Fall 1998 200 East Area Biological Vector Contamination Report
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HNF-3628 Fall 1998 200 East Area Biological Vector Contamination Report Date Published March 1999 Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy FLUOR DANIEL HANFORD, INC, Richland, Washington 9 Hanford Management and Integration Contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC06-96RL13200 Approved for Public Release LEGAL DISCLAIMER This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, nor any of their contractors, subcontractors or their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or any third party's use or the results of such use of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof or its contractors or subcontractors. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. This report has been reproduced from the best available copy. Available in paper copy and microfiche. Available to the U.S. Department of Energy and its contractors from U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) P.O. Box 62 Oak Ridge, TN 37831 {615) 576-8401 Available to the public from the U.S. Department of Commerce National Technical Information Service (NT1S) 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 (703) 487-4650 Printed in thB United States of America DISCLM-1.CHP (8-95) RELEASE AUTHORIZATION Document Number. : HNF-3628, Rev. 0 Document Fall 1998 200 East Area Biological Vector Title: Contamination Report This document, reviewed in accordance with DOE Order 241.1, "Scientific and Technical Information Management," and DOE G 241.1-1, "Guide to the Management of Scientific and Technical Information," does not contain classified or sensitive unclassified information and is: APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE 3/17/99 Lockheed Martin Services, Inc. Document Control/Information Clearance Reviewed for Applied Technology, Business Sensitive, Classified, Copyrighted, Export Controlled, Patent, Personal/Private, Proprietary, Protected CRADA, Trademark, Unclassified Controlled Nuclear Information. LEGAL DISCLAIMER. This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, not any of their employees, nor any of their contractors, subcontractors or their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or any third party's use or the results of such use of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof or its contractors or subcontractors. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. This report has been reproduced from the best available copy. Printed in the United States of America. A-6001-400.2 (09/94) This page intentionally left blank. iv HNF-3628 Fall 1998 200 East Area Biological Vector Contamination Report Approvaröy: R. L. ShOUp Date Vice President, Fluor Daniel Hanford, Inc. Environment, Safety, Health and Quality Zônctérence By: ' J. E. Mecca Date Deputy Assistant Manager, Facility Transition U.S. Department of Energy Richland Operations Office FLUOR DANIEL HANFORD, INC. Richland, Washington Hanford Management and Integration Contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC06-96RL13200 This page intentionally left blank. vi Fall 1998 200 East Area Biological Vector Contamination Report HNF-3628 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The U.S. Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office, and Fluor Daniel Hanford, Inc. (FDH), offer their sincere appreciation and gratitude to those who cooperated and assisted during the events of the Fall of 1998 that are documented in the following report. Specifically, we thank and commend the City of Richland, the personnel at the City of Richland Landfill, and the Washington State Department of Health. We also thank the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Bechtel Hanford, Inc., and Project Hanford Management Contract team members. They were instrumental in helping FDH and the Hanford Site respond to this incident and identify lessons learned relative to the discovery of a new biological vector for the spread of contamination. The recognition extended to these organizations also encompasses their cooperation in reviewing and commenting on this document. The lessons learned from this event are intended for use not only by the Hanford Site, but also by other U.S. Department of Energy sites and other interested parties. March 18, 1999 vii Fall 1998 200 East Area Biological Vector Contamination Report HNF-3628 This page intentionally left blank. March 18, 1999 viii Fall 1998 200 East Area Biological Vector Contamination Report HNF-3628 PROLOGUE On September 28 and 29, 1998, a biological vector (fruit flies) not previously identified with radioactive contamination within the U.S. Department of Energy complex spread contamination at the Hanford Site, Richland, Washington. The contamination was spread from a radioactive waste-transfer-piping diversion pit to clean refuse, which was then transported to the nearby municipal landfill for disposal. This report describes the events leading up to the discovery of the contamination release from the pit, the transfer of contamination by fruit flies, transfer to the landfill via normal refuse disposal activities, and the associated response activities. This response included the actions taken by the U.S. Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office, and the Project Hanford Management Contract team, working with regulators and City of Richland officials to track, investigate, mitigate, and eliminate the contamination spread. Workers and the public did not receive any radiation dose from this event. The contamination spread was found to have originated in the 200 East Area, located in the center of the Hanford Site. It is believed that fruit flies were attracted to a sucrose-basedfixative applied to the inside of a contaminated concrete diversion pit to control smearable radiological contamination before work was initiated inside the pit. After eggs were laid in the sweet mixture by the insects, they hatched, matured, and spread contamination in the pit to nearby mobile office lunchroom refuse and dumpsters. This contaminated refuse was picked up during normal disposal activities and hauled by compactor garbage truck to the City of Richland Landfill. On discovery of the contamination during daily surveys of the mobile office lunchroom, Hanford Site workers immediately implemented contamination-containment and vector-elimination activities. A strong focus was placed on protecting the health and safety of the workers, the public, and the environment. Equally important is that radioactive contamination subsequently discovered at the City of Richland Landfill was recovered with no radiation exposure impacts. This type of biological vector-borne incident appeared to be unique, based on the circumstances. However, routine monitoring and strict controls must be applied to ensure that the health and safety of the workers, the public, and the environment are not jeopardized or compromised. Other sites should review existing practices to see if similar conditions exist, and they should incorporate monitoring and controls for this type of vector. Based on this recent incident, U.S. Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office, and Project Hanford Management Contract organizations are reconfirming the processes and resources used to identify, control, and recover from such a biological vector-borne radiological contamination event. The Hanford Site incident highlighted the following conclusions that may apply to other U.S. Department ofEnergy sites with the potential for such incidents. • Identification of possible new biological vectors needs to be integrated into work and survey planning. • Biological vector surveillance and proactive control of waste-handling operations should be integrated with radiological, hazardous, and dangerous material control programs. • A graded approach to handling refuse according to its point of generation may be warranted, based on the potential for radioactive contamination spread. • When municipal landfills are used for refuse disposal, the primary line of defense to prevent the inadvertent release of radiological material is the existing radiological, hazardous, and dangerous material control programs. This includes both administrative and engineering controls at the point of generation of refuse. 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