Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
1/9/2015
The Army Corps of Engineers is projecting a significant increase in the cost to complete the cleanup of the Shallow Land Disposal Area (SLDA) site in Armstrong County, Pa., according to information released this week. The Corps’ new estimate puts the final cost of cleaning up the SLDA site at $350 million, from an initial estimate of $45.5 million, according to an amendment to the proposed Record of Decision for the site. The Corps also now expects the cleanup work to take 46 months to complete, up from an initial schedule of 26 months.
The amendment to the ROD for the SLDA site is needed after a large amount of unanticipated complex material was found on site when active remediation began in 2011. “The scope of this activity for the proposed ROD amendment also reflects the variety of the type sand quantities of waste materials in the trenches, the difficulty in characterizing these materials, and the additional time required to complete the work,” the ROD amendment said. “Previous experience has resulted in an increased awareness of the level of effort required for nuclear criticality safety and non-radiological safety, such as beryllium health and safety. The associated level of effort will be increased far beyond what was originally estimated in the ROD.”
SLDA RFP Expected in 2015
The SLDA site is one of the larger projects in the Corps’ Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. The Corps currently anticipates finishing amending the ROD for the site this summer, which would allow the agency to move forward with issuing a Request for Proposals for the contract to cleanup the site this summer, and awarding the new contract by early 2016. “Our next step after the ROD is finalized will be to advertise/select contractor,” USACE Pittsburgh District spokesman Daniel Jones said. “Once the new contractor selected, work plans will be developed and on-site infrastructure will be constructed in 2016. Once that is complete, excavation will begin in 2017.”
Increased Waste Estimate Contributes to Higher Cost
One of the main factors in the cost increase for completing the SLDA cleanup is an increase in the estimating amount of material requiring for disposal. The Corps expects a total of 21,300 cubic yards of soils, debris, and mixed waste that would be considered low level radioactive waste, with an additional 18,000 cubic yards meant for a solid waste facility. With the discovery of additional material, the amount needed to excavation has ballooned to cost $80.7 million due to the nature of excavation and characterization needed to properly dispose of the waste.
According to the amended ROD, the cost estimate for waste disposal assumes no waste is suitable for disposal at a solid waste facility. “This activity in the proposed ROD amendment is identical in scope to the ROD. However, the disposal unit costs used in the proposed ROD amendment cost estimate were based on actual unit costs from the initial remediation contract, which are much greater than initial estimates,” the ROD amendment said. “Variation in the radioactive material found at the site may lead to larger disposal costs as well. However, the proposed ROD amendment cost estimate assumes that none of the wastes will be suitable for disposal at a solid waste facility, based upon the materials encountered during the remediation activities in 2011.”
Another factor that increased the cost estimate, the Corps said, was the additional 20 months of project time. The additional time doubled costs for labor, rentals, and services, and the nature of the discovered waste ta the site required physical security at the site, which added an additional $39 million to the project. “The ROD cost estimate assumed a duration of 26 months for this activity, whereas the estimated duration of this activity in the proposed ROD amendment is 46 months,” the ROD amendment said. “This effectively doubles all costs associated with labor and other items whose costs are directly related to time, such as rentals, utilities, and services.”
ROD Amendment “Step in the Right Direction,” Casey Says
Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) reiterated this week his commitment to seeing the project completed as soon as possible. “Senator Casey is pleased that the amended Record of Decision was released and believes it’s a step in the right director towards cleaning up the site,” Casey spokesman John Rizzo said in an email. “He’s committed to working with his colleagues in a bipartisan fashion to ensure the necessary resources are there for this project. He will continue to push the Administration to achieve a cleanup as quickly as feasibly possible.”
