Environmental monitoring plan for the Niagara Falls Storage Site and the Interim Waste Containment Facility

Abstract

As part of the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Surplus Facility Management Program (SFMP), the Niagara Falls Storage Site (NFSS) is undergoing remedial action. Vicinity properties adjacent to and near the site are being cleaned up as part of DOE's Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). These programs are a DOE effort to clean up low-level radioactive waste resulting from the early days of the nation's atomic energy program. Radioactively contaminated waste from these remedial action activities are being stored at the NFSS in an interim waste containment facility (IWCF). When the remedial actions and IWCF are completed in 1986, activities at the site will be limited to waste management. The monitoring program was prepared in accordance with DOE Order 5484.1 and is designed to determine the contribution of radioactivity from the site to the environs and to demonstrate compliance with applicable criteria. Major elements of this program will also supplement other monitoring requirements including the performance monitoring system for the IWCF and the closure/post-closure plan. Emphasis will be directed toward the sampling and analysis of groundwater, surface water, air and sediment for parameters which are known to be present in the material stored at the site. The monitoring program will employ a phased approach whereby the first 5 years of data will be evaluated, and the program will be reviewed and modified as necessary. 17 refs., 10 figs., 3 tabs.