For the first time in a decade, Bonneville had to propose a double digit rate increase in 1993. Many of the causes were beyond our control, but self-examination and painful budget cuts put the focus squarely where it should be -- on the changes needed for BPA to compete in an increasingly market-driven business environment. As deregulation and change sweep the electricity industry, BPA has launched a major Competitiveness Project. It`s clear that we can, and will, cut costs and make ourselves more efficient. We can shape our products and services to better reflect what customers want and are willing to pay for. And more than ever we will measure and reward output -- results -- more than process. BPA today is the Northwest`s low-cost supplier of electricity and transmission services. To stay that way, we must adopt a more business-like model. The move does not signal a rejection of our role as a federal agency. In fact, close attention to sound business principles is the only way to strengthen our commitment to fish and wildlife, environment, and other community values.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has studied more than 70 alternative cleaners as potential replacements for chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), halogenated hydrocarbons (e.g., trichloroethylene and trichloroethane), hydrocarbons (e.g., toluene and Stoddard Solvent), and volatile organic compounds (e.g., acetone, alcohols). This report summarizes LLNL`s findings after testing more than 45 proprietary formulations on bench-scale testing equipment and in more than 60 actual shops and laboratories. Cleaning applications included electronics fabrication, machine shops, optical lenses and hardware, and general cleaning. Most of the alternative cleaners are safer than the solvents previously used and many are nonhazardous, according to regulatory criteria.

This report has been prepared to satisfy Section 3156(b) of Public Law 101-189 (Reports in Connection with Permanent Closures of Department of Energy Defense Nuclear Facilities), which requires submittal of a Closure Report to Congress by the Secretary of Energy upon the permanent cessation of production operations at a US Department of Energy (DOE) defense nuclear facility (Watkins 1991). This closure report provides: (1) A complete survey of the environmental problems at the facility; (2) Budget quality data indicating the cost of environmental restoration and other remediation and cleanup efforts at the facility; (3) A proposed cleanup schedule.

The purpose of this report is to provide baseline geochemical and hydrogeologic data relative to corrective action for underground storage tanks (USTs) 0439-U, 0440-U, 2073-U, 2074-U, and 2075-U at the East End Fuel Station, Buildings 9754 and 9754-2 at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant. Progress in support of corrective action at the East End Fuel Station has included monitoring well installation, tank removal, and baseline groundwater sampling and analysis. This document represents the baseline report for corrective action at the East End Fuel Station and is organized into three sections. Section 1 presents introductory information relative to the site, including the regulatory initiative, site description, and progress to date. Section 2 includes a summary of additional monitoring well installation activities, the results of baseline groundwater sampling, a summary of tank removal activities, and the results of confirmatory soil sampling performed during tank removal. Section 3 presents the baseline hydrogeology and planned zone of influence for groundwater remediation.

BPA is considering whether to transfer (wheel) electrical power from a proposed privately-owned, combustion-turbine electrical generation plant in Oregon. The plant would be fired by natural gas and would use combined-cycle technology to generate up to 440 average megawatts (aMW) of energy. The plant would be developed, owned, and operated by Portland General Electric Company (PGE). The project would be built in eastern Oregon, just east of the City of Boardman in Morrow County. The proposed plant would be built on a site within the Port of Morrow Industrial Park. The proposed use for the site is consistent with the County land use plan. Building the transmission line needed to interconnect the power plant to BPA`s transmission system would require a variance from Morrow County. BPA would transfer power from the plant to its McNary-Slatt 500-kV transmission line. PGE would pay BPA for wheeling services. Key environmental concerns identified in the scoping process and evaluated in the draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) include these potential impacts: (1) air quality impacts, such as emissions and their contributions to the {open_quotes}greenhouse{close_quotes} effect; (2) health and safety impacts, such as effects of electric and magnetic fields, (3) noise impacts, (4) farmland impacts, (5) …

The purpose of this handbook is to assist environmental restoration (ER) projects in the preparation of a data management implementation plan (DMIP). The DMIP identifies and documents an ER project's requirements and responsibilities for the management, quality assurance, use, and archival of its environmental data. It is important that a project complete its DMIP in the early planning phase to ensure that the necessary and appropriate data management systems and personnel are in place before the project begins acquiring data. All ER projects that collect or use environmental data at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, the Oak Ridge K-25 Site, the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, and surrounding onsite and offsite areas must prepare a DMIP. Project types that often collect environmental data include surveillance and maintenance, decontamination and decommissioning, remedial design/remedial action, and remedial investigation/feasibility studies. Even if a project does little environmental data management, a DMIP is required to document this fact.

