Ohio FUSRAP Sites

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The currently active Ohio sites within the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) are B&T Metals, Baker Brothers, Luckey, and Painesville. 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, as well as other sites that Congress has assigned to the U.S. Department of Energy, 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, see the overview of the program presented in the Tennessee section of this report. The scope of environmental restoration provides for all costs for waste management activities, program management, and relevant landlord activities attributable to the Department of Energy. 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.

B&T Metals

The B&T Metals site is located at 425 West Town Street on the southwestern side of Columbus, Ohio. The site consists of three buildings that occupy approximately one city block: the main office, a storage building, and an extrusion building that did not exist at the time of Manhattan Engineer District activities.

FACILITY MISSION

In February 1943, the DuPont Company, acting as an agent for the Manhattan Engineer District, contracted B&T Metals to extrude rods from uranium metal billets. Production-scale extrusion began in March and continued through August 1943. The work for the Manhattan Engineer District was conducted in the northwestern corner of the main office building. Reportedly, uranium shavings may have been dumped outside in what is now a parking area west of this building. Machinery used for processing uranium has been sold or removed, and there are no records of its final disposition. The source of radioactive contamination is processed uranium metal from Manhattan Engineer District operations at the site. The primary contaminant of concern is uranium­238.

The risk to the public from the residual radioactive contamination at the site is minimal; the contamination is very localized and limited in extent, and individuals who access the contaminated areas would not receive significant radiation exposure under current use conditions.

FUTURE USE

After remediation, the site will be released for unrestricted use. This report assumes that use of the property will be Industrial/Commercial.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION

The Department of Energy has not conducted any remedial action at this site. A designation survey conducted in 1990 indicated the presence of uranium­238 in outdoor soils. No additional characterization has been performed since the 1990 designation survey. When characterization activities are completed, an Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis describing the preferred method of site restoration will be developed.

Key regulators for the B&T Metals site include the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the local health department.

ASSESSMENT

A review of past records indicated that part of the facility's extrusion and machining process involved "blowing out" the heating cylinders on the extrusion press. As a result, large quantities of uranium-bearing material were blown into the main office building. Measurements taken in March and April 1943 indicated excessive amounts of airborne metals near the rolling table, extrusion trough, and furnace. See the Site Map for the location of contamination.

A radiological survey of interior and exterior portions of the buildings in 1990 confirmed the presence of uranium­238 above guidelines in the main office building (at three locations on the floor, in the drain system beneath the floor, and on support beams) and in one outdoor area where shavings from Manhattan Engineer District operations had reportedly been dumped. Concentrations of radium­226 and thorium­232 were within acceptable limits.

REMEDIAL ACTION

The Department of Energy has performed no remedial action at the site. The scenario used for the Baseline Environmental Management Report cost estimate assumes building remediation (decontamination of the main office building), limited soil excavation, transportation via rail car, and disposal at an existing out­of­state commercial disposal facility. The cost estimate assumes a total waste volume of 1,150 cubic meters (1,500 cubic yards). Current plans are to complete all characterization and remediation in FY 1997.

FUNDING ESTIMATE

The following table presents estimated funding information for the B&T Metals site.