The Hanford Environmental Dose Reconstruction Project: A Review of Four Documents (1994)

As mentioned in Section I, the scientific work for the HEDR Project is conducted by scientists at Battelle, Pacific Northwest Laboratories, a contractor at the Hanford site. A Technical Steering Panel composed of independent scientists and members of the public was created in 1988 to oversee and direct HEDR; its chairman, John E. Till, is an expert with extensive experience in the field of dose reconstruction. The use of the TSP was adopted primarily to avoid a conflict of interest and a credibility issue that might be raised because Battelle, Pacific Northwest Laboratories is a contractor at the Hanford site.

Although the dose-reconstruction work at Hanford is conducted under the supervision of the independent TSP, the fact remains that the assessment is performed by staff of Battelle, Pacific Northwest Laboratories, and the Battelle Memorial Institute was one of the long-term contractors administering components of the Hanford site. Despite that conflict of interest, the committee is not aware of any evidence of bias.

There is public representation and participation on the TSP, but the TSP recognized early that it would have to assume responsibility for the HEDR project's communications with the public if the TSP were to meet its mandates for independence and credibility. Therefore, it has been active in carrying out this responsibility. Communications resulting from the TSP are evaluated by the Communications Subcommittee, composed of seven TSP members. Editing, design, printing, and distribution of materials are handled by TSP staff in the Oregon Department of Energy and the Washington Department of Ecology.

The TSP has communicated with:

• People who might have been directly affected by past Hanford releases —including people who have since moved to other areas of the country.

• Groups advocating in behalf of people who might have been affected.

• Professionals in the fields of radiologic science, environmental pathways, and medicine.

• People in the region with a general interest in Hanford and radiation issues.

• The mass media.

The TSP agreed in 1988 to write public-information material at a lay reading level. It uses various tools to reach different audiences, and it has used random telephone surveys and focus groups to help to identify audiences and to evaluate communication tools. Surveys conducted in Oregon and Washington by Washington State University confirmed the success of the TSP's strategy to communicate with the public. The present committee applauds the work of the TSP's Communications Subcommittee and the TSP's commitment to an open scientific study.

American Indian communities in the area surrounding the Hanford site have been concerned about Hanford's impact on their historical lands and the possible effects on the health of their people. Some areas in American Indian reservations are outside the current grid of major focus, and concern has been expressed by the American Indian communities for more information on exposures and potential doses. At the request of, and with the assistance of CDC, a coordinated and collaborative plan has been developed among eight

American Indian tribes, CDC, HEDR, and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington. In addition, staff training is provided through a Public Health Tribal Training Project set up by CDC and the Indian Health Service.

The American Indian component of the HEDR project is being conducted by the American Indian Working Group, a special working group of the TSP's Demographic Subcommittee. The American Indian Working Group comprises representatives of the TSP, the eight tribes, and the Hanford Thyroid Disease Study, and it is staffed by the Washington Department of Ecology. The group has agreed, in collaboration with PNL, on a core set of data to be collected. The primary aims are to determine initial demographic and food-consumption data to be collected, to collect those data, and to use them as the basis for estimating preliminary iodine-131 doses for a range of life-style patterns characteristic of the eight participating tribes. A report of research results (TSP-12) is in preparation. The present committee has not had the opportunity to evaluate that work, but it commends the effort to address the cultural and life-style differences between American Indians and other people.