FERNALD'S APPROVED TEN YEAR PLAN LESSONS LEARNED AND FUTURE CHALLENGES*

Dennis Carr and Terry Hagen
Fluor Daniel Fernald

Johnny Reising
USDOE-FEMP

ABSTRACT

The Fernald Environmental Management Project (FEMP) is unique among DOE sites by virtue of successful efforts by Fluor Daniel Fernald and DOE-Fernald in developing and implementing the first approved, stakeholder-assisted final site closure vision, and initiating field activities supporting the EPA-approved Record of Decisions for final site remediation. DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald have agreed in principle on a Ten Year Plan which accelerates all activities to remediate the site in approximately half of the target schedule, saving taxpayers more than $3 billion in the process. Key elements of the current Ten Year Plan are discussed; lessons learned from the development and initial implementation of the plan are presented, and expectations about future challenges DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald face are detailed. This information is directly applicable to other DOE sites and can be used to better achieve DOE's complex-wide vision for accelerated environmental restoration.

KEY ELEMENTS OF FERNALD'S TEN YEAR PLAN

Detailed planning by DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald has resulted in the development of a comprehensive plan that projects all of the major remedial activities that need to be accomplished in a time-phased, dollar-driven model. These activities encompass five "operable units" targeted for cleanup at the FEMP, including the Waste Pit Area (Operable Unit 1); Other Waste Units including flyash piles, lime sludge ponds, and excavation and disposal in an on-site disposal facility (Operable Unit 2); the Former Production Area (Operable Unit 3); Silos 1-4 (Operable Unit 4, which includes radium-bearing wastes stored in concrete silos); and Environmental Media including aquifer restoration (Operable Unit 5).

The overall cleanup strategy for the FEMP represents a balanced approach to waste management whereby slightly-contaminated soil and debris will be stored permanently in an engineered On-SiteDisposal Facility, while more highly contaminated wastes - such as those in the waste pits and silos - will be treated and shipped off site for safe and permanent disposal.

At the time the Ten Year Plan was completed, Fernald was projecting a 25-year remediation schedule and a cost of $5.8 billion from FY 96 to completion, in accordance with the targeted budgets at that time. The cost estimate for the Ten Year Plan is approximately $2.8 billion. Its shortened schedule and substantial cost savings made the plan an attractive proposal. Fernald is leading the DOE Complex as the first site of major consequence to complete the study phase and clear the way for final remediation. Successful implementation of the Ten Year Plan has set benchmarks and will pave the way for similar successes at other major DOE facilities.

The key indicators or performance measures for the remediation of the FEMP revolve around the Operable Units. The selected cleanup remedy for Operable Unit 1 calls for excavation, drying, and shipment of material from Fernald's Waste Pits to a permitted off-site disposal facility. Site preparation is currently underway. The first rail car of waste pit material is expected to be shipped in March of 1999 and shipments will continue through 2005. The selected remedy for Operable Unit 2 calls for building of an on-site disposal facility, which will contain about 2.5 million cubic yards of FEMP waste, with the first waste placement scheduled for March 1998. Final waste placement is expected by 2005. The selected remedy for Operable Unit 3 calls for the decontaminating and dismantlement (D&D) of 17 site complexes and the two remediation facilities. All facilities except the water treatment plant will be taken down. Plant 7 and Plant 4 -- two of the largest structures on site -- already have been imploded. Plant 1 is expected to be imploded in late February 1997, weather permitting. D&D activities in the former production area will continue through 2005. The selected remedy for Operable Unit 4 calls for vitrification of material from Silos 1-4 at Fernald. Currently this plan is being re-evaluated due to problems associated with the Vitrification Pilot Plant, a test project at the site. Vitrification remains the leading option for Operable Unit 4 and, if vitrification is implemented, it is expected to be completed by 2008. The selected remedy for Operable Unit 5 calls for restoration of the aquifer by extracting and treating contaminated groundwater and reinjecting the aquifer with treated, clean water. Field activities are underway and completion is expected by 2005.

SUCCESSES AND LESSONS LEARNED DURING TEN YEAR PLAN DEVELOPMENT

Clearly, difficult decisions and some concessions had to be made due to cost and time considerations during the Ten Year Plan development stages. The key to DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald's success during the development stage was the constant interaction between all the key players. Together, DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald selected remedies and worked on a skeleton of the Ten Year Plan schedule. A lot of up-front meetings and detailed planning took place between DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald and when conceptual consensus had been reached, DOE presented the plan to key stakeholder groups including the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), Ohio EPA, and FEMP stakeholders including the Fernald Citizens Task Force and the citizens group Fernald Residents for Environmental Safety and Health (FRESH). The Ohio Congressmen and Senators also supported the adoption of the Ten Year Plan. Public involvement was an important component during the development of Fernald's Ten Year Plan and will be even more critical as the cleanup progresses.

