[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 185 (Monday, September 24, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48863-48864]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-23740]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Certification of the Radiological Condition of the New Brunswick 
Site in New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1996

AGENCY: Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Operations (ORO), 
Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of certification.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) has completed remedial actions 
to decontaminate the New Brunswick site (former New Brunswick 
Laboratory) in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The property formerly was 
found to contain quantities of residual radioactive material associated 
with laboratory operations of the United States Atomic Energy 
Commission. Based on the analysis of all data collected, DOE has 
concluded that any residual radiological contamination remaining onsite 
at the conclusion of DOE's remedial action falls within radiological 
guidelines in effect at the conclusion of such remedial action.

ADDRESSES: The certification docket is available at the following 
locations:

U.S. Department of Energy, Public Reading Room, Room 1E-190, Forrestal 
Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585
U.S. Department of Energy, Public Document Room, Oak Ridge Operations 
Office, 200 Administration Road, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 27830
New Brunswick Free Public Library, 60 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, 
New Jersey 08901

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert G. Atkin, Project Engineer, 
Office of Assistant Manager of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge 
Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy, P.O. Box 2001, Oak Ridge, 
Tennessee 37830, Phone: (865) 576-1826, Fax: (865) 574-4724.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DOE, ORO Office of Environmental 
Management, has conducted remedial action at the New Brunswick site in 
New Brunswick, New Jersey, under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial 
Action Program (FUSRAP). The objective of the program is to identify 
and remediate or otherwise control sites where residual radioactive 
contamination remains from activities carried out under contract to the 
Manhattan Engineer District/Atomic Energy Commission during the early 
years of the nation's atomic energy program.
    In October 1997, the U.S. Congress assigned responsibility for 
management of the program to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). 
Completion of the certification process was delayed pending preparation 
of a Memorandum of Understanding between DOE and USACE with regard to 
completed, remediated sites such as the New Brunswick property. The 
Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. DOE and the U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers Regarding Program Administration and Execution of 
the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program was signed by the 
parties in March 1999. Funding to proceed with the completion of DOE 
closure documentation for several FUSRAP sites, including the New 
Brunswick site, was obtained from USACE in late 2000.
    From 1948 to 1977, the New Brunswick site was used as a general 
nuclear chemistry laboratory for work related to government reactor and 
weapons programs. Site structures included a main laboratory building, 
plutonium laboratory complex containing a hot cell for handling 
radioactive materials, and nine other support buildings.
    During 29 years of operation, the New Brunswick site provided a 
variety of services using nuclear materials such as thorium and uranium 
ores, high-purity plutonium, americium, and enriched uranium. In 1960, 
soil contaminated with residues from pitchblende (a radium-bearing ore) 
was moved to the site from the Middlesex Municipal Landfill, located in 
the Borough of Middlesex. The material was mixed with clean soil and 
used to fill an unused rail spur that entered the eastern side of the 
property. In 1977, the New Brunswick facility was closed, and 
laboratory operations and personnel were relocated. In 1990, NBS was 
formally placed in FUSRAP.
    The site was partially remediated in two phases during the late 
2970s and early 1980s. Phase 1, completed in 1978, consisted of 
removing contaminated accessible plumbing, equipment, and portions of 
floors, walls, and ceilings. Phase 2, conducted from 1981 through 1983, 
included removal of all aboveground structures, including contaminated 
concrete foundations and onsite drain lines and radioactively 
contaminated soil on the front two-thirds of the property. The waste 
materials were disposed of at the Nevada Test Site.
    After Phases 1 and 2 were completed, verification surveys and 
sampling identified localized areas that were contaminated with 
uranium, radium, and thorium. Limited sampling and surveying in 1992 
indicated that radioactively contaminated soils were present only 
within the filled railroad spur and a localized spot midway along the 
southern fenceline. The last phase of remediation, the excavation of 
the remaining contaminated soil, was completed in 1996.
    Post-remedial action surreys conducted in 1996 have demonstrated, 
and DOE has certified, that the subject property is in compliance with 
the Department's radiological decontamination criteria and standards in 
effect at the conclusion of the remedial action. These standards are 
established to protect members of the general public and occupants of 
the site and to ensure that future use of the site will result in no 
radiological exposure above applicable guidelines. These findings are 
supported by the Department's Certification Docket for the Remedial 
Action Performed at the New Brunswick Site, in New Brunswick, New 
Jersey. DOE makes no representation regarding the condition of the site 
as a result of activities conducted subsequent to DOE's post-remedial 
action surveys.

[[Page 48864]]

    The certification docket will be available for review between 9:00 
a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday (except Federal holidays), in 
the DOE Public Reading Room located in Room 1E-190 of the Forrestal 
Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC. Copies of the 
certification docket also will be available in the DOE Public Document 
Room, U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge Operations Office, 200 
Administration Road, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the New Brunswick Free 
Public Library, 60 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
    DOE, through the Oak Ridge Operations Office of Environmental 
Management, Oak Ridge Reservation Remediation Management Group, has 
issued the following statement:

Statement of Certification: New Brunswick Site in New Brunswick, 
New Jersey

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Operations (ORO) 
Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) 
Remediation Management Group, has reviewed and analyzed the 
radiological data obtained following remedial action at the property 
identified as Block 598, Lot 6, and Sheet 80 of the Tax Map of the City 
of New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey. Based on analysis of 
all data collected, including post-remedial action surveys, DOE 
certifies that any residual contamination remaining onsite at the time 
remedial actions were completed falls within the guidelines, in effect 
at the conclusion of remedial action, for use of the site without 
radiological restrictions. This certification of compliance provides 
assurance that reasonably foreseeable future use of the site will 
result in no radiological exposure above radiological guidelines, in 
effect at the conclusion of the remedial action, for protecting members 
of the general public as well as occupants of the site.
    Property owned by: United States of America, 986 Jersey Avenue, New 
Brunswick, New Jersey 08903.

    Issued in Oak Ridge, Tennessee on September 6, 2001.
William M. Seay,
Group Leader, ORR Remediation Management Group.
[FR Doc. 01-23740 Filed 9-21-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-M