New York FUSRAP Sites

 Home
 BEMR Contents
 U.S. Map

The currently active New York sites within the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) are Bliss and Laughlin Steel, Colonie, the Niagara Falls Storage Site, and four properties (Linde Air Products, Ashland 1, Ashland 2, and Seaway Industrial Park) collectively known as the Tonawanda Site (see map). Completed FUSRAP sites in New York are the Baker and Williams Warehouses and Niagara Falls Storage Site Vicinity Properties. For a brief description of these sites and the remedial actions undertaken at them, refer to the FUSRAP narrative in the Tennessee section.

In addition to their geographic proximity, the four Tonawanda Site properties share a historic origin of contamination that is traceable to Manhattan Engineer District operations at Linde during the 1940s. They also have common regulatory drivers and environmental documentation, and a common expected end point for remedial action. The Department of Energy issued a proposed cleanup plan for the Tonawanda site in 1993. The plan included construction of an onsite waste containment structure to consolidate waste from all four Tonawanda Site properties. The most likely location for this structure was the Ashland 1 property. Because of strong community opposition, the Department withdrew the proposed plan and is working with the Coalition Against Nuclear Materials in Tonawanda to identify an alternative waste disposal option that is both cost­effective and acceptable to the community. However, this life-cycle estimate reflects the initial proposed cleanup plan, as no other viable alternatives are currently mature. After reaching agreement with stakeholders, this base case approach will be modified accordingly. The alphabetical order of the summaries has been interrupted to present the Tonawanda sites collectively and to present the source of contamination first.

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 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, 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. No FUSRAP sites have either current or planned nuclear material and facility stabilization activity needs. Funding for all sites is 100 percent nondefense.

LINDE AIR PRODUCTS

Linde Air Products, one of the four Tonawanda Site properties, is located at East Park Drive and Woodward Avenue in the Town of Tonawanda, New York, approximately 5 kilometers (3 miles) northwest of Buffalo. The property is bordered on the north and south by industries and small businesses, on the east by Conrail railroad tracks and an open area, and on the west by a park that is owned by Praxair, Inc. (the current property owner) but is open to the public. Numerous residential properties are located within several hundred feet of the Linde property.

FACILITY MISSION

During Manhattan Engineer District activities between 1942 and 1946, five buildings (Buildings 14, 30, 31, 37, and 38) at the Linde property housed activities involved in processing uranium ore to extract uranium used in the war effort. Between 1943 and 1946, when uranium processing for the Manhattan Engineer District ended, a total of 25,700 metric tons (28,300 tons) of uranium ore was processed. Processing of uranium from four African ores and three domestic ores yielded radioactive constituents including uranium­235, uranium­238, thorium­232, and thorium­230. Linde dismantled Building 37 in 1981 after results of surveys conducted by Ford Bacon and Davis Utah, Inc. indicated that the building contained no residual radioactivity above guidelines. The other four buildings contained radioactive constituents at levels above guidelines.

Praxair, Inc. currently operates the property as an engineering and development facility with very limited industrial work. The risk to the public from the residual radioactive material is minimal. The sources of residual radioactivity include subsurface soils, which are largely inaccessible because they are covered by building foundations and paving, and fixed and removable radioactivity in the buildings. Buildings 30, 31, and 38 contain both fixed and removable radioactive material above guidelines, but access to them is restricted. Buildings 30 and 31 are used for miscellaneous storage; Building 38 is not in use. Building 14, which houses offices, research laboratories, and fabrication facilities, contains only fixed radioactivity above criteria.

FUTURE USE

Praxair, Inc. currently owns the Linde property and operates it as an engineering and development facility. The cost estimate assumes that land use after site remediation will remain Industrial.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION

Plans for site remediation include decontamination of Buildings 14, 30, and 31 and dismantlement of Building 38. The proposed disposition of soils excavated from the Linde property involved encapsulation in an engineered structure to be built at one of the nearby Tonawanda Site properties. However, because of local opposition, other alternatives are being considered.

The volume of waste to be managed at Linde and one vicinity property (the Town of Tonawanda Landfill) is estimated at 54,000 cubic meters (71,000 cubic yards). Waste minimization efforts during the remedial action will include decontaminating structures and surfaces. Building 38 debris will be scanned and segregated based on levels of radioactivity before it is shipped for offsite disposal. Investigation-derived waste is currently stored in low-specific-activity boxes at Linde.

