The New Jersey Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility Siting Board was created with the passage in 1987 of the New Jersey Siting Act (N.J.A.C. 13:1E-177). This legislation created both the Siting Board and the New Jersey Radioactive Waste Advisory Committee, and established procedures for the siting of a disposal facility for low-level radioactive waste "should the State be designated for such a site by the Northeast Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Commission."

The Act required that the Board develop criteria and guidelines for siting a disposal facility designed to "prevent adverse public health, environmental, or economic impacts resulting from the location of the facility, including impacts from the transportation of waste to the facility." The Act also directed the Board to develop and adopt a Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Plan, to include: "an inventory of current and anticipated wastes and waste generators in the region, a technical analysis of waste disposal methods, and an analysis of transportation routes and the 'waste stream' to a facility."

The framers of the Act established a review process for the design, construction, and operation of the facility "so as to assure maximum protection from any dangers inherent in the disposal of low-level radioactive waste" and to "assure the full participation of, and financial assistance to, the municipalities most affected by the siting decisions." The Act also provides incentives and protections to the host municipality, as well as host municipality involvement on the Siting Board and in the oversight of the disposal facility.

After a series of public meetings, the Siting Board, with the advice and assistance of the Advisory Committee, aadopted a voluntary approach to siting the facility needed in New Jersey. New Jersey and Connecticut, the states that comprise the Northeast Interstate Commission, or 'Compact,' have each opted to build its own disposal facility.

The Siting Board usually meets the first Thursday of the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th months of the year in the large conference room at the DEP Radiation Protection Program offices, 25 Arctic Parkway, Trenton. These meetings, which begin at 9:30a.m. and usually run until about 1:00p.m., are of course open to the public.

Who are the members of the Siting Board?

The 11 members of the Siting Board are appointed by the Governor with the consent of the State Senate. They are people who work with radioactive materials in industry, medicine and research. They are environmentalists. They are volunteers who are concerned that New Jersey meet its mandate to find a safe, long-term solution to a pressing need.

They are:

• Paul E. Wyszkowski, P.E., a manager of environmental affairs at Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies (formerly AT&T). A graduate Civil Engineer with over 40 years' experience in environmental engineering, he is registered as a professional engineer in six states. A resident of Warren (Somerset County), he has been on the Board since its inception and serves as its Chairman.

•Michael J. Hogan, Esq. and/or Gerald P. Nicholls, Ph.D. have been ex officio representatives of the Environmental Protection Commissioner since 1998 and 1989, respectively.  Mike Hogan is counselor to the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.  Gerry Nicholls, Director of Environmental Safety, Health and Analytical Programs for DEP, earned a B.A., M.S. and M.A. from Trenton State College and an M.S. and Ph.D. from Temple. He is a resident of Bordentown (Burlington County).

• Michael F. Lakat is the ex officio representative of the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services. Currently the Special Assistant to the Assistant Commissioner of Environmental and Occupational Health Services, he is technical and policy adviser on federal and state legislative and regulatory issues. A resident of Millstone Township (Monmouth County), he has been on the Board since 1996 and chairs the Health Subcommittee.

• Richard J. McGoey, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who served in the Nuclear Submarine Service, is an engineer employed by GPU Nuclear directing systems that support nuclear power plant operations. A resident of Mendham (Morris County), he chairs the Board's Budget/Assessment and Technical Subcommittees and has been on the Board since 1990.

• Robert P. McKeever most recently was President and Chief Executive of Cogeneration Systems, Inc., which developed a 200 megawatt power plant in Logan Township, New Jersey. He is a member of the United States Department of Commerce Committee on International Trade Administration. A resident of Cape May Beach (Cape May County), he has served on the Board since 1995.

• Bonnie Magnuson, who has a B.A. in Art History from Brown University, was Vice President of the New Jersey League of Women Voters for eight years and is a long-time member of its Natural Resources Committee. She has been on the Maplewood Board of Adjustment for 13 years and is Director of Religious Education for St. Clement's Episcopal Church, Hawthorne. A resident of Maplewood (Essex County), she has served on the Siting Board since 1995.

• Leland Merrill, Ph.D., former Executive Secretary of the New Jersey Academy of Sciences, is a retired professor from Rutgers University, where he was Dean of Agriculture. A former member of the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Audubon Society, he resides in Princeton (Mercer County) and has served on the Board since 1989.

• James A. Shissias is General Manager of Environmental Affairs for PSE&G. He received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Rutgers and an M.B.A. from Temple. He is a member of the Governor's Council on Environmental Education, the State Soil Conservation Committee, and chairs the Environmental Affairs Committee of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. He is also on the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Audubon Society and Chairman of the College of New Jersey Foundation. A resident of Titusville (Mercer County), he has served on the Board since 1989, and chairs its Subcommittee on Legislative Affairs.

• Theodore Stahl, M.D., a New Brunswick-based radiologist, earned his M.D. at Hahnemann Medical College, Philadelphia. A Clinical Associate Professor of Radiology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, he is Chief of Nuclear Medicine at St. Peters' Medical Center. A resident of Highland Park (Middlesex County), he has served on the Board since 1995.

• K. David Steidley, Ph.D., is Chief Physicist in the Department of Radiation Oncology at St. Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston. He earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Science at Rutgers and is a Board-certified Health Physicist and a Fellow of the American College of Radiology. He is also Adjunct Professor of Radiation Science at Rutgers. A resident of Short Hills (Essex County), he has served on the Board since 1989 and is its Vice Chairman.

• Joseph R. Stencel, Ph.D., earned a B.A. in Physics from St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota, an M.A. in Physics/Health Physics from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, and an M.A. and PhD from Princeton University in Environmental Engineering. He spent seven years as a Radiation Safety Specialist with the United States Air Force and 18 years as a Health Physicist and Environment, Safety,and Health Manager at Princeton University's Plasma Physics Laboratory. He is presently a Research Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Rutgers University. A resident of Montgomery Township (Somerset County), he has served on the Board since 1990 and is on its Technical and Health Subcommittees.

Who are the members of the Waste Advisory Committee?

• Richard K. Olsson, Ph.D., Chair Rutgers University, Department of Geological Sciences

• James Clancy Public Service Electric & Gas

• Thomas M. Dempsey, P.E. GPU Nuclear

• William G. Dressel, Jr. New Jersey State League of Municipalities

• Donald L. Fauerbach New Jersey Conference of Mayors

• Leslie G. London, Esq. McManimon & Scotland

• William McGrath Bristol-Myers Squibb

• Lauren H. Moore Atlantic County Planning Department

• Herbert W. Roeschke North Plainfield Planning Department

• John M. Simon, Esq. Wolff & Samson