Still Unclear When Treatment Facility Will Begin Processing Material
Mike Nartker
WC Monitor
1/9/2015
Idaho environmental regulators have begun penalizing the Department of Energy thousands of dollars per day for failing to empty underground tanks at the Idaho site of liquid radioactive waste, and it remains uncertain when the facility intended to process the waste will begin full operation. This week, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality issued DOE a notice of violation for failing to empty the three tanks by a Dec. 31, 2014, deadline. DOE now faces fines totaling $3,600 per day until the tanks are emptied, and the penalties are set to increase to a total of $6,000 per day beginning July 1. “Although DOE has had many years to complete this milestone, DOE has failed to initiate and complete treatment of the liquid wastes in the tanks or construct new tanks. Completion of this work is a priority of the Department, and further delays are of critical concern,” IDEQ said in a Jan. 6 letter to Richard Provencher, head of the DOE Idaho Operations Office.
DOE has now twice missed commitments for completing the processing of the remaining liquid waste at the Idaho site, having also missed an earlier 2012 deadline. DOE sought an extension for the 2014 deadline, but did not provide Idaho regulators with a new date by which the Department expects to complete the treatment of the liquid waste, according to Natalie Clough, Hazardous Waste Compliance Manager in IDEQ’s Waste Management and Remediation Division. Explaining IDEQ’s decision to penalize DOE for failing to meet the 2014 deadline, Clough told WC Monitor this week in a written response, “Because DEQ had already extended the deadline for emptying the tanks by two years, we carefully considered our available options to address schedules, consequences, and actions that will be necessary. We have been clear that meeting the treatment goals and emptying the tanks is a State of Idaho priority.”
Clough went on to say, “DEQ is concerned about DOE’s progress on removing the liquids from the tanks and processing them into solid form in a timely manner because liquid wastes pose a greater risk to human health and the environment. DEQ has taken into account the nature and volume of the liquids stored in the tanks, the age of the tanks, and the location of the tanks. The secondary containment for the tanks does not meet current regulatory standards.” DOE is currently reviewing the notice of violation, according to Danielle Miller, a spokeswoman for the DOE Idaho Operations Office.
Idaho Joins Growing List of States Taking Action Against DOE for Cleanup Delays
Idaho is the latest state to either threaten or take action against DOE for cleanup-related delays and challenges. The state of New Mexico last month levied a total of $54 million in fines against DOE for violations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, and has threatened that additional penalties could be forthcoming. Washington state is in the midst of a lawsuit against DOE for delays in completing the tank waste cleanup mission at Hanford, and has also threatened a second lawsuit against the Department over concerns that workers are not adequately protected against exposure to vapors from waste tanks at Hanford. The state of South Carolina has threatened to fine DOE up to $150 million for delays in completing the tank waste cleanup mission at the Savannah River Site.
DOE Office of Environmental Management spokeswoman Candice Trummell said in a written response late this week, “EM continues to make cleanup progress across the complex. There are a number of factors that have led to unplanned delays in cleanup at some EM sites, including technical challenges and a tight fiscal climate across the federal government. EM continues to work with its regulators to outline realistic and sustainable approaches to completing cleanup.”
Waste Facility Startup Beset With Technical Challenges
DOE’s Idaho site is home to four underground waste tanks still in service, three of which hold a total of approximately 900,000 gallons of material and a fourth kept empty to serve as a potential spare tank. To address the waste in the tanks, DOE and site cleanup contractor CH2M-WG Idaho have built and are working to get into operation a facility known as the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, which will convert the liquid waste into a dry material through a steam reforming process for disposal.
In the summer of 2012, startup of the IWTU was significantly disrupted by what has been described as a “pressure event” that occurred when the facility’s filters became clogged with carbon material during efforts to get it up to its operating temperature. As a result, the facility was shut down while DOE and CWI proceeded with a set of modifications, which were completed in the summer of 2013. Since then, DOE and CWI have been moving forward with testing and getting the IWTU into full operation, though over the past several months the facility experienced a number of technical issues that resulted in outages lasting weeks to months.
DOE’s Miller did not answer when asked this week when the IWTU is now expected to begin processing actual waste or when DOE expects to have all of the waste processing completed. According to Clough, though, DOE has indicated it would submit a “revised compliance schedule” by the end of the month. In December, the startup process for the IWTU moved into the final stages with the introduction of a waste simulant for testing. According to Clough, the first run of simulant testing is expected to be completed by the end of this week, after which the IWTU will go into an outage period to examine facility components and analyze the treated simulant. “Provided the testing continues to go well and there are no surprises during the outage, the information they are gathering should enable them to propose revised compliance schedules with a greater level of confidence. We look forward to receiving their updated schedule,” Clough said.
