ML20009D892
| ML20009D892 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Wood River Junction |
| Issue date: | 07/30/1981 |
| From: | Robert Carlson, Christopher R, Shepherd R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20009D874 | List: |
| References | |
| 70-0820-81-27, 70-820-81-27, NUDOCS 8107240469 | |
| Download: ML20009D892 (89) | |
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U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMZSSION OFFICE OF INSPECT 10N AND ENFORCEMENT Region I Report No. 70-820/80-27 Docket No.70-820 License No. SNM-777 Priority 1
Category UR Licensee:
United Nuclear Corporation UNC Recover.v Systems Wood River Junction, Rhode Island 02894 Facility Name:
Fuel Recovery Goeration Investigation at: Wood River Junction, Rhode Island and Vicinity Investigation cond eted:
December 3-5, 8-12, 15-19, 1980 and January 12-15, 1981 Investigators:
6 F A%3'I R. E. Shepherd, Investigation Specialist date signed M.rL2AL, vv7 -r< /
R. K. Christopher, Investigation Specialist date signed l.ibWt3 w
sAAv p W.' Kihney, Fuel Eocilities Inspector date signed 0 IM 5h /P/
y RotM Fuel Facilitie nspector date si'gned Approved by:
A fr C
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Robert T. Carlson, Director Enforcement and Investigation Staff Investigation Summary:
Investigation on December 3-5, 8-12, 15-19, 1980 and January 12-15, 1981 (Report No. 70-820/80-27)
Areas Investigated: Allegations that the licnnsee pumped radioactive liquid waste from an evaporation lagoon onto the ground during 1978; that the discharged waste eroded the soil under the security fence such that a person could crawl under it; that UNC personnel deliberately punctured a lagoon liner to cause drainage of the lagoon into the ground and that employees heaved 80-to-90 pound lead weights through the lagoon rain covers.
Results:
Interviews with present and former UNC personnel failed to substantiate any of the allegations, but provided information that the licensee pumped rainwater from the lagoon area onto the grouad about the same time period that the alleged pumping of lagoon waste occurred.
Interviews with several former UNC security personnel provided both conflicting and confirmatory information regarding the lagoon waste pumping allegation and the resultant soil erosion under the security fence.
Interviews with other former UNC security personnel failed to substantiate any of the allegations. The investigation failed to substantiate the allegations that a lagoon liner was deliberately punctured or that employees heaved lead weights through the lagoon rain covers.
The NRC's analysis of soil samples taken from the area where the lagoon waste was allegedly discharged onto the ground indicated no lagoon material.
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SUMMARY
This investigation was initiated to investigate allegations made by a former UNC security guard that the licensee had pumped radioactive liquid waste from evaporation lagoon "F" onto the ground during 1978 and that the discharged liquid eroded the soil under the security fence and left an opening under the fence large enough for a person to crawl under.
Additional allegations, which were publicized in several Rhode Island newspapers, were investigated to determine if UNC personnel had deliberately punctured a lagoon liner to cause drainage of the lagoon into the ground and that employees heaved lead weights through the lagoon rain covers. The investigation included interviews with the aforementioned security guard, other personnel who worked at the UNC facility during 1978 and UNC plant personnel currently employed there.
The
. investigation also included an examination of NRC files and licensee records related to the licensee's evaporation lagoon system and security force activities during 1978. NRC Region I personnel sampled and analyzed the soil at various locations in the general area where the lagoon liquid waste was allegedly discharged onto the ground during 1978.
Sample analysis indicated that lagoon material was not present.,
Interviews with 16 present and former UNC plant personnel failed to substantiate any of the above allegations but did provide information that the licensee pumped rainwater from the lagoon area onto the ground about the same time period that the pumping of lagoon waste was alleged to have occurred.
Interviews with the alleger and three other former UNC security guards provided both conflicting and confirmatory information regarding the lagoon waste pumping operatior, and the resultant soil erosion under the security fence.
Interviews with eight other security personnel failed to substantiate any of the above allegations.
The investigation failed to substantiate the allegations that UNC personnel deliberately punctured a lagoon liner to cause drainage into the ground or that employees heaved lead weights through the lagoon rain covers.
II DETAILS l
A.
PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATION The purpose of this investigation was to investigate allegations that:
1.
The licensee pumped radioactive liquid waste from an evaporation lagoon onto the ground during 1978.
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The pumping of liquid waste onto the ground eroded the soil under the security fence and left an opening large enough for a person to crawl through.
3.
UNC personnel deliberately punctured the plastic liner in a lagoon to allow it to drain into the ground.
4.
Employees heaved 80-to-90 pound lead weights through the lagoon rain covers.
B.
BACKGROUND On November 24, 1980, Mr William Rodriquez, a reporter for The Chariho Timas, a weekly newspaper distributed in Rhode Island, telephonically reported the following information to Region I.
He said that two former guards at the United Nuclear Corporation (UNC) facility in Wood River Junction, Rhode Island, told him that the licensee had pumped liquid from a lagoon out under a security fence in October 1978 and thereby eroded the soil under the fence. He said that the guards also claimed that a lagoon liner was purposely punctured by UNC personnel to provide faster drainage of the lagoon and that the guards had previously reported the above infor-mation to the NRC during an investigation conducted at the licensee's facility during 1978.
The Chariho Times, dated November 26, 1980, contains an article (Exhibit 1) under the by-line of Bill Rodriquez and states in part, as follows:
"Charlestown - The United Nuclear Corp. uranium scrap recovery opera-tion here was regularly pumping liquid waste from an evaporation lagoon out onto the open ground during 1978, two former UNC employees have told The Chariho Times...".
".. Reportedly, the pumping continued periodically for months, eroding a gully under the fence around the plant, a passage large enough to lead to a citation by the NRC for a security violation...."
"The two former employees, in independent interviews, said that they gave information about the pumping and related matters to NRC investi-gators who in the fall of 1978 were looking into reports of falsified
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security records, an investigation that resulted in the massive dismissal of guards at the facility."
4 "They also reported to the NRC that one of the plastic-lined lagoons had been deliberately pierced along its bottom to allow it to drain, since the evaporation process was not effective, they said. And one spoke of employees competing to see who could heave 80-to-90 pound lead weights the farthest through lagoon rain covers...",
...The former employees, who insisted that they not be identified, both said that the pumping of the lagoon liquid onto the ground was common knowledge around the plant."
"'The pumping, everybody knew it.
I saw it,' one said, estimating that one lagoon's level was lowered five feet by this process...".
"'They'd drag them up between the lagoons, put a fire hose in and run another fire hose off the other end of the pump and out under the fence,' the other man stated.
'It was eroding under the fence really bad. You could practically walk out under the fence...'".
On November 26, 1980, Individual A, whose identity is being withheld upon request, telephonically contacted Region I and said that he had spoken with Mr. Rodriquez and had information concerning the alleged pumping of lagoon waste onto the ground and the erosion of soil under the security fence. On December 1, 1980, Individual A telephonically contacted Region I regarding the above allegations and arrangements were made to interview
,him regarding this matter.
The Providence Journal, a newspaper distributed in Rhode Island, dated November 26, 1980, contains an article (Exhibit 2) which states, in part, as follows:
... Radioactive wastewater from holding lagoons at United Nuclear Corp.'s uranium reclamation plant here was routinely pumped out onto the ground in 1978 when the lagoons threatened to spill over, a former guard at the facility said yesterday.
"The worker, who asked to remain unidentified, also said that the plastic lining designed to keep the water from infiltrating the ground was slit to allow the water to escape...".
"The worker said he and at least five other former guards informed an NRC inspection team of the lagoon draining in 1978.
NRC officials yesterday said they could find no record of the notification...."
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g "The allegations appeared Tuesday in the Chariho Times, a weekly newspaper serving parts of South County.
They were independently obtained by the Journal-Bulletin...."
"The former worker, who served as a guard in 1978, when he said the illicit draining of the lagoons occurred, said he questioned a supervisor about the siphoning one weekend after he witnessed it."
"He said, 'It's as pure and clean as drinking water,' the worker related. Workers using conventional fire hoses then siphoned water out of the lagoons and drained it onto a spot located about five feet from the plant's north, or rear, gate.
The flow created a gully in that spot beneath the plant's fence, opening a gap beneath the fence that later provoked an NRC citation for a security infraction."
"In fact, the water was contaminated not only with radioactivity, but with high levels of nitrates, minerals that could lead to " blue baby" syndrome in infants exposed to them by drinking...."
"...The siphoning routinely took placa on weekends or holidays, when
'they just tossed the rules out,' the former employee said...."
"At times, he said, the company wou~id pile sandbags around the lagoon's perimeters and unfurl additional portions of the plastic lining, thus adding more capacity to the four-foot deep lagoons.
But the plastic would ofu n rip or slip, collapsing the sandbag walls...."
" Jerry Roth, one of the NRC inspectors who spent time at the United Nuclear Site in 1978 to investigate charges of inadequate training for security personnel, said through a spokesman yesterday that he was unaware of any informants coming forward with allegations about the lagoon siphoning...."
"We don't ignore things like that," said the spokesman, Gary Sanborn. "We investigate them."
"But the former worker said yesterday that he and at least fiw other employees reported the violations-directly to Roth."
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6 The Westerly Sun, a newspaper distributed in Rhode Island, dated December 28, 1980 (Exhibit 3), contains an article which states, in part, as follows:
"...A former United Nuclear Corporation (UNC) employee has expanded on reports of alleged pumping of radioactive wastewater at the local uranium-recovery plant."
"The employee, who asked to remain anonymous, refuted earlier raports that the pumping had occurred during the fall of 1978.
He claimed that the pumping of liquids from waste-holding trenches was performed between March and June 1978."
"The former employee was one of several interviewed recently by federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials about the alleged pumping at the uranium-recovery facility...."
"According to the employee, the raincovers on a series of trenches used by UNC in 1978 were too short to cover their entire length.
The ends of the covers fell into the ends of the trenches, causing rainwater and wastewater to mix...."
" Pumping of the trenches' raincover, which the e:nployee said UNC had permission to do, also resulted in lowering the level of the trenches...."
"The pumping was done only on weekends when the plant was shut down, the employee said.
"That's why only a limited amount of persons saw it...."
"A UNC foreman performed the actual pumping, usually on Saturdays.
'He (foreman) was pcmping what he believed to be water that was i
clean and free of radioactive pollutants.
He wouldn't have done it on pyrpose,' the employee stated.
He said he was told the water was sampled and deemed pure by UNC's Industrial Nuclear Safety (INS) inspector...."
"The former employe'e said that the pumping eroded a 2h by 5 foot I
hole under the northeast corner of the fence near the trenches.
Although no written citation.was given to UNC, verbal warnings were given at the time it was discovered by NRC inspectors, he said.
Earlier reports had said that the company was cited for the
. violation, which NRC officials denied... Trees and shrubs in the area where the water was pumped died, the employee said, probably because 3'
of the high concentrations of nitrates...."
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7 "The interviewee also claims that NRC officials were told about the pumping by employees and 'six people signed statements.'
'But they had enough trouble at the time with an investigation of falsification of records in October of 1978,' he said.
The investigation resulted in UNC being fined for falsification of test and training scores for some security personnel...."
C.
INTERVIEW OF ALLEGER (INDIVIDUAL A)
Individual A was interviewed by NRC Investigators R. E. Shepherd and W.
W. Kinney on December 3, 1980.
Individual A said that during 1978 he was employed by the Wackenhut Corporation as a guard at the United Nuclear Corporation Fuel Recovery Operation facility, Wood River Junction, Rhode Island, hereinafter referred to as UNC.
During the interview he furnished a signed statement (Exhibit 4) regarding the following information.
On various occasions during the Spring until the Fall of 1978, he saw UNC operations personnel pumping the liquid contents from a lagoon, which he believes was Lagoon F, onto the ground.
The liquid material being pumped from the lagoon had a greenish brown color and was being discharged to an area within approximately 10 yards south of the northeast corner of the protected area fence.
He said that the liquid being pumped from under the rain cover on the lagoon was discharged from a fire hose situated on the ground within 3 to 6 feet from the fence and it created a gully and a hole under the fence which measured approximately 4 to 6 feet wide and 2 to 2h feet deep on various occasions.
He said that the above pumping operation from Lagoon F continued for about 4 to 5 months and that most of the pumping which he observed took place during the 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. work shift.
He said thct UNC operations personnel occasionally moved the fire hose to a different location in the same general area and they occasionally closed up the openings under the fence by grading the soil.
