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Mound cleanup touted as model of restoration
Miamisburg Mound official says 'We're very close to completing this project properly.'
Saturday, July 28, 2007
MIAMISBURG — The cleanup of the Mound Plant has taken more than a decade and cost more than $1 billion. It's being touted as a model for the restoration and reuse of a contaminated nuclear weapons facility.
All that stands in the way of a clean slate for the 305-acre hilltop site is the removal of radioactive and chemical hazards in a four-acre landfill that dates to Mound's creation in the late 1940s. But the project's cost is overrunning the $30 million Congress set aside for it, and there's no guarantee of additional funding.
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"Obviously, we would like to see them allocate more money to finish the project," said Mike Grauwelman, president of the Miamisburg Mound Community Improvement Corp., which is working to transform the site into a business park specializing in scientific technologies. "We're very close to completing this project properly."
The industrial park could suffer if the Energy Department, which owns Mound, leaves contaminants behind when the $30 million is spent, he said. "We're basically 99 percent finished with this work. I'm afraid to leave any legacy (waste) at the site will leave a negative impression and make it more difficult to market the facility."
The landfill, called Operable Unit 1, was used over the years to dispose of some 2,500 crushed 55-gallon drums contaminated with radioactive thorium and sand tainted with polonium-210. Of the greatest concern, though, are cancer-causing volatile organic compounds in the groundwater. The landfill is over part of a drinking-water aquifer.
Since 1996, officials have been pumping out groundwater and treating it to reduce contaminants to drinking water standards. The Energy Department also has been using a vapor extraction system to remove toxic compounds from the soil. Many of the thorium drums were removed and replaced with fresh soil in 2005.
Energy and environmental protection officials agreed these measures are sufficient to protect public health. But Miamisburg officials were concerned about the landfill's impact on reuse efforts. They contacted U.S. Reps. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, and David Hobson, R-Springfield, who got Congress to appropriate the $30 million to remove the remaining pollutants.
The landfill cleanup was expected to cost about $26 million, but is running slightly behind schedule and now is over budget with an estimated cost of $32.5 million, Grauwelman said. He hopes to meet with Energy Department officials in Washington about the cost overrun, and has contacted Turner's office.
Energy Department cleanup officials and Turner's staff did not return phone calls seeking comment Friday.
