The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management (LM) is conducting a long-term periodic review of the soil and groundwater remedies for the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) Site in Colonie, New York.

The purpose of the review is to ensure that the implemented groundwater and soil remedies remain protective of human health and the environment. The review will include a technical assessment of monitoring data, inspection reports, potential changes in site conditions, and other relevant information.

The soil remedy included the excavation and off-site disposal of contaminated soil. All radioactive contamination has been removed. Three small subsurface areas were inaccessible to excavation and are now protected by an environmental easement to prohibit excavation. Two of these areas have residual lead concentrations and a third contains residual arsenic concentrations.

The groundwater remedy includes monitoring groundwater to ensure that natural attenuation processes are reducing contamination to safe levels, and the use of institutional controls to restrict access to site groundwater or soil vapors.

Natural attenuation is the combination of physical, chemical, and biological processes that result in reductions in contaminants over time. The groundwater contaminants are the chlorinated solvents tetrachloroethene and its breakdown products: trichloroethene, 1,2-dichloroethene, and vinyl chloride.

It is anticipated that the long-term periodic review will be completed in September 2022. Once the review is complete, a report will be made available on the LM Colonie Site webpage. The webpage contains additional project information and can be found here: /lm/colonie-new-york-site.

Members of the public may provide input on the periodic review by sending comments to fusrapinfo@lm.doe.gov. Comments will be taken until Aug. 31, 2022.