He said that no additional security measures were taken to compensate for the holes under the fence caused by the pumping operation.
Individual A said that he re:alled making at least one entry in a perimeter fence check log or other security record, probably in May or June 1978, regarding the holes under the security fence, and he felt that notations would also be made in the Post A security log with regard to the same problem.
Individual A said that the liquid material which was being discharged from the lagoon passed outside the fence line to a flat area approximately 10 feet from the fence where it was rapidly absorbed into the soil.
He said that he had some ccacern about the health and safety aspects of the above pumping operation and that he discussed his concern with Security Shift Supervisors Fred DiRaimo, Leonard Mello and Michael Salerno.
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8 Investigator's Note: A copy of a diagram of the UNC lagoon area, which was shown to Individual A and to other persons who were interviewed during this investigation, is attached to this report as Exhibit 5.
During the interview with Individual A, ne said that the level of liquid in Lagoon F was lowered approximately 5 feet by the above pumping operation.
He said that he did not see any sediment in the liquid that was discharged onto the ground. He said that there were rain covers on the lagoons and that in some cases the pumping of liquid was from under the rain covers. He said that he never discussed his concerns about the pumping operation with UNC management because security personnel had to go through the chain of command beginning with the security shift sergeants.
He said that he also expressed his concern about the health and safety aspects of the above pumping operation with Sergeant Kevin Keating.
Investigator's Note: Individual A was apparently referring to Sergeant Kevin P. Keegan since there was no one by the name of Kevin Keating working on the UNC security force curing 1978.
Individual A said that security guards at the above facility threw rocks, lead bricks and boulders into the lagoons and he described the largest boulder as being approximately the size of a basketball.
He did not identify the guards involved in that activity.
Individual A said that he heard through conversation with other guards that UNC had put holes in the lagoon liners "to get the level down but that he never saw any such activity and that his knowledge of it was based on hearsay.
D.
DESCRIPTION OF FACILITY A diagram of the UNC facility is attached to this report as Exhibit 6.
The diagram shows the layout of the lagoon area in the northeast corner of the protected area as it was during 1978.
The protected area boundary was enlarged on or about February 1979 when the licensee extended the south side of the protected area fence eastward and relocated the east side of the fence to join the extended fence at the southeast corner.
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E.
INTERVIEWS OF UNC SECURITY FORCE PERSONNEL 1.
Interview of Individual B by NRC Investicator R. K. Christopher on December 16. 1980 Individual B, whose identity is being withheld upon request, said that he was employed by the Wackenhut Corporation as a member of the security force at UNC for a period of time during 1976 through 1978.
During the interview with Individual B he furnished a sworn signed statement (Exhibit 7) regarding the following information.
He said that shortly after starting work at the UNC facility he was on patrol duty during an off-shift period and observed what appeared to be a 3-inch hose running down into lagoon B.
He said that he didn't go up on the lagoon wall to look at the hose and that he didn't know how far the hose ran into the lime solution on the surface of the lagoon.
He said that the hose was attached to a pump which was running and that another hose attached to the pump was discharging water to the east side of the protected area fence.
The discharge hose was situated within a few inches of the fence at a location which was about 5 to 10 feet north of a light pole.
He said that shcrtly after seeing the above pumping operation he asked Tom Itteilag, a UNC Technician for Nuclear Industrial Safety, about it and was told that the wats was safe.
Individual B also said that he asked Frank Boyle, the janitor, about it and was told that everything was okay.
He said that during the period from May 1976 through August 1977 he observed the above pumping of water from lagoon B about 15 times and that, to the best of his recollection, most of the pumping was done on off-shift periods during the work week, for periods of up to 4 hours4.62963e-5 days <br />0.00111 hours <br />6.613757e-6 weeks <br />1.522e-6 months <br />.
He said that he was pretty sure that there was no rain cover on lagoon B.
He said that security people were always told to call the Supervisor in Processing, usually John Murphy or Jim Wakefield, if the pump stopped running.
He said that there was never any appreciable drop in the level of lagoon B but that there was some drying of the lagoon surface after the pumping operation.
Individual 8 said that he never saw or heard of any large gullies or open areas being washed out under the fence as a result of the above pumping operatio,n. He said that the largest opening that he ever saw under the fence in the northeast corner of the protected area measured no more than 3 inches deep and 2 or 3 feet wide.
He said that those areas would always be quickly filled in.
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10 Individual B said that he worked weekends for a period of time, including the year 1978, and he didn't recall seeing any pumping of liquid from the lagoons out to the fence.
He said that he had no knowledge or recollection of any pumping of rainwater from the top of the lagoon rain covers and was not entirely sure if there were rain covers on the lagoons.
Individual B said that he had no knowledge of anyone throwing lead weights or other heavy objects into the lagoons or through the lagoon rain covers and that he had no knowledge of any holes.or penetrations being intentionally made in the lagoon liners.
He said that when lagoon B was in use he noticed that after some water was pumped into this lagoon, it seemed to disappear quickly and that Tom Itteilag and Frank Boyle jokingly told him that the water went through a hole in the bottom of the lagoon liner.
2.
Interview of Leonard Mello, Jr. by NRC Investigator R. r Christopher on December 17, 1980 Mr. Mello said that he was employed by the Wackenhut Cerporation as a Security Officer at the UNC facility from February 1977 to late 1980 and was promoted to Sergeant in early 1978.
During the interview he furnished a sworn signed statement (Exhibit 8) regarding the following information.
He said that in October or November 1978, while working the second shift (4:00 p.m.-midnight),
he saw water being pumped from lagoon G and being discharged "into the field" from a fire hcse which was sticking through a hole, measuring 4 inches square, which had been cut in the base of the protected area fence.
He said that the hole in the fence was located about 30 feet from the northeast corner of the fence. He said that there was ne rain cover on lagcon G and that the water being discharged from the fire hose was of a yellowish color. He said that he did not see any soil erosion under the fence resulting i
from the above pumping operation which lasted about a week.
He said that the level of lagoon G dropped several feet as a result of the pumping operation.
He said that he wrote an Irregularity Report concerning the hole in the fence and the rumping of lagoon G and was i
later told by Dale Schultz, UNC Manager of Compliance, not to write I
any more Irregularity Reports on the pumping of lagoons because "it j
was being taken care of."
Mello said that he asked Tom I'.teilag about the pumping from lagoon G and was told not to worry about it because the water was clean.
Mello said that Itteilag was maintaining the pump to keep it going during the pumping from this l
lagoon.
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11 Mello said that, about a week aftar the pumping of lagoon G, he saw water being pumped at different times from lagoons F and E which did not have any rain covers on them at the time.
He said that the water pumped from lagoons F and E was discharged into the same area where the water from lagoon G had been discharged.
He said that the pumping of watar from lagoons F and E appeared to last for a period of several hours and occurred mostly during the day shifts.
He estimated that the water level in lagoons F and E dropped about 10 inches during the pumping from these lagoons which he said occurred approximately 3 times during October and November 1978.
Mello said that during the period that the water was being pumped from either lagoon E or lagoon F, he saw a gully under the fence, measuring about 2 feet across and about a foot deep, where the water was being discharged from the hose connected to the pump.
He said that he asked th~e UNC supervisor if he should write an Irregularity Report concerning the hole and was told not to do so because Dale Shultz had said not to do so.
Mello said that the hole remained there for about two days until it was filled.
He said that at no t..ae did he ever see a hole in the fence bigger than the one described above as a result of the pumping of the lagcon.
Mello said that green rain covers were put over the lagoons in the latter part of 1978 and that he rectiled seeing rainwater being pumped off the cover of lagoon G and being discharged from a hose to the northeast corner of the fence.
He said that he never saw rainwater being pumped off the rain covers on lagoons F and E.
Mello said that he had no knowledge of anyone throwing lead weights or other heavy objects into the lagoons or through the lagoon rain covers nor did he know of anyone deliberately punching holes in or piercing the lagoon liners.
During the interview with Mello he was shown a copy of an Irregularity Repcrt (Exhibit 9) dated October 9, 1978, concerning a 4-inch square hole which had been cut in the north side of the protected area fence.
The hole was cut to permit passage of a hose which was being used to pump from the lagoon area to the swimming pools located outside the protected area.
He saio that he felt that th3 aforementioned Irregularity Report which he wrote concerning the hole in the fence and the pumping of lagoon G related to the same hole.
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12 On December 18, 1980, Mello was telephonically contacted by NRC Investigator R. K. Christopher for clarification of information contained in bis signed statement. Mello said that the hole in the fence, measuring 4 inches square, which is mentioned on page 1 of his signed statement as being situated about 30 feet from the northeast corner of the perimeter fence, was actually situated on the north side of the fence.
He said that the hole under the fence, measuring about 2 feet across and about a foot deep, which is mentioned on page 4 of his signed statement, was located on the east side of the perimeter fence, about 30 feet from the northeast corner of the fence.
On January 13, 1980, Mello was telephonically contacted by NRC Investigator R. K. Christopher for further clarification of information in his signed statement. Mello said that his signed statement was in error where it says that he observed material being pumped from lagoons G, E and F during October and November 1978 and that the material was being pumped out to the northeast corner of the primeter fence. He said that he now recalls that the pumping operation involving lagoons G, E and F occurred during the Spring of 1978, rather than October and November 1978, and that, to the best of his recollection, the pumping was done from the top of the rain covers on these lagoons to remove rainwater.
He said that he also remembered that he saw a pump set up by lagoon G on one occasion during October or November 1978 but that the pump was not running on that occasion.
He said that the lagcon rain cover was partially rolled up and laying towards the side of the lagoon and that the pump hose was laying on the rim of the lagoon.
He also retracted that portion of his signed statement where it states that the rain covers were not on lagoons G, E and F when he observed the pumping operation involving those lagoons. He further clarified his signed statement by saying that he did not see waste material being pumped from the lagoons onto the ground as he previously indicated during the interview with him on December 17, 1980.
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13 3.
Inter /iew of Individual C by NRC Investicators R. K. Christopher, J. Roth and R. E. Shepherd on December 18, 1980 Individual C, whose identity is being withheld u an request, said that he was employed as a Security Officer at the UNC f.,ility during a period of time including January through November 1978.
During the interview with Individual C he furnished a sworn signed statement (Exhibit 10) regarding the following information.
He said that during Thanksgiving week in November 1978, he observed a hole, measuring approximately 2 feet deep and 4 feet wide, under the fence on the east side of the protected area.
The hole was located approximately 5 feet from the northeast corner of the fence.
He said that he had asked a UNC security supervisor about the hole and was told not to worry about it and that it would be taken care of. The UNC supervisor also told him that the licensee had been taking rainwater off the lagoon rain covers.
The following weekend he saw Robert Weber, a UNC employee, checking a pump located on the northeast corner of lagoon D.
The pump w
was running and the suction hose was laying on top of the rain cover of lagoon D.
The outlet hose from the pump was discharging water into a gully which formed the hole under the fence as described above.
He said that the rain cover on lagoon D had sunk into the lagoon with the result that the water on top of the rain cover was commingled with the water under it.
He said that he asked Weber if he was pumping contam-inated water and was told by Weber that he was not pumping contaminated water.
Individual C said that he has no way of knowing if the water pumped out to the fence area was actually contaminated or not.
He said that the color of the water which he saw being discharged from lagoon D was clear and he estimated that the water level of the lagoon dropped four feet accing the above pumping operation.
He seid that he did not know how long the pump was operating because Weber shut the pump off shortly after he got there.
He said that he never saw the pump operating again but did see the pump in the same location on the following weekend and that the suction hose was in the lagoon water and not on top of the rain cover on that occasion.
It was Individual i
l C's opinion that all of the guards, including Mike Mnrrissey, Will l
Perreault, Charles Liebherr, Steve Grenier, and Russell Lacey should have seen the above pumping operation and he said that he later talked about it 1n general with Perreault and Morrissey.
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14 Individual C said that the hole under the fence remained there until late December and that he discussed the hole with Dale Schultz, the acting Shift Supervisor, and was told that it would be taken care of. During the discussion of the above information with Individual C, he said that he was mistaken about the time period that the pumping operation occurred and that he now realized that it occurred early in 1978, possibly March.
Individual C said that he believed that UNC hired a contractor named Chamberlain to fill in the hole under the fence described above.
He said that security personnel submitted Irregularity Reports concerning the hole under the fence and that Schultz told Individual C and others not to write any more Irregularity Reports because the hole would be taken care of.
