Hughes