By TIM DAVIS/Star-Tribune Editor
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 9:58 AM EST
The National Research Council, which last week agreed to undertake a scientific study of uranium mining in Virginia, is seeking nominations for a 12-member study committee.
A request sent out by the study's director, David Feary, notes that the uranium study will be done under the auspices of the Board on Earth Science and Resources' Committee on Earth Resources with collaboration by the Water Sciences and Technology Board.
The council is hoping to identify suitable members for the study committee with expertise in areas such as ecology, environmental and mining law, environmental remediation, geology, ground and surface water hydrogeochemistry, health communications, mine safety, mine regulation and reclamation, radiation health effects; and uranium mining, milling, processing, and engineering.
Nominations for the study committee may be sent to Nicholas Rogers (nrogers@nas.edu) and copied to Feary (dfeary@nas.edu).
The National Research Council in Washington, D.C., signed a contract for the long-awaited study with Virginia Tech last week.
The university will serve as a conduit for funding from Virginia Uranium Inc., which has agreed to pay for the $1.4 million study.
Virginia Uranium announced plans three years ago to explore mining uranium at Coles Hill, about six miles northeast of Chatham.
The study will take about 18 months. A final report is due Dec. 1, 2011.
National Research Council spokesman William Kearney expects the committee to be approved this spring and begin meeting early this summer.
He said one of the group's first public meetings will be in Danville.
The National Research Council's website outlines the committee appointment process, noting, the "selection of appropriate committee members, individually and collectively, is essential for the success of a study."
According to the council, committee members serve as individual experts, not representatives of organizations or interest groups.
"Each member is expected to contribute to the project on the basis of his or her own expertise and good judgment," the council said.
It also notes that a committee is not finally approved until a thorough "balance and conflict of interest discussion" is held at the first meeting, and any issues raised in that discussion or by the public are investigated and addressed.
According to the council, it is important that the committee include the appropriate range of expertise for the task.
"One of the strengths of the National Academies is the tradition of bringing together recognized experts from diverse disciplines and backgrounds who might not otherwise collaborate," the council said. "These diverse groups are encouraged to conceive new ways of thinking about a problem."
A balance of perspectives is also important, the council said.
"Having the right expertise is not sufficient for success. It is also essential to evaluate the overall composition of the committee in terms of different experiences and perspectives. The goal is to ensure that the relevant points of view are, in the National Academies' judgment, reasonably balanced so that the committee can carry out its charge objectively and credibly."
It points out, however, that a point of view is not necessarily a conflict of interest.
"Committee members are expected to have points of view, and the National Academies attempt to balance these points of view in a way deemed appropriate for the task," the council said.
"Committee members are asked to consider respectfully the viewpoints of other members, to reflect their own views rather than be a representative of any organization, and to base their scientific findings and conclusions on the evidence."
In addition, each committee member has the right to issue a dissenting opinion to the report if he or she disagrees.
"For this purpose, a conflict of interest means any financial or other interest which conflicts with the service of the individual because it could significantly impair the individual's objectivity or could create an unfair competitive advantage for any person or organization," it said.
"The term 'conflict of interest' means something more than individual bias," the council said. "There must be an interest, ordinarily financial, that could be directly affected by the work of the committee. "
"Except for those rare situations in which the National Academies determines that a conflict of interest is unavoidable and promptly and publicly discloses the conflict of interest, no individual can be appointed to serve (or continue to serve) on a committee of the institution used in the development of reports if the individual has a conflict of interest that is relevant to the functions to be performed."
Specific steps in the committee selection and approval process include:
_ Staff solicits an extensive number of suggestions for potential committee members from a wide range of sources, then recommends a slate of nominees;
_ Nominees are reviewed and approved at several levels within the National Academies; a provisional slate is then approved by the president of the National Academy of Sciences, who is also the chairman of the National Research Council;
_ The provisional committee list is posted for public comment in the Current Projects System on the Web (http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/);
_ The provisional committee members complete background information and conflict of interest disclosure forms;
_ Committee balance and conflict of interest discussion is held at the first committee meeting;
_ Any conflicts of interest or issues of committee balance and expertise are investigated; changes to the committee are proposed and finalized;
_ Committee is formally approved.
Committee members continue to be screened for conflict of interest throughout the life of the committee, the council said.
tim.davis@chathamstartribune.com
434-432-2791
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http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2010/03/03/chatham/news/news53.txt
