Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
10/16/2015
The Army Corps of Engineers anticipates issuing the request for proposals for the cleanup of the Shallow Land Disposal Area (SLDA) site in Armstrong County, Pa., no later than Dec. 3, 2015, according to a notice posted on FedBizOpps late last week. Army Corps National FUSRAP Program Manager Nicki Fatherly said last month that the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program expected the RFP release in early 2016, but this pre-solicitation notice moves the release back to the Corps’ originally anticipated end-of-2015 date. Proposals would then be due by Jan. 19, 2016, according to the notice.
The SLDA site is one of the larger FUSRAP projects. The cost of the cleanup has jumped to $350 million under an increased 46-month timeline after the government halted the project in 2011, according to a recently released proposed record of decision. The previous cost estimate pegged the cleanup at $45.5 million over a 26 month timeframe.
FUSRAP said it suspended the work then after the on-site contractor deviated from the Corps’ material-handling procedures and a large amount of unanticipated complex material was found on-site. A 2014 Nuclear Regulatory Commission Inspector General’s Office report revealed that the Corps’ remediation plan for the SLDA site “grossly underestimates” how much radioactive material remains on site, while a lack of documents inhibits the government’s ability to know exactly what is buried there.
The contract award is now expected somewhere in mid-to -late 2016, Fatherly said last month.
