U.S. DEPARTMENT OF Legacy Spring 2012 ENERGY Management Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program FUSRAP UPDATE Greetings Program FUSRAP Site Life Cycle This update is written to share Performing information with you about the Information Agency U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) DOE FUSRAP was established in 1974 DOE Eligibility Review Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action MED/AEC Activities to address residual radiological No Yes Program (FUSRAP). This dynamic No contamination at sites where work was Radioactive Materials Used program oversees long-term surveil- performed for the Manhattan Engineer Yes lance and maintenance of 30 sites No District (MED) and U.S. Atomic Energy Potential for Contamination Ineligible remediated under FUSRAP. In addition, Yes Commission in development of the No program staff does ongoing work to nation’s early nuclear weapons and U.S. Government Authorized to Clean Up verify that historic and recent site atomic energy program. Initially, Yes records are accessible and preserved, FUSRAP activities began with a records DOE Inform USACE of Eligibility;Transfer Information and staff respond to many requests for search of more than 600 sites that information every year. A vital program Action had the potential to contain residual USACE Assessment and Cleanup function is coordinating program Conduct Preliminary Assessment radiological contamination; 46 sites No activities with U.S. Army Corps of Cleanup Required were identified that were eligible Yes Engineers (USACE), as the two agencies No Further Action for and required remediation under work within their respective roles to Select Remedy, Conduct Cleanup FUSRAP. Remedial action work Obtain Regulator Concurrence ensure that FUSRAP operates effectively by DOE began in 1979. In 1997, Declaration of Remedial Action Complete with no lapse of protectiveness for the Congress assigned responsibility for Two-Year Operations and Maintenance 53sitesinFUSRAP. characterization and remediation of In this update, we feature some FUSRAP sites to the USACE. A 1999 USACE/DOE Transfer Site recent FUSRAP activities. I hope this Memorandum of Understanding DOE Perform LTS&M information provides a sense of the (MOU) between USACE and DOE breadth of DOE FUSRAP responsibilities defined the roles of each agency in and the broad range of skills and administering and executing FUSRAP. expertise needed to accomplish DOE retains responsibility for determining if sites are eligible for FUSRAP remediation program goals and obligations. and for providing long-term surveillance and maintenance (LTS&M) of the 25 sites that All DOE FUSRAP activities are were remediated by DOE prior to the 1999 MOU. Continued on page 5 conducted with the overriding requirement that DOE will maintain site remedies so the sites are protective of human health and the environment. DOE also will preserve knowledge of LM FUSRAP FUSRAP sites for the ongoing benefit Activities at of future custodians and the public. the Former Please visit our website at http://www.lm.doe.gov/ default.aspx? Lake Ontario id=866, where we describe the program Ordinance Works and provide information about DOE (LOOW) FUSRAP sites. You may contact us at [email protected]. LOOW and the Niagara Falls Storage Site (NFSS) Sincerely, Early in World War II, the federal government established the LOOW on approximately Chris Clayton 7,500 acres near Lewiston, New York. The explosives plant operated for nearly a year, FUSRAP Manager then was closed. Approximately 1,500 acres of the property where plant operations DOE Office of Legacy were conducted were assigned to the MED to store radioactive residues and other Management (LM) Continued on page 2 Spring 2012 FUSRAP UPDATE Page 1 Central drainage ditch at the Niagara Falls Storage Site, 2011 FUSRAP New York, FUSRAP site. Activities DOE conducts continuous activities under FUSRAP, including responding to stakeholder requests, managing site data and information, and conducting technical reviews and evaluations of site conditions. In the following paragraphs, we’d like to share some of the highlights from 2011. Continued from page 1 New Brunswick, New Jersey, Site— LM FUSRAP Activities at the Former LOOW From 1948 to 1977, the Manhattan Engineer District and the Atomic Energy radioactive materials that were generated during the development of the atomic bomb. Commission operated the New Brunswick After the war, the government sold the approximately 6,000 acres of the LOOW that had Site as a general nuclear chemistry served as a buffer area around the plant. laboratory. Remediation was completed The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) replaced the MED and continued to use portions under FUSRAP in 2006. DOE applied an of the former LOOW