The Superfund process is a detailed, sometimes lengthy process through which cleanup generally comes one of two ways.
For contamination that could pose a threat to public health and/or the environment, a "removal action" is undertaken. This is a "fast track" cleanup where the contamination is dealt with as quickly as feasible. The goal is to eliminate the potential threat to public health and the environment. To date, Brookhaven National Laboratory has completed the capping of a landfill and the removal of above- and underground storage tanks using this "fast track" approach.
When contamination does not pose a threat to public health and the environment, a longer, more detailed investigation is conducted before cleanup decisions are made . This process culminates with a "record of decision."
(For a diagram explanation of the cleanup process, see "The Superfund Process" pullout in this issue.)
This ROD, as it is called, signifies that the parties that oversee the cleanup at BNL (U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation) have agreed on two major issues: The investigation is complete and the selected cleanup method is appropriate.
On March 25, the ROD for Operable Unit IV, the cleanup project around the Central Steam Facility, was signed by those three key parties. It is the first record of decision reached at BNL, and is a milestone for the Lab. Perhaps more importantly, though, the signing of this document represents a milestone for the community. The cleanup at the Lab is moving forward!
In the next cleanupdate, we will go into detail about the OU IV remediation. The ROD document has been available in public repositories since April 15.