Monticello Projects

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The Grand Junction Projects Office, Grand Junction, Colorado is responsible for remediating the Monticello Projects, which include the Monticello Mill Tailings site and the Monticello Vicinity Properties. These sites, which are included on the National Priorities List, are located near the City of Monticello in San Juan County, Utah. The Monticello Mill Tailings site comprises three operable units: the mill site, a 44-hectare (108-acre) tract located along Montezuma Creek, south of the City of Monticello; 25 peripheral properties located north and south of the mill site; and the surface (Montezuma Creek) and ground water located beneath and extending beyond the mill site. The Monticello Vicinity Properties encompasses 410 vicinity properties in six sections located in and around the Town of Monticello. Additional vicinity properties may be included following completion of additional inclusion surveys.

FACILITY MISSION

The Vanadium Corporation of America, with funds from the Defense Plant Corporation, constructed a mill in 1942 to produce vanadium and uranium-vanadium sludge for the Manhattan Project. The Atomic Energy Commission bought the site in 1948. Uranium milling, the processing of uranium ore, began September 15, 1949 and continued until January 1, 1960, when the mill was permanently closed. Part of the land was transferred for a period of time to the Bureau of Land Management, but otherwise the site remained under the control of the Atomic Energy Commission, now the Department of Energy.

In 1980, the Monticello mill site was accepted into the Surplus Facilities Management program and the Monticello Remedial Action Project was established. In 1983, remedial activities for vicinity properties were separated from the Monticello Remedial Action Project with the establishment of the Monticello Vicinity Properties Project. In 1987, the Monticello Projects were transferred from the Surplus Facilities Management program to the Department of Energy's Defense Decontamination and Decommissioning program, then to the Department of Energy's Environmental Management program.

Residues from vanadium and uranium milling, known as mill tailings, were left in place at the mill site. Although the milling process recovered about 93 percent of the uranium, the tailings that remain contain several radioactive elements, including uranium, thorium, radium, polonium, and radon. The total volume of tailings, process-related contaminated material, and tailings-contaminated soil is estimated at 2.0 million cubic meters (2.6 million cubic yards) throughout the Monticello sites. The tailings piles at the mill site were stabilized and covered with soil in 1961 to limit their dispersal or use. However, uranium mill tailings and byproduct materials, which were produced during uranium milling, contaminated the mill site, peripheral properties, and surface and ground water. Contamination also occurred in the City of Monticello from wind-blown materials and from the use of mill tailings as construction and fill materials.

The mission of the Monticello Projects is to ensure that the environmental impacts associated with past activities at the site are identified, investigated and that appropriate action is taken to protect public health and welfare and the environment. The Grand Junction Projects Office is responsible for remediating the Monticello Projects. The 1990 Record of Decision specified disposal of the contaminated materials from the Monticello Projects sites in a permanent repository south of the mill site on Department of Energy-owned property. The Department confirmed this decision in 1994, and the specific location and design of the repository was finalized, with award of the subcontract for repository construction issued in 1995. During construction of the repository, contaminated materials removed from the peripheral and vicinity properties will be placed in an interim repository on the mill site. An independent verification contractor will verify the removal of contaminants by documenting that radiological and chemical residual compliance with authorized limits through document reviews and field measurements. The sites will be considered remediated when they are in accordance with the Federal Facility Agreement and Records of Decision signed by the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the State of Utah.

There are no current or planned nuclear material and facility stabilization activities at the Monticello Projects and all waste management activities are included within the scope of Environmental Restoration. There are no landlord costs associated with the Monticello Projects.

The Department of Energy will retain responsibility for surveillance and monitoring at all of the remediated areas where contamination exceeding risk-based cleanup standards remains as long as necessary to ensure adequate protection of human health and the environment.

FUTURE USE

Future use of the existing Monticello mill site, following cleanup, has yet to be finalized. The Monticello Site-Specific Advisory Board and other state, county, and city organizations are participating in the analysis and decisionmaking of future land uses for the property, with a final decision expected in FY 1996.

The Advisory Board has recommended that the mill site be deeded to the City of Monticello for a golf course and recreational area. A decision concerning the future use of the mill site is expected to be reached by the end of FY 1996, and the determination on future use will be documented in a future-use plan that will be presented for stakeholder comment and approval. However, this report assumes that the Site-Specific Advisory Board recommendation will be accepted and that the site's future land use will be designated Recreational.

