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Beginning with this issue of “Environmental Connection” we hope to feature one of the Department of Environmental Quality’s Boards. Members are appointed by the Governor, with Senate concurrence. This month’s focus is on the Radiation Control Board.
When Karen Langley was asked eight years ago to consider serving on the state Department of Environmental Quality’s Radiation Control Board, she had her reservations. After all, the 13-member Board, which oversees radiation issues in the state of Utah, confronts tough regulatory issues. “It’s not an easy job,” Langley admits.
But in the end, Langley accepted an appointment by the Governor to serve in a slot reserved for someone in her occupation, a health physicist for the University of Utah’s Department of Radiological Health. Now reaching the end of her second and final term as chair of the board, Langley has no regrets. “I found it was very educational the entire time.”
Dane Finerfrock, director of the Division of Radiation Control and executive secretary to the Board, said the Board is structured so there is balanced representation from industry, academia, government and the public at large. “I really enjoy working with the Board, which does tackle some complex issues,” he said. “Besides regulating low-level radioactive waste sites, Board members also must consider issues that effect uranium mills, medical X-ray users and those who use radioactive materials for commercial, research and industrial purposes.”
Stephen Nelson, vice chairman of the Board, is one of the longest serving members. He said he weighs each issue carefully, trying to determine whether a particular action compromises public health and safety. Of utmost concern, however, is making sure people are heard.
Nelson, a professor of geology at Brigham Young University, says he tries to listen to both sides of an argument. “I take my responsibility seriously in trying to come to the correct and right decision.”
One of the newest members, Joette Langianese, was appointed last July to fill a vacancy reserved for county government. Langianese, a county commissioner for the Grand County Council in Moab, said her interest in the Board came about after her involvement with the state’s efforts to convince Congress and the federal government to move the 13 million tons of radioactive mill tailings away from the Colorado River. “I am learning how the process works and that will help me with the Moab Tailings Project,” she said.
Langianese views her role on the Board as that of representing the citizens. In doing so, however, she tries to keep politics out of the decision-making process. “I’m very sensitive to not bring forward what I think is right or wrong but based on what the regulation states, she said. “That’s a challenge.”
Two new members joined the Board. They are Frank DeRosso and Patrick Cone.
For more information on the Board, visit http://www.radiationcontrol.utah.gov/