Progress in Reaching Interagency Agreement

DOE, EPA Region II, and the State of New York executed the IAG for Brookhaven National Laboratory on February 28, 1992. The effective date of the agreement was May 27, 1992. The IAG integrates both corrective action requirements under RCRA and response action requirements under CERCLA.

Specific Cost Estimates and Budgetary Proposals Involved in Each Interagency Agreement

Funds budgeted for environmental restoration under the IAG at the Brookhaven National Laboratory total $20.0 million of appropriated funding for FY 96 and $20.0 million for FY 97 according to the request in the President's Budget.

Public Comments Regarding Interagency Agreements

No new public comments regarding the IAG were received in FY 95.

Progress in Conducting Remedial Investigations/Feasibility Studies

In FY 94, DOE received approval from the regulators to combine some of the seven OUs for greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness. OUs II and VII were combined, as were OUs I and VI. Each of the five OUs will undergo an RI/FS. Six removal actions also have been identified. An annual schedule document is required under the IAG to be submitted to the regulators.

Field work for OU IV was completed in 1993 and the draft RI and Risk Assessment Reports were submitted to EPA Region II and the State of New York on May 25, 1994 for review and comment. The draft Work Plans for OUs V and III were submitted October 29, 1993 and June 30, 1994, respectively, and were subsequently approved. Scoping activities were conducted for OU II/VII during FY 94, and Work Plan preparation began in August 1994.

Field work for OU I and the Spray Aeration was completed with the exception of the second round of groundwater sampling. The Work Plan for OU VI, which was prepared as an addendum to the OU I plans, was finalized in June 1994, and field work was conducted in FY 95.

In FY 95, the following major documents were submitted to EPA and the State of New York:

• OU I RI/RA;
• OU II/VII RI/FS Work Plan;
• OU IV FS draft PP, and draft ROD; and
• Groundwater removal action draft EE/CA and Action Memorandum.

Progress in Conducting Remedial Actions

Four underground storage tanks were removed at Building 650 in August 1994, and a draft Completion Report was prepared. Characterization work for the Landfills Removal Action was completed, and a draft EE/CA was submitted to EPA Region II and the State of New York on July 28, 1994. Preparation of the design for the Current Landfills Cap began in FY 94, and the draft Design/Closure Report was submitted on July 25, 1994. A contractor was selected for the D Tanks removal action and mobilization occurred in July 1994. Dismantlement of the tanks started on September 14, 1994. Draft Designs for the Cesspool Removal Action were submitted in August 1994. The Building 464 soil removal action was completed in December 1993.

In FY 95, the following remedial actions occurred:

• Twenty-three cesspool removals were completed;
• Four underground storage tanks were cut and packaged and the waste shipped offsite;
• D-Tanks removal was completed; and
• Landfill capping was initiated and is expected to be completed in early FY 96.

Enforcement Activities

A $100,000 assessment of penalties under RCRA/Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) was pending throughout 1992 and 1993. A settlement of $62,000 was reached in the spring of 1994. On May 11, 1994, DOE, EPA, and the operating contractor (Associated Universities Incorporated) signed an agreement on the penalty, which also included preparation of a Wildlife Survey and Management Plan and an internal audit of the hazardous waste management system. These activities are expected to be completed in FY 95.