About the Environmental Restoration Division 

History of ERD

In 1990, Brookhaven National Laboratory established an Environmental Restoration Group to oversee the Laboratory's cleanup activities. Initial plans called for one part-time and three full-time employees. In 1991, this group became the Office of Environmental Restoration, later renamed the Environmental  Restoration Division (ERD) in 1998. Over 30 people now work in ERD, and the division gets additional support from other Laboratory groups such as the Environmental Services Division and the Radiological Controls Division.

Early ERD activities included a Historical Site Review and the preparation of an Area of Concern List, Schedules Document, Community Relations Plan, Site Baseline Report, and Response Strategy Document. The first formal public meeting for the Laboratory's environmental restoration program was held on site in September 1991. The meeting requested public comments on the BNL Site Specific Plan, the Community Relations Plan, and the Operable Unit IV RI/FS Work Plan. The first formal public meeting held off site was in April 1993 at Longwood Junior High School. The subject was the BNL Site Specific Plan. Information on environmental restoration activities was also provided. Many additional meetings have been held in the following years.

Since ERD's formation, a number of "removal actions" have taken place to clean up high-priority areas of the Laboratory (such as cesspools and three landfills). Many additional cleanup activities are planned over the next several years. More details are available in the Surface, Groundwater and Peconic River descriptions on this web site.

The Cleanup Process

Each step of the cleanup process is reviewed and approved by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), under a contract called the "Interagency Agreement." This agreement was formalized in 1992.

The BNL site currently has 29 "areas of concern" to be addressed through the Interagency Agreement. The areas of concern consist of active facilities, such as BNL's sewage treatment plant, and inactive facilities, such as three former landfills. The areas of concern were grouped and prioritized into "removal actions" and "operable units."

All Superfund sites are required to go through a remedial investigation and feasibility study prior to the decision process and actual cleanup. The first step, the remedial investigation, involves sampling and analysis to determine the nature and extent of contamination, as well as potential risks to human health and the environment.

For each operable unit, a feasibility study is conducted to analyze and evaluate cleanup alternatives. The next step is identifying a preferred remedy, which is outlined in a document called the proposed remedial action plan. The record of decision is the final step, describing the chosen remedy and documenting the decisions that led to the chosen remedial action. Once the record of decision is issued, the remedial design and construction take place and the final cleanup begins.

Throughout the process, the local community plays a key role in helping to shape the final remedial decision. Meetings are held to provide opportunities for the public to comment on cleanup plans, and fact sheets are distributed in order to provide important information.

BNL's Cleanup Status

The BNL site was initially divided into seven Operable Units (OUs), two of which were later combined to form OU II/VII. The remedial investigations and feasibility studies for all of these OUs have been completed, and proposed plans have been issued. Three OUs (OU I, III and IV) have approved "records of decision" and are currently undergoing cleanup. The OU VI "record of decision" is nearing approval. The Operable Unit II/VII areas of concern were transferred to Operable Unit I after the remedial investigation phase.

The remaining Operable Unit, OU V, had its proposed remedial action plan released in February 2000, and completed a 90-day public comment period in May. DOE and BNL are currently discussing the path forward for this OU.

We expect to have all soil cleanups completed, and all groundwater treatment systems in place and operational, by 2006.