The environmental liability of the Energy Department’s Office of Legacy Management is sure to increase from its recent $7.35 billion as it assumes responsibility for more remediated properties, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office.
Legacy Management conducts maintenance and surveillance following cleanup of radioactively contaminated sites by DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP), and private licensees for onetime uranium mills or other commercial operations.
As of October 2019, Legacy Management was responsible for an even 100 properties. It was expected as of last September to receive 52 more by 2050, according to an office document cited by the GAO.
“Since LM does not account for the environmental liability related to long-term surveillance and maintenance for a portion of its sites until it acquires them, LM officials could not tell us by how much its total environmental liability will increase as a result of acquiring these sites,” the report says. “However, officials said that some sites transitioning to LM in the future will be increasingly complex, which will likely mean increased long-term surveillance and maintenance costs.”
One official cited the contribution from incoming FUSRAP sites that are larger in size and have more leftover contamination than properties previously handed over to Legacy Management. That will require “more extensive and costly long-term surveillance and maintenance activities” by the DOE office, the official told the congressional auditor.
In its fiscal 2021 budget request, the Trump administration proposed shifting management of FUSRAP from the Army Corps to Legacy Management. Congress rejected that proposal in the current 2020 budget year.
Legacy Management has failed to plan for managing new remediation activities beyond its area of expertise and for evaluating and addressing the impact of climate change on its properties, the GAO said. Its report recommends the office take steps for increased protection of humans and the environment in those areas.
