Wayne Site

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The Wayne site is located at 868 Black Oak Ridge Road in Wayne Township in a highly developed area of Passaic County, New Jersey. This area is approximately 58 kilometers (36 miles) northwest of New York City.

FACILITY MISSION

From 1948 to 1971, Rare Earths, Inc., and W.R. Grace and Company extracted naturally occurring radioactive thorium and rare earth elements from monazite sand ore for use in commercial products. During that period of time, contaminants from plant operations migrated offsite, primarily via Sheffield Brook.

SITE MAP

In 1974 W.R. Grace and Company partially decontaminated the site. The company razed some buildings and buried the resulting rubble and processing equipment on the property. W.R. Grace decontaminated the remaining buildings, and covered the onsite disposal areas with clean fill.

The Department of Energy acquired the site in 1984 under a Congressional mandate. The Department currently maintains and monitors an onsite office building and a 29,500-cubic meter (38,000­cubic yard) storage pile, which is the result of cleanups of nearby properties during 1985­1987. The storage pile will be excavated and removed from the site for permanent disposal at a licensed, out-of-state facility beginning in late 1995. In addition to the pile, the former factory site contains up to 53,500 cubic meters (70,000 cubic yards) of contaminated soil, ore tailings, and process sludges. This subsurface material will be characterized concurrently with pile removal to help select the best remedial alternative for the ultimate site cleanup.

FUTURE USE

After the property has been fully remediated, the Department of Energy will release it for land use in accordance with the Record of Decision. The cost estimate assumes that the land will be designated for Industrial/Commercial use.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION

In 1984, Congress assigned responsibility for cleanup of the Wayne site to the Department of Energy. The site was added to the Environmental Protection Agency National Priorities List during the same year. Since then, the Department of Energy has managed it under FUSRAP. The key regulator is Environmental Protection Agency Region II, with additional oversight from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the local health department. Documentation for the remaining actions to be taken for the site include the proposed plan and the Record of Decision. An Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis documents removal actions used to expedite portions of the cleanup process, such as pile cleanup.

Environmental restoration activities at the site have been designed to identify and evaluate contaminated areas through surveying and sampling, to devise cleanup strategies, and to carry out cleanups as needed. From 1985 to 1987, the Department of Energy cleaned up 18 vicinity properties in Wayne that had become contaminated through past W.R. Grace operations. The soil storage pile at the site is a result of these cleanups. During 1992 and 1993, another eight vicinity properties were cleaned up in the Town of Pequannock at a rail spur where thorium-containing sands were off­loaded during the years when W.R. Grace was an operating facility. The Department shipped soil from these cleanups out of state for permanent disposal.

In April 1991, the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency entered into a Federal Facilities Agreement that sets the procedural framework and schedule for the cleanup and helps foster cooperation between the two agencies. The agreement is designed to ensure thoroughness and legal compliance during all phases of planning and implementation of the cleanup.

Future cleanup activities will address both the storage pile and subpile materials. Although the storage pile is being completely excavated and shipped for out-of-state, permanent disposal, the Department is still considering treatment for subpile materials. It is evaluating treatment technologies that may significantly reduce waste volume. Volume reduction through soil treatment would result in substantial cost savings in the areas of transportation and disposal. However, the local community historically has expressed strong opposition to treatment of any kind and has pressed for complete removal of subpile materials that are above guidelines, as is planned for the storage pile.

Although risk to the public resulting from the materials at the Wayne site is minimal, several environmental monitoring and pollution control measures are in place to help protect the safety and health of the public and the environment. The waste material in the storage pile is encased in a synthetic material that is sealed at the edges to control radon and thoron emissions and to prevent migration of the enclosed material. All leachate is collected, tested, and removed for treatment (if necessary) and disposal. A separate ground-water seepage collection system collects uncontaminated ground water and channels it to the storm drain system. Pollution control during excavation includes wetting soils to prevent dust from becoming airborne. Air monitoring during excavation further ensures that no contamination is leaving the site.

Major Environmental Restoration Activity Milestones

TASK	COMPLETION DATE Fiscal Year
Assessment (Record of Decision)	1996
Remedial Action	2015

ASSESSMENT

During 1980, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection conducted a radiological survey of the area. The survey identified elevated radiation levels at the plant site and in areas west of the plant. Additional radiological surveys conducted from 1981 to 1983 further delineated the contaminated areas. The studies included an aerial radiological survey conducted over a 142-square kilometer (55­square mile) area; "drive­by" surveys, in which a van outfitted with instrumentation was driven through the community being studied; and walkover surveys of individual properties. These studies identified radioactive contamination at four offsite areas: Wayne Township Park; a school bus maintenance facility; the Sheffield Brook area, including 15 properties along the brook, ditch, and drainage pipe; and the Pompton Plains Railroad Spur.

An environmental surveillance program has been in place since 1984. The Department monitors air, ground water, and soil and periodically samples them to detect any above-background contamination from the site. An annual report compiles and interprets the previous year's monitoring and sampling data. During activities such as pile removal or residential excavations, the Department conducts additional monitoring to ensure that no contaminants are spread as a result of the work.

The Remedial Investigation Report for the site was published in October 1993, and a Feasibility Study is being completed in preparation for the decisionmaking process for remedial action. A baseline risk assessment, published in January 1994, addresses risk to the public based on current and future use scenarios. Concurrent with pile removal, the Department will perform characterization of subpile material to define further the nature and extent of contamination in burial pits.

REMEDIAL ACTION

The Department has cleaned up all offsite properties that were once contaminated. During 1985­1987, the Department undertook a series of cleanup actions for contaminated properties along Sheffield Brook, in Wayne Township Park, and at the school bus maintenance facility adjacent to the plant site. Approximately 29,500 cubic meters (38,500 cubic yards) of contaminated materials were removed from the properties and transported back to the site for storage. These properties were formally certified for use with no radiological restrictions and released from FUSRAP in 1990. In 1993, the Department cleaned up seven additional residential properties and the Pompton Plains Railroad Spur.

Removal of the soil storage pile will begin during the fall of 1995. Complete removal will take from three to five years depending on annual funding. As the pile is removed, the Department will perform characterization of the subpile soils to determine the nature and extent of contamination in underlying burial pits.

The scenario used for the Baseline Environmental Management Report cost estimate assumes phased excavation and treatment of contaminated soils, with disposal at an existing out­of­state commercial disposal facility. The cost estimate also includes decontamination of the building at the interim storage site. The estimate assumes that trucks will transport the waste to a rail siding for loading into rail cars, which will transport the material to an existing out-of-state commercial disposal facility. The cost estimate assumes a total site waste volume of 83,500 cubic meters (109,000 cubic yards).

FUNDING ESTIMATE

The following table presents estimated funding information for the Wayne site.