SREL hearings -- part II

I mentioned a few days ago that the Subcommitte on Investigations and Oversight and the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment of the House Committee on Science and Technology held hearings on the closing of the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. They held more hearings today.

“The Savannah River Ecology lab served the Department of Energy, the communities affected by the [Savannah River] site and the Nation for more than 50 years,” said [Brad] Miller [(D-NC), Chair of the Investigations and Oversight Commitee]. “It was, by any financial measure, a very inexpensive lab to operate. It would be hard to find a better return on investment anywhere in the federal science complex.”

“There is simply no reason for DOE to discontinue funding for SREL. There are funds available. There is work to be done. SREL has the personnel and the experience to do the work,” said [Nick] Lamspon [(D-TX), Chair of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee]. “The laboratory has the support of the scientific community broadly and of the local community who rely upon the independent voice that SREL represents.” (press release from the subcommittees)

Here's what Clay Sell, Deputy Secretary of Energy had to say in his opening statement:

In summary, we value the work done by the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. It was the hope and expectation of the Secretary, me, and all involved, that the Laboratory would develop a plan to secure outside funding to become self-sustaining, as is the practice of other research institutions and as they themselves had committed to doing in both May 2005 and December 2006. Since that initial agreement, the Lab has had nearly two years to plan for the point at which DOE would no longer provide direct operational support on a non-competitive basis. It is unfortunate that the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory has been unable to do so and that the University has not responded with a plan for how they intend to transform the Lab into a thriving, self-sustaining institution. We at the Department of Energy have kept and will continue to keep our commitments to this Lab under the terms of the Cooperative Agreement.

The full text of opening statements from Miller and Lampson, the statements from those invited to testify, and other related materials are available at http://science.house.gov/publications/hearings_markups_details.aspx?NewsID=1929.