Executive Summary

Background

Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) (Public Law 96-510), commonly known as Superfund, in 1980. The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) (Public Law 99-499), which amended CERCLA in 1986, added Section 120 regarding the cleanup of contaminated sites at Federal facilities.

Under Section 120(e)(5) of CERCLA, each department, agency, or instrumentality of the Federal government responsible for compliance with Section 120 must submit an annual report to Congress concerning its progress in implementing the requirements of Section 120. The report must include information on the progress in reaching Interagency Agreements (IAGs), conducting Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Studies (RI/FSs), and performing remedial actions. Federal agencies that own or operate facilities on the National Priorities List (NPL) are required to begin an RI/FS for these facilities within 6 months after being placed on the NPL. Remediation of these facilities is addressed in an IAG between the Federal agency, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and in some instances the state within which the facility is located.

This report, prepared by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Environmental Management, is being submitted to Congress in accordance with Section 120(e)(5) of CERCLA. It is DOE's Ninth Annual Report to Congress and provides information on DOE's progress in implementing CERCLA Section 120 in Fiscal Year 1995 (FY 95), i.e., from October 1, 1994, to September 30, 1995.

Current Status

There are 99 DOE facilities subject to CERCLA Section 120 and 23 DOE facilities on the NPL. DOE's NPL facilities are presented by state on Table ES-1 . Table ES-1 also includes information relating to when each facility was placed on the NPL and the status of the IAG for the facility. No new facilities were placed on the NPL in FY 95; however, the three facilities placed on the NPL in FY 94 have not yet entered into IAGs. The other 20 facilities are conducting remedial activities as specified in their IAGs.

Report Contents and Organization

This report provides the status of ongoing activities being performed in support of CERCLA Section 120 at DOE facilities. This includes activities conducted to reach IAGs and progress in conducting remedial actions.

Section I describes Section 120 of CERCLA, the requirements of the Annual Report to Congress, and the DOE facilities subject to Section 120 of CERCLA.

Section II describes DOE's CERCLA compliance strategy and identifies the:

• DOE organizations responsible for CERCLA compliance,
• Legal context for DOE's remediation activities,
• Causes of environmental contamination at DOE facilities,
• DOE approach to environmental restoration, and
• DOE activities related to CERCLA 120 compliance.

Section III provides a discussion of DOE's overall progress in reaching IAGs and responding to public comments regarding proposed IAGs. It also identifies instances where no IAG has been concluded. Section III further provides highlights on progress in conducting RI/FSs, remedial actions, and response activities at NPL facilities, and in performing cleanup activities at facilities not on the NPL.

Section IV provides a detailed description of the status of each NPL facility subject to CERCLA Section 120 on a state-by-state basis. Included in this section is a description of the hazards presented, plans and schedules for initiating and completing response actions, enforcement status (where appropriate), and an explanation of any postponements or failure to complete a response action. This section identifies DOE's FY 95 funding, appropriated FY 96 funding, and funding requested in the President's Budget for FY 97 for environmental restoration at each NPL facility.

Section V provides a description of the remediation status of non-NPL facilities (by state) subject to CERCLA Section 120 where 1995 CERCLA funding was more than $1 million.

Appendix A is a list of the acronyms and abbreviations used in this report. Appendix B is an alphabetical listing of the facilities discussed in this report by facility name, showing the pages in the report on which their primary information is discussed.