Army Corps to test groundwater at nuclear waste dump in Parks Township

Mary Ann Thomas
Monday, July 15, 2019 5:30 a.m. | Monday, July 15, 2019 5:30 a.m.

This aerial photo shows the former NUMEC plutonium processing facility along Route 66 in Parks Township as it looked in 1985. The nuclear waste dump is located behind the plant, which has since been torn down.

The Army Corps of Engineers will be on site to conduct routine groundwater sampling at the nuclear waste dump along Route 66 in Parks Township from July 22 to 25, and maybe later.

The 44-acre dump, officially known as the Shallow Land Disposal Area, was used primarily in the 1960s by the Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp. (NUMEC), which had plants in Apollo and Parks Township. NUMEC and its successors, the Atlantic Richfield Co. and Babcock & Wilcox, produced nuclear fuels and other nuclear products for the U.S. government, commercial power plants and others.

The Army Corps of Engineers is in the process of resuming a cleanup of the dump, which is expected to cost more than $500 million.

The Corps has been monitoring the groundwater annually at the site since 2003.

The agency has found levels of radioactive contaminants in the groundwater below the federal and state drinking water quality standards. Residents who live near the dump have access to public water.

There has been no evidence of any off-site migration of radionuclides, according to the Corps.

Corps contractor Jacobs Field Services is developing a work plan for the cleanup with excavation planned to start in 2021, according to the Corps.

To learn more about the project, visit the Corps SLDA project page: