[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 29, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4273-4274]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-2172]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Certification of the Radiological Condition of the General Motors 
Site in Adrian, Michigan

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of certification.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) has completed remedial actions 
to decontaminate the General Motors site in Adrian, Michigan. Formerly, 
the property was found to contain quantities of residual radioactive 
material resulting from activities conducted by DOE's predecessors at 
the former Bridgeport Brass Specialty Metals Plant. Radiological 
surveys show that the property now meets applicable requirements for 
radiologically unrestricted use, and the certification docket is now 
available.

ADDRESSES: The certification docket is available at the following 
locations:

Public Reading Room, Room 1E-190, Forrestal Building, U.S. Department 
of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20585;
Public Document Room, Oak Ridge Operations Office, U.S. Department of 
Energy, 200 Administration Road, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831;

[[Page 4274]]

Adrian Public Library, 143 East Maumee Street, Adrian, Michigan 49221.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William E. Murphie, Acting Director, 
Office of Eastern Area Programs, Office of Environmental Restoration 
(EM-42), U.S. Department of Energy 19901 Germantown Road (Cloverleaf 
Building), Germantown, Maryland 20874-1290, (301) 903-2328, Fax: (301) 
903-2385.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Energy (DOE), Office of 
Environmental Management, has conducted remedial action at the General 
Motors site, formerly the Bridgeport Brass Specialty Metals Plant, 
under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). The 
objective of the program is to identify and remediate or otherwise 
control sites where residual radioactive contamination remains from 
activities carried out under contract to the Manhattan Engineer 
District/Atomic Energy Commission (MED/AEC) during the early years of 
the nation's atomic energy program. During the 1950s, the Bridgeport 
Brass Company operated a Special Metals Extrusion Plant at the site in 
Adrian, Michigan, under contract AT-(30-1)-1405 with the AEC. The plant 
was operated to extrude uranium metal, which was used to make reactor 
fuel elements for AEC nuclear reactors at the Hanford site in 
Washington and the Savannah River site in South Carolina. In July 1988, 
the former Bridgeport Brass Specialty Metals Plant, now called the 
General Motors site, was designated for cleanup under FUSRAP.
    At the completion of work by the Bridgeport Brass Company, one 
large extrusion press was shipped to Reactive Metals, Inc., in 
Ashtabula, Ohio, and put into operation there. All other equipment was 
dismantled and scrapped; its final disposition is unknown. The Adrian, 
Michigan, plant was eventually sold to Martin Marietta in the early 
1960s and then to General Motors, Inland Fisher Guide Division, in 
1974. No records exist from 1961 until 1976 to document residual 
radioactive contamination levels on the floor, walls, fixtures, and 
structural members of the building or the interim decontamination 
efforts performed. However, in subsequent surveys, residual uranium 
contamination in excess of applicable standards was found, and further 
cleanup of the site was determined to be warranted. DOE conducted 
remedial action at the site from April to July 1995.
    Post-remedial action surveys have demonstrated, and DOE has 
certified, that the subject property is in compliance with the 
Department's radiological decontamination criteria and standards. The 
standards are established to protect members of the general public and 
occupants of the property and to ensure that future use of the property 
will result in no radiological exposure above applicable guidelines. 
These findings are supported by the Department's ``Certification Docket 
for the Remedial Action Performed at the General Motors Site, Adrian, 
Michigan.'' Accordingly, this property is released from FUSRAP.
    The certification docket will be available for review between 9:00 
a.m.-4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday (except Federal holidays) in the 
Department's Public Reading Room located in Room 1E-190 of the 
Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 
20585. Copies of the certification docket will also be available in the 
DOE Public Document Room, U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge 
Operations Office, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 37831 and at the Adrian Public 
Library, 143 East Maumee Street, Adrian, Michigan, 49221.
    DOE, through the Oak Ridge Operations Office, Former Sites 
Restoration Division, has issued the following statement:

Statement of Certification: General Motors Site in Adrian, Michigan

    The Department of Energy (DOE), Oak Ridge Operations Office, Former 
Sites Restoration Division, has reviewed and analyzed the radiological 
data obtained following remedial action at the General Motors site 
(Property XAO-100-0152-00, Liber 788, Page 688 in the records of the 
County of Lenawee). Based on analysis of all data collected, including 
post-remedial action surveys, DOE certifies that any residual 
contamination which remains onsite falls within current guidelines for 
use without radiological restrictions. This certification of compliance 
provides assurance that reasonably foreseeable future use of the 
property will result in no radiological exposure above current 
radiological guidelines established to protect members of the general 
public as well as occupants of the site.
    Property owned by: General Motors, Inland Fisher Guide Division, 
1450 Beecher Street, Adrian, Michigan.

    Issued in Washington, D.C. on January 17, 1997.
James J. Fiore,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environmental Restoration.
[FR DOC. 97-2172 Filed 1-28-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P.