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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

Q WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460 

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oCT 7 2009 

OFFICE OF 

AIR AND RADIATtON 

Dr. David Moody 

Manager, Carlsbad Field Office 

U.S. Department of Energy 

P.O. Box 3090 

Carlsbad, NM 88221-3090 

Dear Dr. Moody: 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approves soils (S4000) from waste 

stream OR-NFS-CH-SOIL, characterized by the Central Characterization Project (CCP)'s 

contact-handled, transuranic waste characterization program at the Oak Ridge National 

Laboratory (ORNL), for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. 

On May 13, 2009, the Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) submitted a request to the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency to dispose of soils/gravel waste from waste stream OR-NFSCH-SOIL as a Tier 1 change to the baseline approval of the ORNL-CCP's contact-handled, 

transuranic waste characterization program. In August 2009, EPA evaluated the waste 

characterization processes implemented by ORNL-CCP for this retrievably-stored waste. The 

enclosed inspection report (Docket No. A-98-49; II-A4-117), discusses the results of EPA's 

evaluation. The evaluation resulted in EPA identifying three concerns, two of which required a 

response. These EPA concerns were adequately addressed by CBFO and are documented in the 

enclosed report. 

In addition to this approval, EPA is concerned about two programmatic issues the CBFO 

and transuranic waste sites should be cognizant of and not repeat: 

1. CBFO submitted a Tier I approval request after almost all (500+) the containers of ORNFS-CH-SOIL waste had been fully characterized. In the future DOE should provide the 

Tier 1 supporting characterization information earlier in the characterization process 

when a sufficient number of containers (e.g., 15-30) have been characterized, as is 

intended by the Tier I process. By waiting until most of the containers are characterized, 

DOE runs the risk of EPA disapproval of the Tier 1 change requiring the recharacterization of the containers. This is the second instance of this in recent months. 

CBFO made a similar request for Tier 1 change approval of Hanford's K-Basin sludge 

waste in November 2008 after the waste population had been completely characterized. 

Internet Address (URL) • http://www.epa.gov 

Recycled/Recyclable o Printed with Vegetable Oil Based Inks on 100 % Postconsumer, Process Chlorine Free Recycled Paper 
In that instance, EPA did find Hanford's waste characterization program for the K-Basin 

sludge waste noncompliant with 40 CFR 194.24 requirements resulting in a nonapproval. 

2. Concurrent with CBFO's May 2009 Tier 1 approval request, ORNL-CCP added a new 

soil waste stream -- soils from the burial trench at Nuclear Fuels Services, Inc and revised 

the Acceptable Knowledge Summary Report without informing EPA prior to our 

evaluation. Since DOE did not provide EPA with appropriate documentation in a tiniely 

manner, EPA is not approving the additional waste as part of this decision. DOE will 

need to provide the full information for the additional waste in another Tier 1 request. 

If you have any questions regarding this approval, please contact Ed Feltcorn at 

(202) 343-9422 or Rajani Joglekar at (202) 343-9462. 

ithan Edwards, Director 

iation Protection Division 

Enclosure 

cc: Electronic Distribution 

Alton Han:is, DOE HQ 

Vernon Daub, CBFO 

Norma Castaneda, CBFO 

Courtland Fesmire, CBFO 

J R Stroble, CBFO 

Ava Holland, CBFO 

Dennis Miehls, CBFO 

Martin Navarrete, CBFO 

Bill McMillan, DOE-ORO 

Steve Zappe, NMED 

D K Ploetz, WTS-CCP 

Marc Pearcy, WTS-CCP 

Allison Pangle, CTAC 

Wayne Ledford, CTAC