Niagara Falls Storage Site

 Home
 BEMR Contents
 U.S. Map

The Niagara Falls Storage Site is located in the Town of Lewiston in Niagara County, New York. The site is bordered on the north by a chemical waste disposal facility, on the east and south by a solid waste disposal facility, and on the west by a Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation right-of-way. The nearest residential neighbor is a campground approximately two­thirds of a mile southwest of the site. The site encompasses approximately 77 hectares (191 acres) and is used for long­term storage of radioactive residues, soils, and rubble.

FACILITY MISSION

The Niagara Falls Storage Site and adjacent vicinity properties were part of the U.S. Army's original 3,000-hectare (7,500­acre) Lake Ontario Ordnance Works. From 1944 to 1947, the Manhattan Engineer District used the Ordnance Works area to store uranium ore processing residues from operations conducted by Linde Air Products in the Town of Tonawanda, New York. By 1948, 2,700 hectares (6,000 acres) of the Ordnance Works had been transferred or sold, and 600 hectares (1,500 acres) had been given to the Atomic Energy Commission, which continued to use the site to store uranium ore processing residues. In the late 1940s and 1950s, additional residues and other radioactive waste were transported to the site from eastern and midwestern states. By 1968, most of the property acquired by the Atomic Energy Commission had been disposed of as surplus, leaving 86 hectares (213 acres). In 1975, 9 hectares (22 acres) were transferred to the Town of Lewiston, New York.

The Niagara Falls Storage site property includes a three-story building (Building 401) with three adjacent silos, an office building (Building 403), a small storage shed, and a storage building. All onsite and offsite areas of residual radioactivity above current guidelines were remediated between 1955 and 1992. Materials generated during remedial actions, approximately 195,000 cubic meters (255,000 cubic yards), are encapsulated within an onsite waste containment structure that encompasses approximately 4 hectares (10 acres).

The waste was primarily pitchblende (U₃O₈ ) residues from uranium processing operations. It also included rubble and scrap from decommissioning activities, miscellaneous waste from the University of Rochester and Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, and waste from Union Carbide's electrometallurgical operations. The most highly radioactive material included in the structure was K­65 residues, which resulted from the processing of high-grade African pitchblende ores. The average concentrations of radium­226 and thorium­230 in the residues are 520,000 picocuries per gram and 54,000 picocuries per gram, respectively. This waste, approximately 3,050 cubic meters (4,000 cubic yards), was placed in a former water treatment building that was specially prepared for the residues and was subsequently entombed when the waste containment structure was built around the building. These residues represent about 90 percent of the total radioactivity in the structure.

The waste containment structure was designed to provide long-term (200 to 1,000 years) storage of the material after installation of the final cap. An interim cap, which was an element of the long-term cap, was completed in 1986. This interim cap has a design life of up to 50 years and is being used until a decision is made about the permanent disposition of the K­65 residues.

Results of ground-water flow and transport modeling indicate that radionuclides at concentrations in excess of five picocuries per liter will not migrate beyond the boundaries of the waste containment structure within 10,000 years. Therefore, the public encounters minimal risk from the waste containment structure.

FUTURE USE

This estimate assumes that the future use will consist of long-term storage of the radioactive material within the waste containment structure, necessitating long-term Controlled Access.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION

Since 1954, actions have been taken to remediate areas onsite and offsite to reduce potential exposures to the public and the environment; to ensure that onsite personnel exposures are as low as reasonably achievable during necessary site maintenance and surveillance; and to perform the environmental, geological, and engineering studies necessary to evaluate the long-term disposition of the site.

Currently, residual radioactive materials from the vicinity properties and onsite soils have been remediated and are stored in the waste containment structure. During the past eight years, walkover surveys have verified that the waste containment structure is performing as designed. Investigators have not observed any settling of significant waste material, erosion, desiccation cracking, or unwanted plant growth.

Key regulators for the site include the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Environmental Protection Agency Region II.

ASSESSMENT

Comprehensive characterization was conducted to determine radiological conditions and any associated potential health effects on offsite properties. Investigations included assessment of direct gamma exposure and beta­gamma dose rates, surface residues, surface and subsurface soil, subsurface water, and drainage ditches on the property. Onsite buildings were also characterized. This report assumes that all assessment activities have been completed at this site.

In 1970-1971, radiological surveys of 25 vicinity properties, approximately 530 hectares (1,300 acres), formerly owned by the Atomic Energy Commission indicated that residual radioactivity exceeding then­current guidelines was present on about 6.5 hectares (16 acres) of these properties; contaminated soil and debris were removed and transported to the Niagara Falls Storage Site in 1972. Surveys by Oak Ridge Associated Universities and Oak Ridge National Laboratory between 1981 and 1985 revealed that radioactive contamination exceeding current guidelines remained on 23 of these properties, and they identified three additional properties in Niagara Falls and Lewiston where residual radioactivity exceeded guidelines. Remedial action at the vicinity properties, which consisted of cleaning and restoring offsite drainage ditches and excavating contaminated soils and rubble, was completed in 1986; 38,250 cubic meters (50,000 cubic yards) of low-level radioactive waste from the cleanup was placed in the waste containment structure at the Niagara Falls Storage Site.

