Client: Guardian Environmental Services

Work Description:

Chase was contracted to assist with emergency removal of aircraft dials and instrumentation containing radium paint from seven commercial warehouses in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The emergency action was initiated by the USEPA Region III and conducted by the ER contractor – Guardian Environmental Services. Guardian contracted Chase to provide radiological support and a radiologically trained workforce to identify which items contained radium, then to segregate the affected dials from the non-affected items. Chase was also issued a separate contract from Guardian to transport and dispose of the items packaged under the previous contract. Both contracts were executed simultaneously.

The warehouses that stored the contaminated items were in various stages of dis-repair and neglect – and were thought to pose a fire and radiological hazard to the community. This was the cause of the Emergency Action by the US EPA. The project was completed with regulatory guidance from the PADEP in the form of site inspections for transportation operations, characterization activities for some higher than expected activity materials, and confirmatory radiological surveys to ensure the buildings met the public dose limits contained in 10CFRPart20.

Chase removed over 2 thousand drums of radium items over an eight month period. The waste was delivered to the Toxco Nuclear Management Center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee for processing via supercompaction to achieve waste volume reduction. Once Toxco prepared completed disposal containers – filled with waste, Chase prepared and manifested the materials for disposal at the Richland, Washington commercial LLRW disposal site under a contract with US Ecology.

Location: Lancaster County, PA

Contaminants: Ra-226

Contact us to see how we can be of service to you, email: Chase Environmental Group or call toll free: 877-234-5687.