Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
11/7/2014
A lack of an Environmental Impact Statement for the Army Corps of Engineers’ decommissioning of the Sturgis barge in Galveston, Texas, has the local city council up-in-arms over the Corps’ handling of the project. The Corps issued a contract to CB&I Federal Services earlier this year for the dismantlement of the MH-1A nuclear reactor currently installed on the barge after the vessel is towed down to Galveston for decommissioning. The Corps completed an Environmental Assessment as needed under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) guidelines, but the city of Galveston feels more needs to be done to protect its citizens’ quality of life. “On behalf of the City of Galveston, we hereby request that the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) regarding the Decommissioning and Dismantlement of the Sturgis and MH-1A be rescinded and that an Environmental Impact Statement be conducted to examine the full impacts of the above-referenced project on the environment, particularly Galveston, Texas,” Galveston Mayor James Yarbough wrote in an a letter dated Oct. 13. “The proposed action project, if conducted on Galveston Island, Texas, has the potential to harm the quality of life for the residents of the City and the numerous visitors to the Island. The current Environment Assessment does not adequately address those concerns.”
The Corps, for its part, maintains that its EA accurately concluded that there would be no threats. “Our analysis showed we followed the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),” Corps spokesperson Brenda Barber said in an email. “We prepared an Environmental Assessment that accurately concluded there would be no significant impacts to human health or the environment from the proposed decommissioning work. Therefore, it is our position that an EIS is not required. We are committed to continuing to address the council’s concerns and to keeping all channels of communication open. We share the council’s goal of keeping the community informed about the project and will continue to reassure people that the project will not pose a health hazard.”
City Wants ‘More Data’
The city, however, still feels that it needs more information. At its latest council meeting, the members voted 6-0 to order the city attorney to request data needed for its decision-making process about the ship, according to local reports. Should the Corps not provide the data, the city is ready to seek a legal injunction to stop the project, according local reports. In its letter to the Corps, city officials also threaten to tie the project up with permit requirements should the Corps ignore their request.
The Corps, however, will continue to communicate with city openly in an attempt to address its concerns. “At this point, we want to make sure we can continue to cooperate with the city council in Galveston, and we want to make sure we address their concerns and needs and continue to have very open communication with them so we can deliver a successful project in the Galveston area,” Barber said. “We want to continue to work with them. We want to go in and have a partner in the project. We don’t want to go in and be adversarial. We will be down there for an extended period of time, and we do need to be able to have a cooperative relationship with them.”
Timeline Delayed
Regardless of the argument over the EA, the outcry from the city has delayed the project timeline while the issues are sorted out, Barber said. The original timeline called for the barge to be towed down from Virginia this fall, but that date has been pushed back to early next year. “In our efforts to continue to cooperate with the city council, we have delayed the towing of the vessel until January 2015, which represents about a two to three month delay in the start of the decommissioning at this time,” Barber said. With the delay of the barge, the first waste shipment will also be pushed back to mid-2015. The Corps originally estimated it would take three years to complete the project, with a summer 2017 estimated project completion date.