A catalytic wet oxidation process (DETOX), which uses an acidic iron solution to oxidize organic compounds to carbon dioxide, water, and other simple products, was investigated as a potential method for the treatment of multicomponent hazardous and mixed wastes. The organic compounds picric acid, poly(vinyl chloride), tetrachlorothiophene, pentachloropyridine, Aroclor 1260 (a polychlorinated biphenyl), and hexachlorobenzene were oxidized in 125 ml reaction vessels. The metals arsenic, barium, beryllium, cadmium, cerium (as a surrogate for plutonium), chromium, lead, mercury, neodymium (as a surrogate for uranium), nickel, and vanadium were tested in the DETOX solution. Barium, beryllium, cerium, chromium, mercury, neodymium, nickel, and vanadium were all found to be very soluble (>100 g/l) in the DETOX chloride-based solution. Arsenic, barium, cadmium, and lead solubilities were lower. Lead could be selectively precipitated from the DETOX solution. Chromium(VI) was reduced to relatively non-toxic chromium(III) by the solution. Six soils were contaminated with arsenic, barium, beryllium, chromium, lead, and neodymium oxides at approximately 0.1% by weight, and benzene, trichloroethene, mineral oil, and Aroclor 1260 at approximately 5% by weight total, and 5.g amounts treated with the DETOX solution in unstirred 125. ml reaction bombs. It is felt that soil treatment in a properly designed system is …

Catalysts based on molybdenum are being prepared using four different approaches. These materials have been characterized by IR, XRD and single-crystal studies. Modeling studies are continuing satisfactorily. The overall efficiency of each base case has been calculated and tested as a screening method to select feasible technologies. A methodology to determine the effects and influences of process variable uncertainties on the performance of a design has been developed. Input variables in the model to be considered include the reaction product distribution, the operating temperatures of equipment (e.g., gasifiers, separators, etc.), and the estimates of the thermodynamic model used in the computer aided design simulation of the process. The efficiency of the process can be modeled by calculation of output variables such as the payback period or the energy efficiency of the plant. The result will be a range of expected operating conditions for the process and an indication of which variables` uncertainties are most likely to affect process operating conditions. The stream exiting the reactor consists of alcohols, esters and water. The separation block consists of a network of distillation columns which separate the various alcohols and water. The choice and order of separation, operating conditions, degree of separation and …

Because installation of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)- engineered caps is costly, it is prudent to evaluate the effectiveness of this procedure for hydrologically isolating contaminants. The objective for installation of five-part engineered caps at the Y-12 Plant was to (1) satisfy the regulatory compliance issues, (2) minimize the risk of direct contact with the wastes, and (3) reduce rainfall infiltration. Although the original objectives of installing the caps were not to alter groundwater flow, a potential effect of reducing infiltration is to minimize leaching, thus retarding groundwater contaminant migration from the site. Hence, cap effectiveness with respect to reduced groundwater contaminant migration is evaluated using groundwater data in this report. Based on the available data at the Y-12 capped areas, evaluation of cap effectiveness includes studying water level and chemical variability in nearby monitoring wells. Three caps installed during 1989 are selected for evaluation in this report. These caps are located in three significantly different hydrogeologic settings: overlying a karst aquifer (Chestnut Ridge Security Pits [CRSP]), overlying shales located on a hill slope (Oil Landfarm Waste Management Area [OLWMA]), and overlying shales in a valley floor which is a site of convergent groundwater flow (New Hope Pond [NHP]). …

Fish sampling by electroshocking in the Great Miami River above and below the Fernald sit was designed to determine changes in the health of the fish community compared to the previous nine years and to collect samples for uranium analysis in fish filets. This document contains information describing the findings of this program. Topics discussed include: physical and chemical parameters, species richness, species diversity, and water analysis.

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The Environmental Regulatory Update Table provides information on regulatory of interest to DOE operations and contractor staff with environmental management responsibilities. The table is updated bi-monthly with information from the Federal Register and other sources, including direct contact with regulatory agencies. Each table entry provides a chronological record of the rulemaking process for that initiative with an abstract and a projection of further action.

The report describes environmental and occupational diseases and injuries which significantly contribute to the morbidity and mortality in Texas in the year of 1993. For the first time, the Epidemiology Division has examined deaths due to firearms and cocaine overdose, two exposures deeply rooted in the complexity of today's society. Potentially serious environmental exposures, such as lead paint from sandblasted municipal water towers were investigated to reduce the likelihood of human illness associated with those exposures.

