The Department of Energy has racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in new penalties from the state of Idaho over the failure to begin operation of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit (IWTU) at the Idaho National Laboratory.
The IWTU is intended to process 900,000 gallons of liquid sodium-bearing waste stored in underground tanks at the laboratory, but has not functioned correctly in testing since being largely completed in 2012.
Former contractor CH2M-WG Idaho paid $338,000 of an earlier penalty, with DOE resolving the remainder of the $648,000 with four “supplemental environmental projects.”
Under the current understanding between DOE and the state (set out in the Fifth Modification to the Notice of Noncompliance-Consent Order), the department agreed to begin treatment of the waste by Sept. 30, 2016. New penalties began to accrue after the deadline passed without operations beginning.
From Oct. 1 to March 30, Idaho fined DOE $3,600 per day for a total of $648,000. The department had until May 30 to submit payment or proposals for supplemental environmental projects that would satisfy the penalty, Natalie Creed, hazardous waste compliance manager at the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, told the Weapons Complex Morning Briefing on Friday. The state agency received a DOE proposal for seven SEPs on May 24, and is reviewing the offer, she said by email.
The state has been fining DOE at a rate of $6,000 per day since March 31, Creed said.
“It remains unclear at what point in the future DOE will be in compliance with the Fifth Modification and stop accruing penalties. The timing of subsequent notices for payment for stipulated penalties accruing from 3/31/17 will be determined at a later time,” she wrote. “DOE and its contractor, Fluor Idaho, LLC are working diligently to resolve the issues preventing the start-up of the IWTU. DOE has indicated the next surrogate run is expected to take place in approximately three to six months.”
The Dec. 31, 2018, deadline to close the waste tanks remains in force, Creed noted.
A DOE spokesman in Idaho last week referred questions regarding the IWTU to Office of Environmental management headquarters, which did not respond.