All but a few private vicinity and peripheral properties and large Department of Energy-owned properties will be remediated and released for a variety of uses that may include Residential and Agricultural. The application of supplemental standards, allowing limited land use, is being considered for the private and Department of Energy-owned properties. This report is based on the assumption supplemental standards will be applied only to these properties. This estimate also assumes the Monticello Canyon Creek area will be designated a Recreational area following removal from the National Priority List.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION

The Monticello Vicinity Properties site was placed on the National Priority List on June 10, 1986. The Monticello Mill Tailing site, containing three operable units: the mill site (Operable Unit I), the peripheral properties (Operable Unit 2), and contaminated surface and ground water and sediments in Montezuma Creek Canyon (Operable Unit 3) was placed on the list on November 16, 1989. Operable Units I and II are being remediated under the Monticello Remedial Action Project. Operable Unit 3 is being remediated under the Monticello Surface- and Ground-Water Remedial Action Project. The operable units were established to differentiate between the affected tracts of land or the kinds of contamination.

Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, Section 120, a Federal Facilities Agreement among the Environmental Protection Agency, the State of Utah, and the Department was executed in December 1988. The primary purpose of this agreement is to ensure that environmental impacts associated with past and present activities at the mill site and on peripheral and vicinity properties have been thoroughly investigated. It also seeks to ensure that appropriate response actions are taken and completed, as necessary, to protect the public's health and welfare and the environment. A Record of Decision for the Monticello Vicinity Properties Project was issued in November 1989, and a Record of Decision for Operable Units I and II was issued on September 20, 1990. The Environmental Protection Agency and the State of Utah will be required to validate the completion of remedial action.

Environmental restoration activities include an assessment of the area to determine the nature and extent of contamination and the potential risk to human health and safety or the environment; remedial action or cleanup of the contaminants to prohibit migration through the air, soil, or ground water, or stabilization of the contaminant to prohibit its dispersal; decommissioning and disposition of deactivated, surplus facilities (Operable Unit I only); disposal of waste materials removed during the remediation or decommissioning processes in the onsite repository will ultimately be sealed with a water balance cover; and long-term surveillance and monitoring to demonstrate that contamination has been successfully removed and contained in the repository. Hazardous substances that are not disposed of in the onsite repository will be shipped offsite to permitted commercial treatment, storage, and disposal facilities. The waste transportation and disposal activities are included in the costs of remedial action.

The planned long-term surveillance and maintenance, including monitoring of the repository liner system and underlying ground water following mill site remediation, will be performed by the Long-Term Surveillance and Maintenance program, assigned to the Grand Junction Projects Office. A review of the protectiveness of the remedial actions will be required at least every five years and continue until contaminant levels allow unlimited use and unrestricted exposure at the sites. Although contamination exceeding risk-based cleanup levels of radium-226 in excess of cleanup standards will not remain on the properties (except for the repository), supplemental standards may be applied to specified peripheral and vicinity properties (for example, city streets, utility corridors and pinyon/juniper stands), requiring the development of Long-Term Surveillance and Maintenance Plans and contingency plans. If at a later date, the regulators determine that the completed remedial action is no longer protective of human health or the environment, the Department will be responsible for implementing the needed actions to remediate the contamination or otherwise control the risk it poses. The cost associated with the preparation of the plans and the long-term monitoring activity are not included in the Monticello Projects but are included in the Grand Junction Projects Office Long-Term Surveillance and Maintenance program.

Operable Unit I: Mill Tailings and Mill Site Property

Operable Unit I includes the 44 hectares (110 acres) of the original mill site. This land contains the original mill tailing piles, the tailings removed from the Monticello peripheral properties (Operable Unit II), and the tailings removed from the Monticello Vicinity Properties. The original mill tailings piles are within the flood plain of Montezuma Creek. They are also partially in contact with a shallow alluvial aquifer underlying the site. The volume of tailings, contaminated soil, and contaminated building material in the tailings impoundments and mill area are estimated at approximately 1.7 million cubic meters (2.2 million cubic yards).

There are two tasks identified for this operable unit. The first, mill site remediation, includes those activities necessary for remediation of the mill site: construction of the repository; excavation, loading, and hauling the tailings and contaminated material; disposal of tailings and contaminated material in the onsite repository; and interim grading of the mill site. Once the land-use requirements are finalized, the second task, mill site restoration, will be initiated and will include those activities necessary to restore the mill site.

