Lab's first `Record of Decision' reached

The March 1996 signing of the first "record of decision" reached as part of the Superfund process at Brookhaven National Laboratory has set in motion the cleanup of the area around the Central Steam Facility near the center of the Lab. This record of decision, or ROD, documents the final selected remedy for the area.

This investigation was conducted under the administrative name of Operable Unit IV-Central Steam Facility, and is referred to as "OU IV." A "fast track" cleanup operation known as an interim soil removal action was conducted in 1994 as part of OU IV's remediation.

Removal actions seek to remove contamination sources as quickly as feasible in order to eliminate any potential threat to the public or environment.

Sometimes, however, a longer, more detailed investigation is conducted before final cleanup decisions are made, resulting in a ROD.

This ROD was signed by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the N.Y.S.. Department of Environmental Conservation, all of which oversee the Lab cleanup. The ROD included:

• identification of the extent of contamination and/or potential contamination
• assessment of health and environmental risks (Remedial Investigation/Risk Assessment Report
• evaluation of cleanup alternatives (Feasibility Study Report)
• description of regulatory and public comments on the proposed remedy (Proposed Remedial Action Plan) made at a December 1995 public meeting attended by approximately 100 community members, as well as other comments submitted during the comment period.

Included in the ROD are the public's comments and questions, and the responses to them (Responsiveness Summary).

The ROD documents several previous removal actions, including:

• excavation of a leaching pit
• removal of an underground fuel storage tank, piping and surrounding contaminated soils.

It also addresses:

• remaining soil and groundwater contamination from a 1977 oil/solvent spill
• soil contamination near one of the Central Steam Facility's fuel unloading areas
• radiologically contaminated soil surrounding the Reclamation Facility (used for cleaning radiologically contaminated clothing and heavy equipment).

The selected cleanup method involves using a combination of various treatment techniques to remove groundwater contaminants. As noted in the enclosed pull-out section of this cleanupdate, the cleanup is scheduled to start in April 1997, following the completion of the design of the system.

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