Savannah River Site Health Effects Subcommittee (SRSHES) Meeting

Meeting Minutes
September 6, 2002

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SRSHES Open Discussion.
Dr. Crawford recommended that efforts now be made to move beyond the screening activity to the actual dose reconstruction project due to a decreasing budget, time constraints and decreasing pool of SRS experts with historical knowledge. The screening process could be completed by incorporating additional radionuclides into existing dose reconstruction computer models. Dr. Miller made some observations in response to the recommendation. NCEH’s letter describing budget issues was mailed to each SRSHES member. The HES budget may be reduced to $0 in the next few years due to lack of Congressional will for environmental activities. Similar to other federal agencies, CDC is undergoing a significant transition in terms of increasing its focus and allocating more funds to bioterrorism activities.

NCEH will meet internally to discuss the best mechanism to use the existing scenarios, i.e., new anecdotal data for the family living near the river scenario and incorporation of the migrant worker family into the rural family scenario. Rather than focus on screening data only, variables can be generated to identify uncertainties and refine the existing scenarios with a range of historical doses persons received from the site. NCEH will use its contractor to develop the historical dose ranges and make every effort to present the data to SRSHES for review and comment during the next meeting. However, adding this task to the existing contract will not be a priority for the CDC contracting office since the agency has been directed to award bioterrorism dollars first.

By developing the historical dose ranges at this time, SRSHES can produce and disseminate a reasonable and useful product to communities even if the budget continues to decrease. The project can also assist communities in the decision-making process while conducting other site activities with ATSDR or DOE. Dr. Miller thanked SRSHES for its diligent efforts in developing the scenarios. No members expressed opposition to taking the approach outlined by Dr. Miller. Dr. Bustos commended the Scenario Workgroup for its time in collecting the valuable data.

Ms. Perry offered to form a subgroup with SRSHES members who plan to read the History of the Savannah River Site. She invited interested members to contact her to discuss the possibility of reviewing the book at the next meeting. Dr. Dawson suggested that a post-evaluation form be developed for members to complete after speakers’ presentations. The critiques could be discussed during workgroup breakout sessions. Mr. Green pointed out that written evaluations will increase the difficulty in recruiting speakers to present during SRSHES meetings. Instead, he suggested that SRSHES hold informal and internal discussions about a speaker’s presentation.

Dr. Lee acknowledged that SRSHES and NCEH must be more specific when selecting speakers by clearly communicating discussion topics to include in presentations and describing the role and function of SRSHES. Dr. Bustos agreed that the Agenda Workgroup should undertake this responsibility. Stronger efforts will be made in the future to obtain a synopsis or abstract from speakers before presentations are made. Ms. James added that the briefing books are distributed to SRSHES in advance of meetings to provide members with an opportunity to review and comment on upcoming presentations. However, Ms. Kato pointed out that the briefing books are received only two weeks prior to meetings.

Mr. Waters supported Dr. Dawson’s suggestion and saw no harm in an audience critiquing a speaker. Dr. Wilson indicated that all speakers should be encouraged to make presentations for the lay public. Ms. NeSmith reminded the members that SRSHES previously developed a form for speakers to describe discussion topics in upcoming presentations. She raised the possibility of using this existing tool to clearly communicate SRSHES’s expectations to speakers. Dr. Bustos acknowledged that recent efforts to distribute the form have been limited because the majority of speakers did not complete and return the document. However, he was willing to reinstate the speaker’s form with the hope that the response rate would improve.

Dr. Lee proposed that members who recommend a particular speaker take the responsibility for educating the presenter about SRSHES and ensuring the speaker form is completed and returned. The members suggested several outreach mechanisms to more widely publicize SRSHES meetings and other activities, such as an updated mailing list, letters to editors of local newspapers and media announcements. Mr. Green explained that $40,000-$50,000 is needed to facilitate, sponsor and conduct each SRSHES meeting. Due to this constraint, non-essential services or items in addition to the actual proceedings are difficult to obtain.