Technical risks for Operable Unit I are high because of the issues of disposal cell longevity and ground-water protection. The long-term performance of the disposal cell (up to 1,000 years or to the extent reasonably achievable but at least 200 years as specified in Code of Federal Regulations Title 40, Part 192) will require extensive geotechnical expertise and stringent quality control during the construction phase to mitigate these impacts.

ASSESSMENT

Preliminary evaluations of Operable Unit I were conducted to evaluate the potential presence of contamination from historic uses. Based on the preliminary evaluations, environmental site assessments were performed and specific areas of concern were identified based on visual observations, field tests, or documented historical contamination. Further site characterization activities (including visual inspections and soil, air, building materials, and ground-water sampling to aid in the identification of site contaminants) and specific delineation samplings were completed prior to beginning remedial action. The contaminants on the mill site have been classified as byproduct materials, including tailings. The site assessment activities have been completed and the data used to perform analyses of the risks to the public and environment. The risk analysis data in turn has been used to develop an approach for remediation of the mill site and a design for the onsite repository. These activities have been completed and the recommendations approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and the State of Utah.

REMEDIAL ACTION

For Operable Unit I, the selected remedy is excavation of the tailings on the mill site and removal of the tailings and contaminated material to a permanent repository south of the mill site on Department of Energy-owned property. The mill site will be remediated to standards in Code of Federal Regulations Title 40, Part 192, Subpart A, for radium-226 and the "hot-spot" criteria established by Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. Standards for remediation of thorium, uranium, and heavy metals will be established through a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act risk assessment. Mill site tailings will be excavated and disposed of at the onsite repository located approximately 1.6 to 2.5 kilometers (1 to 1.5 miles) south of the mill site. Tailings will not be transported on public roads from the mill site to the repository, in order to minimize the potential spread of contaminants. Dust suppression will be required during all aspects of tailings removal, and a decontamination pad will be located at the repository access. Control fencing will be installed along the perimeter of the road, and the drainage from the haul road will be contained. The contaminated mill site buildings have been demolished and the rubble stored on the mill site prior to removal to the onsite repository for disposal.

A wastewater treatment plant has been set up at the mill site. The plant treats contaminated surface runoff from the mill site, and water encountered during the excavation of contaminated materials. The excavation water constitutes the largest portion of the overall volume. Discharge from the plant to the Montezuma Creek meets the requirements of the Utah Pollution Discharge Elimination System regulations.

An independent verification contractor will verify the adequacy of the remediation by documenting that radiological and chemical residual levels meet authorized limits through document reviews and field measurements.

The repository is being designed to permanently contain up to a maximum of approximately 2.0 million cubic meters (2.6 million cubic yards) of uranium/vanadium mill tailings from the mill site and other properties in the vicinity of Monticello, Utah. The repository will be lined with a combination of synthetic and natural liner materials to achieve compliance with minimum technological requirements established in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act for containment of hazardous waste in a landfill. Beneath the polyethylene layer will be an additional soil barrier to control radon emissions.

Remediation and restoration for this operable unit are scheduled to be completed in FY 2001.

Operable Unit II: Peripheral Properties

The Monticello peripheral properties include Department-owned and private land to the north and south of the old mill site that had been leased for the stockpiling of ore. Also included are the adjoining areas where contaminants were deposited by wind or surface water along Montezuma Creek and the irrigation ditches traversing the properties. A total of 24 properties covering approximately 120 hectares (300 acres) around the site contain most of the estimated 228,000 cubic meters (300,000 cubic yards) of peripheral property material. Operable Unit III includes additional peripheral properties, including the stream bed and banks of a 5.3 kilometer (3.3 mile) length of Montezuma Creek east of the mill site to the confluence of Montezuma and Vega Creeks.

Technical risks for Operable Unit II are low because complete removal of the contaminated materials and replacement with approved materials is an extremely effective remedy. Conventional building construction and earthwork techniques can be employed with a high degree of success. On properties where supplemental standards are appropriate, land-use restrictions will control risks from remaining contamination. Institutional controls will be in place to ensure that land-use restrictions are enforced.

