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PINELLAS PLANT

DOE has an ongoing environmental restoration program for an 8-hectare (20-acre) plot in the northeast corner of the facility and another 1.8-hectare (4.5-acre) area near the northwest corner of the site. Both of these areas have groundwater contamination from past storage and disposal of drummed waste and debris. The contaminated areas are designated as solid waste management units (SWMUs). A total of 17 SWMUs were identified and investigated at the Pinellas Site. DOE recommended, and the EPA Region IV and Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FEDP) approved, no further action for 13 of the remediated units. The four SWMUs requiring further action are the Old Drum Storage Area, the Industrial Drain Leaks-Building 100 Area, the Northeast Site, and the Wastewater Neutralization Area. The Old Drum Storage Area and the Industrial Drain Leaks-Building 100 Area were combined as the Building 100 Area. In addition to the four SWMUs, the 4.5 Acre Site is a former part of the plant. DOE's Office of Legacy Management (LM) is responsible for the administration of DOE activities at the 4.5 Acre Site.

Building 100 Area

Building 100 is the largest building at the STAR Center, covering approximately 11 acres. In the past, it housed offices, laboratories, and production facilities for DOE. It is located in the southeast portion of the STAR Center. The Old Drum Storage Site, near the northwest corner of the building, is the former location of a concrete storage pad equipped with a drain and containment system used to store hazardous waste.

Groundwater contamination at the Building 100 Area resulted from historical leaks of underground drain lines and from leaks or spills at the former drum storage pad. The drum storage pad was removed in 1983. Use of the underground drain lines was discontinued in 1989. A groundwater extraction and treatment system operated at the Building 100 Area from 1997 to 2005. DOE is conducting long-term groundwater monitoring to verify that the contaminant plume is stable.

Northeast Site

From the 1950s through the late 1960s, before the construction of the East Pond, drums of waste and construction debris were disposed of in the swampy area of the Northeast Site. It was excavated in 1968 as a borrow pit. In 1986, an expansion of the East Pond was initiated to create additional storm-water retention capacity.

Wastewater Neutralization Area/Building 200 Area

The Wastewater Neutralization Area (WWNA) includes the area south of Building 200, near the active Industrial Wastewater Neutralization Facility (IWNF). The IWNF is a physical treatment facility that currently receives sanitary and industrial wastewater from the STAR Center industrial operations, neutralizes the water, and discharges it to the publicly owned treatment works. It has been in operation since 1957.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) approved the closure of the Wastewater Neutralization Area in May 2007. DOE is working with FDEP and the STAR Center to establish institutional controls at the STAR Center. Site closure will proceed once these controls are in place.

4.5 Acre Site

The 4.5 Acre Site is located to the northwest of the STAR Center, in the northeast quarter of Section 13, Township 30 South, Range 15 East. DOE owned this parcel from 1957 to 1972, at which time it was sold to a private landowner. While it was owned by DOE, it was used for disposal of drums of waste resins and solvents, which contaminated the groundwater in the shallow surficial aquifer beneath the site with volatile organic compounds. DOE removed the drums and the contaminated soil in 1985. The DOE Office of Legacy Management and its prime contractor, S.M. Stoller Corporation (Stoller), are responsible for remediation and closure of all active solid-waste management units on the entire site, including the 4.5 Acre Site. DOE conducted an investigation in the summer of 2007 and found that a contaminant source was present. DOE plans an interim source removal action in 2008-2009.