Ashland 1, Ashland 2, Seaway Industrial Park, and Linde Air Products are included in the Tonawanda Site integrated environmental documentation process to comply with requirements of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. Key regulators are Environmental Protection Agency Region II and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

ASSESSMENT

Four radiological surveys have been conducted at Linde. Oak Ridge National Laboratory performed the first survey in 1976, and Ford Bacon and Davis Utah performed the second in 1981. These surveys examined surface water, soil, and building surfaces. The third survey, performed by Oak Ridge Associated Universities in 1981, focused primarily on surface-water pathways. The FUSRAP project management contractor performed the final survey in 1988 and early 1989. It was the only survey to analyze for thorium­230, which is now known to be one of the primary radioactive constituents at the site.

Remedial Investigation activities completed in 1991 indicated that Buildings 14, 30, 31, and 38 contain residual radioactivity above guidelines for wall, floor, and ceiling surfaces and that soil over an area of approximately 4 hectares (10 acres) contains elevated levels of radionuclides. In addition to thorium­230, primary radioactive contaminants in soil at Linde are uranium­238 and radium­226. Radionuclides were detected at levels exceeding guidelines in four general areas. In Area 1 (in the northwestern corner of the main parking area), the maximum depth of radioactive contamination is 1.2 meters (4 feet); chemical data indicate an origin from Stage 2 filter cake. The radioactive soils appear to have been used as fill material to grade the parking lot. Area 2 is along the northern property boundary in the northeastern corner of the parking area. In the past, radioactive material from the windrows was moved to the interim storage pile beside the northern end of Building 90; the pile is known to be radioactively contaminated. The maximum depth of contamination in Area 2 is 1.2 meters (four feet) and is at the southern end of the pile.

Area 3 (along the fence line in the northeastern corner of the property) encompasses a spur of the railroad that was used during transport of uranium ore to Linde for processing. Solid processing residues were piled in the area north of Buildings 30, 38, 39, and 58. Remedial Investigation results indicated that radioactive contamination extends offsite from Area 3; west of the railroad spur, contamination is found at depths less than 1.2 meters (four feet), and east of the spur at depths less than 0.6 meter (two feet). In Area 4 (around Buildings 38 and 58 and in and around Building 30), Manhattan Engineer District-related contamination is found primarily beneath Building 30 (the main uranium processing building) to a depth of 1.2 meters (four feet). Investigations also detected radioactive contamination to a depth of 1.8 meters (six feet) in the northern end of the soil and timber blast wall connected to Building 58. In general, the depth of Manhattan Engineer District-related contamination across the Linde property is the same as that for the identifiable fill materials, approximately 1.2 meters (four feet). The maximum depth of contamination at Linde, 2.7 meters (nine feet), is in Area 4 beneath Building 30.

The Department conducted ground-water monitoring at Linde from late 1989 through early 1991. During drilling of monitoring wells the Department did not find any elevated radioactivity within the saturated overburden material; therefore, the Department determined that wells completed in this material were not integral to the characterization. The Department has not performed ground-water monitoring at this site since early 1991.

The Department also determined that the Town of Tonawanda Landfill, which is a vicinity property of Linde, contained Manhattan Engineer District­related radioactive constituents at levels above criteria. Characterization of the landfill in November 1994 identified approximately 11,600 cubic meters (15,000 cubic yards) of soils containing radioactive materials above criteria.

REMEDIAL ACTION

Remedial action for Linde includes decontaminating Buildings 14, 30, and 31. The Department will dismantle Building 38 and dispose of it at an offsite disposal location.

The scenario used for the Baseline Environmental Management Report cost estimate assumes complete excavation of the contaminated soils and onsite disposal at Ashland 1. Although this option, which was set forth in the proposed plan issued in November 1993, was used in establishing a cost estimate, the Department of Energy acknowledges that the community did not agree with that plan and is currently discussing alternatives with the community. The Department of Energy will adjust the cost estimate appropriately if an alternate remedy is selected. The cost estimate assumes a total waste volume of 54,000 cubic meters (71,000 cubic yards) at Linde.

The Department will maintain an environmental monitoring program during the remedial action and construction activities onsite. It will monitor air, surface water, and external gamma radiation and will include the results in a post-remedial action report.

FUNDING ESTIMATE

The following table presents estimated funding information for Linde Air Products.