Environmental Assessment And Finding Of No Significant Impact Waste Remediation Activities At Elk Hills Former Naval Petroleum Reserve No 1 Kern County California

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Total Pages : 5 pages
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Download or read book Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact written by and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 5 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DOE analyzed two cleanup and closure alternatives and the No Action Alternative, in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality regulations implementing NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508) and DOE's NEPA implementing regulations (10 CFR Part 1021). Under Alternative 1, DOE is proposing to clean up the remaining ETEC facilities using the existing site specific cleanup standard of 15mrem/yr. (plus DOE's As Low As Reasonably Achievable--ALARA-principle) for decontamination of radiological facilities and surrounding soils (Alternative 1). An annual 15-millirem additional radiation dose to the maximally exposed individual (assumed to be an individual living in a residential setting on Area IV) from all exposure pathways (air, soil, groundwater) equates to an additional theoretical lifetime cancer risk of no more than 3 x 10{sup -4} (3 in 10,000). For perspective, it is estimated that the average individual in the United States receives a dose of about 300 millirem each year from natural sources of radiation. However, actual exposures generally will be much lower as a result of the application of the ''as low as reasonably achievable'' (ALARA) principle. Based on post-remediation verification sampling previous cleanups have generally resulted in a 2 x 10{sup -6} level of residual risk. DOE would decontaminate, decommission, and demolish the remaining radiological facilities. DOE would also decommission and demolish the one remaining sodium facility and all of the remaining uncontaminated support buildings for which it is responsible. The ongoing RCRA corrective action program, including groundwater treatment (interim measures), would continue. Other environmental impacts would include 2.5 x 10{sup -3} fatalities as a result of LLW shipments and 6.0 x 10{sup -3} fatalities as a result of emission exhaust from all shipments. DOE would also decommission and demolish the remaining sodium facility and decommission and demolish all of the remaining uncontaminated support buildings for which it is responsible. The SSFL RCRA corrective program (including the ongoing groundwater treatment) would continue. Alternative 1 is DOE's preferred alternative. Under Alternative 2, DOE would clean up the ETEC site using a 0.05-millirem standard. A 0.05 mrem exposure would result in an additional theoretical lifetime cancer risk of no more than 1 x 10{sup -6} to the maximally exposed individual over 40 years. Additional environmental impacts of this alternative include 1.4 traffic fatalities and increased release of particulates. As under Alternative 1, DOE would also decommission and demolish the remaining sodium facilities and all of the remaining uncontaminated support buildings for which it is responsible. Ongoing groundwater treatment (interim measures) and the SSFL site-wide RCRA corrective action would continue. The only difference between Alternative 1 and Alternative 2 is the volume of soil that would need to be excavated in order to meet the annual dose rate. As under the preferred alternative, DOE would also decommission and demolish the remaining sodium facility and decommission and demolish all of the remaining uncontaminated support buildings for which it is responsible. The SSFL RCRA corrective program, (including the ongoing groundwater treatment) would continue. Under the No Action Alternative, DOE would conduct no further cleanup of radiological facilities, soil, or the remaining sodium and other support facilities for which it is responsible. Rather, Rocketdyne, as the owner of the site, would prohibit or control access to contaminated facilities, soil, groundwater, or surface water and would continue groundwater treatment. This alternative is described fully in Section 3.4. DOE initially considered other alternatives that were screened out because they were not considered to be reasonable. These include (1) cleanup of the entire SSFL, (2) the disposal of all radiological facilities as radioactive waste regardless of contamination levels, (3) cleanup of the site to industrial levels, and (4) cleanup of the site to background levels. These alternatives and the reasons why DOE chose to eliminate them from further consideration are discussed.