Individual C said that during the summer of 1977, he was talking with Frank Boyle, the janitor, and Jim Wakefield, a Process Supervisor, and heard Boyle tell Wakefield that the reason they were having seepage into the ground under lagoon B was that an individual, whose name Boyle mentioned, had deliberately punched holes in the liner to lower the water level of the lagoon.
Individual C said that he thinks that the person whose name Boyle mentioned was Owen McCormick.
Individual C said that during the Winter of 1978, possibly in February, he saw a guard named Downs throw a cement block into lagoon C to see if it was frozen enough to walk over.
4.
Interview of Individual D by NRC Investfoators R. K. Christooher and R. E. Sneoherd on January 12, 1978 Individual D, whose identity is being withheld upon request, said that he was employed as a guard at the UNC facility for a period of time including the year 1977 through June 1978.
He said that during the late Spring or middle of Summer of 1977 he stw lagoon waste being pumped onto the ground after it had rained.
He said that he could not pinpoint the year as being 1978.
He said that a suction pump was situated on the bank of the lagoon which is nearest the east side of the protected area fence and that a fire hose, which was discharging the liquid waste from the lagoon, was under or close to the east side of the fence, approximately 30 to 35 feet from the northeast corner of the fence. He said that the water being discharged from the fire hose had a light greenish color.
He
15 said that he " thinks", but cannot say for sure, that the suction hose connected to the pump was in lagoon D or G and'that he does not know if there were any rain covers on thost lagoons when he saw the above pumping operation.
He said that he ':d not see the end of the suction hose positioned in the lagocn because sec'srity personnel were not allowed to go up on the banks of the lagoon.
He said that the water being pumped from the lagoon eroded the soil under the fence, at the above location, and resulted in a hole under'the fence measuring approximately 18 to 20 inches deep and approximately 2 feet wide.
He said that the pumping operation continued for two or three weeks during the afternoon or evening hours and that the pumping was usually going on when he came on duty at 3:00 p.m. on a given day.
He said that he thinks that the hole under the fence was not filled in until approximately two days after the pumping operation was completed.
He said that he did not see the above pumping operation occurring on weekends and that he does not r~ all who was working on that operation.
Individual D was shown a diagram of the UNC lagoon area (Exhibit 5) and he said that the discharge hose from the suction pump was draped into the lagoon that is closest to the east side of the protected area fence and which he indicated on the diagram as being lagoon D.
He said that he had no knowledge of anyone punching holes in or piercing lagoon liners not of anyone throwing lead weights or other heavy objects into the lagoons or through the lagoon rain covers.
Individual D declined to furnish a signed statement regarding the above information because he said that he could not remember enough about it.
5.
Summary of Additional Security personnel Interviews The following individuals were employed at the UNC facility during 1978 as members of the licensee's contract security force or as licensee employees having security supervisory duties.
They were interviewod on the dates indicated below and all denied havi~ any information which would substantiate the four allegations li..ed in section II.A of this report.
a.
Individual E, whose identity is being withheld upon request, l
was interviewed on December 16, 1980 and furnished a sworn i
signed statement (Exhibit 11).
b.
Alfred A. DiRaimo was interviewed on December 17, 1980 and furnished a signed statement (Exhibit 12).
.c.
Robert L. Hampton was interviewed on December 18, 1980 and furnished a sworn signed statement (Exhibit 13).
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16 d.
Dale M. Schultz was interviewed on December 18, 1980 and furnished a sworn signed statement (Exhibit 14).
e.
Donald B. Downs was interviewed on January 13, 1981 and furnished a sworn signed statement (Exhibit 15).
f.
Robert E. White was interviewed on January 13, 1981 and furnished a sworn signed statement (Exhibit 16).
g.
Individual F, whose identity is bef rg withheld upon request, was interviewed on January 14, 1981 and furnished a sworn signed statement (Exhibit 17).
During the aforementioned interview with Dala M. Schultz he stated that if he had told Leonard Mello not to write an Irregularity Report concerning a hole in the north side of the perimeter fence, as indicated on page 4 of Mello's signed statement, it was because the hole, which measured 4 inches square, had been there for several months and was small enough :o be within NRC regulatory limits. He said that this hole was used to run a fire hose from the lagoon to the swimming pools on the north side of the fence.
He said that he bad no knowledge of Mello being instructed by a UNC supervisor not to write an Irregularity Report on a hole under the fence in the northeast corner of the fence, as indicated on page 5 of Mello's signed statement.
Schultz said that he had instructed the security supervisors not to write redundant Irregularity Reports on holes in the rear fence because it was a repetitive problem that was identified and routinely handled by main-tenance.
He said that he was aware that rainwater was periodically pumped out of the lagoon rain covers and that lagoon G was pumped out of rainwater several times before waste effluent had entered it but that he-was not sure where this water was pumped to.
During the aforementioned interview with Donald B. Downs he said than he was employed by the Wackenhut Corporation as a Security Officer at the UNC facility from July 24, 1976 until July 24, 1978 and that he worked primarily on the 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. workshift and on weekends. He said that he had naver thrown anything into a lagoon nor l'
did he ever throw anything into a lagoon that was frozen to see if he could walk on it.
Investigator's Note:
The above statement of Downs is a dental of the allegation on page 8 of Individual C's signed statement l
I I
17 in which Individual C stated that, during the winter of 1978, he saw Downs throw a cinder block into lagoon C to see if it was frozen enough for him (Downs) to walk over.
During the aforementioned interview with Robert E. White he statri that he recalled se'.sral occasions during the winter of 1977 or 1978 that he saw small rocks on top of the ice on the lagoons but that he didn't recall whether or not the rocks broke the ice and that he didn't pay any attention to the matter.
F.
INTERVIEWS OF UNC OPERATIONS PERSONNEL The following individuals wv.e employed at the UNC facility during 1978 in varying capacities incl; 'ng plant management, supervision, lagoon waste processing, health phs ics and maintenance. They were interviewed s
on the dates indicated below and all denied having any knowledge which would substantiate the four allegatimis listed in section II.A of this report.
1.
James H. Wakefield, Production Supervisor, was interviewed on December 4,1980 and furnished a sworn signed statement (Exhibit 18).
During the interview with Wakaffeld he said that the pumping of rainwater from the tops of the lagoon covers probably started around January or February 1978 and that he did not think that this pumping operation lasted more than six months.
He said the above pumping of rainwater was discontinued primarily because the rain ccvers ripped l
and the rainwater commingled with the lagron contents.
He said that Robert Weber, who reported to Wakefield at that time, would be more knowledgeable than himself about the pumping operation.
He said i
that the first rain cover that they had a problem with was the cover on lagoon F which got ripped at the point where the inlet line from the process area entered the lagoon.
He said that he didn't know how the rain cover on lagoon F got ripped but that it occurred around April or May 1978 when they were pumping sludge and slurry from the process area into lagoon F but not out of it.
He said that the pumping of rainwater from the tops of the lagoon covers would normally be done during the day shift and he didn't know if any such pumping was done on the night shift.
He said that Gary Partelo also l
worked on the sbove pumping operation.
Je said that the rainwater j
was pumped from the lagoon covers onto the ground.and that it l'
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18 would be discharged outside the protected area fence by means of a fire hose c nnected to the pump.
He said that he did not see the hose which discharged the rainwater onto the ground and that Weber or Partelo would definitely know where the rainwater was pumped to.
He said that the rainwater on the lagoon covers was sampled and
. analyzed for radioactivity by UNC Nuclear and Industrial Safety (NIS) personnel before it was pumped onto the ground and that NIS personnel had to approve of such pumping before it could start.
He said that the rain covers on the lagoons were installed around January 1978 or possibly earlier.
2.
Individual G, whose identity is being withheld upon request, was interviewed on December 5, 1980 and furnished a signed statement (Exhibit 19).
During the interview with Individual G he said that he did nct have 1
any direct involvement in the pumping of rainwater from the lagoon covers. He said that he saw rainwater on top of the covers but never saw it being pumped off.
He said that'the rain covers on the lagoons were installed about three or four years ago.
3.
Individual H, whose identity is being withheld upon request, was interviewed on December 5, 1980 and furnished a signed statement (Exhibit 20).
During the interview with Individual H he said that, approximately five years go, he took four or five core samples from lagoon E by inserting a pipe, measuring about 3 feet long and ih inches in diameter, into the surface of the lagoon where the depth of the lagoon was about 4 feet deep.
He said that he never contacted the lagoon liner when taking the core samples.
He said that anyone who was not knowledgeable in the method he was using to take the samples tnd who may have seen him or other UNC personnel taking such samples could have mistakenly thought that they were punching holes in the lagoon liner. He said that Robert Sonntag, who is no longer employed at the UNC facility, took approximately 100 core samples of lagoon B, using the same method that Individual H had used.
4.
Individual ~I, whose identity is being withheld upon request, was interviewed on December 9, 1980 and furnished a signed statement (Exhibit 21).
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- 19 During the interview with Individual I he said that, around February or March 1978, UNC operations personnel pumped rainwater frem lagoon G onto the ground near the northeast corner of the protected area fence.
He said that lagoon G had not yet been used to contain waste process material at the time of this pumping operation.
He said that a fire hose, measuring about 2h inches in diameter, was connected to the pump and that the other end of the hose was situated about 6 feet from the east side of the fence, approximately 25 feet south of the northeast corner of the fence.
He said that the above pumping operation took about 1 to 2 days to complete and that it was done during the day shift which he worked. He said that he did not know if any of the above pumping operation was done during the second or third work shifts.
Individual I said that the level of rainwater in lagoon G was lowered by about 4 or 5 feet as a result of the above pumping operation.
He said that he does not recall seeing any openings or erosion under the fence resulting from the above pumping operation He said that he did not see or participate in any pumping of rainwater from the tops of the lagoon rain covers and that he was not sure but that it could have been in 1978, after the rainwater was pumped out of lagoon G, as described above, that rain covers were put on most of the lagoons.
He said that the rain covers on lagoons F and G had quite a bit of rainwater on them and that this water was pumped off the covers.
He said that he was pretty sure that maintenance or operutions personnel pumped off the rainwater but that he didn't know when it occurred or where the water was pumped to.
Individual I said that a core sampling device was made to sample the sediment in lagoon B but that he didn't know if the device was ever used. He described the device as being a pipe, measuring about 4 feet long and 1 inch in diameter, inside of which was another pipe of smaller diameter. He said that samples of lagoon B were taken, shortly before lagoons F and G were formed, but he had no specific information regarding the above samples.
5.
Karl Helgeson, Manager of Nuclear and Industrial Safety (NIS), was interviewed on December 9, 1980 and furnished a sworn signed statement (Exhibit 22).
During the interview with Helgeson, he said that about 2 feet of rainwater was pumped from lagoon G around March or April 1978 and was discharged onto the ground from a fire hose situated within about 1 foot of the east side of the perimeter fence in the immediate vicinity of an electric light pole adjacent to lagoon D.
He said that lagoon G had not been used to contain waste process
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20 material at the time of the above pumping operation.
He said that the discharged rainwater caused the soil under the fence to be a little muddy but that there were no gaps between the fence and the ground resulting from the pumping operation.
He said that all pumping of rainwater from the lagoon area was done during the day shift (7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) because health physics personnel, who sampled and analyzed the rainwater and whose approval had to be obtained before any such pumping could be done, did not work during the off-shift periods. He said that the pumping of material from one lagoon to another could have been done during any shift but that it probably was not done during the third shift (11:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m.) because of a lack of personnel. He said that he does not know of any pumping operation that would reduce the level of a lagoon by 5 feet except when they pumped from one lagoon to another.
Helgeson said that Tom Ashley was involved in tne above pumping of rainwater from lagoon G, from an engineering standpoint, and that samples of the rainwater were taken and analyzed by Frank Cronin who is no longer employed at UNC.
Helgeson said that his records show that the rainwater was analyzed but that he didn't know how many times that the rainwater was pumped from the lagoon area.
With regard to the pumping of rainwater from the tops of the lagoon covers, he said that health physics personr.el sampled the rainwater every time that this was done.
He said that some of the rain covers were installed around February or March 1978 and that all of the covers were on by May or June 1978.
He said that there was ice on the rain covers during February and March 1978 and that they started pumping rain water off the covers around April 1978.
He said that he has a log, which the inspector reviewed, showing that they pumped
-rainwater from the rain covers on lagoons C, D, F and G between March and June 1978. He said that he did not know when the rain covers were ripped to the point where they could not be used.
