WCH Team Recycles and Saves on Cleanup Costs

One Team for Safe, Visible Cleanup of the River Corridor
September 2014
Volume 10, Issue 7
River Corridor
Closure Project
In This Issue:
WCH Team Recycles and
Saves on Cleanup Costs
Cleanup at the UXO Site is
Nearing Completion
SM&U Maintains Amazing
Safety Record
Backfill Campaign is Under
Way in 100 Areas
Drive to Five
New Hires
Service Awards
WCH Team Recycles and Saves
on Cleanup Costs
Specialized Subcontractors Finishing up at 300 Area Electrical
Substation
In 1949, the 351 Substation was constructed to power the 300 Area,
the former industrial complex that was the center of Hanford’s radiological
research and fuel fabrication facilities. As the needs of the 300 Area grew,
the 351 Substation evolved and expanded.
With the city of Richland providing the remaining long-term power requirements
in the 300 Area, the 351 Substation is no longer required. Deactivation and
demolition of the substation was added to Washington Closure Hanford’s
(WCH’s) work scope in August 2014. After the successful demolition of
the 151-B and 151-D substations in January, WCH hired subcontractor
TerranearPMC, partnering with Transformer Technologies Inc., from Salem,
Oregon, to properly recycle the electrical components from the 351 Substation
– five large transformers and three oil circuit breakers. Additionally, Lampson
Crane provided the rigging, operation, and physical cranes for loading the
electrical components.
Editor: Leslie Brown
Contributing authors: Tari Birch,
Peter Bengtson, and Rochelle Juette.
Please submit story ideas or comments to
^WCH Communications.
The editor reserves the right to edit any
submitted articles for length and clarity.
The 351 Substation was constructed in 1949 to power the
300 Area.
Transformer
Technologies has
expertise dismantling
used electrical
equipment from
electrical utilities to
recover copper and
steel. The components
are sampled for
Polychlorinated
Biphenyl (PCB)
contamination. The
equipment is taken
apart and the scrap
metal is treated in metal
recovery furnaces. The
PCB-contaminated oil
is processed to remove
E1409004_1
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September 2014 • Volume 10, Issue 7
WCH Recycles continued
the PCBs. The recycled copper, steel, and oil
are sold by Transformer Technologies to earn
its fee.
“Our recycling effort with Transformer
Technologies has been performed safely
and compliantly resulting in the recycling
of more the 400,000 pounds of transformers,
oil circuit breakers, wire, and other electrical
components,” said Mark Allen, WCH subcontract technical representative.
Over 16,500 gallons of PCB-contaminated oil has been safely shipped off of the Hanford
site to licensed facilities in Oregon and Alabama for reprocessing and reuse.
By recycling the material, wear-and-tear on
WCH excavators has been eliminated,
preserving the equipment for other priority
demolition projects, valuable ERDF space has
been preserved, and the WCH workforce has
been able to work on other high-priority scope.
The 351 Substation is scheduled to be
completed by October.
FACTOIDS
Transformer Technologies
specializes in dismantling
and recycling used electrical
equipment. They have the
necessary equipment and
EPA-authorized disposal and
reprocessing facilities.
New Hires
WCH welcomes the following new
employees who have joined our project:
Gray, Kristine M
Hanford, Teresa J
Hubele, Angela D
Nims, Paul E
Seal, Holly L
Walker, Scot G
Wilson, Ricardo L
Copper, steel, and oil recovered during demolition will be recycled by Transformer Technologies.
Cleanup at the UXO Site is
Nearing Completion
WCH and its subcontractor Terranear have completed the field investigation of
the 115-acre Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) site. The field investigation included
characterizing and remediating potential UXO from the former target practice
area used by Hanford security staff.
The UXO site consists of a buffer zone extending from the perimeter of the
previously cleared former Army pistol range site. The site was a training facility
used to train Hanford patrolmen in weapons use.
Detection technologies suitable for characterization around the site included
ground-based digital geophysics for the relatively flat portion of the project site,
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September 2014 • Volume 10, Issue 7
UXO Cleanup continued
Service Awards
The following individuals reached a
milestone in their careers.
5 Years:
De La Rosa, Antonio
Morgan, Chase D
Pierce, Jeffrey S
10 Years:
Avalos-Barajas, Linda
Daily, James P
15 Years:
Carter, Robert A
20 Years:
Carlson, Eric W
Fahlberg, Robert T
Jennings, Jerry J
Fish, Marsha L
30 Years:
Bentz, Charles A
Feaster, Scott L
A survey crew performs characterization using hand-held analog geophysical equipment at
600-349.
and hand-held analog geophysical equipment for the steep slopes and dense
brush areas (much like a standard hand-held metal detector).
Characterization was performed by specially trained workers who are former
military, bomb technicians, and UXO technicians. The teams paired off to sweep
the 100-by-100-foot grids that were subdivided into established 5-foot lanes for
surface and subsurface clearance. Following the digital geophysical mapping
operations, workers removed thousands of spent bullets and found a total of
14 UXO items that will be detonated by offsite experts who destroy unexploded
ordnance.
Workers are now focusing on cleaning
up a disposal site known as the
600-358 burn pit. However, work is
currently on hold due to the discovery
of five anomalies in the burn pit.
Workers took the safe approach and
immediately called a stop work after
finding the anomalies. Boundaries
and the appropriate signage were
placed around the work area and
workers were kept at a safe distance.
