# Notice of Floodplain and Wetland Involvement for the Ventron Site, Essex County, Massachusetts > Briefs, arguments, decisions, and more. URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A96-6838 ## Record - **Collection:** Federal Register - **Document type:** Notice - **Published:** March 21, 1996 - **Citation:** 61 FR 11621 ## Text DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Notice of Floodplain and Wetland Involvement for the Ventron Site, Essex County, Massachusetts AGENCY: Former Sites Restoration Division, Department of Energy (DOE). ACTION: Notice of floodplain and wetland involvement. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: DOE proposes to remediate sediment and soil containing elevated levels of uranium-238 from a floodplain and wetland, a floodplain and wetland buffer zone, and from the Massachusetts coastal zone in Essex County, Massachusetts. In accordance with 10 CFR 1022, DOE has prepared a floodplain and wetlands assessment and will perform this proposed action in a manner so as to avoid or minimize potential harm to or within the affected floodplain and wetland resources. DATES: Comments are due to the address below no later than April 5, 1996. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THIS PROPOSED ACTION OR TO COMMENT ON THE ACTION, CONTACT: Mr. Jim Kopotic, Ventron Site Manager, Former Sites Restoration Division, U.S. Department of Energy, P.O. Box 2001, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-8541, Phone: (423) 576-9441, FAX: (423) 576-0956. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON GENERAL DOE FLOODPLAIN/WETLANDS ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW REQUIREMENTS, CONTACT: Carol Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Oversight, EH-42, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-4600 or (800) 472-2756. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Ventron is a privately-owned site that processed natural uranium oxide, salts, and metal between 1942 and 1948 for the Manhattan Engineer District (MED) and later for the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). No enriched or depleted uranium was used at the site. Prior to and subsequent to MED- and AEC-related activities at the site, other radioactive elements including thorium compounds and hazardous chemicals were processed at the Ventron site in work unrelated to MED, AEC, or DOE contracts. DOE has authority at the site for remediation of media containing elevated levels of natural uranium (uranium-238). DOE is remediating the [[Page 11622]] Ventron site in accordance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The Ventron site is currently an inactive facility and is being cleaned up by the current owner, Morton International, in a separate but related action. Risks from exposure to radioactive materials at the Ventron site for future workers and residents at the site exceed DOE's public dose limit (100 mrem/yr), thereby meeting DOE's criteria for conducting removal actions to prevent potential future exposures to nearby humans under the no-action alternative. Although sediment and soil with elevated levels of uranium-238 at the Ventron site pose no immediate threats to human or ecological health, the remediation of the site could proceed to prevent radiation exposure to workers involved in Morton's remedial activities. The implementation of the remedial action alternatives at the Ventron site would involve activity in a floodplain and a tidal wetland, a floodplain and wetland buffer zone, and the Massachusetts coastal zone. In accordance with DOE regulations for compliance with floodplain and wetlands environmental review requirements (10 CFR 1022), DOE will prepare a floodplain and wetland assessment for this proposed DOE action. DOE will evaluate remedial options affecting two media at the site: harbor sediment and on-site soil and furnace ash. Remedial action for the affected harbor sediment may include: no action, or complete removal of sediment containing uranium levels above DOE guidelines. Remedial action for on-site soil and furnace ash may include: no action or, complete removal of soil and furnace ash containing uranium levels above DOE guidelines. Access to affected sediment and soil may require decontamination and demolition of structures in the floodplain and wetland buffer zone and Massachusetts coastal zone. DOE would temporarily store excavated material onsite before transport offsite to an approved, licensed waste disposal facility. A floodplain and wetlands assessment that incorporates the values of the National Environmental Policy Act will be included in the engineering evaluation and cost analysis being prepared for the proposed project. Upon completion and approval of the assessment DOE will publish a floodplain Statement of Findings in the Federal Register that describes the proposed action and measures DOE would implement to prevent environmental damage to floodplain resources at the Ventron site. Issued in Oak Ridge, Tennessee on March 8, 1996. James L. Elmore, Alternate NEPA Compliance Officer. [FR Doc. 96-6838 Filed 3-20-96; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A96-6838. Public record. Not legal advice.