The Environmental Protection Agency said in a recent letter it has not agreed to change cleanup plans for Building 324 and the contaminated soil under it at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “does not concur on any activities towards placing the 324 Building in a cold, dark, and demolition-ready status” that differs from a 2013 record of decision (ROD), Anne McCartney, the remedial project manager for EPA’s Hanford office, said in the Aug. 22 letter.
“EPA is seeking clarification on the activities that DOE continues to perform at the 324 Building, as ongoing activities appear to be inconsistent with the 2013 ROD and could alter the schedules” laid out in the Tri-Party Agreement between EPA, DOE and the Washington state Department of Ecology, McCartney wrote to Mark French, a DOE deputy assistant manager at the Hanford Site.
Under the schedule, DOE must remove the contaminated soil by 2025 and take down the 324 Building by 2030.
In the letter, EPA said it is irritated at being left out of the loop after DOE and Amentum-led contractor Central Plateau Cleanup Co. suspended certain work at the 324 Building. The 324 site supported research into highly-radioactive materials at the former plutonium production complex between 1966 and 1996.
If DOE wants “to re-sequence remedial and removal activities and design a new remedial action for a soil excavation project which does not use the existing remote excavator arms and hot cells — a formal change to the ROD will be necessary,” according to the letter.
“This would include an opportunity for public comment, due to the significance of that change,” McCartney said. “To be clear, EPA has not agreed with changing the original remedy at this time.”
The proposed change could delay final cleanup of the building and its immediate environs by three years or more, Hanford Advisory Board members said during last week’s meeting.
Central Plateau Cleanup President John Eschenberg said last week he favors prepping the 324 Building for demolition down to the slab, and building a new “containment superstructure” before digging up the radiologically contaminated soil underneath. The building is less than 1,000 feet from the Columbia River.
It has become apparent recently there is much more contaminated soil than can be reached with the planned remote-controlled arms, Eschenberg told the Hanford Advisory Board Aug. 23. The building itself is in bad shape and the contractor will have a tough time stabilizing the structure, he added.
“The proposed four-phase approach is safer for workers, protective of the Columbia River, and effective in demolishing the 324 Building and remediating the soil beneath,” Eschenberg said. The building and the contaminated soil underneath are less than 1,000 feet from the Columbia River.
“Any potential future changes to the remedy would require tribal, stakeholder and public input,” an EPA spokesperson said by email Monday.
“We are working with DOE and EPA to assess the next steps,” a contractor spokesperson said Monday.
The Washington Ecology Department “defers to EPA on concerns regarding possible change of work at the 324 Building,” a state agency spokesperson said via email Friday. Much of Hanford is designated as a Superfund site under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.