He said that the discharge hose from the process building was put under the rain cover on either lagoon E or F in order not to submerge the cover in the solids in the lagoon, since the cover was already ripped or damaged and that there was no pumping from that lagoon anyway.
He had no information as to when that occurred.
Helgeson said that Robert Sonntag, a former UNC employee, took more than 50 samples of lagoon B in late 1977 and that Bill Conlan, another former UNC employee, took samples of lagoon A in early 1978, to determine its uranium content.
He said that lagoon A was about 9 or 10 feet deep and that lagoon B was between 5 and 6 feet deep.
He said that lagoon B was sampled by using a pipe measuring about 3 feet long and 1 to 2 inches in diameter.
Helgeson said that lagoon A samples were taken by using a chrome tube, measuring about 24 to 28 inches long and 1 inches in diameter, which was obtained from the United Nuclear Corporation facility in Montville, Connecticut.
21 6.
Individual J, whose identity is beisg withheld upon request, was interviewed on December 10, 1980 and furnished a sworn signed statement (Exhibit 23).
During the interview with Individual J, he said that around the Spring of 1978, UNC operations personnel pumped rainwater from the rain covers in the area of lagoons C, D, E, F and G and that the water was discharged onto th2 ground near the northeast corner of the protected area fence.
He said that the discharged rainwater seeped into the gr;Jnd and some of it passed under the protected area fence and went 3 or 4 feet outside the fence line.
He said that he had first hand knowledge that conductivity measurements were made on three or four samples cf the rainwater that was pumped off the lagoon covers onto the ground.
He said that sometime after the Spring of 1978 UNC operations personnel pumped rainwater from lagoon G which had a liner in it but which had not yet been used to contain process material.
He estimated that 6 feet of rainwater was pumped from lagoon G onto the ground in the same general area described 4
above and that it took less than one week to do this.
He said that conductivity measurements were also made on the rainwater pumped from lagoon G. He said that all of the pumping of rainwater from lagoon G and from the tops of the lagoon rain covers would have had to occur during the day shift because such pumping would have to be approved by health physics personnel. He said that there was no pumping of rainwater during any off-shift hours when he was on site.
He said that he was not sure if a fire hose was used to discharge the rainwater onto the ground from lagoon G or from the tops of the lagoon rain covers and that he could not recall seeing any erosion of soil under the fence resulting from the above pumping operations.
He described-the rainwater as being clear.
He said that some soil samples were taken both inside and outside the protected area fence in the general area where the rainwater had been discharged and that this was a routine sampling operation.
He said that the fence line on the east side of the protected atea had been moved outward, away l
from the lagoon area, approximately 1 to 2 years ago.
Individual J was re-interviewed on January 13, 1981 and he furnished the following additicnal information.
He said that there was never any rain cover on lagoon B nor was there ever any rainwater pumped from lagoon B.
He said that any rainwater in lagoon B evaporated fast enough so that pumping was not necessary.
He said that they may have pumped some sludge from lagoon B into lagoon A and that lagoon B was emptied into lagoon A when they str.rted digging the trenches.
He said that the largest accumulation of rainwater that l'
he ever saw in lagoon B was no more than 2 inches, accumulated in the low spots on the lagoon surface.
He said that the rain cover on lagoon C may not have been as long as they wanted it but he felt that it was long enough to completely cover the lagoon so that there would be no commingling of the rainwater on top of the rain cover and the material in the lagoon.
22 He said that all of the lagoon covers and lagoon liners were black.
He said that the pump which was used to pump rainwater off the lagoon covers could pump about 45 gallons per minute and would run out of gasoline after about 3 hours3.472222e-5 days <br />8.333333e-4 hours <br />4.960317e-6 weeks <br />1.1415e-6 months <br />.
He said that just because a pump is running doesn't necessarily mean that it is pumping anything.
He said that the licensee has generated test well data which would refute the allegations that lagoon waste material was pumped onto the ground.
7.
Nicholas Vuono, Health Physics Technician, was interviewed on December 10, 1980 and furnished a sworn signed statement (Exhibit 24).
8.
Individual K, whose identity is being withheld upon request, was interviewed on December 10. 1980 and furnished a sworn signed statement (Exhibit 25).
9.
Individual L, whose identity is being withheld upon request, was interviewed on December 10, 1980 and furnished a sworn signed statement (Exhibit 26).
During the interview with Individual L, he said that he was aware that UNC had plans to pump rainwater from the tops of the lagoon covers sometime in 1978 but that he had no direct involvement in that operation and that he didn't know if the plans were ever carried out.
10.
Individual M, whose identity is being withheld upon request, was interviewed on December 16, 1980 and furnished a sworn signed statement (Exhibit 27).
l During the interview with Individual M, he said that, sometime i
durir.g 1978, rainwater had been pumped from lagoon G onto the ground and that this occurred before lagoon G was used to contain any waste material.
He said that the rainwater was pumped onto the ground in j
the immediate vicinity of the lagoon area and that the level of rainwater in lagoon G was lowered at least 4 to 6 feet by the above I
pumping operation.
He said that the rainwater discharged from lagoon G created some puddles, no deeper than 3 or 4 inches, both i
inside and outside the east side of the protected area fence at a location which was about 20 to 30 feet south of the northeast corner of the fence.
He said that the discharged rainwater ereded the soil under the fence at the above location and left a space measuring no more than 4 inches high and 2 feet wide but that the space under the fence was filled in by operations personnel before the pumping
23 operation was completed on any given day.
He said that the pumping of rainwater from lagoon G was a continuous operation that lasted about 2 months.
Individual M said that rainwater was also pumped from the rain covers of the lagoons, which he believed were lagoons F and G, and that this occurred around the same general time in 1978 when they pumped rainwater from lagoon G.
He said that the rainwater from ths lagoon covers was pumped onto the ground adjoining the lagoon area and that there was less erosion of soil under the fence than was caused by the pumping of rainwater from lagoon G.
He said that, to the best of his knowledge, none of the above pumping operations occurred on weekends, holidays, or during the second and third workshifts, but that it was possible that some pumping could have been done on weekends tf they were working on ovartime to do other things.
Individual M was re-interviewed on January 14, 1981 and was shown a report (Exhibit 28) on the status of the volume and water-collection area of the lagoons as of December 1977.
A notation on the report
. states that lagoon G was pumped dry of rain water en October 15, 1977. After reviewing the above report, Individual M said that he was not sure but that it was probably during the early fall of 1977 that rainwater was pumped from lagoon G, rather than sometime during 1978 as he previously stated when interviewed on December 16, 1980.
He said that it is possible that rainwater was pumped off the rein overs of lagoon 0 and other lagoons, in addition to lagoons F and G as mentioned in his signed statement, but that the only time that he ever saw the level of a lagoon lowered 4 feet was when rainwater was pumped from lagoon G as previously described in his sworn signed statement.
l 11.
Individual N, whose identity is being withheld upon request, was interviewed on December 17, 1980 and furnished a signed statement (Exhibit 29).
I 12.
Robert J. Gregg, UNC Plant Manager, was interviewed on December 3 and December 17, 1980 and he furnished a sworn signed statement l
(Exhibit 30).
l During the interviews with Gregg, he said that he was aware that l
rainwater was being pumped from the tops of the lagoon rain covers, i
approximately in early 1978, but that he never saw this being done.
He said that his employment at the UNC facility began in December 1977 when he took the position of Manager of Quality Assurance.
I 13.
Charles E. Bowers, former UNC General Manager-President from l
December 1974 to December 1980, was interviewed on December 17, 1980 l
and furnished a sworn signed statement (Exhibit 31).
i l
24 14.
Francis J. Boyle, Maintenance Employee, was interviewed on December 18, 1980 and furnished a signed statement (Exhibit 32).
He was re-interviewed on January 13, 1981 and furnished a sworn signed statement (Exhibit 33).
During the interview with Boyle on December 18, he said that he could not recall ever discussing with any member of the security force any pumping of liquid in the lagoon area at any time. He said that he has worked at the UNC facility since 1964 and that his job duties included grounds-keeping, cutting grass, maintenance and building repairs.
With respect to the allegation that the pumping of liquid from the lagoon are. resulted in soil erosion and openings under the security fence, he said it would have been his job to fill any such openings but that he had never been requested to do.
During the interview with Boyle on January 13, 1981 he denied that he ever said to Jim Wakefield or anyone else that there was seepage under any lagoon or that Owen McCormick, who is no longer employed at UNC, or that any other individual had deliberately punched holes in the liner of lagoon B to lower the water level in the lagoon.
Investigator's Note:
The above statement of Boyle's is a denial of the allegation on page 7 of Individual C's signed statement in which Individual C stated that he heard Boyle tell Jim Wakefield that Owen McCormick deliberately punched holes in the liner of lagoon B to lower the water level.
15.
Kenneth Mot ator Generalist, was interviewed on January 13, 1981 and said ti..
,e would be willing to furnish a sworn signed statement if requested.
He said that on various occasions, probably during 1980, he saw dozens of plastic bung caps in various lagoons which he conjectured had been scaled or thrown into the lagoons although he never saw anyone do that. He described the bung caps as being about 2
inches to 3 inches in diameter and weighing no more than one ounce.
He said that the caps were used on various sized chemical containers.
16.
Thomas Ashley, Senior Plant Chemist, was interviewed on December 18, 1980 and January 14, 1981.
Ha furnishea a sworn signed statement (Exhibit 34) on January 14 and provided the following information.
He said that he helped to pump out 2 or 3 feet of rainwater from lagoon G i
l around December 1977, before lagoon G was used to hold waste material.
l He said that on at least one occasion, when he saw rainwater being pumped from the top of the rain cover on lagoon G, the fire hose l
connected to the pump discharged the water under the vehicle gate on l
the north side of the protected area fence near the l
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He estimated that any erosion of soil under the vehicle gato resulting from the above pumping operation would havt left a space measuring no more than " or 3 inches high and 4 inches wide. He said that on other occasic.is, dates not indicated, he recalled seeing rainwater being pumped from either lagoon G, before it was used to contain waste material, or from the tops of the lagoon rain covers, and that the water was discharged on the ground adjoining the east side of the protected area fencs near the northeast corner.
He said that he did not see any noticeable erosion of the soil under the fence at that location. He said that, probably around the Fall of 1977 or the Spring of 1978, he helped to pump out about 12 inches of rainwater from the tops of the rain covers on lagoons E cnd F.
He said that the discharge hose, during that pumping operation, passed over or around lagoon D and was put under cr near the east side of the protected area fence, approximately 25 feet south of the northeast corner, without any noticeable erosion of the soil under the fence.
He said that, to the best of his knowledge, water was pumped from the lagoon rain covers only during the day shift, but not on weekends or holidays.
He said that the rainwatar on the lagoon covers was always tested by UNC Nuclear Industrial Safety personnel before it was pumped onto the ground. Ashley said that he and Russell Smith, a former UNC management employee, had the joint responsibility of initiating the pumping of rainwater from the lagoon area es described above and that it was also their responsibility to monitor the volume changes and condition of the lagoons and the water collecti7g on the rain covers.
During the interview with Ashley on January 14, he provided the inspector with a ecpy of a report (Exhibit 28) which ind ates that lagoon G was pumped dry of rainwater on October 15, 1977.
. said that the above report was apparently initiated by Russell Sm th. Ashley said that neither he nor anyone else, to the best of his knowledge, initiated the pumping of rainwater off the top of the lagoon rain covers when there was any contamination 13 the rainwater or commingling of the rainwattr with the lagoon supernate under the covers.
G.
INTERVIEW OF DAVID CHAMBERLAIN, OWNER, D. E. CHAMBERLAIN CONSTRUCTION, INC., 80X 382, CHARLESTOWN, AnaDE ISLAND Chamberlain was interviewed by NRC Inv'estigators R. K. Christopher and R.
E. Shepherd on January 12, 1981 and he furnished the rollowing information.
He said that during the past four years he has done various types of work at the UNC facility including the grading of the soil along the protected area fence line to check erosion.
He said that he does not recall seeing or correcting any openings under the protected area fence, incluaing the east side of the fence near the northeast corner, which were more thar: 2 to 4 inches deep and G fcches wide.
He said that his records show that he completed various jobs at the UNC facility during 1978 but that none of that work related to soil erosion or correctir.; any openings under the protected area fence.
26 H.
EXAMINATION of MRC FILES 1.
