Audit Report: IG-0542

The RMI Titanium Company's Earthline Technology Division (RMI) is the Department of
Energy's (Department) environmental restoration contractor at the Ashtabula Environmental
Management Project (AEMP) in Ashtabula, Ohio. RMI owns the Ashtabula property, formerly
known as the RMI Extrusion Plant, where the firm processed uranium for the Department and its
predecessor agencies. In March 1993, the Department awarded RMI a sole-source, costreimbursable
contract to clean the extrusion plant and adjacent grounds to a level that permits
release of the site for unrestricted use. The contract requires that RMI complete the project on or
about March 31, 2003. The Department estimated the project would cost about $237 million to
complete.
As part of the original decommissioning plan, RMI was required to excavate and ship about
40,000 tons of contaminated soil offsite for disposal. However, in January 1997, RMI began
testing a soil washing process designed to chemically extract uranium from contaminated soils.
Based on the test results, the Department expected that soil washing would reduce the volume of
soil requiring disposal by 95 percent, generate minimal amounts of radioactive wastewater, and
reduce cleanup costs by about $40 million. With the Department's approval, RMI spent over
$6 million of Department funds to design and build the soil washing complex. In May 2000,
RMI completed its first operating campaign in which it had hoped to process about 14,200 tons
of soil. Since the campaign ended, RMI has been evaporating radioactive wastewater generated
by the soil washing facility and researching alternatives to improve the performance and cost
effectiveness of the plant. No additional soil has been processed.
The objective of the audit was to determine whether the AEMP's soil washing project has met
the Department's performance and cost expectations.