This report evaluates processes to chemically treat US Department of Energy wastes to remove organic halogens, phosphorus, and sulfur. Chemical equilibrium calculations, process simulations, and responses from developers and licensors form the basis for comparisons. Gas-phase catalytic hydrogenation processes, strong base and base catalyzed processes, high pressure hydrolysis, and other emerging or commercial dehalogenation processes (both liquid and mixed phase) were considered. Cost estimates for full-scale processes and demonstration testing are given. Based on the evaluation, testing of a hydrogenation process and a strong base process are recommended.

This document is to serve notice of the intent to operate an Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility (ERDF), adjacent to the 200 West Area of the Hanford Facility, Richland, Washington, as a Corrective Action Management Unit (CAMU), in accordance with 40 Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) 264.552. The ERDF CAMU will serve as a management unit for the majority of waste (primarily soil) excavated during remediation of waste management sites on the Hanford Facility. Only waste that originates from the Hanford Facility can be accepted in this ERDF CAMU. The waste is expected to consist of dangerous waste, radioactive waste, and mixed waste. Mixed waste contains radioactive and dangerous components. The primary features of the ERDF could include the following: one or more trenches, rail and tractor/trailer container handling capability, railroads, an inventory control system, a decontamination building, and operational offices.

Samples from the four wells at the F-Area Sewage Sludge Application Site (FSS wells) and the three wells at the H-Area Sewage Sludge Application Site (HSS wells) are analyzed quarterly for constituents as required by South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control Construction Permit 12,076 and, as requested, for other constituents as part of the Savannah River Site Groundwater Monitoring Program. Annual analyses for other constituents, primarily metals, also are required by the permit. Currently, iron, lead, and manganese are the only permit-required analytes that exceed standards at the F- and H-Area Sewage Sludge Application Sites. Tritium and aluminum are the nonpermit constituents exceeding standards. Other constituents have exceeded standards at this site previously, but only sporadically.

Under laboratory conditions selected to maximize root uptake, plant tissue distribution of PAH-derived {sup 14}C was largely limited to root tissue of Malilotus alba. These results suggest that plant uptake of PAHs from contaminated soil via roots, and translocation to aboveground plant tissues (stems and leaves), is a limited mechanism for transport into terrestrial food chains. However, these data also indicate that root surface sorption of PAHs may be important for plants grown in soils containing elevated concentration PAHs. Root surface sorption of PAHs may be an important route of exposure for plants in soils containing elevated concentrations of PAHS. Consequently, the root-soil interface may be the site of plant-microbial interactions in response to a chemical stress. In this study, evidence of a shift in carbon allocation to the root zone of plants exposed to phenanthrene and corresponding increases in soil respiration and heterotrophic plate counts provide evidence of a plant-microbial response to a chemical stress. The results of this study establish the importance of the root-soil interface for plants growing in PAH contaminated soil and indicate the existence of plant-microbial interactions in response to a chemical stress. These results may provide new avenues of inquiry for studies of plant …

This feasibility study (FS) examines a range of alternatives and provides recommendations for selecting a preferred altemative for remediating contamination at the 200-BP-1 operable unit. The 200-BP-1 operable unit is located in the center of the Hanford Site along the northern boundary of the 200 East Area. The 241-BY Tank Farm is located immediately to the south of the operable unit. 200-BP-1 is a source operable unit with contaminated soils associated primarily with nine inactive cribs (known as the 216-B cribs). These cribs were used for disposal of low-level radioactive liquid waste from U Plant uranium recovery operations, and waste storage tank condensate from the adjacent 241-BY Tank Farm. The cribs used for disposal of U Plant waste were in operation from 1955--1965, and the cribs used for disposal of tank condensate were in operation from 1965-1975. In addition to the cribs, four unplanned releases of radioactive materials have occurred within the operable unit. Contaminated surface soils associated with the unplanned releases have been consolidated over the cribs and covered with clean soil to reduce contaminant migration and exposure. Discharge of wastes to the cribs has resulted in soil and groundwater contamination. The groundwater is being addressed as part of …

Groundwater impact assessments are conducted at liquid effluent receiving sites on the Hanford Site to determine hydrologic and contaminant impacts caused by discharging wastewater to the soil column. The assessments conducted are pursuant to the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (Tri-Party Agreement) Milestone M-17-00A and M-17-00B, as agreed by the US Department of Energy (DOE), Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology), and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Ecology et al. 1992). This report assesses impacts on the groundwater and vadose zone from wastewater discharged to the 216-U-14 Ditch. Contemporary effluent waste streams of interest are 242-S Evaporator Steam Condensate and UO{sub 3}/U Plant wastewater.

