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DOE outlines groundwater compliance action progress; 60% GCAP centers on habitat protection
Summary
DOE reported adjustments to groundwater interim actions — terminating an extraction system used for dust suppression, continuing injection and monitoring — and said the 60% Groundwater Compliance Action Plan will focus on habitat protection and young-of-year fish ammonia exposure; NRC comments were expected in late April.
Liz Moran told the committee the groundwater interim action includes extraction near the former pile toe, injection adjacent to the river, and surface water diversion when suitable habitat forms. She said the extraction system will be terminated because the water previously extracted was used for dust suppression on the tailings pile and that DOE will continue groundwater injection, monitoring, and surface water diversion as appropriate. "The Project remains in compliance with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biological opinion," she said.
Moran said DOE met with NRC and DOE Legacy Management on April 8 for an all-day GCAP meeting and site tour focused on groundwater issues. She said the 60% GCAP is expected to focus primarily on habitat protection and protection of young-of-year fish from ammonia concentrations in groundwater; DOE expects NRC comments on the 60% GCAP in late April and will then move toward the 90% GCAP.
Committee members noted that the site visit allowed NRC to view the backwater channel and groundwater areas of concern in person; DOE said that will inform subsequent GCAP revisions.
