A truck hauls a transformer from EM’s West Valley Demonstration Project to a recycling facility. Funds from recycling are used to offset the site’s cleanup costs.
A truck hauls a transformer from EM’s West Valley Demonstration Project to a recycling facility. Funds from recycling are used to offset the site’s cleanup costs.

WEST VALLEY, N.Y. – Workers at EM’s West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) recently shipped a large transformer to a recycling facility, bringing the site’s cost savings from recycling to more than $14,000 to date.

During demolition projects, crews identify non-contaminated materials suitable for recycling. Payments received for recycling offset EM’s cleanup costs at WVDP.

“Recycling is part of our commitment to be good stewards of the environment,” EM WVDP Director Bryan Bower said. “It’s the right thing to do and helps save money for taxpayers and the government.”

The transformer was housed within the site’s former utility room extension building, which crews recently demolished. Built in the 1990s, the facility provided additional power for the WVDP vitrification melter used to solidified 600,000 gallons of high-level liquid radioactive waste from 1996 to 2002.

“Performing our cleanup efforts in a safe and environmentally sound manner is a formula for success,” said Joe Ebert, site operations manager of CH2M HILL BWXT West Valley, EM’s cleanup contractor at the site. “West Valley and other DOE Environmental Management sites continue to reduce legacy risks while staying focused on safety and the environment.”