On June 28, 1978, during a Physical Security Inspection at the UNC facility (Inspection Report No. 78-15), an individual, who is identified in this investigation report as Individual C, confidentially reported a number of allegations to the NRC Inspect r, including the fol!cwing:
He said that during February and March 1978, two UNC employees named Weber and Parloy operated water pumps to drain off some of the waste lagoons.
He said that the waste water was directed from the lagoons to a drainage ditch and seeped into underground wells and that high nitrogen levels were discovered in some residents' water sources.
He said that licensee management covered up the incident by claiming that the nitrogen levels were a result of fertilizer applied to the soil by a farmer whose property was located adjacent to the UNC facility.
Individual C further stated that ifcensee management told all employees on site that they had only removed water from the lagoons which had accumulated on plastic covers that were stretched across the surface of the lagoons and had become a weight burden during February and March when the lagoons froze.
Individual C said that this story was a
" cover" and that high enriched uranium wastes had probably been removed indiscriminate 1y to make room for additional process waste as the lagoons were at capacity levels.
Individual C made no mention of soil erosion under the security fence, resulting from the above-described pumping operation, when he reported this matter to the NRC Inspector on June 28, 1978.
The above allegation was examined by NRC Region I on July 5, 1978 and it was found that:
a.
Only water had been removed from the lagoons in February and March 1978.
b.
NRC was aware of the drafrage and that the problem had been coordinated initially with OSHA, State of Rhode Island (EPA Activity) in November 1977 and that no HEU had been drained.
On July 12, 1978, Individual C telephoned the above NRC Inspector and he was informed of the above findings.
Individual C declined the need for NRC to provide him with a written response to his allegations.
2.
Investigation Report No. 78-T2 contains the results of an investigation by NRC Region I concerning security-related allegations which were made by members of the UNC security force in September 1978.
None of the allegations related to the pumping of liquid from the lagoon area onto the ground or to any resultant soil erosion under the security fence.
NRC Inspector J. Roth did not participate in that investigation.
t
27 3.
Inspection Report No. 80-14 for an August 18-19, 1980 inspection, includes information from previous NRC inspections regarding the licensee's Liquid Waste Handling System and Test Well Sample Results.
The following information contained in the above report and in other inspection reports provides a chronological sequence of events which occurred prior to an during 1978 and which are considered to be pertinent to this investigation.
a.
Liquid Waste Handling System Aqueous process wastes which ccntained low concentrations of uranium were neutralized using lime, and the resultant slurry was pumped to a lagoon system.
In the lagoon system the solids settled out.
The supernatant liquid was supposed to be discharged to the Pawcatuck River after samples showed the radioactive concentrations were within NRC (AEC) regulatory limits given in Appendix B to 10 CFR 20.
When the facility was started up in 1964, there was one 36 by 72 foot lagoon to receive the liquid waste.
The lagoon had a plastic lining.
Lagoon A was filled during plant operations so that a new lagoon, lagoon B, we.s needed.
Lagoon B, which also had a plastic lining, was placed in service in February 1966.
In 1967 it was reported that the liner in lagoon B had ruptured and, in mid 1967, the licensee had to discharge ?.0,000 gallons of water from lagoon A to the Pawcatuck River and from lagoon 8 to lagoon
+
A for repair of the liner.
In late 1969 it was reported that the liquid levels in the lagoons had not reached the level which required discharge of the super-riatant liculd to the river.
No discharges from the lagoons to tte river had been made for two years.
The reason given was the water was leaving the lagoon by evaporation or seepage.
According to an October 23, 1974 report frem Dr. William E.
Kelley, Consultant Hydrogeologist to United Nuclear Corporation, precipitation estimated from records at Kingston, six miles to the east in the upper Pawcatuck River Basin, averages about 45 inches per year. A table of evaporation data taken at Kingston in Dr. Kelly's report showed that from 1963 through 1972, excluding 1964, the average yearly evaporation was 27.2 inches.
Tharefore, the liquid level ir a lagoon would rise about 17 inches a year from unevaporated precipitation.
Of course, the addition of process liquid waste would fill the lagoon more quickly.
From the above discussior it is evident that the lagoon system was leaking and that lagoon B was probably the leaking lagoon.
m am
4..
gg In a report for an inspection made in late October 1970, the inspectors reported that the liquid level in the lagoons remained constant.
The inspector made the point to the licensee that test wells to determine seepage from the lagoons were needed.
In a report for an inspection in early January 1972, the inspectors reported tnat test wells were being sunk around the liquid waste lagoons.
According to inspection reports for inspections made in January and July 1973, accumulated solids were removed from lagoon A during August through October 1972 and were shipped off-site for burial.
The renewed lagoon A was fitted with a oolyvinyl chloride bottom liner and a polyethylene top liner as part of the renewal operation.
The renewed lagoon A, measuring 100 by 90 feet and 8 feet deep was put into operation on December 16, 1972.
The licensee continued to use the renewed lagoon A and lagoon B until early 1977.
According to Inspection Report No. 77-08, in early 1977, the licensee dug a lagoon exter.sion and lined its walls with plastic.
The lagoon extension was placed in service on April 15, 1977.
The licensee also obtained two above ground swimming pools for contingency use on April 13 and indicated that the solids in lagoon B would be placed in lagoon A and that lagoon B would be replaced.
Inspection Report No. 77-09 for a July 11-15, 1977 inspection, notes that the licensee had replaced lagoon B with 5 lagoons designated as C, 0, E, F, and G.
Process waste was to enter lagoon C and cascade to D, E, and F as necessary.
Lagoon G was not completely Installed in mid July 1977.
Inspection Report No. 78-09 for a March 22-?.4. 1978 inspection, notes that the inspector observed that covers had been placed on the waste lagoons and that snow, ice and rainwater had collected on the covers.
The licensee informed tha inspector of his intent to sample the liquid and then discharge it to unrestricted areas when thawed, to prevent the addition of unnecessary liquid to the lagoons.
The inspector also noted that the licensee's controls appeared to be adequate to prevent the release of contaminated water.
The i
rair. fall on th remainder of the s'te was allowed to run off to unrestricted l
ar as thus no unreviewed hazards wtte foreseen in releasing the rainfall l
collecthd on the lagoon covers.
Inspection Report No. 78-13 for a May 30 - Jure 2, 1978 inspection, notes j
that the plastic covers put over the lagoon to separate the rainwater from lagoon water were torn and that there was no plastic interface between the lagoon process waste and the rainwater.
The licensee indicated they would remove and dispose of the torri plastic covers.
l l
In Inspection Report No. 78-18, for an inspection conducted on July 25-27, 1978, it was reported that the lagoon covers remained in the lagoons.
It was also reported that the licensee was using pumps and perforated hoses to 1
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29 wet down the sunny slope of a lagoon to increase evaporation of the liquid.
It was also reported that a liner failure in lagoon C resulted in no more than 5,000 gallons of lagoon water being lost to the ground.
The evaluation by the licensee of this unusual event pointed out that the concentration of radionuclides in the lagoon were within 10 CFR 20 limits for release to unrestricted areas.
b.
Test Well Sample Results Seven test wells were installed and samples taken during 1972.
These samples showed alpha and beta radioactivity.
The pressace of radio-activity in the ground water was reported in NRC (AEC) inspection reports from 1972 through 1980.
In these reports it was assumed that uranium was the source of the radioactivity in the ground water.
The concentrations of the radioactivity in the ground water were well within the 10 CFR 20 limits for release of uranium-235 in liquid to unrestricted areas which is 3 x 10-5 pCi/ml (66,000 dpm/ liter).
The fact that the ground water contained radionuclides other t!an uranium was brought out as a result of a condition imposed on the licensee on December 27, 1978.
This condition required the licensee to collect water samples on a monthly basis at the monitoring wells (25 in number) ar.d analyze the samples for gross alpha and gross beta activity.
If the gross alpha and gross beta exceed 15 picocuries
/ liter and 50 oicocuries/ liter, respectively, the licensee had to identify the major radionuclides and determine their concentrations.
The radionuclides other than uranium included fission products such as strontium-90 and cesium-139.
The results of sample analyses conducted by the contractor of the licensee showed the concentrations of the radionuclides in the ground water were within the 10 CFR 20 Appendix B limits; however, the cerccantrations of radium-228 (a daughter of thoriva) and strontium-90 were relatively high in scme wells.
The test well data confirmed the fact that lagoon leakage allowed radioactive liquid to escape from the lagoons into the ground water.
(The liquid would have been discharged to the Pawcatuck River under conditions of 10 CFR 20 if it had not escaped to the ground water).
I.
EXAMINATION OF LICENSEE RECORDS 1.
The investigators examined the licensee's Post A security log, for the period January through December 1978, and other security records, including Irregularity Reports, for the period July through December 1978. With the exception of the Post A log, the licensee was unable to locate the security records, incit. ding Irregularity Reports, for' the period January through June 1978.
These records were eventually located by the licensee, as of February 5,1981, but were not available for NRC review whert the investigators were onsite.
I
n
=
=
30 The Post A security log, datei April 2, 1978, contains a notation regarding a " bad hole on east corner", as of 2336 hours0.027 days <br />0.649 hours <br />0.00386 weeks <br />8.88848e-4 months <br /> on that date.
Further details regarding the above notation were not available for NRC review because, as stated above, the licensee was unable to locate additinnal security records covering that period.
The Post A log, dated October 9, 1978, contains a notation made at 0958 hours0.0111 days <br />0.266 hours <br />0.00158 weeks <br />3.64519e-4 months <br />, regarding a hole cut in the north fence for a hose from L
the lagoon.
Details concerning the above notation are contained in the Irregularity Report (Exhibit 9) which was previously discussed in section II.E.2 of this report regarding the interview with Leonard Mello, Jr. on December 17, 1980.
d 1.
The investigators were not able to determine from a review of licensee records the specific dates when rainwater was pumped off various lagoon rain covers, nor the amount of rainwater that was pumped off in each instance. As noted previously in section II.F.10 of this report regarding the interview with Individual M, a licensee report (Exhibit
- 28) on the status of the volume and water-collection area of the
' lagoons indicates that lagoon G was pumped dry of rainwater on October 15, 1977. A similar report, dated April 4,1978, has a notation which indicates that 43,000 gallons of rainwater was pumped from lagoons F
- and G on March 22, 1978.
The licensee's Health Physics log book contains an entry, dated March 28, 1978, which indicates that 2 feet 4
of rainwater was pumped off the lagoon covers, not further indentified.
The licensee constructed a chronology (Exhibit 35) of events related to the lagoon system and pumping records.
Exhibit 35 contains a notation which indicates that some rainwater pumping operations may not have been recorded.
-J.
SOIL SAMPLES TAKEN BY NRC Physical evidence to show whether or not radioactive materials were pumped from the. lagoons onto the ground as alleged was attempted to be gained by sampling the soil at the locations on the fence line where the discharge was alleged to have taken place.
It is reasonable to assume that if the material pumped from the lagoons was only liquid containing no sludge, the liquid containing the radionuclides would have gone through the soil into the ground water and would not have remained in the soil. This assumption is based on the premise that little or no ion exchange with the soil or absorption of the radionuclides into the soil would take place.
It is.also reasonable to assume that if lagoon solids were mixed with the liquid, these solids would remain with the soil and any radionuclides in the soil as a result would be detectable by gamma spectroscopic analyses.
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31 Soil samples were taken by NRC Region I personnel on December 12, 1980, and were taken at locations described in Figure I (Exhibit 36).
Samples were taken at the following depths:
top 2 inches of soil, 6-8 inch depth, and 12-14 inch depth. The results of the gamma spectroscopic analyses showed that only those radionuclides normally encountered in soil were present in the samples.
Further, the concentrations of the radionuclides were at levels normally encountered in soil samples.
The results of the sample analyses are listed in Table I (Exhibit 37).
The results of samples from offsite locations at the same time are listed also for comparison.
Comparison indicates that the onsite samples contained no lagoon sludge material.
No uranium was identified in any of the samples taken on the UNC site.
As discussed previously, one would not expect to find uranium in the samples unless lagoon solids were present in the soil.
The concentration of uranium-235 in the lagoon solids (sludge) was about 150 picocuries per gram of sludge. The concentration of uranium in the lagoon liquid was about 0.01 picocuries per millimeter of liquid.
These concentrations show that the uranium was in an insoluble form in the lagoons, and one should not expect to find uranium in the soil samples unless lagoon solids were present.
