Engineering topics

Castillo, Darina

Publications and source records attributed to Castillo, Darina.

9 records

DOE OSTI2020

Middlesex South FUSRAP Site: Collaboration Towards Beneficial Reuse - 20338

The US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management (LM) manages DoE's post-closure responsibilities and ensures the future protection of human health and the environment with respect to sites that have no continuing DOE mission after undergoing remediation. LM's beneficial reuse program promotes the LM strategic goal to sustainably manage and optimize use of public lands. The beneficial reuse program aims to repurpose former contaminated sites to restore the environment, protect the public health, revitalize communities, and spur economic growth. Benefits from the reuse of a site may increase the local tax base, facilitate job growth, utilize existing infrastructure, and enhance or protect natural resources. Beneficial reuse also promotes protectiveness by ensuring activities are compatible with long-term maintenance and protection of public health and the environment, as well as by retaining good stewardship of natural resources. LM actively participates in promoting the economic development vision of the surrounding communities by collaborating with local communities to promote regional or municipal initiatives. The Borough of Middlesex, New Jersey, has prepared the Lincoln Boulevard Redevelopment Plan, which will reinvent a once-viable downtown and enhance the quality of life for the community. The Middlesex South, New Jersey, Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) site lies within the boundaries of this redevelopment area. In support of this development plan, the Borough is interested in acquiring the site for its Department of Public Works and to increase street access in the future commercial district to be built near adjacent properties. The opportunity to put the FUSRAP site into productive use aligns with LM's mission and strategic goals. In support of beneficial reuse activities, DOE can dispose of excess real property using several mechanisms. The two disposal options applicable to the Middlesex south site include (1) utilizing the US General Services Administration (GSA) or (2) using the Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations Section 770, 'Transfer of Real Property at Defense Nuclear Facilities for Economic Development' (known as a '770 transfer') process. Using the 770 transfer requires economic development as the primary driver, and a specific redevelopment proposal must be submitted. If there is no interest in specific economic development, the GSA option becomes the default mechanism for disposal of the property. In the case of the Middlesex south site, the 770 transfer process is being utilized and the Borough has submitted its economic development proposal to LM. Although LM is encouraged by the opportunity to put the site into productive use, the Middlesex south site is currently on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Priorities List and remediation is being performed by the US Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Consequently, any property transfer must meet the requirements under CERCLA Section 120(h), 'Property Transferred by Federal Agencies.' As the groundwater remedy will not be in place for several years, approval would be required from the US EPA administrator and the governor of the state of New Jersey to perform an early transfer of the site (before all response actions have been completed). The time frame for these approvals to occur under the normal process conflicts with the proposed redevelopment schedule; therefore, various options for expedited sale, transfer, or lease of portions of the site to the Borough were evaluated. The subsequent decision on a mutually beneficial path forward was the result of a collaborative effort between LM, USACE, the Borough and its redevelopment team, EPA, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2019

FUSRAP Data Management and Information Transitions - 19459

The Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) was created in the mid-1970's to clean up radiological contamination resulting from early development of nuclear weapons. The US Department of Energy (US DOE) was responsible for FUSRAP until October 1997, when Congress transferred administration and execution of FUSRAP site cleanup to the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Currently, the US DOE Office of Legacy Management (LM) determines the eligibility of a site for referral to USACE. USACE determines whether the site is included in FUSRAP for cleanup, conducts remedial actions, and transfers sites back to LM for long-term surveillance and maintenance (LTS and M). LM and USACE established the Data Management Working Group (DMWG) to (1) establish a common understanding of US DOE and USACE district-specific data, records practices, and requirements as they apply to FUSRAP programmatic documents for site transition and transfer; (2) establish methods to ensure accurate data transfer; and (3) develop a timeline for data and records transfer. These methods will ensure continuity of stewardship while transitioning from cleanup to LTS and M and beyond as more FUSRAP sites transfer from USACE to LM. The DMWG has met monthly and the meetings are attended by a wide range of LM and USACE project managers and subject matter experts. Discussion topics have addressed site records management, including data needs and uses; transfer and posting of Administrative Record and Permanent Record files for public accessibility; and management of legal and classified files. There have been a number of group successes, including the following: - Establishment of a common understanding of data and records practices and requirements as the sites transition and transfer from USACE to LM; - Development of effective lines of communication between USACE and LM concerning data management for transition; - Establishment of a cohesive approach to data management between the two agencies. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2019