ASSESSMENT

Preliminary evaluations of Operable Unit II were conducted to evaluate the potential presence of contamination from current and historic uses. Based on the preliminary evaluations, environmental site assessments were performed and specific areas of concern were identified based on visual observations, field tests, or documented historical contamination. Further site characterization activities (including visual inspections, soil and building materials sampling to aid in the identification of site contaminants, and specific delineation sampling, where applicable) were completed prior to beginning remedial action. The contaminants on the peripheral properties have been classified as hazardous substances. Investigations are also being conducted to evaluate the potential presence of concentrations of hazardous substances other than radium-226 requiring remediation or special handling as a hazardous or Toxic Substances Control Act waste. If these substances are identified in unacceptable risk concentrations, the Department will recommend remediation, and this remediation will be included in the design for the property. The site assessment activities are nearing completion, and the data is being used to analyze the risks of contamination to the public and environment and to develop approaches to remediate of the properties . Documentation of the risks of contamination to the public and environment, along with approaches for remediation of the peripheral properties or definition of institutional controls, is being prepared for approval by the Environmental Protection Agency and the State of Utah.

REMEDIAL ACTION

Removal of tailings from Operable Unit II entails the use of conventional and environmentally sensitive construction techniques using hand excavation or vacuum removal of tailings to preserve native vegetation. The Department will remediate nonradiological hazardous substances on included properties if the substances pose an unacceptable risk to human health and the environment. Dust suppression will be required during all aspects of tailings removal. For the most part, tailings removed from the peripheral properties will be placed in an interim repository on the mill site, until the permanent repository construction is completed. Trucks transporting contaminated material to the mill site from contaminated peripheral properties will be decontaminated and surveyed. Trucks transporting tailings on public roads will comply with Department of Transportation regulations. The Operable Unit 2 cleanups are based on the standards in Code of Federal Regulations Title 40, Part 192, Subpart A, for radium­226 and the "hot-spot" criteria established for Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program sites.

After removal of contamination, the excavation is verified to demonstrate that remediation to applicable standards for contamination in soil was achieved. An independent verification contractor also verifies the removal of byproduct material after remediation on selected properties.

Remediation of the peripheral properties is planned so that contamination removed from the properties can be ultimately placed in the onsite repository. Remediation has been completed on three properties, and remediation is in process on five additional properties. To meet the projected date for cell closure, all tailings must be removed from the peripheral properties by November 30, 1998.

The schedule for remediation does not allow response to post-remediation radon-daughter measurements (indoor radon concentration measurements) that indicate noncompliance with Code of Federal Regulations Title 40, Part 192 cleanup standards. For those properties, there is a possibility that contaminated materials may have to be transported separately to a suitable disposal site or that alternative controls will have to be put in place to control radon exposure. To minimize potential impacts, the Department is considering the completion of radon-daughter concentration measurements prior to or concurrent with remediation of properties where contamination is not adjacent to the inhabited structure.

Operable Unit III: Surface and Ground Water

Operable Unit III includes contaminated ground water beneath the tailings piles and downgradient of the mill site. The volume of contaminated water is estimated at 200,000 cubic meters (53 million gallons). At present, this shallow aquifer is not used as a private or public drinking water source. At the mill site, this aquifer is separated from the deeper Burro Canyon aquifer by a rock formation known as the Dakota Sandstone believed to act as an aquitard. East of the mill site and the town of Monticello, the Dakota Sandstone is eroded away by Montezuma Creek, and the shallow alluvial aquifer comes into direct contact with the Burrow Canyon aquifer in Montezuma Creek Canyon. The Burro Canyon aquifer, where it is being used as an alternative drinking water source by the town of Monticello, has not been contaminated. It is uncertain if other areas of the Burro Canyon aquifer in Montezuma Creek Canyon are contaminated.

The surface water included in Operable Unit III consists of Montezuma Creek, which flows through the mill site. Montezuma Creek is a small perennial stream with headwaters in the Abajo Mountains immediately west of Monticello.

Technical risks for Operable Unit III are high because of the uncertainty associated with the scope of characterization activities. The scope of these activities is being finalized with the regulatory authorities, reducing the risk of performing unnecessary activities. The Grand Junction Projects Office is currently reviewing the Monticello Surface- and Ground-Water Remedial Action Project in accordance with the Department of Energy Streamlined Approach for Environmental Restoration guidelines. This report assumes extensive remediation of stream-deposited contaminants will not be required, and passive restoration of contaminated ground water will be used. Therefore, remedial design and remedial action are not part of the project baseline at this time.

ASSESSMENT

Characterization of the contamination in Montezuma Creek Canyon is required to determine if contamination presents an unacceptable risk to human health and the environment. Characterization includes assessing concentrations of contaminants of concern in sediments, soils, surface water, ground-water and biota. Previous studies indicate a sixth medium, air, is not a significant pathway. A baseline risk assessment consisting of a human health risk assessment and an ecological risk assessment is being prepared. A Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study will include the baseline risk assessment data and address alternatives for any appropriate remediation of soils, sediments, surface and ground water, including the proposed performance goals for remediation of surface and ground water. Numerical modeling results will be presented to evaluate alternatives for active and passive restoration. Separate documents, for approval by the Environmental Protection Agency and the State of Utah, will be prepared on recommendations for the remediation of Montezuma Creek Canyon sediments and soils and remediation of the surface and ground water.

