A U.S. Energy Department official last week defended plans for an on-site waste disposal cell at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant Site in Ohio
The disposal cell, intended to hold 2 million cubic yards of waste resulting from decontamination and decommissioning of buildings at Portsmouth, benefits the environment, reduces the amount of land in need of “perpetual care,” and speeds the return of most of the property to the community for reuse, Joel Bradburne, deputy manager for DOE’s Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office, said during a panel discussion at the Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix, Ariz.
Bradburne said he respects the local opposition to the disposal cell, which has focused on concerns about potential groundwater contamination. “Very few people volunteer to have a disposal cell in their backyard,” he acknowledged, but added “we believe we have come up with a great solution.”
The Energy Department and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency approved a record of decision (ROD) for the $900 million project in 2015. But leaders and residents in a number of communities have recorded their objection, including by passing resolutions raising questions about the ROD and Portsmouth’s suitability for on-site disposal. In particular, local governments have noted fractures in bedrock under the disposal site they say could enable seepage of contaminated material into the groundwater.
The DOE plan includes excavating and consolidating existing landfills and contamination plumes at Portsmouth. Soil from these landfills will be used for fill material at the disposal cell. The end result is only “400 acres will have perpetual care,” rather than the entire 1,200-acre site, Bradburne said.
The department hopes to release one tract of land to the Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative this year, Bradburne said: an 80-acre former landing strip not affected by site operations, according to his slide presentation.
Bradburne said a significant amount of site preparation and earth moving has already occurred on the disposal cell. Most of the soil excavation and infrastructure should be ready in fiscal 2019, which begins Oct. 1. The first waste emplacement could take place as early as fiscal 2021, he added. The facility could start taking demolition debris from the X-326 Process Building in that year. X-326 enriched uranium for the U.S. nuclear weapons program.
The Energy Department’s fiscal 2019 budget request includes $41 million for Portsmouth’s On-Site Waste Disposal Facility. That is up from the $39 million funding included in the final fiscal 2018 budget signed by President Donald Trump on March 23. The figures are outlined in the recently released DOE Office of Environmental Management budget justification package and the 2018 omnibus.
The department said it has accelerated the construction schedule to speed completion of the first three cells needed to take debris from the decommissioning and demolition of the 56-acre X-326 building.
In total, the 10-cell disposal facility will be comprised of three major components: infrastructure and support areas; the “waste placement proper” (including liners, covers, and leachate collection system); and the site-wide interim leachate treatment system.
Much of the design work has already been submitted to the Ohio EPA for review, DOE said in the budget