Army Corps slates June 24 workshop on NFSS

by Terry Duffy
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, June 13, 2009

The Buffalo District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced it will be holding a workshop focusing on the Niagara Falls Storage Site on Wednesday, June 24, at the Lewiston Senior Center, 4361 Lower River Road, beginning at 6 p.m.

According to Arleen K. Kreusch, outreach program specialist, the workshop will be detailing the status of the Corps' work at NFSS and its proposed projects in the future. The workshop announcement follows recent Corps' news that it has received $8.5 million in federal stimulus funding to begin preliminary work toward the final demolition of Building 401 - the decrepit and radioactive contaminated former steam energy complex on the NFSS property.

"While working on the responses to your comments on the NFSS Remedial Investigation Report, the Corps is developing a scope of work for an addendum to the Remedial Investigation Report and transitioning into the feasibility study phase for the site," said Kreusch. "We will be discussing future actions at NFSS, which include our focus on the Interim Waste Containment Structure in the feasibility study, which will include the development and screening of various remedial alternatives for the IWCS."

She reports the Corps agenda that evening will be as follows:

•6-6:45 p.m. - Niagara Falls Storage Site status presentation

•6:45-7:15 p.m. - Poster session with Corps' technical team availability

•7:15-8:45 p.m. - Round table discussion with Corps' technical team

•8:45-9 p.m. - Corps' technical team available

"The Corps' lead investigator for the former LOOW site's historical records search will be available during the poster session along with our technical team to answer your questions."

She reports the new information available on the Corps Web site includes:

•NFSS transitioning to the feasibility study fact sheet and a list of comments received on the NFSS Remedial Investigation Report are available at: http://www.lrb.usace.army.mil/fusrap/nfss/index.htm#Documents

•The minutes from the March 25 LOOW Workshop are available at: http://www.lrb.usace.army.mil/derpfuds/loow/#Documents

•The Public Involvement Plan for NFSS and LOOW is available at: http://www.lrb.usace.army.mil/derpfuds/loow-nfss/index.htm#Community

"We value your input and we look forward to talking with you at the workshop," she adds.

The Corps Buffalo District can be reached by e-mail at fusrap@usace.army.mil.