Statement of Basis

Proposed Plan is Available for SRS

C Area Burning/Rubble Pit Operable Unit

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) will release a Statement of Basis/Proposed Plan on October 15, 2007, describing the proposed remedial approach for the C Area Burning/Rubble Pit (CBRP) Operable Unit (OU) at the Savannah River Site (SRS). The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) will also release a draft Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) permit modification for the proposed remedial action for this unit. These documents will be available for public review and copying at the locations listed below. The public comment period is scheduled for October 15, 2007, to November 29, 2007.

The Statement of Basis/Proposed Plan was completed to meet the terms of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), a law governing the investigation and cleanup of waste units. DOE has worked with the United States Environmental Protection Agency-Region 4 (EPA) and the SCDHEC to ensure the remedial approach is consistent with all applicable environmental requirements.

DOE, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and SCDHEC have reviewed the risks associated with the operable unit and have evaluated cleanup alternatives. The following final actions are recommended for the CBRP OU.

1.Source area (vadose zone) and pit (S-2) – maintain the existing 1 x 10-6 cm/sec soil cover system, continue operation of the existing active microblowers, institutional controls, and groundwater monitoring.

2.Groundwater (GW-2) – implementation of a Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA) remedy, with institutional controls, and groundwater monitoring

3.Surface water (SW-2) – implementation of a MNA remedy to reduce groundwater concentrations thereby reducing surface water concentrations, institutional controls, and surface water monitoring.

The CBRP was constructed in the early 1960s. It is a shallow, unlined excavation measuring approximately 25 ft wide, 350 ft long, with a depth of 8 ft to12 ft. and was used as a waste burn pit for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), used oil, paper, plastics and rubber. After 1973, burning was ceased and the pit was used to dispose of inert rubble. Contamination from the early disposal practices has migrated into the subsurface soils and leached into the groundwater creating a VOC plume approximately 4000 ft long and 1000 ft wide. The plume discharges into wetlands that feed Fourmile Branch Creek.

The primary constituent of concern for the groundwater plume at CBRP OU is trichloroethylene (TCE). It was discovered that natural attenuation was occurring in the groundwater prior to outcropping into the wetland. The natural attenuation processes were identified as reductive dechlorination and mineralization as a result of microbial degradation in the wetland soils. The degradation rate ensures that contamination is controlled in the groundwater and surface water standards are not exceeded.

Comments on the Statement of Basis/Proposed Plan and the draft RCRA permit modification are requested by November 29, 2007. Upon completion of the public comment period, a Responsiveness Summary that addresses public comments will be prepared. The Responsiveness Summary will be made available with the Record of Decision and the final RCRA permit decision and will be sent to each person who submits comments.

Copies of the Statement of Basis/Proposed Plan are available in the administrative record, which also contains the RCRA Facility Investigation/Remedial Investigation with Risk Assessment Report for this unit. The administrative record is available in the information repositories listed below:

DOE Public Reading Room at the Gregg-Graniteville Library at the University of South Carolina-Aiken campus in Aiken, SC; and

* Thomas Cooper Library Government Documents Department at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC.

Hard copies of the Statement of Basis/Proposed Plan are available at the following:

* Reese Library at Augusta State University in Augusta, GA; and

* Asa H. Gordon Library at Savannah State University in Savannah, GA.

Copies of the draft RCRA permit modifications are available for review at SCDHEC during regular business hours, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except legal holidays, at the following locations:

SCDHEC

Bureau of Land and Waste Management

8911 Farrow Road

Columbia, South Carolina 29203

Phone: (803)896-4000

or

SCDHEC-Region 5

EQC Office

206 Beaufort St., N.E.

Aiken, SC 29801

Phone: (803) 641-7670

If there is interest in discussing this recommended remedial approach, a public hearing may be requested. Comments on the Statement of Basis/Proposed Plan should be sent to Mr. Paul Sauerborn and Mr. Richard Haynes. Comments on the draft RCRA permit modification or requests for a public hearing should be sent to Mr. Richard Haynes. For additional information or to request a public meeting contact:

Paul Sauerborn

Washington Savannah River Company

Savannah River Site

Building 730-1B

Aiken, SC 29808

1-800-249-8155

paul.sauerborn@srs.gov

or

SCDHEC

Attn: Richard Haynes, P.E., Director

Division of Waste Management

Bureau of Land and Waste Management

2600 Bull Street

Columbia, SC 29201

(803) 896-4000

Oct. 15, 2007 Adv. # 12597319

(c) 2007 Augusta Chronicle, The. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.