Colonie, New York, FUSRAP Site: Pathway from Remediation to Redevelopment - 19465

The Colonie, New York, Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) Site consists of a 4.5-hectare (11.2-acre) US Department of Energy (DOE)-owned vacant property (Main Site) and 56 commercial and residential vicinity properties (VPs). The site was owned and operated by National Lead Industries (NL) from 1937 to 1984. The Main Site was used for manufacturing fuel and weapons components using uranium and thorium. Depleted uranium dust was emitted from exhaust stacks that contaminated the site and the VPs. NL also filled in portions of the site with industrial waste and released contaminants to groundwater. The state court shut the plant down in 1984. The site was acquired by DOE in 1985, which remediated the VPs and began to remediate the Main Site up to 1997. The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) undertook remedial actions beginning in 1997. The site has three Operable Units (Main Site, Groundwater, and VPs). The Main Site soil was remediated to residential standards except for three small easement areas. The soils in the easement areas are safe for exposure to workers. There is a groundwater plume beneath the site that will require the use of monitoring and temporary land use controls until cleanup standards are met. The VPs require no further action. A 2-year transition period from USACE to the DOE Office of Legacy Management (LM) began on June 18, 2018, with the receipt of the Site Closeout Report from USACE. LM has determined that the 4.5-hectare site is excess to its mission needs and intends to pursue sale of the property for redevelopment. There are several processes required before the disposal can occur. Organizations with similar sites that are federally owned and ready for private redevelopment may benefit from reviewing the Colonie site disposition processes. This paper will discuss (1) Determining disposal alternatives for the Colonie, New York, site. (2) Describing the federal requirements for the disposal of excess real property. (3) Communicating to stakeholders that the site is ready for disposal. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2017

Changes in Cleanup Strategies and Long-Term Monitoring Costs for DOE FUSRAP Sites - 17241

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management (LM) is responsible for the post-closure management of remediated DOE sites. LM's objective for Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) includes the long-term surveillance and maintenance (LTSM) of sites that have been remediated by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). FUSRAP was initiated in 1974 by the US Atomic Energy Commission, a predecessor agency of DOE. FUSRAP was managed by DOE from 1981 to 1997. Through a congressional act, the scope to remediate FUSRAP sites was transferred to USACE in 1997. By 1997, DOE had completed the cleanup of 25 of the 46 sites that were active within the program, and had begun cleanups at 13 additional sites. USACE assumed responsibility for the cleanup of the 21 remaining FUSRAP sites, and 8 additional sites that have been recommended for cleanup. Presently, LM provides long-term stewardship for 30 completed FUSRAP sites while USACE is actively remediating 23 sites. FUSRAP sites are typically privately-owned factories or research facilities. However, there are four DOE owned FUSRAP sites. These sites are Maywood and Middlesex in New Jersey, and Colonie and Niagara Falls in New York. In support of LM's Beneficial Reuse strategic mission, the site in Wayne, New Jersey has been transferred to a municipality and the site in New Brunswick, New Jersey has been sold. Historically, most sites in FUSRAP were remediated to 'unlimited exposure and unrestricted use' cleanup levels consistent with residential use. Some sites were remediated using supplemental limits due to inaccessible areas while remaining sites have been remediated to other-than residential standards based on site-specific long-term land use assumptions. Of the 31 completed FUSRAP sites under LM stewardship, one site requires land-use controls and no site requires groundwater monitoring. Over the next 10 years USACE plans to transfer 11 sites to LM. Several of these sites will have additional long-term monitoring requirements as per their Records of Decisions (RODs). These transitioning sites include the Colonie, New York site, the Maywood and Deepwater, New Jersey, sites and the St. Louis, Missouri site. The additional stewardship requirements will include groundwater monitoring, enforcement of institutional and engineered controls, and five-year reviews. In addition to these sites, more than 100 vicinity properties will also be transferred to LM for stewardship. Given the increase in long-term stewardship activities for these sites and their associated vicinity properties, initiatives are under way to incorporate the additional LTSM requirements into the program's out-year planning. LM will be evaluating several methods to customize LTSM cost and liability estimates for all of the completed FUSRAP sites, planning to address the sites not yet transferred and those that are in LM's custody. Where necessary, LM will use remedial process optimization techniques and evaluate monitored natural attenuation protocols to reduced long-term monitoring costs. Methods for identifying costs include the cost estimates provided in RODs, cost estimates refined during remediation, operation and maintenance costs provided by USACE prior to transition, and presumptive remedies using USACE and Environmental Management / LM historic costs at similar sites. On the basis of this evaluation, a strategy for estimating site-specific LTSM costs will be selected. (authors)

