[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 13 (Wednesday, January 21, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2908-2909]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-1203]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Certification of the Radiological Condition of the Chapman Valve 
in Indian Orchard, MA

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of certification.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) has completed remedial actions 
to decontaminate the Chapman Valve site in Indian Orchard, 
Massachusetts. This property formerly was found to contain quantities 
of radioactive material from activities conducted for the Atomic Energy 
Commission's (AEC) Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) during the mid-
1940s. Based on the analysis of all data collected, DOE has concluded 
that the property is in compliance with DOE radiological 
decontamination criteria and standards, and that no radiological 
restrictions on the use of the property are required.

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

U.S. Department of Energy, Public Reading Room, Room 1E-190, Forrestal 
Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585;
U.S. Department of Energy, DOE Information Center, 475 Oak Ridge 
Turnpike, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831; Springfield Museum and Library, 
220 State Street, Springfield, Massachusetts 01103.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Donald Mackenzie, Health Physicist, 
U.S. Department of Energy, Core Technical Group, EM-23/Cloverleaf 
Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-2040. 
Telephone Number: (301) 903-7426. Fax Number: (301) 903-2385.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. DOE, Oak Ridge Operations Office 
(OR), Office of Environmental Management, has conducted remedial action 
at the Chapman Valve site in Indian Orchard, Massachusetts, 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 (MED)/

[[Page 2909]]

AEC during the early years of the nation's atomic energy program.
    In October 1997, the Energy and Water Appropriations Act, 1998 
transferred responsibility for management of the FUSRAP program to the 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (U.S. ACE). Completion of the 
certification process was delayed pending preparation of a Memorandum 
of Understanding (MOU) between the DOE and the U.S. ACE with regard to 
completed, remediated sites such as the Chapman Valve property. The MOU 
between the U.S. DOE and the U.S. ACE regarding Program Administration 
and Execution of the FUSRAP program was signed by the parties in March 
1999. Funding to proceed with the completion of DOE closure 
documentation for several FUSRAP sites, including the Chapman Valve 
site, was obtained from the U.S. ACE in late 2000. The closure 
documentation for these sites will document the cleanup and inform the 
public of their successful decontamination of radioactive 
contamination.
    The Chapman Valve site was formerly owned and operated by the 
Chapman Valve Manufacturing Company. In 1948, the company set-aside 
approximately one-third of an area known as Department 40 in the 
western end of Building 23 for the machining of uranium rods for the 
AEC's BNL. Segregation of the area from other parts of the facility was 
achieved by installing a floor to ceiling wooden partition that was 
more than 50 feet high. Special modifications to the facility included 
building shields, quenching tanks, suction systems, cranes, and 
ductwork. Uranium operations were terminated on November 8, 1948. After 
the contract was completed, the company had in its possession over 
27,000 pounds of metal scrap, oxides, and sweepings. This material was 
identified for removal several months after contract completion.
    The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) personnel indicated in a 
1991 survey report that the residual uranium contamination found at the 
Chapman Valve site was typical of MED/AEC operations. This survey 
indicated that the contamination was limited to the interior of the 
segregated area within Department 40 and included floors, walls, and 
overhead beams. Following a review of files, it was concluded there are 
no indications that work with uranium metal was conducted at the site 
after the AEC operations were terminated.
    In November and December 1994, additional radiological surveys were 
performed to supplement and refine survey information. Characterization 
findings confirm the presence of contamination located predominantly in 
the western end of Building 23. In addition to confirming the ORNL 
survey results, these findings were in agreement with historical 
process information obtained during interviews conducted with a former 
Chapman Valve supervisor. Based on this characterization data, DOE 
conducted remedial action at the Chapman Valve site from July to 
September 1995.
    Post-remedial action surveys conducted in 1995 have demonstrated, 
and the DOE has certified, that the subject property is in compliance 
with the DOE radiological decontamination criteria and standards in 
effect at the conclusion of remedial action. These standards are 
established to protect members of the general public and occupants of 
the site, and to ensure that reasonably foreseeable future use of the 
site will result in no radiological exposure above applicable 
guidelines. Accordingly, this property is released from the FUSRAP 
program. These findings are supported by the DOE's Certification Docket 
for the Remedial Action Performed at the Chapman Valve site in Indian 
Orchard, Massachusetts. The DOE makes no representation regarding the 
condition of the site as a result of activities conducted subsequent to 
DOE's post-remedial action surveys.
    The Certification Docket will be available for review between 9 
a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday (except Federal holidays), in 
the DOE Public Reading Room located in 1E-190 of the Forrestal 
Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC. Copies of the 
Certification Docket will also be available in the DOE Public Reading 
Room, U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge Operations Office, 200 
Administration Road, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the Springfield Museum 
and Library, 200 State Street, Springfield, Massachusetts.
    The DOE, through the Acting Office Director, Core Technical Group 
(EM-23), Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environmental Cleanup and 
Acceleration (EM-20), the Assistant Secretary for the Office 
Environmental Management (EM), has issued the following statement:

Statement of Certification: Chapman Valve Site in Indian Orchard, 
Massachusetts

    The DOE, the Oak Ridge Operations Office, the Office of 
Environmental Management, the Oak Ridge Reservation, the Remediation 
Management Group, and the U.S. DOE Office of Environmental Management 
(EM), Core Technical Group (EM-23), has reviewed and analyzed the 
radiological data obtained following remedial action at the Chapman 
Valve site in Indian Orchard, Massachusetts, (Deed Book 2891, Page 53, 
in the records of Hampden County, Massachusetts). Based on the analysis 
of all data collected, including post-remedial action surveys, DOE 
certifies that any residual contamination remaining onsite at the time 
remedial actions were completed falls within DOE radiological 
decontamination criteria and standards for use of the property without 
radiological restrictions. This certification of compliance provides 
assurance that reasonably foreseeable future use of the site will 
result in no radiological exposure above DOE radiological criteria and 
standards for protecting members of the general public and occupants of 
the property.
    Property owned by: The Crane Company, 100 First Stamford Place, 
Stamford, Connecticut 06902.

    Issued in Germantown, Maryland, on January 14, 2004.
Robert Goldsmith,
Director, Core Technical Group, Environmental Cleanup and Acceleration, 
Office of Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. 04-1203 Filed 1-20-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P