The Department of Environmental Protection and Lockheed Martin Corporation have entered into a proposed settlement to reimburse the state for $500,000 in costs associated with the cleanup of the Quehanna Wild Area Nuclear Site in Clearfield County and DEP is seeking public comments on the settlement.  (formal notice)

Lockheed Martin is just one of the parties to pay a portion of the approximately $30 million in cleanup costs at the site since it closed in 2002.

The Commonwealth has paid the bulk of the costs-- about $18.5 million, followed by the federal government-- $10 million, Atlantic Richfield Company-- approximately $995,000 and the proposed $500,000 from Lockheed Martin.

There are no more pending lawsuits to recover cleanup costs for the site.

From the 1950s to the 2002, the Quehanna site was the location of a facility used by Curtiss-Wright to conduct research into and as a manufacturing facility for nuclear-powered jet engines.  It was later used to manufacture radiation-treated hardwood flooring.

Radioactive, including strontium-90 and cobalt-60, were processed, stored, handled and, more recently, remediated under Federal licenses from the Atomic Energy Commission and Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  The facility was demolished and its nuclear license terminated in 2009.

For most of this 50-year period the Site has been owned by the Commonwealth.

Activities at the Site involving radioactive materials included: the operation of a pool-type research reactor in the 1950s; research and development activities associated with a variety of applications, including, but not limited to, the manufacture of prototype thermoelectric generators using strontium-90 (Sr-90) in the early and mid-1960s; encapsulation of sealed sources of cobalt-60 (Co-60) and other radionuclides in the late 1960s and part of the 1970s; and operation of irradiators for food and wood irradiation and other processes from the 1960s to 2002.

For more than 15 years, the Department coordinated Site cleanup activities. The cleanup is complete.  Cleanup activities have included removal and offsite disposal of all regulated radioactive materials, demolition of all Site structures, and extensive monitoring and sampling to ensure that the Site met NRC requirements.

The Commonwealth's cleanup expenditures exceeded $30 million.

In 2003 and 2004, the Commonwealth and the United States entered into agreements under which the United States reimbursed the Commonwealth for $10 million of the Commonwealth's cleanup costs.

The Department filed two lawsuits in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in which the Department seeks payment of the remaining unreimbursed cleanup expenditures.

One lawsuit is against Atlantic Richfield Company, in which the Department seeks to recover from Atlantic Richfield the Site expenditures relating to the cleanup of Co-60. The civil action number of that lawsuit is 1:09-CV-0913.

In that action, the Department contends that Atlantic Richfield is liable for the Site expenditures relating to the cleanup of Co-60. The Department has asserted that the expenditures for the cleanup of Co-60 were at least $1.45 million.

The Department and Atlantic Richfield previously agreed to a proposed Consent Decree that resolves the lawsuit and any other claims that the Commonwealth could have made against Atlantic Richfield relating to the Site cleanup and reimbursement of the Commonwealth's cleanup expenditures (ARCO Consent Decree).

This notice pertains to a second lawsuit which was filed against Lockheed Martin. The Department contends that Lockheed Martin is liable for those Site expenditures relating to the cleanup of Sr-90. The civil action number of that lawsuit is 1:09-CV-0821.

In that action, the Department seeks in excess of $20 million. The Department and Lockheed Martin have agreed to a proposed Consent Decree that resolves this specific lawsuit and any other claims that the Commonwealth could have made against Lockheed Martin relating to the Site cleanup and reimbursement of the Commonwealth's cleanup costs.

The primary terms of the proposed Consent Decree are that Lockheed Martin shall pay the Department $500,000 for reimbursement of the Commonwealth's cleanup expenditures, that Lockheed Martin shall withdraw its objections to the ARCO Consent Decree and that Lockheed Martin will receive contribution protection and cannot be sued by any other entity with respect to the Commonwealth's cleanup expenditures.

In the proposed Consent Decree, which has been filed with and is subject to court approval, the Department and Lockheed Martin have stated that: (1) the proposed Consent Decree has been negotiated by the Department and Lockheed Martin in good faith; (2) the settlement of this matter will avoid prolonged and complicated litigation between the Department and Lockheed Martin; and (3) the settlement is fair, reasonable and in the public interest.

Under the state Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act, the DEP is providing a 60-day comment period on the proposed settlement beginning on the date of publication of this notice.

Interested persons may submit written comments to the Department addressed to Curtis C. Sullivan, Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Chief Counsel, Southcentral Regional Office, 909 Elmerton Avenue, Harrisburg, PA 17110-8200 (717-787-8790).

Copies of the proposed Consent Decree also may be obtained from Curtis Sullivan.

The Department has the right to withdraw its consent to the Consent Decree if comments concerning the Consent Decree disclose facts or considerations that indicate that the Consent Decree is inappropriate, improper or not in the public interest.

Persons in need of accommodations as provided for in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 should contact the Department at 717-787-3720 or through the Pennsylvania AT&T Relay Service at 800-654-5984 (TDD) to discuss how the Department may accommodate their needs.

(Photo: Robots were used to disassemble contaminated parts of the Quehanna Facility.)

NewsClips:

Radioactive Contamination In Cheswick No Threat, DEP Says

DEP Says Greene County Streams Poses No Radiation Concern

DEP Report: No Radioactivity Danger In 10 Mile Creek

Related Links:

NRC Final Report: The Quehanna Decommissioning Project January, 2005

[Posted Dec. 2, 2016]

12/5/2016