The Ashford Town Board has made a request to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA to find town property that can be returned to Ashford’s tax rolls so the town can receive revenue from the taxation of the property.

The town board listened to a presentation at the WNY Nuclear Service Center on Oct. 27 from several representatives of NYSERDA on how this can be accomplished.

Paul Bembia, program director of NYSERDA said that approximately 375 acres of land in the town of Ashford have been identified as possibly being available including a warehouse on an additional 4.5 acres. However, before any property could be returned to the tax rolls, an application has first to be made to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) which, if approved, will release the property from the existing NRC license.

“We wanted to come here first to get your initial input and this is the first step in talking about this publicly,” said Bembia. “This has been a long-standing request from the Ashford board and CTF (Citizen Task Force) members.”

The area being considered for release includes the BSW (bulk storage warehouse) which was used by the WVDP to store excess equipment from 1982 to 2009. The facility, which measures 80 feet x 163 feet, was also used to store plutonium during reprocessing operations in the 1970s. When the facility was cleaned out in 1975, a total of 326 empty and clean plutonium overpack containers were disposed of in a shallow trench immediately south of the warehouse in a scrap material landfill. The plan is to exhume these containers.

The remainder of the property, 345 acres, is considered non-impacted by nuclear operations

It was noted that a requirement for releasing the property is that the release cannot affect the cleanup of the West Valley Demonstration Project.

Lee Gordon, associate project manager for NYSERDA, gave an overview of the process utilized by NYSERDA to identify non-impacted areas for release from the NRC license. NYSERDA’s application to the NRC must include a description of the area, maps, characterization data, the effect if any on the Environmental Impact Statement; a demonstration of compliance with NRC dose criteria, soil samples, and an environmental impact review for releasing the property. “We expect there to be no contamination,” said Gordon, “but we have to prepare that environmental review.”

A draft timeline schedule was presented of various events that have to take place including discussion of the project with the NRC; public participation; collection of data; NRC reviews and a final status survey plan; and the submission of the application for license amendment. It is anticipated that all being well, the property could be approved for delicensing from the NRC during the second half of 2011.

“This is really the most confusing site on the planet,” said John Pfeffer, board member and also a member of the CTF.

Bembia said that once the property is released from the license, NYSERDA must also conform with the requirements of the New York State Public Authorities Accountability Act for the sale of public property.

According to Bembia, the next step will be to arrange talks with the NRC and CTF. He said he does not anticipate any objections from the NRC. Bembia also offered a tour of the property to the members of the board.

“None of this is set in stone,” concluded Bembia. “If you have concerns or comments, we will be happy to come back and address them.”