Setting the "blueprint" to move forward with the Ten Year Plan was extremely complex due to the various projects that overlap at Fernald. Constant attention went into the development of one, integrated master schedule for the remediation of numerous different projects located within the 1,050-acre FEMP site.

SUCCESSES AND LESSONS LEARNED DURING INITIAL IMPLEMENTATION OF TEN YEAR PLAN

First Year Successes

Significant accomplishments were made at the FEMP during the initial implementation of the Ten Year Plan. These accomplishments continue to reinforce the site's reputation as a model for the safe, efficient, and effective cleanup of DOE sites. Examples of these accomplishments include Fluor Daniel Fernald's steps to reorganize the company by setting up project organizations that plan and execute remedial activities simultaneously. Many factors went into the decision to "projectize" Fluor Daniel Fernald, but the main reason was to better position the company to implement the Ten Year Plan. The "projectized" structure gives more responsibility to individual project managers, and allows multiple cleanup activities to proceed simultaneously and independently. Of course, oversight mechanisms are in place to ensure regulatory compliance in all jobs.

"On-the-ground" results were achieved during the initial implementation of the Ten Year Plan including the initiation of the thorium overpacking project, which consists of placing deteriorated drums that contain radioactive waste into new, larger drums. Approximately 5,600 drums of thorium are being overpacked by a remote control forklift and transported to secure, secondary containment boxes for safe off-site disposal. Also, Fluor Daniel Fernald has dramatically accelerated the off-site shipment of "legacy waste" materials and to date has safely disposed of more than 1.8 million cubic feet of these wastes --more than any other DOE site undergoing remediation. Over the past three years, the two largest former production facilities, Plant 7 and Plant 4 have been imploded at the site. Plant 7 was imploded in September 1994; Plant 4 came down in the same manner in August 1996. Both of these facilities were imploded by Controlled Demolition Inc. (CDI) using linear-shaped explosive charges. Safety and economy were key criteria in selecting implosion as the final dismantlement method. These are just a few of numerous accomplishments that were achieved during the initial implementation of the Ten Year Plan.

Innovation and Productivity

DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald also have jointly developed the Ten Year Plan to expedite the FEMP cleanup and significantly reduce or eliminate costs associated with overhead, landlord activities and building maintenance. Fluor Daniel Fernald's performance-based contract with the DOE has been further modified to give the company incentives to produce more "on-the-ground" remediation results. This is an effort to spend as little money as possible supplying heat, electricity and maintenance support for buildings targeted for demolition and shift the money to actual remediation work.

Some of the other productivity enhancements, technology innovations and cost savings that have been implemented at Fernald include: a remote-controlled forklift truck exclusively for use in handling about 5,000 deteriorated drums of thorium waste; a remote-controlled lawnmower to control vegetation in contaminated areas; an in-tank robot for the remote retrieval of radium-bearing wastes in above-ground silos; new drilling technology; an alternative remedial action subcontracting approach for the waste pits project to lower capital and overall project costs; and streamlining documents for Operable Unit 3 to avoid nearly $1 million in costs. These productivity enhancements and technology innovations will enable us to achieve cleanup activities more effectively at a lesser cost, saving time, money and enhancing safe performance. Additional technology innovations, productivity enhancements and cost saving opportunities will continue to be aggressively pursued.

Performance-based Fee

The FEMP was among the first sites to adopt the contract reform principles of performance-based fee contracting. In this concept, the basic objectives are set for each six-month period in alignment with the Ten Year Plan. They include hard milestones linked to key deliverables where quality and safe work are required to maintain the schedule, and soft objectives are set to measure progress on procurement, safety, stakeholder involvement and other measures. By aligning both DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald personnel to the performance-based fee plan, a win-win situation is produced. The DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald agree on project priorities for each six-month performance period, which can be easily tracked and measured by DOE. Both DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald benefit if excellent performance is achieved in accordance with the performance-based fee plan. The use of performance-based fee measures will keep the Ten Year Plan in focus as a high priority for all parties.