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DOE OSTI2017

Evaluation of Story Maps to Enhance Public Engagement and Communication at Legacy Management Sites - 17334

The US Department of Energy's Office of Legacy Management's (LM) mission is to fulfill the department's post-closure responsibilities and to ensure protection of human health and the environment. Accomplishing that mission currently requires managing 91 legacy sites across the country by performing efficient long-term surveillance and maintenance activities, preserving and making accessible historic site records, and identifying opportunities for beneficial reuse. Integral to the success of these activities is connecting and effectively communicating with the public, governments, and other interested parties. Relationships with such entities are so important that the Office of Legacy Management has elevated such engagement to one of its strategic goals for the next 10 years. Several public engagement efforts are currently supported, including stakeholder meetings, interpretive visitor centers, hard-copy documents, and Internet-based information sources. The tools available to communicate with the public via the Internet are continually improving, and LM proactively evaluates these tools to enhance public engagement. The use of ESRI Story Maps to effectively and more succinctly communicate LM's long-term surveillance and maintenance practices is one tool currently being evaluated. Story Maps can utilize multiple types of content to engage users through site narratives, illustrations of change over time, photos, videos, and embedded links to external sources of information. The ability to illustrate site complexities via graphics and geo-spatial data is particularly useful for staff as well as communicating to stakeholders. Staff with a variety of expertise and functions in the organization can be empowered to respond to stakeholder questions using this tool. In addition, Story Maps can be easily initiated and managed in real time by LM site managers, an efficiency that would be invaluable to them as immediate site communication needs arise. A series of test Story Maps for several sites were developed to explore the capabilities of the tool. The test Story Maps included pages that described site description and overview, historical conditions and use, cleanup conditions, current monitoring data if applicable, and institutional controls. Links to existing communications tools were also incorporated in Story Maps, such as existing web sites that currently store environmental reports and the Geo-spatial Environmental Mapping System (GEMS), where stakeholders can download monitoring data. As with any tool, many things must be taken into consideration, such as: 1) Can the current IT infrastructure support the tool? 2) What data quality protocols need to be established? 2) What resources will be needed to maintain this tool? 3) What type of information should be shared? 4) Who will be responsible for information updates? This paper explores potential approaches for developing and deploying this tool for the public. (authors)

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

DOE OSTI2017

Evaluation of Story Maps to Enhance Public Engagement and Communication at Legacy Management Sites – 17334

Story Maps are being used in both public and private sectors to convey information to stakeholders, create enterprise platforms, and assist in decision making. Story Maps are web applications that combine maps, narrative text, images, and multimedia content to provide information. These applications provide a user-friendly platform to share the remarkable history of our sites, the complexity of their contamination and remediation, successes we achieve in our LTS&M activities, and even the challenges we face as we aim to fulfill our mission.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2017

