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Shallow Land Disposal Area
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In January
2002, Section 8143 of Public Law 107-117 directed the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers to cleanup radioactive waste at the Parks Township Shallow
Land Disposal Area (SLDA) site under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). The cleanup will follow the remediation process outlined
in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability
Act (CERCLA) and is consistent with the requirements of the July 5, 2001
Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for coordination of
cleanup and decommissioning of FUSRAP sites with NRC-licensed
facilities.
The CERCLA process consists of: Site Designation, Preliminary
Assessment, Site Inspection, Remedial Investigation, Feasibility Study,
Proposed Plan,
Record of Decision, Remedial Design and Remedial Action.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Pittsburgh District has been assigned Project Management responsibility for the Parks Township FUSRAP team and is taking the lead on the investigation and remediation work for this site. The Army Corps’ Buffalo District is the Hazardous, Toxic and Radiological Waste Design Center assigned to perform the technical evaluations. The Corps team is working closely with the Pennsylvania regulatory agencies, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Parks Township, and the property owner.
About the Project
The Parks Township Shallow Land Disposal Area site, located in Armstrong County, encompasses 44 acres of private land presently owned by BWX Technologies. The Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation (NUMEC), which was a predecessor of BWX Technologies, conducted disposal of radioactive waste materials in accordance with the Atomic Energy Commission regulations (predecessor to the present Nuclear Regulatory Commission). BWX Technologies presently is licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to properly maintain the site to ensure the protection of workers and the public. The SLDA site consists of ten trenches containing contaminated soil and other waste materials. The estimated quantity of contaminated waste material from the trenches is approximately 24,300 cubic yards. This equates to the area of a football field twelve feet deep. Additional waste material encountered outside of the trenches will also be removed. Uranium, thorium, americium and plutonium contaminated waste has been identified. Uranium and thorium contaminated waste material consisting of process residue, equipment, scrap and trash from the nearby Apollo nuclear fuel fabrication facility were disposed of within the trenches at the SLDA site between 1961 and 1970. The uranium in the trenches is present at various levels of enrichment from highly depleted to highly enriched. Americium and plutonium, whose presence is attributed to storage of equipment used in the adjoining Parks Facility has been detected in surface soils adjacent to a single trench.
Project Status
Within the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) process, the Remedial Investigation, Feasibility Study, Proposed Plan, and Record of Decision (ROD) have all been completed. The ROD, approved in September 2007, formally provides the clean up alternative to be used at the site. In August 2003, April 2004 and January 2007, the Army Corps of Engineers held public information sessions to present and discuss the Remedial Investigation, the Feasibility Study, and the Proposed Plan. The Feasibility Study identified and provided an evaluation of potential alternatives to address the contamination at the site; the Proposed Plan provided the alternative that is preferred based on the results of that evaluation for the Parks Township SLDA site. As a result of input received from the public at these information sessions, the recommendations were reviewed, further evaluated, and included in the ROD. The recommendation from the ROD is to excavate radiologically contaminated material and transport the material out of state to an approved disposal facility. The ROD is available for viewing at the Apollo Public Library and the Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District Office. The District is now preparing a detailed design for the approved methodology. These activities and subsequent work at the site are steps in the site investigation and cleanup process outlined in the CERCLA. The completion of the project Remedial Design is scheduled for May 2010. Remedial Action, the onsite removal effort, is to begin with the prepartion of the infrastructure necessary to process the waste material. This work is scheduled to begin in May 2010. Excavation of the trenches is not expected to occur until spring 2011. Completion is scheduled for 2015. Following Remedial Action, the Project Closeout phase will conclude all efforts.
Project History
The Preliminary Assessment of the Parks Township SLDA, to review information to determine the need for further action to ensure the protection of human health and the environment, was completed in March 2002. On May 8, 2002 a Public Information Session was conducted by the Corps. At this public forum comments, concerns and concepts expressed by the community were heard and addressed. On August 26, 2002 a site visit was conducted for stakeholders and the Corps’ Project Delivery Team to familiarize everyone with the site’s features. This was followed by a Technical Project Planning Meeting (meeting notes) on August 27 and 28, 2002. Objectives of the meeting included identifying a project team, developing working relationships between the project team and the stakeholders, summarizing existing site information, identifying project goals and developing a general approach to site remediation. The meeting resulted in an increased understanding of site constraints and stakeholder expectations.
