Patrick Griffin
Bechtel National, Inc.

Several sites in the Buffalo District are being remediated under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). Cleanup progress during 1997 included remediation of buildings at the former Linde Air Products facility in Tonawanda (currently owned by Praxair, Inc.); characterization at the Painesville, Ohio, site; and start of field characterization at the Luckey, Ohio, site. Plans for 1998 at FUSRAP sites in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Buffalo District include completing building remediation at Linde and the government-owned Niagara Falls Storage Site, conducting remedial action at sites in Tonawanda, completing characterization at the Luckey site, and completing remedial action at the Painesville site. This progress report highlights cost savings achieved through the use of cost-effective cleanup/disposal approaches, new treatment technologies to reduce waste volume requiring disposal, and cleanup criteria that are protective, consistent with intended land use. Topics discussed include (1) innovative methods used to minimize waste volumes generated during site cleanup; (2) planned remediation of contaminated soils at the Ashland 2 site in Tonawanda;

(3) decontamination activities at Linde Building 14, including delineation and decontamination of interior concrete and steel surfaces, equipment, drains, and trenches; (4) use of supplemental criteria to minimize extensive, costly decontamination in selected areas; (5) planned demolition of Linde Building 30; (6) planned decontamination of Buildings 401 and 403 at the Niagara Falls Storage Site; (7) options for addressing long-term disposition of K-65 residues and other high-activity residues within the engineered waste containment structure at the Niagara Falls Storage Site; (8) innovative methods used in site characterization at the Painesville and Luckey sites; and (9) planned remedial action at Painesville.

High efficiency and significant cost savings have been achieved in the cleanup of Buffalo District sites managed under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) during the last few years. These advances have been made largely through the application of innovative cleanup technologies and disposal methods. Formerly a Department of Energy (DOE) program, FUSRAP is now managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

Several activities contribute to the cleanup progress at the former Linde Air Products facility (currently owned by Praxair, Inc.; see Figure 1) in Tonawanda, New York. Under contract with the Manhattan Engineer District, Linde Air Products processed uranium in several buildings. Building 14 was a uranium separation facility; Building 30 was used to convert uranium ore to uranium dioxide; Buildings 31 and 37 supported uranium separation operations; and Building 38 was used to convert uranium dioxide to uranium tetrafluoride.

The highlight of recent work at the Linde Site is removal of approximately 2,295 cubic meters of soil and debris contaminated with low levels of radionuclides, primarily uranium-238, radium-226, and thorium-230. Shipment of the soil and debris stored in Building 30 to a licensed commercial disposal facility was completed in 1997.

Other cleanup activities at the site (see Figure 2) include

• decontaminating and demolishing Building 38 in 1996, including asbestos and lead abatement activities, and disposing of the radioactively contaminated debris;
• decontaminating Building 31, which was released for use in June 1997; and
• decontaminating Building 14, with remaining work scheduled for completion in 1998.

Also planned for 1998 are decontamination and demolition of Building 30; the contaminated rubble will be shipped to a licensed disposal facility.

In 1943, the Manhattan Engineer District leased the Ashland 1 site in Tonawanda, New York. From 1944 to 1946, the property was used as a disposal area for domestic ore residues from operations at the Linde Site. In 1949, the property was assigned to the General Services Administration. In 1958, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) released the property, and the Ashland Oil Company bought it two years later. In 1974, when Ashland Oil installed two underground storage tanks, contaminated soils were placed on the Ashland 2 and Seaway sites. Primary contaminants at the sites are low levels of uranium-238, radium-226, and thorium-230.

A Proposed Plan for the Ashland 1 (including Seaway Area D) and Ashland 2 sites was issued November 10, 1997, for a 60-day public comment period. The preferred remedy is complete excavation and offsite disposal of contaminated materials that exceed the guideline of 40 pCi/g of thorium-230. Once a Record of Decision is achieved, work will proceed on implementing the selected remedy.

The Niagara Falls Storage Site in Lewiston, New York, is part of the former Lake Ontario Ordnance Works. Belgian Congo ore residues from Linde Air Products and Mallinckrodt Chemical Works in St. Louis were received at the site. The site was used as a depot for Manhattan Engineer District operations throughout the Northeast.

To minimize risk while a cleanup remedy was developed, all but two of the former facilities were demolished, and about 191,250 cubic meters of rubble and radioactively contaminated soils was placed in a waste containment structure. Thirty of 33 vicinity properties have been remediated as well. Work planned for fiscal year 1998 includes decontaminating Buildings 401 and 403. A small amount of surplus chemicals was also disposed of.

In 1942, a magnesium processing facility was built at the Luckey, Ohio, site on U.S. government land and operated for the government by National Lead until 1945. In 1949, AEC built a beryllium production facility at the site to produce beryllium pebbles, which were shipped to other sites for further processing. In 1951, AEC shipped about 900 metric tons of radioactively contaminated scrap metal to the site, where magnesium processing resumed. The scrap metal, which contained radioactivity within guidelines at that time, was stored at the site. The General Services Administration sold the site in 1961, and the property has changed hands several times since; the current owner is Hayes Wheel Inc.

Beryllium contamination and small amounts of radium and uranium have been identified in surveys by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the Ohio Department of Health, and DOE. A more detailed study of site environmental conditions is in progress, and the characterization data will be used to design the cleanup plan.

In the early 1940s, the Defense Plant Corporation constructed a magnesium production facility on property owned by the Diamond Magnesium Company in Painesville, Ohio. In 1952 and 1953, Diamond Magnesium received about 1,300 metric tons of radioactively contaminated scrap steel from the Lake Ontario Ordnance Works. This steel was used to control chlorine emissions during the magnesium production process. In the early 1960s, the General Services Administration sold the Diamond Magnesium facility. The current owners are Uniroyal Chemical Company, Inc. and LONZA Inc.

Preliminary radiological surveys of the site conducted by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1988 and 1990 revealed significant areas of elevated radionuclide concentrations in soils. The soils contain low levels of residual uranium, radium and thorium and possibly a limited amount of mixed waste. A full-scale radiological characterization was conducted in 1996 and 1997 to generate detailed data about the nature, location, and extent of contamination, and an Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis has been prepared and is expected to be released for public comment in early 1998.