(The minimum detection activity of uranium-235 in soil is 0.4 picocuries per gram).
NRC Region I is planning to take additional soil samples of the area where the lagoon waste was allegedly discharged onto the ground.
These samples are scheduled to be taken during the latter part of February 1981, at a depth of approximately 4. feet, and the results will be reported in a sub-sequent NRC Investigation Report.
NOTE:
Sample results are 1 1 standard deviation counting error. Also, all sample results should include a systematic error of 2 50%.
^
32 III STATUS OF INVESTIGATION This investigation con'tinues in an OPEN status pending review and analysis of the information reported herein by IE Management and the analysis of additional soil samples which NRC Region I personnel will obtain at the UNC facility.
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IV. ENCLOSURES 1.
The Chariho Times article, 11/26/80 2.
Providence Journal article, 11/26/83 3.
Westerly Sun article, 12/28/80 4.
Statement of Individual A, 12/3/80 5.
Otagram of UNC lagoon area 6.
Diagram of UNC facility 7.
Statement of Individual B, 12/16/80 8.
Statement of Leonard Mello, Jr., 12/17/80 9.
UNC Irregularity Report, 10/9/78 10.
Statement of Individual C, 12/18/80 11.
Statement cf Individual E, 12/16/80
- 12. Statement of Alfred A. DiRaimo, 12/17/80 13.
Statement of Robert L. Hampton, 12/18/80 14.
Statement of Dale M. Schultz, 12/18/80 15.
Statement of Donald B. Downs,1/13/81 16.
Statement of Robert E. White, 1/13/81 17.
Statement of Individual F,1/14/81 18.
Statement of James H. Wakefield, 12/4/80
- 19. ' Statement of Individual G,12/5/80
- 20. Statement of Individual H, 12/5/80
I,
- ~ ~,.
2
- 21. Statement of Individual I, 12/9/80
- 22. Statement of Karl Helgeson, 12/9/80
- 23. Statement of Individual J, 12/10/80
- 24. Statement of Nicholas Vuono, 12/10/80
- 25. Statement of Individual K, !2/10/80
- 26. Statement of Individual L, 12/16/80
- 27. Statement of Individual M, 12/16/80 28.
Lagoon Status Report, 12/5/77 i9.
Statement of Individual N, 12/17/80 30.
Statement of Robert J. Gregg, 12/17/80 31.
Statement of Charles E. Bowers, 12/17/80 32.
Statement of Francis J. Boyle, 12/18/80
- 33. Statement of Franci< J. Boyle, 1/13/81
- 34. Statement of Thomas Ashley, 1/14/81 35.
Process Waste Lagoon Chronology 35.
Soil Sample Locations, Figure I, 12/12/80 37.
Soil Sample Analyses, Table I i
l I
i l
l
h[
}f EXHIBIT 1 3
I Pace 1 1
to open grouna:
=
. 2 Q 1C workers By BILL RODit!GtJEZ "Certalaly a ficensee isn't supposed to dump s'uit out on the ground that has any radioactive material, even if it's CHARLESTOWN - ne United below the Ilmits," Mr. Crocker added.
Nuclear Corp. uranium scrap recovery "Andif suchwas donor Hi turns outit operatlon bere was regularly pumping was abovebackgrandg ceane,why limits liquid waste from an evaporation it's going to have to d up lagoon out onto the ground during Int, before they decommiss, ion that facility.
two former UNC employees have told Dey aren't going to be able to walk from that plant until they fu:fl11 Th Chrik Tirries awa 11wasliquidIcaking and overhwing the gmmissioningerHeria." '
from these settlement hgoons during The former employ res, who !nsisted the PWas that has caused cuTent concun over a migrating groundwater that they not be identified, both said plume of contamLation high in nitrates that the pumping of the tagoon !! quid and coataining traces of uranium and onto the ground was common knowledge around the pfant.
Isetopes.
Reportedly, the pumping continued "The pumping, everybody knew it. I periodically for m onths, eroding a gu!!y saw it," one said, estimating that one under the fence around the plant, a lagoon's level was lowered five feet by passage large enough to lead to a this process. "A rd would say, citation by the NRC for a. security
'You're not sup to pump Ilke that.'
- Shut up and g back inside,* (he would violation.
The two former employees, in in-be told)."
lagoons, put a fire hose, between the "They'd drag them up dependent interviews, said that they in sad ruc gave information about the pumping. anotherfirehoseoff theotherendcf the and related matters to NRC in-vestigators whoin the fa!! of tus were pump and out under the fence," the looking into reports of falsified security other man stated. "It was eroding secords. an investigation that resulted. under the fence really bad. You could in the massive dismissal of guards at practically walk eut under the fence.",
The large. gasollne motor powered i
the facility.
They also reported to the NRC that pumps were ostensibly en the site in one of the plastlelined lagoons had order to shunt waste !! quid from one been deliberately pierced along its lagoon to another, to adjust levels, and bottom to aflow it to drain, since the to pump rainwater off of lagoon evaparation process was not effective, coverings. f An NRC report of a May:D-they said. And one spoke of employees June 2, tWs, insretion noted that one competing to see who could heave to-to-such lagoon covering was rendered 90-poucd lead weights the farthest utelms from numerous tears.)
throughlagoon rain covers.
De Virginla-based company had Asked if the NRC pursued the annaunced plans to decommisalon by charges, Walter G. Martin, chief of the April of this year, though recent waste safeguards branch for Region 1, said shipmer.t vietations have led to a delay.
that any such non security violations The cificial NBC deadline ls mid-1982.
vncovered then by investigators frum Mr. Crocier said that the awatted his office would have been turned ov er radioactivity limitations for soil cen-a to our health and safety people here, f amination should be aval!:b!#tyTest whowould fohaw upon them."
Tuesday's public meeting on UNC tte
}!erbert W. Croder, chief J fuel be held at Chariho High School at tsp facilities project section, whose office p.m.in the Vo Tech meeting room). '
Maleolm Grant, the governor's ad.
l would have received the allegaticas.
visce en environmental thatters, 'wh6
(
aald this week that be didn't recall
(
being anictmed about sv-b charges at will be attending the meeting, along the time and that he would speak Mth with Mr. Crocker and other NRC and the interviewer, currently out sick, who state officials, said that soil con-conducted the IW3 debrieftng cd the tamtsstion at the s!!c of the pumping guards.
wi!! have to be checked if the charge "If he does mes, tion something about proves f rue, it, we*1! find out why we haven't dcr.e "I would.pcesume that if ritrates are anything with it," he declared. "And if of concern in the plume from the he dean't, then w e'd like t o get in touch tPleaseturntopcgeIt) with these chaps and see w hat's s hat."
~ l.. J 3T
~ E c s a s m es,wim w u m e ".- )
EXHIBIT 1 Page 2 UNC wastspumped (Continued from pageif trees bordering the fictd, and they w ere Installed, the tatter three cone-ted by leakage, they'd be of concern if you also denied permission."
an overflow system, to adNt their Mr. Crocker noted that if such fevels.
(pumped) the stuff,"he remstied.
He potated out that UNC had made pumping took p! ace, it is possible that Prob! ems with the inabt!!ty cd %e unorthodar suggesllocs for the disposal the elfluent did not techalcally exceed lagoon system to handte the t#4 of the lagoon contents, In April of 1971, radiation limits for release to an galldns of Ilquid waste produced dx.Iy unrestricted area.
peaked in 197s, the year of the reported durfag the period of the charges. "We Henid that a review of records at the pumping off of the !! quid. The problems are aware that the company at one WidG8ver Junction plant in August of supposedly ended in late December of pcInt asked for permtsaan 1: spra's th!s year revealed that a break in the that year, with the Instattalion of a lagom material (on the adjoinin wn!! Itair:g of tagoon C resulted in large domed holding tank for the ef-potato rield) hecause of the nitrates, for use ss a fertilizer," he said."They were leakage but that sampling of the fluent, but not before the NRC com-denied permission by the NRC And released IIquid found it to not exceed plained that the company was "not the2 they asked to be able to spray it on regulation limits of radioactivity and putting enough advanced thought into therefore did not requlte reporting to their actioni" regarding the lagoon IheNHC.
system.
Under N!!C regulations, he also An NRC report of a Dec.14,1W3, noted, IIcensed nuclear facilities are meeting on the waste problem went on able to release rdathely high con-to state: "As evidence of this, it was centrations of radioactivity noted that six months after the sub.
periodically, just so that their release mittal that described one design, UNC average is within permisable bounds.
submitted. a exnpletely new design for "In other words, the licensee can approval. Also,althoughUNClrnew the discharge above that concentration for capacity of the existing lagoons, they a short time if they made it up with wa!!cd until they were Iri sn emergency more dilute material later. That's the situation to request a separate am-way the regulationis written."
rnendment for use of the new tank."
Mr. Crocker said that UNC has "had i in the months prior to that meeting, a lot of prob 1 cms with their lagoons UNC was chastised by the federal over the years." The evaporation pcod ager y for a!!owing two lagoons to fill system is daigned to allow the to nearly overflowing with processing **
chemical neutralization of processing liquid and rainwater, water that contained nitric acid and In addition, a censulting geofegical traces of uranium.The process resulred engineer Donald I Warner, reported in an accumulating sediment el to the NRC on Nov. 24,IMS, that since
^
calcium nitrate, the waste sludge that the storage capacity of the lagoons was is currently not being a!! owed to be limited to only a fraction of the elfluent buried at a disposal site in Nevada, produced, most of it "until mid tW7 while packaging procedures are being must have escaped into the subsurf ace, made secure.
where it has caused groundwater centamination"by tts overflewing.
In reviewing the history of the Given a Sept.1,1W3, dea dline to so!ve company's evaporation pond system.
its process!ct Dquid problem,.the Mr. Crocker said it began with a single company nnany gave up on the lagoon large lagoon when the plant opened in system, span &g m,M to Instan W 1%4. FiDed with sediment by 1972, it that date a sedes e4 sh reinforced was scraped out a.d a new liner was concrete and steel filter tanks and instaned.
equipment to press out liquid frorn the By that point, the second large sediment.
lagoon, lagoon B, was in use, it was replaced in 19n, after having been found to be leaking, perhaps from as early as 1971t this Is one apparent source of the contamination plua:e.
primarily nitrates, found to have migrated to the Paweatuck Iliver,..
mile downgrade. Smaller " trenches,"
ideniified as C, D, E,F and G were s!so
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. Providence.')urnal
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.ct,mpany who might be f amiliar with the THE SIPHONING routinely tookjace f acility's operation.
on_ weekends _or hot; days, when "they rad}03CliYe I"St 1055'd the rulu at " the forma Pumped THE ALLIGATIONS appeared Tues.
employee sa.d. He said the company i
waste io the ground, day in the charshe rimes. a weekiy experienced a c.hronic problem with ihe m
newspaper serving parts of South Coun.
water levels m the lagoons, es;>aciij{y eX-W0rker SayS ty. ney were independently obtained by durin11 ate fall and winter, when heavy the Jourcil. Bulletin.
ra2nf all woud fill the pits up faster than By N E A. W E f.lalcolm K. Grant. an aide to Governor - evaporation could empty them. "About EC ARL T%
Radioactive Garrahy who is overseeing the plant's this time of the year,"he said,"they'd go e
wastewater from holding lagoons at closure, said yesterday that he will nuts.
United Nuclear Corp.'s uranium recla-attempt to determine the actual site of At times, he said, the company would mation plant here was routinely pumped the dumping and " demand a sampling of pile sandbags around the lagoons perim-out onto the ground in 1978 when the the specific area." One of the state's eters and unfurl additional portions of
~
lagoons threatened to spill over, a for, major concerns is that rhe company the plastic hning. thus adding more ard at the f acility said yesteiday.
lease no traces of radioactise contamina.
capacity to the four. foot deep lagoons.
orker, who asked to remain tion at the plant site when it finally But the plastic would often rip or shp.
mer unidentified, also said 'that the plastic clcses the facility.
collapsing the sandbzg walls.
Around the time of the alleged siphon-lining designed to keep the water from The former worker, who served as a
.ing. Charles E. Bowers. then the plant
^
infiltrating the ground was s!it to allow guard in 1978. when he said the niiicit the water to escape.
draining of tiIe lagoons occurred, said he manager, asked the NRC for "emergen-cy punssion to use art udcensed Both practices, il verified would be questioned a supervisor about the si-holding tank to store some of the water.
considered serious violations of Nuclear phoning one weekend after he witnessed The NRC gave permission. but not Regulatory Commissiu rules. NRC o!!i-iL cials said yesterday.
