DOE Pushes Back Planned Completion of EIS for Site
Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
8/29/2014
California regulators are “concerned” about schedule delays in the Department of Energy’s completion of an environmental impact statement to allow cleanup work to be completed at the Energy Technology Engineering Center, officials said this week. The Department said earlier this month that it now expects to complete the EIS and associated Record of Decision in March 2016. Earlier this year, however, DOE said the final EIS would be issued in the fall of 2015, with a ROD coming a month after that. “We are concerned about the schedule and will evaluate any requested change or delay,” Russ Edmondson, spokesman for the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, said in a written response.
DOE must complete soil cleanup at the ETEC site by 2017 under a consent order reached with California, though that work cannot begin until the EIS and a final ROD are completed. “DOE has not notified DTSC of a schedule change and failure to comply with the order is subject to $15,000/day penalties,” Edmonson said.
DOE did not respond directly to request for comment this week on whether it still expects to meet the 2017 milestone. The Department did, however, provide a detailed schedule of additional documentation necessary to complete the cleanup effort. “As required by the California Environmental Policy Act (CEQA), the State of California must prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR),” according to a statement from DOE. “The State’s current schedule for their EIR is to have a Draft in the Fall of 2015 and their Final EIR and Findings after that. As required by the 2010 Administrative Order on Consent (AOC), DOE must also complete a Data Summary Report of all soil sampling and a Soil Remedial Action Implementation Plan, which DOE is committed to finalizing as expeditiously as possible.”
DOE Looking for Second Procurement for ETEC Cleanup
In June, the Department awarded a new $25.6 million task order for environmental monitoring and D&D work at ETEC to North Wind. The fixed price task order is set to run for up to five years, consisting of a three-year base period and a two-year option period. Earlier this month, DOE also announced plans to extend Boeing’s current contract at the ETEC site, part of the broader Susana Field Laboratory, through September 2019. Under the five-year extension, Boeing will continue to provide “essential services at the ETEC site during the period required to complete the EIS and ROD for Area IV of the SSFL and beyond until cleanup is achieved,” the Department said. “Since Boeing is the landowner of Area IV of the SSFL which included ETEC, on which DOE-owned buildings and other structures are located, there are certain areas of scope that only Boeing can provide as the real property owner and these are the areas of scope being acquired under this contract extension.”
The Department is also expecting to conduct another procurement to complete cleanup activities. “It is anticipated any soil and groundwater remediation activities required by the Record of Decision will be procured separately from the Department’s recently awarded task order with Northwind for environmental monitoring and D&D activities,” DOE said in a statement. “DOE will complete a detailed Acquisition Planning process to determine the best way to procure these services. No timetable has been set for the initiation and completion of that process.”
