Massachusetts FUSRAP Sites

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The currently active Massachusetts sites within the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) are the Shpack Landfill and Ventron. Chapman Valve is a completed FUSRAP site. FUSRAP was established in 1974 under the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act to identify, investigate, and clean up or otherwise control previously decontaminated Manhattan Engineer District and Atomic Energy Commission sites, together with other sites assigned to the U.S. Department of Energy by Congress, where residual radioactive contamination exceeds current guidelines.

FUSRAP encompasses 46 sites in 14 states and is funded through the Oak Ridge Operations Office. For a general discussion of FUSRAP and associated costs, as well as a discussion of completed FUSRAP sites, see the overview of the program presented in the Tennessee section of this report. All costs for waste management activities, program management, and relevant landlord activities attributable to the Department of Energy are provided for within the scope of environmental restoration. There are no FUSRAP sites with either current or planned nuclear material and facility stabilization activity needs. Funding for all sites is 100 percent nondefense.

SHPACK LANDFILL

The Shpack Landfill site covers approximately 3.2 hectares (8 acres); about 2.2 hectares (5.5 acres) are in the corporate limits of Norton, Massachusetts, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) southwest of Boston. The remainder [about 1 hectare (2.5 acres)] are within the corporate limits of Attleboro, Massachusetts. The site is bordered on the northwest by Peckham Road; on the north by Union Road; on the south and west by the Attleboro Landfill, operated by Attleboro Landfill, Inc.; and on the east by open fields. There are no onsite structures.

FACILITY MISSION

The Shpack Landfill began operating as a private landfill in the early 1960s and received both industrial and domestic wastes. The landfill was closed in 1965 under court order. In 1978, a concerned citizen who had detected elevated radiation levels at the site contacted the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The Commission investigated the site and confirmed the presence of radioactivity in excess of natural background levels for the area.

Exactly when these contaminants were deposited at the site is not known. However, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission determined that the Texas Instruments plant (formerly M&C Nuclear, Inc.) of Attleboro had used the landfill to dispose of trash and other materials. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission concluded that the contaminants probably resulted from this waste stream.

After the Nuclear Regulatory Commission investigation, the landfill was considered as a candidate for inclusion in FUSRAP. In 1980, The Oak Ridge National Laboratory conducted a radiological characterization of the site, confirmed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission findings, and defined the general areas of contamination. Based on the results of this survey, the former Shpack Landfill was designated for cleanup under FUSRAP. However, the Department of Energy has determined that the Texas Instruments plant is excluded from FUSRAP because activities at the facility were licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The Town of Norton purchased the site in 1981. It is fenced and posted with "no trespassing" signs, and the Town of Norton and the New England Power Company control access to it. Risk to the public from radioactive materials at the site is minimal because of the low levels of gamma radiation and the distance between the site and inhabited dwellings. Also, the principal sources of surface contamination were removed in 1980 during radiological surveys. Because of the relative physical and chemical stability of the radioactive contamination, cleanup could be deferred without harmful effects on human health or the environment.

FUTURE USE

The Town of Norton now owns the Shpack Landfill site, which is no longer used as a landfill. The adjacent Attleboro Landfill is now in the process of State closure. The Department of Energy has no active role in the disposition of the site after any remedial action.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION

In addition to radioactive contamination, the Shpack site contains nonradioactive hazardous materials unrelated to Department of Energy­sponsored work. The Environmental Protection Agency contacted the other Potentially Responsible Parties in the summer of 1990 and issued an Administrative Order by Consent for the potentially responsible parties to conduct a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy then began discussions regarding the Department of Energy's role in the cleanup.

Key regulators include Environmental Protection Agency Region I, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, and the local health department. Because Shpack is on the Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List for cleanup and the Environmental Protection Agency has instructed the other Potentially Responsible Parties to perform a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study, the Department of Energy does not plan to prepare separate documents. Instead, the Department will support the efforts of the other parties by submitting information as needed about the radiological aspects of site remediation. FUSRAP has provided input for the remedial investigation/feasibility study documents prepared by the other parties' contractor and has supported the resolution of Environmental Protection Agency comments on these documents.

ASSESSMENT

In 1978, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission investigated and confirmed the presence of radioactivity in excess of natural background levels for the area. The primary contaminants were radium­226, uranium­238, and uranium­235. A subsequent radiological survey by Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1980 confirmed these findings, defined the general areas of contamination, and provided the basis for inclusion of the site in FUSRAP. During this investigation, the principal sources of uranium­235 surface contamination were removed.

The 1980 survey measured beta-gamma dose rates and gamma exposure rates. Samples were collected from surface and subsurface soils, surface and subsurface water, and surface water in runoff areas of the site; these samples were measured for radionuclides. Metal samples were also collected and analyzed, and several were found to contain or to be contaminated with uranium of various enrichments. Analytical results confirmed that radium and uranium are the principal contaminants.

FUSRAP conducted a 1982 survey that provided a definitive description of the boundaries of contamination identified in the 1980 investigations. This survey determined that the distribution of onsite contamination is irregularly spaced and uneven, both vertically and horizontally. Removal of this soil would generate an estimated 7,170 cubic meters (9,370 cubic yards) of waste. However, because of the relative physical and chemical stability of the radioactive contamination, such a cleanup could be deferred without harmful effect to humans or the environment.

The Potentially Responsible Parties are responsible for sampling from and analyzing the ground-water monitoring wells, which the Department of Energy installed in 1982, concurrently with the FUSRAP radiological survey.

REMEDIAL ACTION

Other than removal of uranium­235 contamination and installation of the boundary fence in 1980, the Department has not performed any remedial action at the site. The Department has deferred the cleanup pending coordination with the Environmental Protection Agency and potentially responsible parties as appropriate. The scenario used for the Baseline Environmental Management Report cost estimate, however, assumes remedial action by other potentially responsible parties, with Department of Energy FUSRAP applying supplemental standards as appropriate. Therefore, the Baseline Environmental Management Report scenario assumes that the Department will not participate in any remedial actions, but only in final report preparation.

FUNDING ESTIMATE

The following table presents estimated funding information for the Shpack Landfill site.