A process for benchmarking low-level mixed waste (LLMW) treatment technologies has been developed. When used in conjunction with the identification and preparation of surrogate waste mixtures, and with defined quality assurance and quality control procedures, the benchmarking process will effectively streamline the selection of treatment technologies being considered by the US Department of Energy (DOE) for LLMW cleanup and management. Following the quantitative template provided in the benchmarking process will greatly increase the technical information available for the decision-making process. The additional technical information will remove a large part of the uncertainty in the selection of treatment technologies. It is anticipated that the use of the benchmarking process will minimize technology development costs and overall treatment costs. In addition, the benchmarking process will enhance development of the most promising LLMW treatment processes and aid in transferring the technology to the private sector. To instill inherent quality, the benchmarking process is based on defined criteria and a structured evaluation format, which are independent of any specific conventional treatment or emerging process technology. Five categories of benchmarking criteria have been developed for the evaluation: operation/design; personnel health and safety; economics; product quality; and environmental quality. This benchmarking document gives specific guidance on …

On the Hanford Site, many surplus facilities exist (including buildings, stacks, tanks, cribs, burial grounds, and septic systems) that are scheduled to be decommissioned. Many of these facilities contain large inventories of radionuclides, which present potential radiological hazards on and off the Hanford Site. Some structures with limited structural deterioration present potential radiological and industrial safety hazards to personnel. Because of the condition of these facilities, a systematic surveillance and maintenance program is performed to identify and correct potential hazards to personnel and the environment until eventual decommissioning operations are completed.

Samples from the three wells at the K-Area Sewage Sludge Application Site (KSS wells) and the three wells at the Par Pond Sewage Sludge Application Site (PSS wells) are analyzed quarterly for constituents required by South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control Construction Permit 13,173 and, as requested, for other constituents as part of the Savannah River Site (SRS) Groundwater Monitoring Program. Annual analyses for other constituents, primarily metals, also are required by the permit. Iron and lead, permit-required constituents, and aluminum presently exceed SRS flagging standards in samples from the two sites. Elevated concentrations of metals at these sites, not reported during 1992, may be the reflection of a recent change in analytical methodology.

The Department of Energy Order DOE 5000.4A establishes DOE`s policy and guidelines regarding Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) at its multiprogram laboratories. As described in 5000.4A, LDRD is ``research and development of a creative and innovative nature which is selected by the Laboratory Director or his or her designee, for the purpose of maintaining the scientific and technological vitality of the Laboratory and to respond to scientific and technological opportunities in conformance with the guidelines in this Order. LDRD includes activities previously defined as ER&D, as well as other discretionary research and development activities not provided for in a DOE program.`` Consistent with the Mission Statement and Strategic Plan provided in PNL`s Institutional Plan, the LDRD investments are focused on developing new and innovative approaches in research related to our ``core competencies.`` Currently, PNL`s core competencies have been identified as integrated environmental research; process technology; energy systems research. In this report, the individual summaries of Laboratory-level LDRD projects are organized according to these core competencies. The largest proportion of Laboratory-level LDRD funds is allocated to the core competency of integrated environmental research. A significant proportion of PNL`s LDRD funds are also allocated to projects within the various research centers …

The purpose of this research was to develop a large area self-powered gamma detector (LASPGD) capable of detecting the movement of sealed radiation sources into and out of industrial radiographic units and to construct a prototype source position monitor (SPM) for these units utilizing the LASPGD. Prototype isotropic and directional LASPGDs, with solid and inert gas dielectrics, were developed and extensively tested using calibrated gamma sources (i.e., Cs-137, and Co-60). The sensitivities of the isotropic detectors, with inert gas dielectrics, were found to be approximately a factor of ten greater than those measured for the solid dielectric LASPGDs. Directionally sensitive self-powered detectors were found to exhibit a forward-to-back hemispherical sensitivity ratio of approximately 2 to 1. Industrial radiographic units containing Ir-192 sources with different activities were used to test the performance of the SPM. The SPM, which utilized a gas dielectric LASPGD, performed as designed. That is, the current generated in the LASPGD was converted to a voltage, amplified and used to control the on/off state of an incandescent lamp. The incandescent lamp, which functions as the source/out warning indicator, flashes at a rate of one flash per second when the source is in use (i.e. out of its shield).