The primary radioactive contaminants stored at Niagara Falls Storage Site are radium­226 and uranium­238. In 1979-1980 Battelle Columbus Laboratories conducted a comprehensive characterization and hazard assessment of Niagara Falls Storage Site. It identified radioactive contamination in buildings, soils, sediments, vegetation, and ground water, and emanation of radon from stored and buried residues. Five onsite residue storage buildings and three associated buildings, as well as three of 15 nonresidue storage buildings, exhibited significant levels of surface radioactivity. Approximately 61,000 cubic meters (79,300 cubic yards) of soil over four hectares (10 acres) of the 77­hectare (191­acre) site, and 22,000 cubic meters (28,600 cubic yards) of sediments in both onsite and offsite portions of the west and central drainage ditches, contained radium­226 at levels above guidelines. Radon emitted by stored and buried residues exceeded the New York State standard for radon­222 levels for controlled areas both in the southwestern storage area and at the site perimeter. Although radon emissions exceeded guidelines before remedial action began in 1981, consolidation of the waste within the waste containment structure has effectively controlled radon emissions. Radium­226 concentrations in ground water did not exceed guidelines for uncontrolled-access sites at either onsite or offsite sampling locations. Remediation of all onsite contamination, together with consolidation of 156,800 cubic meters (205,000 cubic yards) of low­level waste from remedial action at the Niagara Falls Storage site and 38,250 cubic meters (50,000 cubic yards) of waste from vicinity property cleanups, was completed in 1986 and included encapsulation of all waste within the onsite engineered waste containment structure.

The environmental surveillance program at the site includes sampling networks for radon concentrations in air; external gamma radiation exposure; radium­226; and total uranium concentrations in surface water, sediments, and ground water. An annual report issued to designated stakeholders and made available to the public includes this information. Environmental surveillance data confirm normal background levels well below regulatory limits and indicate that there are no radon releases from the waste containment structure.

REMEDIAL ACTION

Remediation of the site is consistent with National Environmental Policy Act requirements. The final Environmental Impact Statement was published in 1986, followed by a Record of Decision on the long­term disposition of the site. The selected alternative for the site was onsite management of the waste. The Baseline Environmental Management Report cost estimate used this scenario, including installation of the permanent cap on the engineered waste containment structure. The cost estimate also includes limited­scope decontamination of Buildings 401 and 403. Long­term surveillance and maintenance will be transferred to the Grand Junction Projects Office after installation of the permanent cap.

Since 1980, various steps have been taken to minimize potential radiological risks and to prevent migration of residues. During the fall of 1980, the vent at the top of the silo­style building where K­65 residues were stored was capped to reduce emissions of radon to the environment. In 1981, remedial action in an area just beyond the site resulted in the excavation of 345 cubic meters (450 cubic yards) of radioactive material, which was relocated to an onsite storage area. In 1982, two buildings were upgraded and sealed, and soil near the storage pile was moved onto the pile. This location became the site of an engineered waste containment structure, which was constructed in stages as waste material consolidation took place. A dike and cutoff wall were constructed around the area, and the pile was covered with a synthetic liner; these actions markedly reduced radon emissions from that area. Remedial actions in 1983 and 1984 included extension of the dike around an onsite building; placement of additional soil and rubble from onsite and offsite areas onto the storage pile; removal of superstructures from two buildings; and consolidation of the K­65 and other residues into the building surrounded by the dike and cutoff wall. The dike and cutoff wall became the surrounding barrier for the waste containment structure.

Activities in 1985 included completion of residue consolidation in the waste containment structure; dismantlement of two outlying buildings; remedial action on properties near the site; and installation of a cap of clays, topsoil, and sod as the short­term closure over the waste at the containment structure. These activities involved excavating approximately 10,700 cubic meters (14,000 cubic yards) of radioactive material from onsite and offsite areas; transferring 1,110 cubic meters (1,450 cubic yards) of building rubble to a 4­hectare (10­acre) interim waste containment facility; and treating and discharging 12.1 million liters (3.2 million gallons) of impounded water in accordance with state discharge requirements, as determined by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

During 1986, the cap of the residues in the interim waste storage facility was closed, another building was dismantled, and organic rubble was removed and disposed of in the organic materials burial area. Inorganic material was left in the basement of one building, and concrete was used to fill voids. Another building was reduced to rubble, which was allowed to remain on the foundation slab. Two buildings that served as radium vaults were decontaminated and dismantled. Dewatering of residues was completed, geotechnical instrumentation was installed in the waste containment area, and 36 monitoring wells were installed.

In 1987, two holding ponds used for water management were demolished. The following year, remedial action was completed on 80 isolated areas of residual radioactivity onsite. In 1991, all remaining radioactive material, including two storage piles, one remaining isolated area of residual radioactivity, 60 drums of radioactive waste, and 900 archived samples, was consolidated into the existing waste containment area. Also, four underground storage tanks were removed from the site and disposed of by a state­certified disposal contractor.

A waste minimization program is in place for any operation- and maintenance­generated waste. Site waste currently consists of approximately 195,000 cubic meters (255,000 cubic yards) of soils and residues entombed in the engineered waste containment structure. Surveillance and maintenance by FUSRAP will continue at the site for two years after the completion of the permanent cap. The Department will then transfer administration of the site to the Grand Junction Projects Office in Colorado for incorporation into the Long-term Surveillance and Monitoring program.

FUNDING ESTIMATE

The following table presents estimated funding information for the Niagara Falls Storage Site.