USACE Buffalo District Office, Buffalo, NY -- Buffalo, NY - A public information session regarding the Tonawanda Landfill Vicinity Property Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program site cleanup will be held on the evening of May 14, 2019, at 6:00 p.m. The information session will be held at the Niawanda Park Pavilion at 600 Niagara St, Tonawanda, New York.
The doors open for a poster session at 6:00 p.m. and the project presentation begins at 7:00 p.m. The poster session will include several poster stations that will describe the site setup, remediation activities, transportation routes and safety precautions that will be part of the Tonawanda Landfill Vicinity Property cleanup. Several members of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District team, as well as contractor personnel, will be available to answer questions and discuss the cleanup activities.
Cleanup is being conducted under FUSRAP, the authority for which the Corps of Engineers is the lead federal agency. The Corps of Engineers conducts FUSRAP projects in accordance with the governing federal law – the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. § 9601 et. seq., as amended, and the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan, 40 CFR 300.
CLEANUP UPDATE
The Corps of Engineers is excited to announce the progress being made to address the FUSRAP-related materials located within the Town of Tonawanda Landfill. A record of decision was signed to clean up radionuclide (radium-226, thorium-230, uranium-234, uranium-235, and uranium-238) contamination in soils in the Landfill Operable Unit (OU) of the Tonawanda Landfill Vicinity Property, and dispose of them off-site at a licensed/permitted disposal facility. The cleanup goals are set so that a recreational user will have unrestricted use of the site, with respect to the FUSRAP-related contamination, once the work is complete.
At the end of 2018, Buffalo District awarded two contracts to complete the cleanup of FUSRAP-contaminated soils at the Landfill OU. A remedial action contract was awarded to Plexus Scientific Corporation of Alexandria, Virginia, to remove FUSRAP materials from the Landfill OU to a depth of five feet below ground surface, as specified in the 2017 record of decision, and package them for disposal. A second contract was awarded to Environmental Rail Solutions of Monmouth Beach, New Jersey, to transport and dispose of the excavated FUSRAP materials at a permitted disposal facility outside of New York State.
To ensure a safe and successful project, the Corps of Engineers is working with the contractor to finalize work plans for the project. The work plans will guide the cleanup and verify it is performed in a manner that is protective of the health and safety of site workers, the local community, and the environment. The contractor will follow these work plans during mobilization, cleanup, and restoration of the Landfill OU. These plans were reviewed extensively by the Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, as well as the City of Tonawanda and Town of Tonawanda officials.
Field work is expected to begin at the end of May 2019. Work will take place Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., using excavators, loaders, and trucks. Residents nearby will hear normal construction-type sounds during the cleanup. Protective measures will include air monitoring around the work zone, and dust suppression.
The excavated FUSRAP-contaminated material will be placed in intermodal containers which will be sealed, and prepared for pickup by the transportation and disposal contractor for transport to the rail yard in Blasdell, New York. From there the intermodal containers will be loaded onto a train and transported to a properly permitted/licensed disposal facility in Michigan.
After the Corps of Engineers has addressed the FUSRAP-related materials within the landfill the Town of Tonawanda along with the NYSDEC will proceed with the final closing of the landfill and addressing any non FUSRAP-related contamination that may remain.
Administrative Record
The administrative record file for the Tonawanda Landfill Vicinity Property contains CERCLA-related documentation used in the decision-making process for the site. Reports and documents in the administrative record file may be viewed on the Tonawanda Landfill website at: http://www.lrb.usace.army.mil/Missions/HTRW/FUSRAP/Tonawanda-Landfill/
Also available at:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Buffalo District
1776 Niagara Street
Buffalo, New York 14207 (by appointment only)
The Corps of Engineers is committed to keeping you informed during the cleanup of Tonawanda Landfill Vicinity Property. For more information about the site, please email fusrap@usace.army.mil, visit: http://www.lrb.usace.army.mil/Missions/HTRW/FUSRAP/Tonawanda-Landfill/ or call 800-833-6390 (Option 4).
If you would like to receive Tonawanda Landfill Vicinity Property “News from the Corps” emails for regular updates on cleanup progress, please provide the Corps of Engineers with your email address.