Strube Incorporated (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania)
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1.0 Site Identification
| Type of Site: | Complex Decommissioning Site |
| Location: | Lancaster Co.,PA |
| License No.: | PA-1004 |
| Docket No.: | |
| License Status: | Unknown |
| Project Manager: | Kim Conway (NRC Decommissioning Contact) |
2.0 Site Status Summary
Licensee obtained surplus military aircraft parts beginning in the 1950's. The parts included an undetermined number of radium painted gauges and parts. Original estimates were for approximately 70,000 affected parts mixed throughout an estimated millions of other aircraft parts, but the number affected appears to be a significant underestimation. The parts are stored in eight warehouses at seven different location scattered about western Lancaster County. Many of the warehouses have significant structural concerns. Once the Department became aware of the company possessing all of this material, the process was immediately started to get them licensed for decommissioning. The license was issued in August of 2007. The licensee committed to an aggressive but believed to be reasonable timeline to complete the cleanup. The Department performed an initial inspection in October 2007 and multiple regulatory violations were found. It was also found that the licensee had completed almost no work towards the decommissioning including not making any shipments of radioactive waste. Because of the violations and the discovery of hazardous and flammable material being stored in some of the warehouses with the radium parts, The Department requested the assistance of the EPA's Emergency Removal Group. EPA has nearly completed the removal phase in two of the warehouses, and is preparing to move on to a third. They have also issued an order to the Licensee to perform a complete decommissioning of two warehouses that are on the same property.
3.0 Major Technical or Regulatory Issues
The Licensee attempted to perform this work without the assistance of an experienced contractor. The results were multiple license violations and a failure to comply with the licensee proposed timeline. The discovery of hazardous materials in the buildings added greatly to the level of concern. Concerns also grew as it became apparent that the estimate of number of affected pieces was significantly underestimated.