"He said. *lt's as pure and clean as,f
- YI The worker said he and at feast five drinking water,'" the worker related.
Fina ly a kno 1 gi g the problem, other former guards informed an NRC Workers using conventional fire hoses the NRC last year ordered United Nucle-inspection team of the lagoon draining in then siphoned water out of the lagoons at to dismantle its lagoon system by 1978. NRC offixials_ yesterday saJd thtY and drained it onto a spot toe 3ted about July.1932.
could find no record of the notif_ication-five leet from the_clant's north, or rear.
Jerry Roth,one of the NRC icspectors
"" The water placed in the lagoons is g The flow crea'ed a gully in that who spent time at the Uni,ed Nuclear I
widely believed to have produced radio-spot beriesthThe plant's fence. opening a IO
'3"I3I' Ch"#E'S OI 8N active contamination of an aquifer, or gap beneath the fence that later pro-
. 'dequate tra.."for security person-ina imng underground watercourse. discovered by voked an i4RC citat.on for a sec3fy nel, said through a spokesman yesterday state officials in 1977. A NRC hydrogeo-infractica that he was unaware of any inforrnants logist has determined that considerable in fact, the water " as contaminated
'U *I" E I #*ard with allegations about leakage occurred sometime between not only with radoactivity, but with high the lagoon s. honing.
ip
}
1971 and 1977..The aquifer, in which levels of nitrates, minerals that could I
measurements of radioactivity far ex-lead to blue baby" syndrome ir, inf ants "We don't ignore things ?"< e that "
i ceed f ederal drinking water standar'ds.
exposed to them by drinking. The NRC said the spokesman, Gary SanWrc. "We l
, runs beneath United Nuclear's 1.140-on several occassions rejected United investigate them."
l acre plant site near the harnlet of Wood Nuclear's disposal plans for the water But the former worin said yes'erday River Junction here.
because of fears the disposal would~
that he and at least five ollier employees State officials say they hau had no contaminate soil and gioundwater.
repried the siolations directly to Roth.
plans to use the aquifer as a drink,ing.
j.
I water supply, but the measurements N were first taken by the state Water Resources Board, which develops drink-Ing water reserv. irs.
United Nuclear built the isolated Wood River Junction' facility in 1953 and this year announced plans to close it by mid-g-I 1931.Present and forcer ofricers of the
3(,
Tilf Wl'STrnLY St~d DEtTfBEF. 28, 1980 EXHIBIT 3 Pago 1
~
At UNC Plant Former V orker Details Waste-pumping Llaims e
q e
ay DAVID S.T!!Til ches were used by UNC to The INS insp'ector is the' CHARLESTOWN - A hald wastewater generated same person who sa:d a tray former United Nuclear Cor-by the plant when the alleged sent to UNC's Montville,
, poration (UNC) employee pumping occured. Trenches Conn. plant was clean, the
- has expanded on reports of
- alleged pumping of radioac were dug to replace a leaking employee alleged. The tray waste pind, or lagoon, in was later discovered to ron-tive wastewater at the local 1977.according to an indepen-t a..)
a small amount of uranium recovery plant.
dent report to the NitC in uranium scrap material. The The employee, who asked November 1977. The com-transportation of,the
, to remain anonymous. panylaterdecided toinstalla materialin 1978 was a viola-refuted earlier reports thai more efficient holding-tank tion of UNC's license with the the pumping had occurred for wastes.
NRC and the company was during the fall of 1978. He Pumping of the trenches' fined.
, claimed that the pumping of raincover, which the The former employee said liquids from waste-holding employee said UNC had per-that the pumping eroded a 2%
trenches was performed mission to do, also resulted in by 5 foot hole under the nor-
- between March and June lowering thelevelof the tren-theast corner of the fence 1978.
ches.
near the trenches. Although
- The former employee was In reaction to the allega. no written citation was given one of several interviewed tions about pumping of to UNC, verbal warnings recently by federal Nuclear wastewater onta the ground, were given at the time it was Regulatory Commission of-Dennis Spurgon, UNC vice discovered by NRC in-ficialsabout thealleged pum president of operations in ping at theuranium recovery Falls Church, Va., has said spectors, he said. Earlier facility. He said theinterview t' at the raincovers were reports had said that the n
' went on for several hours and pumped only after being company was cited for tha was held in a hotel in the sampled for pollutants.
violation, which NRC of-Mystic area.
IlNC had earlier asked the ficials derjei He told The Sun on Friday NitC for permission to pump Trees ahd shrubs in the that the NRC investigators the wastewater onto potato area where the water w s "were very upset" about ficids in the area, but that re-pumped died, the employee
' former UNC employees leak quest was denied.
said, probably because of the ing me initial report of the Thepumpingwasdoneonly h,igh concentrations of pumphg to the press because on weekends when tiie l ant mtrates.
of its reflection on the 2 den was shut hwn, the emp yee At the time the trench was cy. He called the in said "nat's why on y a pumped, they were close to
' vestigators' demeanor limitcd amount of persons overflowing, he said. He add-
" abusive"and " hostile."
According to the emp'oyee, saw it." The weekends are ed that UNC officials were also an unlikely time for NRC concerned that the rainwater the raincovers cn a series of insocelors to come to the on the covers would mix with trenches used by UNC in 1978 plint because permission the wastewater, adding to the
/were tw short to cover their would have to be sought to amountit already had to han-
' entire length. The ends of the enter restricted areas, and die,"otherwise, whj pump if covers tellinto the cndsof the besides, there would be no you have raincovers?" he trenches, causing rainwater one working, he explained.
asked.
and wastewater to mix.
A UNC foreman performed The interviewee also A series of six lined tren the actual pumping, usually claims that NRC officials on Saturdays. "Ile t foreman) were told about the pumping
~~
was pumping what he believ, signed statements.by employees and"six ed to be water that was clean and free of radioactive "But they had enough trou-pollutants. ile wouldn't have ble at the time with an in-done it on purpose," the vestigation of falsification of employee stated. IIe said he records in October of 1978,"
was told the water was he said. The investigation sampled and deemed pure by resulted in UNC being fined UNC's Industrial Nuclear for falsification of test and Safety (INS) inspector.
training scores for some security personnet
e,,
l' AGE 2 THE WESTERLY SUN DECEMBER 28, 1980 EXHIBIT 3 a
4 Page 2 He 'said he would not
~believe anything that UNC Ile claims Ihat former staff persons said because.he Plant Manager Charles
" Bowers did not want trou-alleged, they are protecting U.owers, was asked to leave ble, that's why he hired their jobs and pensinns. The his position as manager and managers," the einployee former employee said he was forced to resign. Bowers alleged.
would submit himself to a has. Insisted his ry.rty was The employee predicted polygraph test about the amicable and haJ been cen-that after the mvestigation is pumping. "Would UNC of sidered for scscral months, comp!cted, a. fine wil! be im-ficials do the same?" he ask. The employce, who has been posed by NRC. UNCis nowin ed.
watching company advertis-the process of decommission-The employee also ques ing for professionals at Mont-ing the local plant, which has liced why UNC officials and ville, said many of those also been plagued by reports hight echelon ataff at the sought are available at the of groundwater contamina-Wood River Junction pSr.t localfacility.
tion and delay in removing are not being moved to UNC's Bowers resigned his job in wastes after transport was Montville facility.
November and has taken a pos? tion as general manager l; ment was discovered at aba of a new nickcl battery divi-Nevada disposalsite.
sion at Yardney Electric Corp. of Pawcatuck.
The employee defended Bowers by saying that he pro-bably did not know about the pumping. "Information was deliberately withheld from him," the employee claimed.
" lie would hire managers for this and managers for this."
lie cdded that the managers would sometimes not relay information in arder not to
" rock the boat" or to "save theirjobs."
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4
~ EXHIBIT 4 STATEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL A December 3, 1980 I, hereby make the following voiuntary statement to Mr. Raymond E. Shepherd, who has identified himself to ma as an Investigator with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement freely with no threats or promises of reward having been made to me.
Mr. Shepherd is writing this statement for me at my request.
I was formerly employed by the Wackenhut Corporation as a security guard at the United Nuclear Corporation Fuel Recovery Operation (UNC) at Wood River Junction, Rhode Island.
During my employment at UNC, I worked various security work shifts, including the 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. shift, the 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. shift, and the 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. shift. On various occasions during the period from tia Spring until the Fall of 1978, I performed security patrol duties and other security related duties at the UNC facility and observed that UNC operations personnel were using a pump, fire hoses and other equipment to pump the liquid contents from under the lagoon cover of one of the outdoor lagoons, which I believe was lagoon "F" which is so indicated on a diagram of the UNC lagoon area which was shown to me by Mr. Shepherd on this date.
The liquid material
- that was being pumped from lagoan "F" was being discharged from a fire hose, connected to the pump, to an area within approximately ten yards south of the
- northeast corner of the protected area fence.
The end of the fire hose frua which the liquid contents were being discharged was situated on the ground within approximately three to six feet from the fence.
I observed the liquid which was being pumped from the lagoon and which was being discharged from the fire hose and the liquid appeared to be of a greenish brown color.
The liquid being discharged from the fire hose eroded a path of earth or sc!1 between the
- end of the hose and the fence and also eroded the soil under the fence and thereby left an opening under the fence which measured approximately four to i
six feet wide and *approximately two feet to two and one half feet deep on various occasions. The above described pumping operation from lagoon "F" continued for a period of approximately four to five months and most of the pumping operation which I observed was being done during the 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. security werk shift.
UNC operations personnel occasionally moved the fire hose which was discharging the liquid from the lagoon and they graded the soil where the above hole was located and thereby closed up the hole under the fence.
In relocating the end of the fire hose at a different location in the same general area of the fence line, as described above, the liquid beir.g pumped from under the lagoon cover of lagoon "F", would cause similar erosien of the soil between the end of the fire hose and the fence line and would also cause similar erosion under the fence line and tnereby create openings under the fence such that a person my size could crawl under the fence.
The holes or openings under the fence, as described above, would vary in measurement at various times during the period that the liquid was being pumped toward the fence line from lagoon "F".
However, at no time, to my knowledge, was a guard posted at the opening under the fence nor was any additional security measure l
taken to compensate for the degraded condition of the fence to assure its l
security integrity.
During my employment at UNC I had discussed the openings under the fence, as described above, with my security shift supervisors and I w
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also made entries in some of the security records which are maintained to bring attention and appropriate action to problems related to security, such as openings under the protected area fence.
It is my opinic.n tnat the UNC operations personnel occasionally closed up an opening under the fence, which was created by the pumping operation, not for security reasons but possibly for operational reasons. The liquid material which was being discharged from the lagoon also passed outside the fence to a flat area of grounc and extended to about ten feet from the fence line.
This liquid material did not accumulate in puddles outside the fence line but appeared to be absorbed by the soil quite rapidly.
In addition to my concern about the security aspect of the openings under the fence, as described above, I also had some concern about the health and safety aspect of the above pumping operation and the discharge of lagoon liquid material onto the soil and the absorption of the material in the ground.
I recall discussing my concern about the health and safety aspect of the pumping operation with some of my security shift supervisors including Fred Diraimo, Leonard Mello and Michael Salerno, but they did not appear to know any more than I did regarding possible health hazards involved in the above pumping operation.
The above described areas where the liquid from lagoon "F" was being discharged were not roped off or posted with any special signs, nor were any barriers put up to prevent security personnel or employees from entering those areas.
During my normal patrol activity in the protected area I was required to wear protective clothing, i.e.,
shoe covers and a laboratory smock, but on numerous occasions security personnel, including myself, were required to respond to nuisance alarms in the area where the lagoon liquid was being discha-qed and in responding to an alarm I was required to respond to the alarm po...t araa without having to obtain protective clothing before doing so.
To my knowledge, UNC is unaware of my contact with the NRC.
For personal reasons, I must ask that the NRC extend as much confidentiality as possible to me in this matter.
I have read the foregoing statement consisting of six handwritten pages.
I have made any necessary corrections and have initialed them in ink.
I have signed the first page in the left hand margin. This statement is the tre i to the best of my k,owledge and belief.
(Signature) 1:00 p.m.
Witnessed:
Raymond E. Shepherd, USNRC 12/3/80 William Kinney, USNRC 12/3/80 NOTE:
Information in the above statement which would disclose the identity of Individual A has been deleted or paraphrased in accordance with 10 CFR 9.