The schedule for completion of Operable Unit III tasks will coordinate with the schedule for remediation of the mill site (Operable Unit I). Removal of contamination, if required, from Montezuma Creek Canyon must be completed concurrent with or before completion of the mill site and before closure of the permanent repository, in order to avoid additional costs for offsite disposal.

REMEDIAL ACTION

The remedy for Operable Unit III has not yet been selected. The draft Record of Decision for the selected remediation of the unit is currently planned for FY 2000; however, options to advance this are being evaluated as discussed above. The standards for cleanup will be based on analyses of costs and benefits applied to the risks associated with surface- and ground-water contamination.

Operable Unit III may also include the remediation of peripheral property wetlands along Montezuma Creek. (Remediation of peripheral properties, excluding these wetlands, is being addressed according to the Operable Unit II response, which is specified in the Monticello Mill Tailings site 1990 Record of Decision.) The radiological cleanup standards will be based on the baseline risk assessment and evaluation of applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements including Code of Federal Regulations Title 40, Part 192, Subpart A. Cleanup standards, if required for the remediation of radiological and nonradiological constituents, will also be developed through the baseline risk assessment to mitigate any risk to human health and the environment.

Monticello Vicinity Properties

The objective of the Monticello Vicinity Properties Project is to remediate the commercial, publicly owned, and residential properties in the City of Monticello that are contaminated by wind-blown materials and by the use of mill tailings as construction and fill materials. Technical risks for the Monticello Vicinity Properties Project are high because the extent of possible remedial action under city streets and associated utilities is not known, and the site boundary, within which inclusion surveys are required, has been extended. The Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the State of Utah have recently finalized a definition of the boundary of the Monticello Vicinity Properties site, using the preliminary six sections and any other properties where definite evidence exists that Monticello mill site materials are present, to determine a radius of 13 kilometers (8 miles). This report anticipates an additional 25 to 50 properties may be included in the Monticello Vicinity Properties.

ASSESSMENT

Preliminary evaluations of Monticello Vicinity Properties were conducted to evaluate the potential presence of contamination from current and historic uses. Based on the preliminary evaluations, environmental site assessments were performed and specific areas of concern were identified based on visual observations, field tests, or documented historical contamination. Further site characterization activities (including visual inspections, soil and building materials sampling to aid in the identification of site contaminants, and specific delineation sampling, where applicable) were completed prior to beginning remedial action. The contaminants on the vicinity properties have been classified as hazardous substances. The site assessment activities are completed, and the data is being used to perform analyses of the risks of contamination to the public and environment and to develop approaches for remediation of the properties and disposal of the materials.

REMEDIAL ACTION

The selected remedy for materials on vicinity properties is to remove the contamination and dispose of it with the mill site tailings. Dust suppression will be required during all aspects of tailings removal. Tailings removed from the vicinity properties will be placed in an interim repository on the mill site until completion of construction of the permanent repository. Trucks transporting contaminated material to the mill site from contaminated vicinity properties will be decontaminated and surveyed. Trucks transporting tailings on public roads will comply with Department of Transportation regulations. This remedy will be applied to an estimated 410 vicinity properties. Additional Monticello Vicinity Properties may be identified as a result of expanding the site boundary. The cleanup will be based on the standards in the Code of Federal Regulations Title 40, Part 192, Subpart A, for radium-226. For areas where tailings were deposited by the wind, the "hot-spot" criteria established for Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program will be used.

Nonradiological hazardous substances are suspected to be present at several vicinity properties. The Department of Energy will remediate nonradiological hazardous substances on properties included in the original six sections if the substances pose an unacceptable risk to human health and the environment. Investigations will be conducted to evaluate the presence of hazardous substances other than radium-226. If hazardous substances are identified in concentrations that pose unacceptable risk, the Department will recommend remediation, and this remediation will be included in the design for the property.

A total of 375 properties have been remediated to date. Remediation of the Monticello Vicinity Properties is scheduled for completion in FY 1998. An independent verification contractor will verify the removal of hazardous substances after remediation.

