Sept. 27, 2010
Former Huntington Atomic Weapons Site, Nearby Landfill Suspect for Follow Up Testing
Washington, D.C. DOE Official Opines Possible Waste Issues Require 21st Century Assessments
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – A Department of Energy Deputy Assistant Secretary and former US Environmental Protection award winner has opined that testing with 21st Century technology would address possible residual contamination concerns in Huntington, WV.
A then classified nickel and uranium processing and recycling plant existed in East Huntington from about 1951-1962, when it went to a cold standby mode. By 1978, the predecessor to the Department of Energy (Atomic Energy Commission) which leased the land determined that the building and its contents were contaminated with uranium, nickel and other “classified” chemicals.
Demolition workers used railroad cars and trucks to remove the debris and former contents from Huntington to a burial trench on the Portsmouth Diffusion Plant property in Piketon, Ohio. The 1979 burial included tools and machines used to demolish the plant.
When removed, the concrete slab of the Huntington’s former uranium processing plant remained in place.
ELEVATED GAMMA READINGS 1981
In 1981 over a year after other debris had been transported to Piketon, Ohio, the Oak Ridge Associated Universities asked that the Huntington site be tested for hot spots which had been found in surface soil and near a former elevator shaft in 1980. Elevated gamma readings were found in the compressor building and remain of the elevator shaft and radionuclide concentrations in subsurface soil. After the 1981 testing, the site was eventually released for unrestricted use.
That was nearly 20 -25 years ago. Technology has evolved. Environmental testing has increased. The site has qualified for the Atomic Workers Compensation program which pays $150,000 to former employees and/or their survivors who contracted cancer from working in the plant.
In addition, the site profile is being updated following an expert’s conclusion that contamination at the site when operational had been significantly under-estimated. (See: http://archives.huntingtonnews.net/local/100721-rutherford-localexposure.html )
MELTED SNOW AND CONCRETE PAD
When observing a presentation on the demolition of the Chemical Engineering Building (X-760) at Piketon , the power point slide highlighted that all building debris and waste shipments had been completed, that the slab had been demolished and packaged, that the removal of column footers and neutralization pit are a work in progress as soil characterization begins.
During interviews for this series on the former uranium and nickel processing /recycling plant, two concerns were repeated: (1) That snow does not accumulate on the concrete slab which was once the HPP processing plant floor , and (2) That HPP/RPP employees apparently trucked wastes to the landfill just off the INCO property, i.e. the Dietz Hollow Land Fill.
Since the 80s, none of the agencies have apparently tested land and water surrounding these sites for the presence of radioactive chemicals and minerals that were used at the then classified plant. Dr. Mark Gilbertson, Office of Environmental Management and Deputy Assistant Secretary Program and Site Management for the Department of Energy , told HNN Thursday evening in Piketon, Ohio, that removal of a structure’s concrete pad is now standard operating procedure.
“We remove contaminated parts of the building and MAY have to (remove the pad) if it presents concerns,” Dr. Gilbertson said.
As to why the snow is melting on the concrete slab at the former Huntington site Dr. Gilbertson conjectured that the snow melting circumstance “ I’m sure they [DOE] will have to look at it” for possible waste buried underneath.
Gilbertson previously spent four years with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency serving in his last year as director of EPA’s Hazardous Waste Ground-Water Force Investigation Activities. During his first three years with EPA, he worked with Resource Conservation and Recovery Act regulations , technical guidance and training in areas of corrective action, waste management and environmental monitoring.
OFF SITE LANDFILL
When asked about the off-site landfill (i.e. Dietz Hollow), Dr. Gilbertson explained that waste from atomic energy plants have been deposited in nearby landfills in other areas.
“We have done that at other sites,” he said referring to potential contaminated waste burial. “I assume it is a part of the cleanup process.” The Department of Energy deputy assistant secretary added, “There’s potential uranium contamination that might exist there.”
Gilbertson’s current Department of Energy position within the Office of Environmental Management in Washington, DC, is to “reduce the technical risk and uncertainty in the Department’s clean-up programs and projects,” according to his web page biography.
