Brookhaven Lab to Begin New Phase of Peconic River Cleanup

Contract Awarded for Environmental Remediation

February 23, 2004

UPTON, NY - The U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory has begun a new phase of cleanup of the Peconic River by awarding a contract to Envirocon, Inc., for environmental remediation of the river. The contract amount is $6.06 million, and cleanup work is expected to begin in March.

Initial work will involve removal, treatment and disposal of contaminated sediments in and around a portion of the river on the Brookhaven Lab site. If Envirocon completes the initial phase successfully, the contract has provisions for additional work to address contaminated sediments beyond the Laboratory border. The final scope of that additional work will be determined following public comment and approval by regulatory agencies.

Brookhaven Lab selected Envirocon from among a field of five applicants in a fair and open competition adhering to federal procurement guidelines. The Envirocon proposal was ranked highest for technical merit, at over 33 percent lower cost than the second-ranked proposal.

Background

Historical operations and disposal practices at the Laboratory resulted in the discharge of contaminants to the Peconic River. Elevated levels of mercury are present in sediments on and just downstream of the Laboratory property, and low levels of other heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides, and radionuclides are co-located with the mercury.

Envirocon is a highly regarded environmental remediation company that has a strong track record of completing cleanup projects in 32 states over the past 14 years. All phases of the project at Brookhaven will be closely overseen by Laboratory and Department of Energy personnel, along with representatives of the N.Y. State Department of Environmental Conservation and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, with input from the Suffolk County Department of Health Services. Confirmatory sampling will be conducted to ensure sediment removal is complete, and the site will be monitored for several years to ensure that the cleanup and restoration have been successful.

Envirocon will administer the cleanup contract from its office in Swedesboro, New Jersey. The contracted work is estimated to create approximately a dozen jobs. Because the work under the contract is covered by the Davis-Bacon Act, workers will receive prevailing wages for this geographical area, as determined by the federal Department of Labor for Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Brookhaven Lab continues to make progress in environmental remediation. In 2003, for example, Brookhaven's two largest local contract awards went to Long Island companies for groundwater cleanup, part of the $22 million worth of supplies and services the Laboratory purchased from Long Island businesses last year.

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