[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 101 (Tuesday, May 27, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28740-28741]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-13778]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Save Wills Creek Water Resources Committee Receipt of Petition 
and Issuance of a Director's Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206

    Notice is hereby given that by Petition dated July 22, 1996, 
Sherwood Bauman, on behalf of the Save Wills Creek Water Resources 
Committee, requested that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(Commission) take action with regard to Shieldalloy Metallurgical 
Corporation and Foote Mineral Company (now Cyprus Foote Mineral 
Company). Specifically, the Petitioner requested NRC to take the 
following actions:

    (1) NRC should reinstate Foote Mineral's original license so 
that Shieldalloy and Cyprus Foote become co-responsible licensees 
concerning the proper remediation and decommissioning of the 
Shieldalloy site;
    (2) Any and all parties involved in any wrongdoing, as alleged 
in the Petitioner's letter, should be terminated from employment, 
and where appropriate, criminal charges pursued;
    (3) NRC should terminate the development of the environmental 
impact statement (EIS) for the Shieldalloy site;
    (4) In place of the EIS, Shieldalloy and Cyprus Foote should be 
jointly ordered to submit a decommissioning plan for licensed 
material that includes only a plan to remediate licensed material, 
including grading and evaluation of all various assorted options. 
One option considered should be offsite disposal at a licensed 
disposal facility; and
    (5) The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) and Ohio 
Department of Health should evaluate all unlicensed slag found at 
the Shieldalloy site.

    As a basis for the request, the Petitioner asserts that there has 
been collusion among agencies and responsible parties to remediate 
offsite slag, that NRC failed to properly police Foote Mineral for a 
period of 12 years, and that NRC then allowed Foote Mineral to retire 
its license without investigating the licensee's claims that no 
licensable materials remained onsite. The Petitioner also asserts that 
NRC illegally allowed Foote Mineral to return slag to a site owned by 
Shieldalloy, in the process conspiring with State of Ohio agencies.
    The Petitioner further argues that Shieldalloy has a 
decommissioning plan that would wrongfully mix licensed and unlicensed 
waste. In support of this claim, he states his belief that the material 
at the Shieldalloy site is made up of 150,000 tons of licensed material 
and 350,000 tons of nonlicensed material. The Petitioner believes that 
Shieldalloy's decommissioning plan illegally combined both licensed and

[[Page 28741]]

unlicensed materials, thus greatly reducing the real risk factors from 
exposure to licensed material and wrongfully enhancing the company's 
own preferred plan for in-situ disposal, which would require the NRC to 
waive enforcement rules and regulations. The Petitioner also alleges an 
NRC-Ohio conspiracy to allow in-situ disposal to proceed.
    The NRC response to the Petitioner's requests have been evaluated 
by the Director of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards. After review of the Petition, the Director has denied the 
Petitioner's requests.
    The Director's Decision concluded that no health and safety issues 
have been raised regarding Shieldalloy or Cyprus Foote that would 
require the actions requested by the Petitioner. The Petitioner has not 
provided any information in support of his requests of which the NRC 
was not already aware. The complete ``Director's Decision under 10 
C.F.R. 2.206'' (DD-97-12) is available for public inspection in the 
Commission's Public Document Room located at 2120 L Street, N.W., 
Washington, D.C. 20555. The Director's Decision is also available on 
the NRC Electronic Bulletin Board at 1-(800)-952-9676.
    A copy of this Decision will be filed with the Secretary for the 
Commission's review, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.206. As provided by 
this regulation, the Decision will constitute the final action of the 
Commission 25 days after the date of issuance of the Decision unless 
the Commission on its own motion institutes a review of the Decision 
within that time.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 14th day of May 1997.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Malcolm R. Knapp,
Deputy Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 97-13778 Filed 5-23-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P