to store, dispose of, and ship radioactive material. The government excavation restriction to this property in subsequently sold or transferred the majority of the remaining 1,500 acres to an area where arsenic levels in soil exceed nongovernmental entities, retaining approximately 190 acres as the NFSS. The State standards. In 2009, DOE investigated transferred parcels became known as the NFSS Vicinity Properties (VPs). a sanitary sewer at the State’s request and found no radiological contamination above As a result of review of the NFSS and surrounding areas conducted in the 1970s and background levels. In 2011, the New Jersey 1980s, the NFSS and associated VPs were designated for remediation under FUSRAP. Department of Environmental Protection DOE, which replaced the AEC in 1977, completed remediation of 23 of the 26 designated determined that remediation was VPs prior to 1997, when FUSRAP cleanup responsibilities transferred to the U.S. Army complete at this site. This action allowed Corps of Engineers (USACE). The USACE Buffalo, New York, District is responsible for DOE to finalize the sale of the property to remediating the remaining three VPs and the NFSS under FUSRAP. DOE is responsible a private owner for redevelopment. In for the long-term protectiveness of the remediated VPs and will take responsibility for August 2011 DOE conducted the required the three VPs and NFSS once the remedial actions are complete. biennial site inspection to confirm that the DOE Support to USACE restricted area has not been disturbed. In 2009, USACE informed DOE that a stakeholder asked whether a feature of the remediated VPs, the Central Drainage Ditch, posed a risk to children playing in the area. Additional inquiries were received about the protectiveness of all the remediated VPs. DOE met with stakeholders at a USACE-sponsored public meeting and committed to evaluating the final radiological conditions of the remediated properties. This led to an ongoing interaction with stakeholders, including several additional public meetings, as DOE addressed their concerns and made site information available. 1. While conducting the review of site conditions, DOE found that stakeholders were also concerned about waste from the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL), Schenectady, New York, that was temporarily stored at LOOW. DOE agreed to determine if SPRU waste remained at the former LOOW that The New Brunswick, New Jersey, Site, former needed to be remediated. DOE reviewed records of waste characterization, historical location of the New Brunswick Laboratory, August 2011. handling locations and methods, and assessment and remediation data from DOE and USACE work. DOE investigated Documentation in the DOE records collection demonstrated that FUSRAP wastes at a sanitary sewer for radiological the completed VPs were cleaned up to meet DOE guidelines for unrestricted use. contamination DOE also concluded that the SPRU waste was remediated on the LOOW to levels to demonstrate that pose no unacceptable risk and allow unrestricted use and unlimited exposure. that no further The results of both investigations are available on the LM website at remediation is http://www.lm.doe.gov/Considered_Sites/Niagara_Falls_Vicinity_ required at the site. Properties_NY_-_NY_17.aspx. Ë Continued on page 5 Spring 2012 FUSRAP UPDATE Page 2 FUSRAP Sites Seaway Industrial Park Linde Air Products Division Niagara Falls Storage Site Guterl Steel Beverly Niagara Falls Vicinity Properties Indian Orchard Albany Tonawanda North, Units 1 and 2 Colonie Shpack Landfill Painesville Seymour Buffalo Chicago North Adrian Combustion Chicago South Aliquippa Engineering Toledo Parks New York Iowa Army Luckey Township Ammunition Plant Joslyn Steel Harshaw Springdale Sylvania-Corning Berkeley Chemical Oxford Superior W.R. Wayne St. Louis Airport Granite City Hamilton Steel Grace Jersey City St. Louis Airport Vicinity Properties Columbus Latty Avenue Properties East Maywood St. Louis Downtown Fairfield Middlesex New Brunswick Acid/Pueblo Canyon Sampling Plant Bayo Canyon Middlesex North Madison Oak Ridge Warehouses E.I. Dupont Site Chupadera Mesa LM Site U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Site Spring 2012 FUSRAP UPDATE Page 3 FUSRAP Process Flow Diagram AFRICAN ORES TEMPORARY STORAGE ASSAYING AND SAMPLING WASTE STORAGE/DISPOSAL ORES Belgian Congo Baker & Williams, NY Granite City Steel, IL Acid/Pueblo Canyon, NM Elza Gate, TN Middlesex Sampling Plant, NJ Ashland 1, NY MINING AND MILLING Middlesex Sampling New Brunswick Lab, NJ Ashland 2, NY Plant, NJ Bayo Canyon, NM Latty Avenue Properties, MO Middlesex Municipal Landfill, NJ Middlesex Sampling Plant, NJ New Brunswick Lab, NJ Niagara Falls Storage Site, NY Western U.S. and Canada Niagara Falls Storage Site Vicinity Properties,