[Federal Register: January 21, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 13)]
[Notices]
[Page 2908-2909]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21ja04-38]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Certification of the Radiological Condition of the Chapman Valve
in Indian Orchard, MA
AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of certification.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) has completed remedial actions
to decontaminate the Chapman Valve site in Indian Orchard,
Massachusetts. This property formerly was found to contain quantities
of radioactive material from activities conducted for the Atomic Energy
Commission's (AEC) Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) during the mid-
1940s. Based on the analysis of all data collected, DOE has concluded
that the property is in compliance with DOE radiological
decontamination criteria and standards, and that no radiological
restrictions on the use of the property are required.
ADDRESSES: The certification docket is available at the following
locations:
U.S. Department of Energy, Public Reading Room, Room 1E-190, Forrestal
Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585;
U.S. Department of Energy, DOE Information Center, 475 Oak Ridge
Turnpike, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831; Springfield Museum and Library,
220 State Street, Springfield, Massachusetts 01103.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Donald Mackenzie, Health Physicist,
U.S. Department of Energy, Core Technical Group, EM-23/Cloverleaf
Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-2040.
Telephone Number: (301) 903-7426. Fax Number: (301) 903-2385.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. DOE, Oak Ridge Operations Office
(OR), Office of Environmental Management, has conducted remedial action
at the Chapman Valve site in Indian Orchard, Massachusetts, under the
Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). The objective
of the program is to identify and remediate, or otherwise control,
sites where residual radioactive contamination remains from activities
carried out under contract to the Manhattan Engineer District (MED)/
[[Page 2909]]
AEC during the early years of the nation's atomic energy program.
In October 1997, the Energy and Water Appropriations Act, 1998
transferred responsibility for management of the FUSRAP program to the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (U.S. ACE). Completion of the
certification process was delayed pending preparation of a Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) between the DOE and the U.S. ACE with regard to
completed, remediated sites such as the Chapman Valve property. The MOU
between the U.S. DOE and the U.S. ACE regarding Program Administration
and Execution of the FUSRAP program was signed by the parties in March
1999. Funding to proceed with the completion of DOE closure
documentation for several FUSRAP sites, including the Chapman Valve
site, was obtained from the U.S. ACE in late 2000. The closure
documentation for these sites will document the cleanup and inform the
public of their successful decontamination of radioactive
contamination.
The Chapman Valve site was formerly owned and operated by the
Chapman Valve Manufacturing Company. In 1948, the company set-aside
approximately one-third of an area known as Department 40 in the
western end of Building 23 for the machining of uranium rods for the
AEC's BNL. Segregation of the area from other parts of the facility was
achieved by installing a floor to ceiling wooden partition that was
more than 50 feet high. Special modifications to the facility included
building shields, quenching tanks, suction systems, cranes, and
ductwork. Uranium operations were terminated on November 8, 1948. After
the contract was completed, the company had in its possession over
27,000 pounds of metal scrap, oxides, and sweepings. This material was
identified for removal several months after contract completion.
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) personnel indicated in a
1991 survey report that the residual uranium contamination found at the
Chapman Valve site was typical of MED/AEC operations. This survey
indicated that the contamination was limited to the interior of the
segregated area within Department 40 and included floors, walls, and
overhead beams. Following a review of files, it was concluded there are
no indications that work with uranium metal was conducted at the site
after the AEC operations were terminated.
In November and December 1994, additional radiological surveys were
performed to supplement and refine survey information. Characterization
findings confirm the presence of contamination located predominantly in
the western end of Building 23. In addition to confirming the ORNL
survey results, these findings were in agreement with historical
process information obtained during interviews conducted with a former
Chapman Valve supervisor. Based on this characterization data, DOE
conducted remedial action at the Chapman Valve site from July to
September 1995.
Post-remedial action surveys conducted in 1995 have demonstrated,
and the DOE has certified, that the subject property is in compliance
with the DOE radiological decontamination criteria and standards in
effect at the conclusion of remedial action. These standards are
established to protect members of the general public and occupants of
the site, and to ensure that reasonably foreseeable future use of the
site will result in no radiological exposure above applicable
guidelines. Accordingly, this property is released from the FUSRAP
program. These findings are supported by the DOE's Certification Docket
for the Remedial Action Performed at the Chapman Valve site in Indian
Orchard, Massachusetts. The DOE makes no representation regarding the
condition of the site as a result of activities conducted subsequent to
DOE's post-remedial action surveys.
The Certification Docket will be available for review between 9
a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday (except Federal holidays), in
the DOE Public Reading Room located in 1E-190 of the Forrestal
Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC. Copies of the
Certification Docket will also be available in the DOE Public Reading
Room, U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge Operations Office, 200
Administration Road, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the Springfield Museum
and Library, 200 State Street, Springfield, Massachusetts.
The DOE, through the Acting Office Director, Core Technical Group
(EM-23), Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environmental Cleanup and
Acceleration (EM-20), the Assistant Secretary for the Office
Environmental Management (EM), has issued the following statement:
Statement of Certification: Chapman Valve Site in Indian Orchard,
Massachusetts
The DOE, the Oak Ridge Operations Office, the Office of
Environmental Management, the Oak Ridge Reservation, the Remediation
Management Group, and the U.S. DOE Office of Environmental Management
(EM), Core Technical Group (EM-23), has reviewed and analyzed the
radiological data obtained following remedial action at the Chapman
Valve site in Indian Orchard, Massachusetts, (Deed Book 2891, Page 53,
in the records of Hampden County, Massachusetts). Based on the analysis
of all data collected, including post-remedial action surveys, DOE
certifies that any residual contamination remaining onsite at the time
remedial actions were completed falls within DOE radiological
decontamination criteria and standards for use of the property without
radiological restrictions. This certification of compliance provides
assurance that reasonably foreseeable future use of the site will
result in no radiological exposure above DOE radiological criteria and
standards for protecting members of the general public and occupants of
the property.
Property owned by: The Crane Company, 100 First Stamford Place,
Stamford, Connecticut 06902.
Issued in Germantown, Maryland, on January 14, 2004.
Robert Goldsmith,
Director, Core Technical Group, Environmental Cleanup and Acceleration,
Office of Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. 04-1203 Filed 1-20-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P