As a part of the on-going Remedial Investigation phase of the cleanup effort, the Corps conducted one-on-one interviews on January 13-14, 2003 with former NUMEC and BWXT workers and citizens who volunteered to be interviewed. Relevant information gathered was incorporated into the field investigation for the site. In June 2003 the U.S. Army Topographic Engineering Center completed an historical photographic analysis of aerial photographs of the SLDA site between 1950 and present with special emphasis on potential disposal activities. Report findings were used to help guide the remedial investigation sampling program. Surficial gamma walkover surveys on the site were completed in June 2003 to identify areas with elevated radiation levels. Results of this survey were used to help select soil sampling locations during the remedial investigation.
A public information session was held on August 28, 2003 at the Parks Township Volunteer Fire Department No. 1 Social Hall. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers updated the community on the activities completed for the project and presented plans for the upcoming fieldwork. The presentation was followed by questions and answers. The Corps has prepared Remedial Investigation Work Plans to fill in the data gaps and was on-site to sample soil, trench content, groundwater, sediment, surface water and air.
A public information session was held on April 20, 2004 at the Parks Township Volunteer Fire Department No. 1 Social Hall. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers updated the community on activities completed for the project and presented plans for the upcoming work. The presentation was followed by a question and answer session.
The draft Remedial Investigation report was completed in February 2005 and distributed to higher authorities and stakeholders for review and comment. The comments were reviewed and incorporated into the final report where appropriate. This final report was completed in August 2005.
The
Remedial Investigation was followed by the preparation of a Feasibility Study. The
Feasibility Study identified five probable alternatives for the site.
Of these five, three were recommended for further review in the Proposed
Plan. The Feasibility Study was completed November 2006.
The Proposed Plan evaluated the three alternatives recommended to be
carried forward by the Feasibility Study. Of these three plans,
Alternative 5 -- Excavation, Treatment and Off-site Disposal was selected
at the alternative most protective of the public health and the
environment.
The Proposed Plan was completed November
2006 and presented at a public meeting on January 25, 2007. Upon
consideration of public, state and other federal agency input to the
Proposed Plan a Record of Decision was prepared. The Record
of Decision concluded
that Alternative 5 was indeed the best alternative for the protection of
the public and environment. The Record of Decision was completed and approved in
September 2007.
News Releases
| 15 November, 2012 | Army Corps to Hold Public Meeting on Shallow Land Disposal Area Project in Parks Township, Pa. |
| August 13, 2012 | Corps of Engineers to Continue Leading Clean-up of SLDA Project |
| June 13, 2012 | Corps to hold public comment meeting for the Shallow Land Disposal Area project |
| March 4, 2012 | Army Corps to hold public meeting on Shallow Land Disposal Area project in Parks Township, Pa. |
| Oct. 18, 2011 | Corps to meet with public to discuss suspension of excavation at the Shallow Land Disposal Area |
| Aug. 19, 2011 | Corps, contractor to begin excavation at Parks Township SLDA Site |
| April 21, 2011 | Corps to hold public meeting on Shallow Land Disposal Area project in Parks Township, Pa. |
| February 4, 2011 | Shallow Land Disposal Area gas line relocation |
| November 2, 2010 | Corps to hold public meeting on Shallow Land Disposal Area project in Parks Township, Pa. |
| March 31, 2010 | Public Meeting Scheduled for Shallow Land Disposal Area in Parks Township |
| February 22, 2010 | Shallow Land Disposal Area project Feb. 23 public meeting postponed |
| February 9, 2010 | Public Meeting Scheduled for Shallow Land Disposal Area in Parks Township |
| News Releases 2002 - 2007 | |
Documents
| June 2012 | Public Comment Meeting - Public Comments Received |
| June 2012 | Public Comment Meeting Transcript |
| May 2011 | Shallow Land Disposal Area Evacuation Routes |
| May 2011 | Public Meeting Presentation Slides |
| May 2011 | Frequently Asked Questions about a Radiation Emergencu |
| April 2010 | Background Information and Public Meeting Presentation Slides |
| October 2007 | Shallow Land Disposal Area, Parks Township, Pennsylvania Mailing |
| August 2007 | Record of Decision for the Shallow Land Disposal Area Site (5.5MG) |
| September 2006 | Proposed Plan for the Shallow Land Disposal Area Site (9.5MG) |
| September 2006 | Feasibility Study for the Shallow Land Disposal Area Site (12.8MG without Appendices) |
| March 11, 2002 | Preliminary Assessment Shallow Land Disposal Area, Parks Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania |
Updated: 18-Dec-2012