A Jacobs Engineering subsidiary has secured the $350 million contract for remediation of the Parks Township, Pa., Shallow Land Disposal Area under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP), the Defense Department announced this week.
The cost-plus-fixed-free contract awarded to Jacobs Field Services North America covers “development of work plans, emergency response preparedness, environmental monitoring, excavation, waste characterization and segregation, waste evaluation, waste packaging, and transport and disposal of radiologically contaminated materials,” according to the Pentagon notice.
Cleanup at the 44-acre site about 23 miles from Pittsburgh will involve 21,300 cubic yards of soil, debris, and other radiological waste left from production in the 1960s of low-level radioactive materials, mainly as fuel for nuclear submarines and power plants, according to an Army Corps press release announcing the new contract.
The Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp. (NUMEC) handled disposal of the waste, and the affected area is now owned by BWX Technologies.
Removal of waste material is due to start in 2019, based on funding, weather, and the status of work plans, the Army Corps said. Cleanup, which was originally projected to cost about $45 million, is scheduled to be completed by March 30, 2027.
The Army Corps said its Pittsburgh District would first deliver a task order under which Jacobs would start developing site work plans with stakeholder agencies. “This process could take a year to accomplish and will detail safety protocol; site and security operations; material removal, storage and transport processes; staffing requirements; emergency response plans; and project oversight,” according to the press release.
The Pentagon said there were three other bidders for the project, which it did not identify.
Staff from the Army Corps Pittsburgh District will meet with the public from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, May 24, at the Parks Township Volunteer Fire Department Hall, 1119 Dalmation Drive in Vandergrift, Pa. Officials will provide information regarding air and water monitoring findings, the contract, project funding, and related topics.
FUSRAP cleans up sites contaminated by weapons and civilian energy programs run by the Manhattan Engineer District and Atomic Energy Commission from the 1940s to the 1960s. The commission was one of the predecessor agencies to the Energy Department, which retains responsibility for managing FUSRAP sites after they are cleaned up.
