[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 100 (Wednesday, May 22, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25656-25657]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-12825]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Floodplain Statement of Findings for Remedial Action at the
Ventron Site and Adjacent Harbor Sediment in Essex County,
Massachusetts
AGENCY: Former Sites Restoration Division, Department of Energy (DOE).
SUBJECT: Floodplain statement of findings.
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SUMMARY: This is a Floodplain Statement of Findings prepared in
accordance with 10 CFR Part 1022, Compliance with Floodplain/Wetlands
Environmental Review Requirements. DOE proposes to remediate sediment
and soil with elevated levels of uranium-238 from the 100-year
floodplain of the Bass and Danvers Rivers and from the floodplain
buffer zone adjacent to the 100-year floodplain at the Ventron site in
Essex County, Massachusetts. DOE prepared a Floodplain and Wetlands
Assessment describing the effects, alternatives, and measures designed
to avoid or minimize potential harm to or within the affected
floodplain. DOE would endeavor to allow 15 days of public review after
publication of the Statement of Findings before implementation of the
proposed action.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THIS PROPOSED ACTION OR TO COMMENT ON THE
ACTION, CONTACT: Mr. Jim Kopotic, Ventron Site Manager, Former Sites
Restoration Division, U.S. Department of Energy, P.O. Box 2001, Oak
Ridge, TN 37831-8541, Phone: (423) 576-4991, FAX: (423) 576-0956.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON GENERAL DOE FLOODPLAIN AND WETLANDS
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW REQUIREMENTS, CONTACT: Carol M. Borgstrom,
Director, Office of NEPA Oversight, EH-42, U.S. Department of Energy,
1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-4600 or
(800) 472-2756.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a Floodplain Statement of Findings
prepared in accordance with 10 CFR Part 1022. A Notice of Floodplain
and Wetland Involvement was published in the Federal Register (Vol. 61,
pp. 11621-11622) on March 21, 1996, and a Floodplain and Wetlands
Assessment was incorporated in the engineering evaluation and cost
analysis prepared for the Ventron site. DOE proposes to remediate
sediment and soil with elevated levels of uranium-238 that are located
in the 100-year floodplain of the Bass and Danvers Rivers and the 100-
yr floodplain buffer zone adjacent to the floodplain at the Ventron
site in Essex County, Massachusetts. The entire Ventron site is also
within the Massachusetts coastal zone. The proposed action would be in
a floodplain because levels of uranium-238 in some sediment and soil in
the floodplain at the site exceed guidelines for residual radioactivity
and future use without radiological restrictions of the site. DOE has
structured potential cleanup options by affected media: harbor
sediments and on-site soil and furnace ash. Alternative actions
considered for harbor sediments are no action or, complete removal of
harbor sediment with levels of uranium-238 over 50 pCi/g. Alternative
actions considered for on-site soil and furnace ash also include no
action or, complete removal of on-site soil and furnace ash with levels
of uranium-238 over 50 pCi/g. Access to sediment and soil may require
decontamination and demolition of structures at the site. There is no
practicable alternative to the proposed action. The proposed action
would conform to applicable state and local floodplain protection
standards.
The following steps would be taken to minimize potential harm to or
within the affected floodplain:
1. The design and performance of excavation activities would
incorporate standard best management practices in accordance with U.S.
Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service
(formerly the Soil Conservation Service) methods, or the equivalent, to
control erosion and siltation from excavations.
2. Remediation operations would confine the areas of sediment and
soil disturbance to the minimum necessary for successful completion of
the project.
3. Care would be exercised to provide minimum practicable exposure
of sediment and soil to erosion.
4. All erosion and sediment barriers would remain in place until
the excavation is successfully stabilized by applicable measures.
5. Disturbed sediment and soil in or adjacent to the floodplain,
waterways, wetlands, coastal zone, and areas subject to tidal action
and excavations would be stabilized or otherwise protected to prevent
off-site migration, as conditions warrant, in accordance with
Massachusetts soil erosion and sediment control standards or their
equivalent.
6. DOE would not dispose waste rubble, sediment, or soil in the
floodway or within the tidal zone. Waste mulch not serving to control
erosion or sediment would also not be disposed of in channels or on
waterway banks.
7. Remediation would not obstruct any streams or tidal areas and
all streams and tidal zones would retain their original capacity for
storing floodwaters. The proposed action would not impede flow or
increase flooding.
8. All areas excavated in or adjacent to the floodplain, wetlands,
the Massachusetts coastal zone, and areas subject to tidal action would
be restored to grade by the current owner, Morton International, as
required, and the proposed activities would not subject lives or
property to any increased risk of flooding.
9. DOE would not use areas within the floodplain for temporary or
permanent storage of excavated sediment, soil, or demolition rubble;
however, some areas within the floodplain and wetland buffer zone, and
the Massachusetts coastal zone may be used for temporary storage of
excavated materials with appropriate measures in place to properly
contain excavated materials.
10. The proposed action would conform to applicable state and local
floodplain, wetland, and coastal zone protection standards and would be
consistent with Massachusetts' coastal zone management policies.
11. The proposed action would not result in the destruction of any
floodplain or wetland and would be consistent with the President's
policy of ``no net loss'' of wetlands in the United States and
Executive Orders 11988 and 11990.
DOE will endeavor to allow 15 days of public review after
publication of the Statement of Findings before implementation of the
proposed action.
[[Page 25657]]
Issued in Oak Ridge, Tennessee on May 6, 1996.
James L. Elmore,
Alternate NEPA Compliance Officer.
[FR Doc. 96-12825 Filed 5-21-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P