Workers trained for similar anomaly
work from 618-10 and samplers who
are qualified to pull samples while on
breathing air (SCBA) were called in
to sample the anomalies. The sample
results verified the anomalies
contained tear gas.
Workers collected samples from anomalies discovered at the 600-358 burn pit.
Sample results verified the anomalies contained tear gas.
The UXO crew is receiving additional
training and equipment to resume
cleanup work at the burn pit. Workers
will be wearing air line respiratory
equipment and taking additional
precautions in case other anomalies
are unearthed.
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September 2014 • Volume 10, Issue 7
“Thank you for your hard
work and commitment, and
for setting the standard for
safe and efficient work at
Hanford.”
Scott Sax,
WCH President and
Project Manager
SM&U Maintains Amazing Safety
Record
The Surveillance, Maintenance and Utilities (SM&U) team has a lot to be proud
of – maintaining an outstanding safety record. For the ninth year (the length of
the WCH contract) the crew has not had a single recordable lost workday injury.
They achieved this on Tuesday, August 26.
In response to the vast and hazardous scope of work SM&U has faced over the
years, the team has prioritized safety, holding pre-ev briefings and pre-job reviews
on a regular basis. The workers, led by Steve Garnett, make sure they are
wearing proper personal protective equipment and watch out for each other.
“Thank you for your hard work and commitment, and for setting the standard for
safe and efficient work at Hanford,” said Scott Sax, WCH President. “I’m very
proud of all of you for staying positive and for the service you have provided for
the past nine years,” said Scott. “Nine years is amazing!”
Even though the team has reached this
safety milestone and many of the employees
will be leaving, they recognize the need to
not become complacent. At a recognition
celebration held September 10, Dan Elkins,
300 Area Project Manager, complimented
the workers on their hard, successful work.
“You have always been courteous to each
other and that’s appreciated,” said Dan. “You
will be missed.”
Left: Several SM&U employees have been on the
project since 2005.
On September 10, SM&U celebrated reaching 9 years without a recordable injury. Each individual was recognized for their hard work while being
safe, applying company safety principles, and looking out for one another by keeping their LSIT program active.
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September 2014 • Volume 10, Issue 7
Backfill Campaign
is Under Way in
100 Areas
The Hanford Site is known for the nine plutonium
production reactors built during the Cold War
and World War II. Surrounding the reactor
buildings were buildings that were needed to
support reactor operations. Once operations
ended in the 100 Areas, WCH was assigned
the cleanup of the 220-square-mile River
Corridor where the reactors are located.
Workers are in the process of completing a
backfill campaign at cleaned up waste sites in
the 100-B/C, 100-D, 100-F, 100-H, 100-K, and
100-N Reactor Areas, as well as the IU2 & 6
sites. Once the backfill is complete, workers will
Backfill at 100-D is scheduled to begin in October. Revegetation will begin in 2015.
begin to revegetate the waste sites. WCH
is expecting to use a total of 3 million tons
(34,000 truckloads) of clean material to complete the backfill campaign. To date,
1.2 million tons of clean material has been used at 100-B/C and 726,000 tons
of clean material was needed at 100-N. Workers are mobilizing at 100-H and
will begin backfilling in late September. Backfilling at 100-N, 100-D, and 100-H
will take close to a year to complete, and then revegetation will be completed
during the winter planting season.
The C-7 area in the
100-B/C Area was a
massive restoration
project covering more
than 120 acres. The
C-7 waste sites have
been called the prototype
for backfilling and
revegetation due to the
plan to not backfill to
grade and to contour the
area. The team created
pockets throughout the
backfilled area and
incorporated boulders to
provide another dynamic
source for wildlife habitat,
and by doing so, they
were able to save money
and more importantly,
promote a better habitat.
The revegetation team at 100-C-7 dry seeded nearly 3,000 pounds of native
bunchgrass seed and planted roughly 78,000 shrub tubelings of three different
species.
“As part of restoration
and recontouring efforts
we also helped the
project create a plan for
strategic redistribution of
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September 2014 • Volume 10, Issue 7
Backfill continued
a large number of boulders that had previously been unearthed during remediation
activities,” said James Bernhard, WCH Natural Resources lead. “We created
pockets throughout the backfilled area and incorporated the boulders to provide
another dynamic source for wildlife habitat. By doing so, we were able to save
the company money and, more importantly, promote a more natural looking and
sustainable habitat for wildlife.”
The same was done at the
N Reactor Area. The backfill is about
14 percent below flat grade on
everything that doesn’t already
have a backfill design. The backfill
campaign will leave the area with
a more natural looking appearance.
The revegetation season will occur
in the late fall to early spring.
In the last 20 months Backfill
Operations has completed
6 Tri-Party Agreement (TPA)
milestones on schedule, and since
backfill started in 2007 the backfill
subcontractors have successfully
and safely completed a total of
20 TPA milestones. The backfill
and revegetation team was able to
perform all cleanup activities without
a recordable injury. “We were
able to reduce risk of injury by
communicating and working together
as a team,” said Ron Morris, the
WCH subcontract technical
representative on the project.
Above and right: 726,000 tons of clean material is
needed to backfill 98 waste sites at 100-N Reactor
Area before revegetation can occur in the late fall or
early spring.
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September 2014 • Volume 10, Issue 7
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