U.S. DOE Gaseous Diffusion Plant
U.S. DOE Gaseous Diffusion PlantEPA ID: KY8890008982
Location: Paducah, McCraken County, KY
Congressional District: 01
NPL Status: Proposed: 05/10/93; Final 05/31/94
Project Manager
Documents:
- Site Profile
- Additional Site Documents including Five Year Reviews, Records of Decisions (ROD) and Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD).
- For documents not available on the website, please contact the Region 4 Freedom of Information Office (http://www.epa.gov/region4/foiapgs/submit.htm).
Site Background:
The 1.350-acre Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) is a uranium-enrichment
facility, owned by the Department of Energy (DOE). The GDP is still
in operation under a lease of the plant to the U.S. Enrichment Corporation
(USEC), providing fuel rods to electricity generating reactors in the utility
industry. The site is located 3 miles south of the Ohio River and
10 miles west of Paducah, Kentucky. Extensive support facilities
are required to maintain the uranium enrichment process including a steam
plant, four major electrical switch yards, four sets of cooling towers,
a building for chemical cleaning and decontamination, a water treatment
plant, and maintenance and laboratory facilities. Approximately 740 acres
of the plant are fenced, and an uninhabited buffer zone surrounds the fence.
PGDP started uranium-enrichment operations in 1952. Plant operations have
generated hazardous, non-hazardous, and radioactive wastes, including polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) technetium-99 (Tc-99),
and multiple isotopes of uranium. In 1988, DOE found Tc-99 in an off-site
drinking water well located north of the site. VOCs also have been detected
in nearby private wells and in on-site monitoring wells. An estimated 1,400
people obtain drinking water from wells within 4 miles of PGDP. In addition,
DOE has detected PCBs in on-site surface water and downstream of the plant
in Big Bayou Creek and in Little Bayou Creek. These creeks are part of
the 2,100-acre West Kentucky Wildlife Management Area, which is adjacent
to the buffer area surrounding the site. In 1989, the State of Kentucky's
Division of Water issued a warning against eating fish caught in the Little
Bayou Creek. The Big Bayou Creek, however, currently has no fish consumption
advisories. In 2006 DOE reported that PCBs had been detected in groundwater
in the vicinity of the U-746 landfill and within the PGDP security boundary.
Cleanup Progress: Construction Underway
Following EPA’s issuance of a CERCLA 106 Order in 1988, the Agency directed
DOE to determine the cause of groundwater contamination in the private drinking
water wells adjacent to the site. The DOE established a Water Policy that same
year to provide nearby residents with an alternate drinking water supply to replace
their contaminated drinking water wells. The DOE completed remedial investigations
in 1993, and 1995, and issued two Records of Decision (RODs) to address groundwater
contamination by pumping and treating the "hot spots" of TCE just to
the north of the plant. Since this time, the DOE has implemented several cleanup
actions across the facility, which include a removal action to address PCB hotspots,
and an innovative technology (i.e., LASAGNA) to remove TCE bound in clayey soils.
In 1999 a ROD was issued by the DOE that addressed removal of contaminated sediments
in the Surface Water OU for the North South Diversion Ditches. In 2004
Remedial Action was complete for the Phase 1 and Phase 2 of this project. In
August 2005 a ROD was issued by the DOE for the implementation of electrical
resistance heating (ERH) for TCE removal at the primary source area for TCE at
the C-400 building. The magnitude of the source is estimated at 900,000
pounds of TCE. Construction on the ERH system started in 2008 after a protracted
design period.
In 2006 DOE completed the Scrap Yard Removal Action, in which 30,500 cubic yards
of contaminates metal scrap were excavated and shipped off-site for final disposal. Contaminated
soils under the former scrap pile are to be addressed, as part of the Soils operable
unit (OU). In 2007 and 2008 DOE completed removal of an inactive incinerator
and smelter as CERCLA removal actions. At present the facility is conducting
environmental investigations under the framework of five over-arching operable
units: Surface Water, Groundwater, Soils, Deactivation and Decommissioning, Burial
Grounds.
Planned Actions
Operation of the GDP by USEC is slated to cease in or around 2013, at which time
DOE plans to deactivate and decommission (D&D) the entire facility in preparation
for ultimate transfer from DOE ownership. During and after GDP shut-down,
additional environmental investigation is planned for areas where active operations
currently preclude physical access for sampling. Evaluation of the results
from these studies will likely lead to additional cleanup actions to ensure overall
protection of human health and the environment and to comply with Section 120
(h) of CERCLA with respect to transfer of property. These investigations and
subsequent cleanups are planned and will be executed under the CERCLA 120 Federal
Facility Agreement (effective date February 13, 1998) along with the State RCRA
Hazardous Waste Permit. The current schedule for investigation and cleanup
extends out to 2040, but long-term remedial actions are expected to take longer
to achieve all remedial action objectives. Due to the anticipated volume
of CERCLA waste from D&D and other activities, DOE is evaluating its waste
disposal options, including the potential to construct a disposal cell on-site.
In November and December 2006, and February 2007 DOE notified KYDEP and EPA of
the existence of 93 soil piles and 29 rubble piles on DOE property which has
been licensed to KY Fish and Wildlife as part of the West KY Wildlife Management
District since 1953. The soil piles were created in the 1980s and 1990s
according to worker interviews as part of dredging activities conducted on the
outfall canals and Bayou and Little Bayou Creeks, which carry PGDP process water
to the Ohio River. DOE is in the process of conducting site evaluations
for these piles.
Community Involvement
In addition to the ongoing cleanup activities, the DOE has commissioned
a Citizens Advisory Board, which meets monthly to address the CERCLA/RCRA
cleanup activities and potential health issues associated with past operations
and/or disposal activities. This group serves to keep local citizens
up-to-date with cleanup progress and related issues. Both the EPA and
the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection serve as ex-officio
representatives on this board. The CAB’s advisory role is
in addition to the requirements of CERCLA section 117 for public participation
in decision-making.