Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have made significant progress in identifying cleanup options for the remaining groundwater contamination at the Laboratory site. These areas include off-site solvent groundwater contamination and the tritium plume from the High Flux Beam Reactor spent fuel pool.
BNL is now working with the regulatory agencies overseeing the Lab's cleanup to finalize these options. Once that occurs, BNL and DOE will seek public input on these options.
Community input on these options will be used in the selection of alternatives to be evaluated in a feasibility study. A draft proposed cleanup plan will then be submitted to the regulatory agencies overseeing the Lab's cleanup (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and N.Y.S. Department of Environmental Conservation) later this year. Once the plan is approved by the regulatory agencies, the public will be able to provide additional input and learn more about the proposed cleanup alternative.
While the Lab has already constructed and is currently operating four groundwater treatment systems (a fifth will be operational early next year), there are still several areas of on- and off-site groundwater that remain to be addressed. These areas contain solvents (also known as volatile organic compounds or VOCs), on- and off-site, and the radioactive elements tritium and strontium-90 (on-site) at levels above drinking water standards.
The VOC groundwater contamination originates from the central portion of the Lab site and extends to a point just south of Flower Hill Drive in North Shirley at a depths greater than 200 feet below the land surface. Tritium and strontium-90 have been found beneath the central portion of the Lab site.
BNL and DOE have been working on cleanup options that would meet three goals: meeting drinking water standards in groundwater, completing cleanup of the aquifer in a timely manner (Upper Glacial within 30 years), and limiting plume growth. The options range from relatively non-intrusive actions like continued monitoring and using natural degradation and decay to address the contamination, to more active treatment, which would involve installing on-and off-site cleanup systems.
BNL and DOE have identified a selection of options they believe are a good starting point for discussions with regulatory agencies and the general public. Over the next several months, BNL will be presenting these cleanup options to regulatory agencies and the public in an attempt to reach consensus on a cleanup plan.
The cleanup options include separate remedies for VOCs, tritium and strontium. Since most of the VOC options involve varying levels of treatment system construction in the neighborhoods south of the Lab, public input from these areas is important.
All options discusssed below also include extensive and ongoing groundwater monitoring.
Volatile organic compound cleanup options include:
1. Constructing and operating groundwater treatment systems in the residential neighborhoods of East Yaphank/North Shirley.
2. Constructing groundwater treatment systems in residential areas and at the leading edge of the plume (south of Flower Hill Drive).
3. Constructing groundwater treatment systems in an unpopulated area on North Street and at the leading edge of the plume (south of Flower Hill Drive).
Option one and two would necessitate the construction of one or more cleanup systems in residential neighborhoods. Differences between the three options include the number of systems constructed and the amount of time the cleanup will take.
On-site strontium-90 cleanup options include:
1. Construction of extraction and treatment systems to address the most concentrated strontium-90 areas on-site, including the Glass Holes, Pile Fan Sump and Waste Concentration Facility (see illustration).
2. Using in-place treatment technologies like permeable barriers to trap the strontium and hold it while it naturally decays.
3. Allowing residual strontium-90 in groundwater on-site to naturally decay, continuing groundwater monitoring to ensure drinking water standards are reached.
On-site tritium cleanup options include:
1. Installing a low-flow extraction system or carrying out a one-time extraction to address the higher concentrations of tritium at the front of the reactor.
2. Enhancing monitoring efforts and continuing operation of the current pump-and-recharge system.
3. Shutting down the current pump-and-recharge system and employing natural attenuation and monitoring to ensure drinking water standards are reached.
All of the strontium-90 and tritium options described above are intended to prevent contamination above the drinking water standard from moving off-site.
The final remedies chosen for the contamination could be any one or a combination of the above options, depending on the input received from the public and regulatory agencies like the EPA and DEC. No matter which option is eventually chosen, the Lab will continue its aggressive groundwater monitoring effort to ensure the remedy remains effective over time.
This fall, BNL and DOE will be holding a community workshop. Members
of the project team will be on hand to present information about the proposed
cleanup options and solicit feedback from the public.