SEN. CASEY CALLS FOR PROGRESS TOWARD ACTIVE REMEDIATION AT SLDA SITE

By ExchangeMonitor

Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) sent a letter yesterday to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy, and the Army Corps of Engineers imploring the government bodies to finalize the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that would allow the remediation of the Shallow Land Disposal Area (SLDA) in Armstrong County, Pa. to continue. Casey has been applying pressure to speed up the cleanup process, especially after a report from last month by the NRC Inspector General concluded that that the Corps’ Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program’s remediation plan for SLDA “grossly underestimates” how much radioactive material remains on site while a lack of documents inhibits the government’s ability to know exactly what is buried on site. “While you construct the MOU, I urge you to consider all possible contingencies. It is paramount that you finalize the MOU in an expeditious manner so that the project can move forward,” Casey wrote. “The residents of Armstrong County have waited long enough for remediation to resume at this site. I urge you to complete the MOU as quickly as practicable and devote sufficient resources to the remediation of the SLDA.”

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RadWaste Vol. 7 No. 16
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RadWaste & Materials Monitor

Article 7 of 9

May 29, 2014

SEN. CASEY CALLS FOR PROGRESS TOWARD ACTIVE REMEDIATION AT SLDA SITE

By ExchangeMonitor

Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
4/25/2014

Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) this week called on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy, and the Army Corps of Engineers to finalize a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that would allow the remediation of the Shallow Land Disposal Area (SLDA) site in Armstrong County, Pa. to continue. Casey has been applying pressure to speed up the cleanup process, especially after a report last month from the NRC Inspector General concluded that that the Corps’ remediation plan for the SLDA site “grossly underestimates” how much radioactive material remains on site while a lack of documents inhibits the government’s ability to know exactly what is buried on site. “While you construct the MOU, I urge you to consider all possible contingencies. It is paramount that you finalize the MOU in an expeditious manner so that the project can move forward,” Casey wrote in a letter to the three agencies. “The residents of Armstrong County have waited long enough for remediation to resume at this site. I urge you to complete the MOU as quickly as practicable and devote sufficient resources to the remediation of the SLDA.”

Casey, who publicly released the IG report, has been seeking answers about the government’s management of the site after the abrupt halt of the SLDA cleanup weeks after active remediation began in 2011. As reason for the suspension, the Corps said that the on-site contractor deviated from the Corps’ material-handling procedures and that a large amount of unanticipated complex material was found on site. “This report confirms an abysmal lack of records and raises serious concerns about the NRC’s oversight of the SLDA,” Casey said in a statement from last month. “The NRC should immediately provide an answer as to whether the government met its obligation to ensure appropriate decommissioning of the site. The safety of my constituents is my top priority here. I will both demand accountability and push the Administration to expedite the clean-up of this site.”

The three agencies did not have an immediate response to Casey’s letter. “As of [April 23], we had not yet received the letter,” Corps spokesperson Candy Walters said. “We are aware of it, we understand Senator Casey’s concerns, and Jo-Ellen Darcy, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, will be responding to the Senator.” Currently, the Corps is re-considering its remediation plan for SLDA and anticipates awarding a contract in August of this year to begin remediation in January of 2015, according to the FUSRAP website. DOE declined to comment, and the NRC did not respond to requests for comment this week.

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