How to get involved with former Test Site’s clean-up

The decades of nuclear weapons testing at what was once known as the Nevada Test Site has left a legacy of concern and cleanup activities at the site are key to minimizing the impact of the resulting contamination. Public involvement is also imperative and the Nevada Site Specific Advisory Board is currently seeking new members to help guide future cleanup efforts.

“The Nevada Site Specific Advisory Board (NSSAB) is undergoing its membership recruitment drive and is seeking interested applicants from Nye County that would like to be involved in providing recommendations from a community perspective regarding DOE environmental cleanup activities at the Nevada National Security Site,” information regarding the application period details. “No related training or experience is required.”

Glenn Puit, a representative for the Environmental Management Nevada program, offered an overview of the NSSAB during a Nye County Commission meeting last month.

“The EM Nevada program is a federal government, Department of Energy, program that is responsible for environmental remediation, and specifically, legacy contamination from the historic nuclear testing at the Nevada National Security Site,” Puit detailed. “The reason I am here today is to tell you about a really good opportunity for Nye County residents to be a part of what we do, and that’s through our advisory board, NSSAB.”

Membership on the NSSAB does not come with financial compensation, Puit noted, with board members volunteering their time. He estimated that a position on the board would require a moderate time commitment, with around five to six meetings per year, many of which take place in Nye County.

The NSSAB currently has six Nye County residents on the board, including county commission chair Bruce Jabbour, and commissioner Frank Carbone acts as the commission liaison to the NSSAB.

“It’s not just a board. It is an entity that provides specific recommendations to the Department of Energy on what we should and should not be doing, in our environmental cleanup missions,” Puit stated, adding, “This is very meaningful to us. This board, we take a lot of pride in… It’s very important to us to have people on the board from Nye County. We want to be deeply engaged with the county… It’s important for citizens to be able to give their input and their advice and their formal recommendations for what we’re doing.”

While a spot on the board is not a paid position, Puit said there are a few perks that come along with membership.

“You get to go out to the site and tour it quite frequently and learn a lot about what’s going on out there. We usually send a representative to a national chairs meeting in Washington, D.C. and there is some travel involved every now and then for board members but the most important part is, you get to give us your thoughts and insights on what we’re doing,” Puit remarked.

Jabbour noted that Nye County nearly surrounds the Nevada National Security Site and as such, it’s key that area residents have a seat at the table and a voice in the matter. “This is a very significant committee… it’s really quite a committee with a lot of great information,” Jabbour said. “If you are even thinking about or entertaining the idea, please apply!”

Those interested in applying to the NSSAB can find applications online at NNSS.gov/NSSAB

The deadline to apply is January 31, 2024.

For more information call 702-523-0894.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com