Floodplain and Wetland Assessment for the R-Area Discharge Canal CERCLA Removal Action on the Savannah River Site

Floodplain and Wetland Assessment for the R-Area Discharge Canal CERCLA Removal Action on the Savannah River Site

The Department of Energy (DOE) proposes the removal of contaminated sediment from the R-Area Discharge Canal to comply with regulatory requirements under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.  The proposed activity will require sediment removal in jurisdictional wetlands located in the canal.  Effects on wetlands were determined to be insignificant because the magnitude of impact is only 0.012 acre (502 square feet) with negligible impacts to wetland services and wetland-defining criteria; this impact does not require mitigation.  The no-action alternative avoids wetland impacts but does not meet regulatory requirements.  A third alternative, construction of an engineered cap over the contaminated sediments, was not preferred by the regulatory authorities; capping also has greater wetland impacts than the preferred alternative of sediment removal.  The project site is not located in a floodplain.  A fifteen (15) day public comment period on the action will be from October 5, 2022 to October 20, 2022.

An electronic copy of the Floodplain and Wetland Assessment can be found below and at the following R-Area Discharge Canal CERCLA Removal Action on the Savannah River Site website.

A copy of the Floodplain and Wetland Assessment will be available in the Administrative Record after the end of the comment period.  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 (USC), Aiken campus in Aiken, SC; and
• Thomas Cooper Library Government Documents Department at USC in Columbia, SC.

For additional information, contact Barbara Smoak, Savannah Nuclear Solutions, LLC, email: [email protected].