Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
9/11/2015
SUMMERLIN, Nev.–The Army Corps of Engineers anticipates issuing the Request for Proposal for the cleanup of the Shallow Land Disposal Area (SLDA) site in Armstrong County, Pa. sometime in early 2016, National FUSRAP Program Manager Nicki Fatherly said this week at the 2015 RadWaste Summit. The Corps had previously said it hoped to have the RFP out by the end of 2015, but delays with the amendment of the Record of Decision has pushed that date back. The contract award is now expected somewhere in mid to late 2016 time frame, Fatherly said.
“I can say that I do see the ROD amendment coming along this year,” Fatherly said. “I do feel confident we will see that happen. Once that happens, that will be contingent on when you see a RFP go out. Now, as to when we award and go to mobilization, you have seen me enough to know that is kind of just putting a spot on the wall. But, in general, I’m feeling optimistic.”
The SLDA site is one of the larger projects in the Corp’s Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). According to a recently released proposed Record of Decision, the cost of the cleanup has jumped to $350 million under an increased 46 month timeline after the government halted the project in 2011.
FUSRAP said it suspended the work then after the on-site contractor deviated from the Corps’ material-handling procedures and that a large amount of unanticipated complex material was found on site. A Nuclear Regulatory Commission Inspector General report from last year 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 on site.
