Representatives of more than 40 companies attended the June 24 industry pre-proposal conference for the upcoming contract for cleanup of the Luckey Site in Ohio under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP).
The Army Corps on June 26 posted the attendance list, along with the first tranche of questions-and-answers for its newly released solicitation for the environmental remediation job.
Luckey Site incumbent North Wind Group was among the participants, along with other heavy-hitters in the nuclear cleanup and services industries: Amentum, APTIM, Atkins, EnergySolutions, Leidos, Navarro, and Perma-Fix Environmental Services. Smaller firms were also on hand, including Buckeye Elm Contracting, Cabrera, HydroGeoLogic, RSI EnTech, and STRATA-G.
The Army Corps on June 17 began taking bids for the small business set-aside contract with maximum funding of $30 million per year, a five-year base, and an option for another five years. Bids are due by Aug. 5. The primary job would be removal and disposal of contaminated soil, along with treating groundwater
The Army Corps expects to issue the contract in August 2021, according to one written answer to a question posed at the pre-proposal conference.
This is expected to be the last cleanup contract at the Luckey Site, a 40-acre property just over 20 miles outside of Toledo that from 1949 to 1961 housed beryllium processing for national defense. Remaining contaminants in the soil, groundwater, and additional materials encompass beryllium, lead, radium-226, thorium-230, uranum-234, and uranium-238. A warehouse, production building, rail spur, and other infrastructure also remain.
The majority of the first-round questions and answers address technical details of the application paperwork.
One unidentified company asked whether its facility could be listed among the potential options for disposal of waste from Luckey. The Army Corps responded in the negative. Radioactively contaminated materials from FUSRAP jobs must be shipped to disposal facilities licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or one of its agreement states, and must have been audited by the Army Corps at some point in the last five years.
“Proposed use of a new facility requires the District to provide written notification to USACE Headquarters – Environmental Division and successful completion of an audit by the [Radiation Safety Support Team],” the Army Corps said. “This effort takes a minimum of 6 months to complete. Therefore, it is not feasible to add a new facility, by the due date of this solicitation.”
The four approved facilities for waste from Luckey are EnergySolutions’ site at Clive, Utah; Waste Control Specialists in Andrews County, Texas; and facilities operated by US Ecology in Belleville, Mich., and Grand View, Idaho. The Michigan facility currently receives Luckey soils and debris.
Not on the list of approved sites in the procurement notice is EnergySolutions’ low-level radioactive waste disposal facility at Barnwell, S.C.
Distribution of the annual $30 million for the contract would follow the federal fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, the Army Corps said in answering one question. “It is not likely it will be available to the contractor at the beginning of each FY or in monthly allocations (was available quarterly in FY20). Contractors shall assume the Government will have funding in place to not delay performance.”
RadWaste Monitor contacted Amentum (the former Management Services branch for AECOM), EnergySolutions, Perma-Fix, Leidos, and APTIM regarding their plans to bid on the contract. The companies demurred or did not respond to queries.
“We cannot comment on the contract opportunity,” Leidos spokeswoman Suzzanna Martinez said by email Wednesday.
One industry source said companies that contract for environmental remediation of Department of Energy nuclear sites are eyeing FUSRAP work as “adjacent markets” with similar requirements.
Navarro recently re-upped as the environmental services provider at the Nevada National Security Site. Amentum holds several spots throughout the Energy Department Environmental Management complex, including as lead partner in the liquid waste management contractor for the Savannah River Site in South Carolina and half of the prime for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. APTIM decommissioned the reactor on the STURGIS barge for the Army Corps, and as of this week is in position to get a chunk of $3 billion DOE is spreading among nine contractors for nationwide deactivation, decommissioning, and removal (DD&R) services for excess facilities.