Changes in Cleanup Strategies and Long-Term Monitoring Costs for DOE FUSRAP Sites-17241

LM is preparing for the transfer of 11 new FUSRAP sites within the next 10 years from USACE, many of which will have substantially greater LTSM requirements than the current Completed sites. LM is analyzing the estimates for the level of effort required to monitor the new sites in order to make more customized and accurate predictions of future life cycle costs and environmental liabilities of these sites.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2016

Lessons Learned from FUSRAP

The US DOE Office of Legacy Management (LM) is the long-term steward for 90 sites remediated under numerous regulatory regimes including the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) sites. In addition, LM holds considerable historical information, gathered in the 1970s, to determine site eligibility for remediation under FUSRAP. To date, 29 FUSRAP sites are in LM’s inventory of sites for long-term surveillance and maintenance (LTS&M), and 25 are with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for remediation or in the process of being transitioned to LM. It is forecasted that 13 FUSRAP sites will transfer from the USACE to LM over the next 10 years; however, the timing of the transfers is strongly dependent upon federal funding of the ongoing remedial actions. Historically, FUSRAP sites were generally cleaned up for “unrestricted” industrial use or remediated to the “cleanup standards” at that time, and their use remained unchanged. Today, these sites as well as the adjacent properties are now changing or envisioned to have changes in land use, typically from industrial to commercial or residential uses. The implication of land-use change affects DOE’s LTS&M responsibility for the sites under LM stewardship as well as the planning for the additional sites scheduled to transition in time. Coinciding with land-use changes at or near FUSRAP sites is an increased community awareness of these sites. As property development increases near FUSRAP sites, the general public and interested stakeholders regularly inquire about the sufficiency of cleanups that impact their neighborhoods and communities. LM has used this experience to address a series of lessons learned to improve our program management in light of the changing conditions of our sites. We describe these lessons learned as (1) improved stakeholder relations, (2) enhanced LTS&M requirements for the sites, and (3) greater involvement in the transition process.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2016

Transition and Transfer of Remediated Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) Sites from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

The US Department of Energy (DOE) expects to receive the transfer of 10 FUSRAP Sites from the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) over the next 10 years; however, the timing of the transfers is highly dependent upon federal funding of the ongoing remedial actions. When remediation for each site is complete and the 2-year operations and maintenance period has concluded, each site will transfer from USACE to DOE for long-term surveillance and maintenance (LTS&M). US DOE’s Office of Legacy Management (LM) will accept program responsibility for these sites and conduct LTS&M activities required to maintain protectiveness, preserve site-specific knowledge, and retain the cleanup and stewardship records while keeping stakeholders informed. Since the last FUSRAP site transfer occurred in 2007, LM in coordination with USACE intends to establish a transition process to promote the seamless transfer of sites from the time when the first record of decision is signed to the completion of FUSRAP activities. The approach to transfer active FUSRAP sites to completed sites status has been historically outlined in foundational documents such as the 1999 Memorandum of Understanding and supporting letters of agreement between the two agencies. As more complex FUSRAP sites are completed, this transition process will provide a model between the two agencies to communicate future long-term care liabilities. Ultimately, the FUSRAP transition process is structured to acquire and preserve site knowledge and information necessary for protecting the environment and public health. As of 2015, LM has transitioned and accepted programmatic responsibility for over 90 sites. From LM’s perspective, successful transition of any site includes understanding the long-term environmental liabilities. LM uses site transition framework requirements from past transitions to develop site-specific transition plans. Site-specific transition plans are developed by LM in coordination with USACE and executed during the 2-year operations and maintenance period. An integrated project team of subject matter experts is assembled to address the conditions of the transitioning site; acquire a site records collection; evaluate site operations and final site conditions and associated risks; identify and contact stakeholders; and document the basis for site LTS&M requirements. While the majority of the transition activities are completed by LM, close coordination between US DOE LM and USACE throughout this process is essential for an effective and seamless transfer to assure that there is no lapse in site protectiveness.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