Direct Program Management/Support

The Department is a responsible party with respect to present and past releases at the Monticello sites. The Department is also the lead agency responsible for providing resources to implement response actions at the sites. The Albuquerque Operations Office has delegated the authority, responsibility, and accountability for overall project implementation and contract administration of the Monticello Projects to the manager of the Grand Junction Projects Office. The Grand Junction Projects Office manager assigns Department project managers, as well as matrix support to the Monticello Projects. Program support includes: health/safety/security oversight, engineering support, personnel management and training, administrative support, progress tracking, financial management, site-wide environmental data and compliance reporting, stakeholder support/public participation, permitting, and contract management.

The Grand Junction Projects Office provides program management support for all projects within its mission, although these activities are not funded separately through a program management account. Program management includes developing, managing, and reporting the cost and schedule; developing and implementing project plans; and tracking completion of the project tasks in accordance with applicable regulations, Department of Energy Orders, and program objectives. Program management activities are tracked and charged to the Monticello Projects budgets; however, this report identifies program management costs as 11 percent of the total Environmental Restoration budget.

A community relations program for the Monticello Projects has been developed to encourage public involvement in environmental restoration decisionmaking. The goal is to provide understandable, accurate, and timely information to interested parties during environmental cleanup activities. The program has established two-way communication between the Department and stakeholders and maximized opportunities for public involvement.

Monthly information and discussion meetings with city, county, and regulatory agencies and Site-Specific Advisory Board meetings form the core of Monticello stakeholder and public participation activities. In addition, ongoing communication and interaction are maintained with the communities in which the Grand Junction Projects Office is managing Environmental Restoration programs through a speakers bureau, site tours, educational outreach programs concentrating on the sciences and environmental topics, and the issuance of regular press releases to update project progress and future work schedules. Payments in the amount of $150,000 are made annually to the State of Utah Department of Environmental Quality for oversight in support of the Monticello Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and

Liability Act cleanup effort. The Site-Specific Advisory Board is reimbursed for expenses associated with its oversight of the remediation effort. The Department of Energy has agreed in principle to provide $40,000 to $60,000 worth of emergency response equipment and/or training to local responders as settlement of a stipulated penalty for discharges to Montezuma Creek. No other payments to the local community, the state, or federal agencies are planned; nor are any Agreements-In-Principle or grants planned.

DESCRIPTION OF PERSONNEL

Current Composition

The current composition of personnel assigned to the project reflects ongoing planning and design remediation activities. As the program matures, the composition will gradually shift from engineering personnel to field support personnel. Current staffing requirements represent a site-wide mix of federal employees and subcontractors, as presented in the table below. The federal work force consists of managers and administrative and professional employees. The contractor work force mainly consists of professional staff and labor personnel who conduct the day-to-day site operations and plan and perform the remediation of the site.

* The Projections for Full-Time Equivalent employees are based on FY 1996 planning baselines (see Reader's Guide).

Site Management Structure

The Department of Energy currently has in place a Federal Acquisition Requirements-based contract to provide management, engineering, and scientific services to the Grand Junction Projects Office in support of Department of Energy programs, including the Monticello Projects. This will be replaced by a new small business, performance-based contract for operating the Grand Junction Projects Office Technical Assistance and Remediation contract, which will be awarded by July 1, 1996. The new contract will have a three-year base period and two one-year options.

The Department of Energy recently awarded a $33.2 million subcontract for the construction of the Monticello Projects repository, based on a competitive procurement. The contract includes excavation, transportation, placement of the contaminated materials in the repository, and backfilling and grading the mill site.

Future Full-Time Equivalent Needs

Full-Time Equivalent needs for FY 1999 and FY 2000 will remain at the same level and mix as in FY 1998, although at a reduced number because of the completion of the Monticello peripheral properties and the Monticello Vicinity Properties Projects. The scope of work for FY 2001 will consist of closeout activities; the mix will primarily consist of administrators and other professionals totaling approximately 250 federal and contractor Full-Time Equivalents.

FUNDING ESTIMATE

The following table presents estimated funding information for the Monticello Projects.

COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS ESTIMATE

The 1996 life-cycle estimate for the Monticello Remedial Action Project is approximately the same as the 1995 estimate, after taking 1995 expenditures into account. Projected Environmental Restoration program activity costs are approximately three percent lower, reflecting a recalculation of project costs and increased efficiencies in project activities. This rebaselining reflects more efficient approaches to project staffing, optimization of repository construction and mill site remediation, and remediation of some peripheral properties within the mill site.