FUTURE CHALLENGES

Technical Challenges

The mission to remediate the FEMP is unique due to the size and scope of this project and there are several technical challenges that remain in the critical path forward. For example, the Vitrification Pilot Plant is a test project at the FEMP designed to operate at approximately one ton per day, and was built to provide actual site-specific data for the design, construction and operation of final remediation facilities. As previously mentioned, this technical challenge is being re-evaluated to ensure it is the most effective cleanup remedy for the remediation of the silos at the site. An Independent Review Team (IRT), a group of technical experts assembled to serve as an advisory group and technical resource for the Silos Project, has been meeting on a regular basis. The IRT will be providing recommendations to DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald to aid in the decision-making process. Overall, the IRT recommendations will assist DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald with the decision of whether to formally re-evaluate the selected remedy for remediation of the silos at Fernald. It is not expected that the IRT will provide a sole recommendation for a single alternative, but instead will deliver evaluation and advice based on their experiences for each alternative as an aid to our path forward evaluation. Despite the fact that cleanup remedies have been approved by regulators for the Fernald cleanup, DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald are constantly evaluating areas of improvement.

Uncertain Funding

A potential roadblock to the Ten Year Plan of the FEMP remains the uncertainty of federal funding. The DOE's annual budget, including the amount requested for the FEMP cleanup, is subject to Congressional approval each year. Under these circumstances, it is crucial that DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald continue to reevaluate the Ten Year Plan and be flexible in replanning activities based on the day-to-day realignment of schedules due to the uncertain funding. Because federal money is appropriated year by year, there's no guarantee that the required level of funding will be approved every year.

If the FEMP receives less money than anticipated, planned work activities will be scaled back. However, the DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald will continue to work with a broad range of stakeholders to overcome shortfalls and technical challenges as they occur. Fluor Daniel Fernald is constantly working with DOE to develop new strategies and replan those strategies that exist in order to prepare for various anticipated funding scenarios.

Regulator and Stakeholder Involvement

Involving members of the public and FEMP personnel in the decision-making process is essential to the success of DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald. Numerous stakeholders have been involved in helping DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald develop and implement the Ten Year Plan. It is DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald's goal to work even closer with regulators and stakeholders during the decision-making process and not lose the day-to-day interface with all interested groups.

Specifically, the Fernald Citizens Task Force represents the public and serves as an advisory board to DOE. The task force has recommended significant solutions to critical cleanup issues pertaining to the FEMP cleanup. For example, the task force established remediation levels that protect the aquifer and provide consistent and permanent protection of human health. Achieving "background-level" conditions, that is, restoration to a completely uncontaminated state, would require surface soil excavation for five miles surrounding the site, which the task force rejected because of high cost. The task force's recommendation on cleanup levels reduces the overall cleanup costs by approximately $1.3 billion, while cleaning up the site so it can be used for industrial or other purposes excluding residential or farming. The task force also concurred with existing DOE/EPA decisions to dispose of the most highly-contaminated wastes off site and recommended construction of an on-site disposal facility to accept slightly-contaminated materials from the Fernald site only. This strategy reduces the overall cleanup cost by an additional $850 million for a total cost savings of $2.15 billion. The task force's recommendations to the DOE provide the basis for significant cost savings under the Ten Year Plan. The task force's recommendations have been accepted and embraced by the DOE and both U.S. and Ohio EPA.

FEMP employees, which DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald refer to as team members, are also considered to be key stakeholders. Several successes have been accomplished at Fernald -- some of which mark first time successes within the DOE complex -- due to the hard work, dedication, and teamwork of all FEMP team members. These successes have led to Fernald representing the DOE weapons complex as an environmental restoration model.

DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald are committed to continuous improvements in our efforts to foster an environment of openness and cooperation with regulators and stakeholders. This level of teamwork is critical in order for DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald to be successful in accomplishing the challenges that lie ahead at the site.

CONCLUSION

The FEMP will continue to proceed at an accelerated pace of remediation while maintaining schedule and overall project flexibility due to budget uncertainties. Performance measures have been selected to monitor progress, and changes in project structure, organization, and requirements have been implemented as necessary to allow the Ten Year Plan to succeed.

As cleanup proceeds the DOE and Fluor Daniel Fernald will continue to share the lessons learned from Fernald's Ten Year Plan with other DOE sites. As a result, all facilities within the DOE's Weapons Complex can be better positioned to achieve the complex-wide Ten Year Vision.

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Legal Disclaimer

This technical information was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions or authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof, or Fluor Daniel Fernald, its affiliates or its parent companies.

*FDF with the U.S. Department of Energy, under Contract No. DE-AC24-920R21972