The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided it will not clean up a small portion of the 7,500-acre Niagara County property used in the 1940s to produce TNT, and to later to store low-level radioactive waste from the Manhattan Project era.
A 4-acre site, called Vicinity Property H, was used in 2000 to temporarily store and incinerate contaminated waste from the TNT manufacturing as the government began cleaning up the Lake Ontario Ordnance Works property in the towns of Porter and Lewiston.
Vicinity Property H is owned by CWM Chemical Services and located just west of the company’s hazardous waste landfill.
On the southeastern corner of Vicinity Property H, a 175-foot square pad was constructed to hold and incinerate the TNT manufacturing wastes. The pad included a stone base, plastic liners and more stone on top in an effort to contain the waste while it was being dumped there.
In 2004, the waste was removed from the pad. The pad was then removed and covered in a new plastic liner and clean soil.
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After taking 276 soil samples, three groundwater samples, eight surface water samples and three concrete samples from the area, the Army Corps found a few areas where low levels of radioactive contamination remained. The contamination did not pose a risk to human health because the site can only be used for heavy industrial use, according to the Army Corps.
Therefore, the Army Corps is proposing to do nothing to Vicinity Property H and leave it as is.
The Army Corps’ proposal is now under a public comment period ending on Nov. 13.
The Army Corps will hold a public meeting on Oct. 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the Lewiston Senior Center at 4361 Lower River Road in Youngstown. Members of the public can attend and give their feedback regarding the Army Corps plan.
Written comments can be emailed to fusrap@usace.army.mil or mailed to the Army Corps Buffalo District at 478 Main St. in Buffalo.
Reach climate and environment reporter Mackenzie Shuman at mshuman@buffnews.com or 716-715-4722.
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Mackenzie Shuman
Environment and climate reporter
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