Audit Report: IG-0558

Cost Sharing at the Ashtabula Environmental Management Project

Office of Inspector General

June 7, 2002

June 7, 2002

Cost Sharing at the Ashtabula Environmental Management Project

From 1952 through 1988, RMI Titanium Company (RMI), a private company, performed work for the Department of Energy and its predecessor agencies as well as for various commercial customers. RMI's commercial work involved processing uranium and non-radioactive metals, such as copper and copper alloys. Historically, the Federal Government has not reimbursed private companies for clean-up activities related to their commercial operations. However, in March 1993, the Department awarded RMI a 10-year, cost-reimbursable contract to clean up the RMI site in its entirety and adjacent grounds to a level that permits release of the site for unrestricted use.

  • Audit Report: IG-0558 (187.54 KB)
    From 1952 through 1988, RMI Titanium Company (RMI), a private company, performed work
    for the Department of Energy and its predecessor agencies as well as for various commercial
    customers. RMI's commercial work involved processing uranium and non-radioactive metals,
    such as copper and copper alloys. Historically, the Federal Government has not reimbursed
    private companies for clean-up activities related to their commercial operations. However, in
    March 1993, the Department awarded RMI a 10-year, cost-reimbursable contract to clean up
    the RMI site in its entirety and adjacent grounds to a level that permits release of the site for
    unrestricted use.
    The site remediation, now referred to as the Ashtabula Environmental Management Project, is
    projected to cost approximately $300 million. Through Fiscal Year 2001, the Department has
    spent about $103 million on this effort. We conducted this audit to determine whether RMI
    should pay a portion of the remediation cost of Ashtabula.