The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ), and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have completed a CERCLA (Superfund) Remedial Investigation and Baseline Risk Assessment and Feasibility Study of a radioactive and hazardous waste landfill at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho Radioactive Waste Management Complex (RWMC).

The results of these investigations are found in two documents: the Remedial Investigation and Baseline Risk Assessment for Operable Unit 7-13/-14 and the Feasibility Study for Operable Unit 7-13/-14. Both documents are available in the Administrative Record at http://ar.inel.gov/. The documents are also available at the INL Technical Library in Idaho Falls and Boise State University’s Albertsons Library.

The RWMC was established in 1952 for the buried disposal of site-generated radioactive and hazardous wastes. From 1954 through 1970, the landfill received wastes from the Rocky Flats Plant in Colorado and other off-site generators.

Citing the need for more time to review technical data and analyze the results of ongoing buried waste exhumation at the RWMC, the agencies have agreed to a 30-day extension for DOE’s submittal of a draft proposed plan to IDEQ and EPA for review. Originally, DOE was required under the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order to submit the draft document to IDEQ and EPA on June 30, 2007.

The proposed plan will include alternatives, described in the Feasibility Study, for remediating the buried waste site, and will describe the agencies’ preferred alternative. The agencies will release the proposed plan for public comment and will hold public meetings on the plan later this year.

For a briefing on the feasibility study, citizens are encouraged to call the Idaho Cleanup Project at (800) 708-2680.

CH2M-WG Idaho, LLC, directs the Idaho Cleanup Project, the safe, environmental cleanup of the Idaho National Laboratory site, located 45 miles west of Idaho Falls. The 7-year, $2.9 billion project, funded through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, focuses on early risk reduction and protection of the Snake River Plain Aquifer.

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For more information visit us on the Web at www.idahocleanupproject.com

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Media contact:
Amy Lientz, (208) 520-7718