For HNN’s original story with documents on these 1980s tests, click: http://archives.huntingtonnews.net/local/100827-rutherford-localatomicweapons.html
(c) Copyright 2010 by Tony E. Rutherford and Huntingtonnews.net
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Former Huntington Atomic Weapons Site, Nearby Landfill Suspect for Follow Up Testing
Washington, D.C. DOE Official Opines Possible Waste Issues Require 21st Century Assessments
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – A Department of Energy Deputy Assistant Secretary and former US Environmental Protection award winner has opined that testing with 21st Century technology would address possible residual contamination concerns in Huntington, WV.
A then classified nickel and uranium processing and recycling plant existed in East Huntington from about 1951-1962, when it went to a cold standby mode. By 1978, the predecessor to the Department of Energy (Atomic Energy Commission) which leased the land determined that the building and its contents were contaminated with uranium, nickel and other “classified” chemicals.
Demolition workers used railroad cars and trucks to remove the debris and former contents from Huntington to a burial trench on the Portsmouth Diffusion Plant property in Piketon, Ohio. The 1979 burial included tools and machines used to demolish the plant.
When removed, the concrete slab of the Huntington’s former uranium processing plant remained in place.
ELEVATED GAMMA READINGS 1981
In 1981 over a year after other debris had been transported to Piketon, Ohio, the Oak Ridge Associated Universities asked that the Huntington site be tested for hot spots which had been found in surface soil and near a former elevator shaft in 1980. Elevated gamma readings were found in the compressor building and remain of the elevator shaft and radionuclide concentrations in subsurface soil. After the 1981 testing, the site was eventually released for unrestricted use.
That was nearly 20 -25 years ago. Technology has evolved. Environmental testing has increased. The site has qualified for the Atomic Workers Compensation program which pays $150,000 to former employees and/or their survivors who contracted cancer from working in the plant.
In addition, the site profile is being updated following an expert’s conclusion that contamination at the site when operational had been significantly under-estimated. (See: http://archives.huntingtonnews.net/local/100721-rutherford-localexposure.html )
MELTED SNOW AND CONCRETE PAD
When observing a presentation on the demolition of the Chemical Engineering Building (X-760) at Piketon , the power point slide highlighted that all building debris and waste shipments had been completed, that the slab had been demolished and packaged, that the removal of column footers and neutralization pit are a work in progress as soil characterization begins.
During interviews for this series on the former uranium and nickel processing /recycling plant, two concerns were repeated: (1) That snow does not accumulate on the concrete slab which was once the HPP processing plant floor , and (2) That HPP/RPP employees apparently trucked wastes to the landfill just off the INCO property, i.e. the Dietz Hollow Land Fill.
Since the 80s, none of the agencies have apparently tested land and water surrounding these sites for the presence of radioactive chemicals and minerals that were used at the then classified plant. Dr. Mark Gilbertson, Office of Environmental Management and Deputy Assistant Secretary Program and Site Management for the Department of Energy , told HNN Thursday evening in Piketon, Ohio, that removal of a structure’s concrete pad is now standard operating procedure.
“We remove contaminated parts of the building and MAY have to (remove the pad) if it presents concerns,” Dr. Gilbertson said.
As to why the snow is melting on the concrete slab at the former Huntington site Dr. Gilbertson conjectured that the snow melting circumstance “ I’m sure they [DOE] will have to look at it” for possible waste buried underneath.
Gilbertson previously spent four years with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency serving in his last year as director of EPA’s Hazardous Waste Ground-Water Force Investigation Activities. During his first three years with EPA, he worked with Resource Conservation and Recovery Act regulations , technical guidance and training in areas of corrective action, waste management and environmental monitoring.
OFF SITE LANDFILL
When asked about the off-site landfill (i.e. Dietz Hollow), Dr. Gilbertson explained that waste from atomic energy plants have been deposited in nearby landfills in other areas.
“We have done that at other sites,” he said referring to potential contaminated waste burial. “I assume it is a part of the cleanup process.” The Department of Energy deputy assistant secretary added, “There’s potential uranium contamination that might exist there.”
Gilbertson’s current Department of Energy position within the Office of Environmental Management in Washington, DC, is to “reduce the technical risk and uncertainty in the Department’s clean-up programs and projects,” according to his web page biography.
For HNN’s original story with documents on these 1980s tests, click: http://archives.huntingtonnews.net/local/100827-rutherford-localatomicweapons.html
(c) Copyright 2010 by Tony E. Rutherford and Huntingtonnews.net
Share This Story:
Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
