Recognizing Excellence: LM honors U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Commitment to FUSRAP

This October will mark 25 years since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) joined the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). The expertise and dedication that USACE has brought to the program has not gone unnoticed by the DOE Office of Legacy Management (LM).

LM Director Carmelo Melendez recently presented awards to USACE FUSRAP teams with the Pittsburgh and Buffalo districts, recognizing their professionalism and their extraordinary commitment to FUSRAP.

A predecessor of DOE, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) established FUSRAP in 1974 to identify, investigate, and clean up or control exposure to residual contamination at sites that had supported Manhattan Project and AEC activities. In 1997, Congress transferred administration and execution of FUSRAP cleanups to USACE. Today, under FUSRAP, USACE remediates sites and transfers them to LM for long-term stewardship.

“Our strong partnership with USACE is essential to accomplishing the FUSRAP mission of keeping communities safe,” said LM FUSRAP Program Manager Cliff Carpenter. “We couldn’t do our job at LM without the impressive technical know-how and project management that USACE brings to the table.”

On Feb. 16, Director Melendez presented awards to the USACE Shallow Land Disposal Area (SLDA) project team, during a visit to the USACE Pittsburgh District office and SLDA. Between 1961 and 1970, SLDA in Parks Township, Pennsylvania, received radioactively contaminated wastes from a Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation facility in nearby Apollo, Pennsylvania. The Apollo facility fabricated nuclear fuel and conducted research for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission as part of the nation’s early atomic energy program. Director Melendez thanked the SLDA project delivery team for its commitment and commended them for ensuring the continued well-being of the community over the last 20 years.

Last November, Director Melendez presented awards to the USACE Luckey Site and Niagara Falls Storage Site (NFSS) project teams, while visiting the USACE Buffalo District office and NFSS. From 1949 to 1958, Brush Wellman operated a beryllium plant for the AEC at the Luckey Site in Ohio. NFSS, in upstate New York, stored radioactive byproducts from uranium-ore processing for the federal government during the Manhattan Project and early Cold War. Director Melendez applauded both teams for their unwavering commitment to protecting human health and the environment and their proven technical and project delivery expertise.

“It’s a privilege to get to partner with USACE,” Carpenter said. “When USACE transfers a FUSRAP site over to LM, we know that it is protective of the community and the environment.”

As of today, USACE has cleaned up and transferred nine FUSRAP sites to LM and is managing the remediation of 22 active FUSRAP sites. LM is currently responsible for the long-term stewardship of 34 completed FUSRAP sites spread over nine states.