Portsmouth Site Installs Water Treatment System for Disposal Facility

PIKE COUNTY, Ohio - EM's Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office is installing the water treatment system for its On-Site Waste Disposal Facility at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant site. The disposal facility will hold much of the debris and other material from demolition of the large gaseous-diffusion process buildings and other plant facilities. Construction crews, led by EM cleanup contractor Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth, recently installed the Modular Leachate Treatment System that includes a million-gallon water tank and support structures. The tank allows for storage of additional water that might result from significant storms.   -Contributor:  Donnie Locke

Portsmouth Site (Piketon, OH),

State Enhance Air Monitoring Ahead of Major Demolitions

	The first new air monitoring station is delivered to it's installation location on Hewes Road at the Portsmouth Site.

PIKE COUNTY, Ohio - Additional air monitoring stations are being installed that will enhance environmental and radiological data collection during demolition of the Portsmouth Site's three large gaseous diffusion plant buildings where uranium was enriched throughout the Cold War.

Pursuant to an agreement between EM, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA), and the Ohio Department of Health (ODH), the stations will enable independent sampling for regulators and the public.

"We continue to work closely with our regulator partners and stakeholders to provide transparent access to important data that will help us all evaluate and ensure the protection of human health and the environment," Portsmouth Site Lead Jeff Bettinger said. "This increased level of monitoring and reporting is directly relevant to the upcoming demolition of the large process buildings."

Consolidated Analytical Systems, a subcontractor to Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth_ the Portsmouth Site's deactivation and decommissioning contractor, fabricated the new air monitoring stations, including air monitoring equipment, and shelters for the equipment. This one was installed on Perimeter Road in a strategic location initially determined by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency based on project activities and typical wind direction.

Ohio EPA will monitor for the presence of particulate matter, asbestos, metals, and volatile organic compounds, such as trichloroethylene. Locations for the stations were determined by the Ohio EPA based on planned activities and prevailing wind direction.

Enhanced radiological air monitoring will be achieved through an agreement with the ODH, which will manage a network of 18 new monitoring stations on and around the site. The stations are being co-located alongside EM's current 15 stations and three of the new Ohio EPA stations. Three additional EM-managed stations will provide another layer of data validation as results are compared among the agencies.

	EM stations at the Portsmouth Site have both low- and high-volume air samplers in place for continuous use.

"Although each location will have DOE, Ohio EPA, and ODH air monitoring equipment, sampling and analysis will be performed independent of one another," said Bob Purtee, the project's reporting and support manager with Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth, the site's deactivation and decommissioning contractor.

Once the stations are operational, information on particulate matter will be gathered in real time. Samples for metals, asbestos, and volatile organic compounds will be collected and submitted by the respective parties weekly or monthly for analysis. The verified data from Ohio EPA, ODH, and EM will be available to the public on a quarterly basis.

All stations are scheduled to be installed and operational in 2020.

-Contributors: Brad Mitzelfelt, Michelle Teeters

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ODJFS to Provide Up to $25 Million 

in CARES Act Grants to Nonprofit Agencies

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) announced the process for nonprofit organizations that serve low-income and at-risk Ohioans to apply for federal CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act grants. Up to $25 million will be awarded.

"Those who were in need prior to this pandemic are even more vulnerable now, and many of the organizations assisting them have been struggling, as well," said ODJFS Director Kimberly Hall. "We are pleased to be able to provide this assistance to organizations that have accumulated unemployment debt as a result of the pandemic and are devoted to helping Ohioans during difficult times."

Organizations that receive funding can use it to apply to their unemployment debt or bolster their workforces by rehiring staff they may have had to lay off.

Applications will be accepted until Nov. 27 at jfs.ohio.gov/nonprofitgrants.

The grants are part of a larger package of more than $419.5 million in CARES Act funding developed by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Lt. Governor Jon Husted and the General Assembly to provide funding for small businesses, restaurants and bars, hospitals, higher education, arts, nonprofits, and low-income Ohioans impacted financially by the pandemic.