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| DOE says Fluor Fernald's cleanup is complete Fluor Fernald, the contractor responsible for the environmental cleanup and restoration of the former uranium production site outside of Cincinnati, Ohio, received formal acceptance from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), that its cleanup of the 1,050-acre site is now complete. As part of the cleanup and restoration effort, workers safely demolished hundreds of contaminated buildings, treated and disposed of millions of tons of radioactive waste, and performed extensive soil and groundwater remediation. Fluor Fernald submitted its Declaration of Physical Completion of the project on October 29, 2006. After a preliminary Determination of Reasonableness on November 17, 2006, DOE completed an extensive review to verify that Fluor Fernald had achieved all Site Closure requirements. DOE's review did not identify any material deficiencies and its acceptance letter marks the final step in the DOE's review process. Fluor' Fernald's team members for the Fernald Closure Project included Jacobs Engineering, Nuclear Fuel Services and EnergySolutions. The Government's Fernald facility processed uranium ore and metal products from the early 1950s through the late 1980s. Contamination from the Fernald uranium foundry and machining operations first made national headlines in the mid-1980s. At one point, nearly every major news organization in the U.S. ran a feature about the impact of plant operations on workers and the community. Citizens were outraged by the extent of off-site uranium contamination, which worked its way into drinking water wells. Initial plans to tackle the cleanup came with a steep price tag. A 1992 government report forecasted completion in 2019 at a cost of $12.2 billion. Today's achievement carves 12 years off that schedule with a final cleanup cost of $4.4 billion. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Construction News :: home page |