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s EXHIBIT 7 STATEMENT OF INDIVIOUAL B OATE:
12/16/80 TIME:
9:15 PM I, do hereby make tne following free and voluntary statement to Mr. R. K.
Christopher, who has identified himself to me as an Investigator for the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement with no threats having been made against me or promises extended to me.
I was employed as a security officer by the Wackenhut Corp. at the United Nuclear Corp. at Wood River Junction for a period of time during 1976 through 1978.
Shortly after I started working at the,lant I recall makins a round of the protected area on an offshift.
I heard a pump running as I Lontinued my round.
I observed what appeared to be a three inch hose rurning down into the lagoon.
I didn't actually go up on the lagoon wall to look so I don't know how far this line ran into the lagoon.
This hose was attached to a pump that I believe was sitting at the base of the mound.
There was another hose running from the pump out to the east perimeter fence approximately 5 ft. to 10 ft.
north of the light pole.
This hose ran up to within a few inches of the fence or actually touched it.
I observed water pumping out of the hose from the pump. The water was coming out in a surge pattern much like that of a sump pump.
I have no idea how long that pump was run at that time.
I made no record of this in any logs as everything was secure.
Shortly after seeing this pumping I asked Tom Ittelag, a Technician for NIS (Nuclear Industrial Safety) why this water was being pumped out of the lagoon.
He told me that the water was safe.
I cannot recall why he said the water was being pumped. After that I asked Tom Ittelag and the Janitor, Frank Boyle about it and they always told me everything was okay.
In terms of the water that was being pumped it would splash through the fence and flow southeast through the tall grass and trees.
During the period from May 1976 through Aug 1977 I observed this pumping of lagoon B about 15 times.
To the best of my recollection most of the pumping was done on offshifts and curing the work week.
I don't recall how long the pumpings would go on but based on the time of our rounds I would estimate the pumping was done for periods of up to 4 hours4.62963e-5 days <br />0.00111 hours <br />6.613757e-6 weeks <br />1.522e-6 months <br />.
I can't recall any particular individuals that were maintaining or setting up the pumps but I recall we were always told to call the Supervisor in Processing if the pumps stopoed.
That usually would have been John Murphy or Jim Wakefield.
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.:,.' 7, Individual B 2
i During these pumpings I never observed or heard of any large gullies or open areas being washed out under the fence as a result of the pumping of the lagoon water.
The largest gully I ever saw under the fence in the northeast corner of the perimeter never measured more than 3 inches deep and 2 or three feet wide. To my recollection these areas would always be quickly filled in.
There wasn't nearly enough water coming out during the pumping to cause erosion under the fence to the magnitude of 2 or three feet deep and 4 to 5 feet across.
To the best of my recollection I don't think I ever wrote an irregularity report on the perimeter fence in relationship to lagoon pumping.
With regard to lagoon B I am pretty sure there was no cover over this lagoon.
I worked weekends at the plant during 1978 and I don't recall any further pumping from any of the lagoons out intr the fence during that period.
I do not have any knowledge or recollection of any operation to pump rainwater off the top of lagoon covers and I am not entirely sure if there were covers on the lagoons.
I am not aware of anyone at anytime throwing rocks, boulders, lead weights or other heavy objects into the lagoons and through any rain covers.
However, I recall hearing unsubstantiated rumors sometime in 1978 that a shotgun and a radio were at the bottom of a lagoon.
There was never any further specifics on this and it never became more than a rumor.
I have no personal knowledge of anyone ever piercing or punching hol as in the lagoon liners for the purpose of draining of the water from the lagoons.
However, when we had lagoon B I noticed that after water was pumped into lagoon B the water seemed to disappear quickly.
I asked Tom Ittelag and Frank Boyle about it at different times.
Both told me that the water went through the hole in the bottom.
They never told me how the hole got in the bottom of the liner or why but always just said in a joking manner that the water was going through the hola.
I believed that there was a hole in the bottom of the liner based on the way they joked about it and because of the way the water disappeared.
I had never spoken to the NRC about the concern I had about the pumping because I accepted the word of Tom Ittelag that the water was safe and because the NRC and other agencies were there so often that I felt the operation was being run safely.
I have no knowledge of and never observed any holes or penetrations being intentionally made in any of the lagoons (lagoons C thru G).
In terms of the pumping of lagoon B there was never any apreciable drop in the level of the lagoon, however, you would see some drying of the lagoon surface after the pumping.
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' Individual B 3
I am not aware of anyone from the plant, either guards or otherwise complaining to the NRC about pumping of the lagoons to the NRC.
I don't know who else specifically saw the pumping but I think Tim Ashburner and David Zarelle, both former guards also saw the pumping.
During the pumping of lagoon B I do not believe there was any cover on the lagoons but the hose went into the lime solution on the surface but I couldn't tell how far it went down.
I have read, initialed all corrections and understand the above sight page statement which was written by R. K. Christopher of the NRC as we jiscussed its contents.
It is true and accurate to the best of my recollection and ability.
I also dest're that my identity be kept confidential in this investigation.
(Signature) 12/16/80 11.08 PM Subscribed and sworn to this 16th day of Dec. 1980 at 11:08 PM R. K. Christopher 12/16/80 11:09 PM Investigator, USNRC Witness:
Jerome Roth, Fuel Facilities Inspector USNRC 12/16/80 11:10 PM NOTE:
Infc mation in the above statement which would disclose the identity of Individual B has been deleted or paraphrased in accordance with 10 CFR 9.
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EXHIBIT 8 STATEMENT OF LEONARD MELLO, JR.
DATE:
12/17/80 TIME:
10:40 AM I, Leont-d Mello, Jr., do hereby make the following free and voluntcry statement to Mr. R. K. Christopher, who has identified himself to me as an Investigator for_the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement with no threats having been made against me or promises extended to me.
I was employed by the Wackenhut Corp. as a Security Officer at the United Nuclear Corp. Plant at Wood River Junction.
I was employed there from Feb. 1977 to late 1980.
I was promoted to Sgt. in early 1978.
I recall that in either Oct. or Nov. of 1978 I was making a round of the fence perimeter.
To the best of my recollection I was on second shift which was from 4:00 PM to 12:00 midnight. As I walked the Perimeter I observed what appeared to be a 3 inch fire hose sticking through a 4 inch by 4 inch hole in the base of the fence. The nozzle end of the hose extended through the fence approximately 6 inches. The hose was gray in color.
This hole and the hose was located about 30 ft from the Northeast corner of the Perimeter fence.
I observed that this hose was connected to a pump which was located by the lagoons.
I walked up to the pump and observed another piece of 3 inch hose running from the pump into lagoon G as reflected in the drawing shown to me by Mr. Christopher.
There was no cover on the lagoon at this time and water was being pumped directly cut of the lagoon into the field creating a large puddle.
The water was yellow *sh as I can recall. The water flowed in a pulsating manner such as you would see in a sump pump.
This pumping from lagoon G lasted about a week.
I recall Tom Ittelag was maintaining the pump to keep it going. His boss, Frank Cronin was also monitoring the pumping from this lagoon.
I did not observe any soil erosion under the perimeter fence as a result of this pumping.
i About a week after the pumping of lagoon G I observed the pump hose in both lagoons F and E at different times and water was being pumped from those lagoons out into the same area.
There were no raincovers over the lagoons (F l
and E) at the time.
I observed the hose end directly in lagoons E and F pumping water directly from those lagoons into the same area where the fence was cut.
These pumpings in lagoons F and E appeared to last for a period of several hours and not to the extent like they pumped G.
This pumping occurred mostly during day shifts but I also heard from other guards that the pumping l
was occurring on weekends and back shifts but I never observed this happening.
l There did not appear to be anything secretive about the pumping.
I would again emphasize that there were no covers on the lagoons during this pumping.
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Leonard Mello, Jr.
2 I only saw this pumping occur during mid and late 1978.
I would say I observed lagoons F and E being pumped onto the ground about 3 times during Oct. and Nov. 1978 and always during the day.
I would estimate that the water level in lagoons F and E dropped about 10 inches during these pumpings.
I recall that the level in lagoon G dropped several feet the ene time I saw them pump lagoon G.
The first time I saw lagoon G being pumped I wrote an irregularity report noting that a hole was in the fence and lagoon G was being pumped. After the report was reviewed, the UNC Manager of Compliance, Dale Schultz asked me to step into his office.
He told me not to write any more irregularity reports on the pumping of the lagoons because it was being taken care of.
He didn't expand on this any further.
During this same period I asked Tom Ittelag about the pumping of lagoon G.
He told me not to worry about it that the water was clean.
I never asked him about F and E lagoons.
Sometime in Oct/Nov 1978 while the pumping was going on I observed a gully under the fence whera the hose was pumping the water.
At that time either F or E lagoons were being pumped but I don't recall which one.
This hole measured about 2 ft across and about a foot deep.
This was on second shift when I noticed it.
I recorted this finding orally to the UNC supervisor, but I can not recall who he was.
He said he knew about it and told me to post a guard for the rest of the shift.
I asked this supervisor if I should write an irregularity report and he told me not to because Mr. Schultz said not to.
I didn't record this in the Sgt. log and I don't know if the* roving guard at the time also found it and reported it.
This hole remained there for about 2 days until it was filled. The end of the hose was right et the edge of the hole and the ground was wet and muddy but there was very little water coming out at the time I observed. At no other time did I ever see a hole in the fence bigger than this cr.e as a result of the pumping of the lagoon.
In fact I never saw any other washouts as a result of the pumping.
I recall that in the latter part of 1978 they started putting raincovers over the lagoons when it would rain.
These covers were green in color.
I recall the pump and fire hose being used to pump rain water off of the cover of lagoon G using the same set up of hoses and running the water off in the northeast corner of the fence.
I never saw them pump rainwater off of lagoons F and E.
This is definitely distinct from the pumping I observed in lagoons F and E.
It is my opinion that all of ttu Sgts should have been aware of the pumping from the lagoons.
Again I don *t recall the pumping being limited to any back shift or weekends.
I don't recall any other incidents of pumping the lagoons onto the ground other than t':ese 3 or 4 times in 1978.
I also recall some of the guards asking me if they should write up anything on the pumping and I told them not to write it up because it wasn't necessary.
This instruction was based on what Mr. Schultz told me earlier about writing the reports on the lagoon pumping.
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3 I have no knowledge of anyone at anytime throwing rocks, boulders, lead weights or other heavy objects through the lagoon raincovers.
I also have no knowledge of anyone punching or piercing holes in any of the lagoon li :rs for the purpose of allowing the contents to seep into the ground.
I feel that the irregularity report I wrote on the pumping is in reference to the same hole in the fence mentioned in an irregularity report shown to me by Mr. Christopher that is dated 10-9-78.
I would also point out that as a supervisor I didn't fill out any check of sheets relating to perimeter or other security conditions.
I have no knowledge as to how the post guards reported the perimeter conditions during this time period of the pumping.
I have read, initialed all corrections and understand the above 7 page statemiant which was written by Mr. Christopher of the NRC as we discussed its contents.
It is true and accurate to the best of my ability a..d recollection.
I do not desire confidentiality in this investigation.
Leonard Mello, Jr.
12:00 Noon 12/17/30 Subscribed and sworn to this 17th day of Dec 1980 at 12:00 Noon R. K. Christopher 12/17/80 Investigator, USNRC 4
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Mv M d.4d c.is CCPIES: I to Supervisor, I to Enemive Officv{or File, I to Client
EXHIBIT 10 10:20 PM STATEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL C 12/18/80 I, do herby make the following free and voluntary statement to Mr. R. Keith Christopher who has identified himself to me as an investigator with the U. S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Mr. Christopher is writing this statement at my request and in my presence.
I was employed as a security officer at the United Nuclear Corporation Plant in Wood River Junction, R.I. during a period of time including January through November 1978.
During the month of Nov. 1978 during the Thanksgiving week a guard on the round on first shift on Saturday called into Post A and stated that there was a hole in the fence.
I don't recall who this guard was.
He described the hole as being in the Northeast corner of the Protected Area boundry.
Later that day I looked at the hole.
The hole was located about 5 ft from the Northeast corner of the Perimeter fence.
The hole was approximately 2 ft high and four feet wide.
There was nothing by the hole at the time.
I asked the UNC supervisor whom I believe was either Nancy Cogan or David Hemsey about the hole.
I was told they had been taking rainwater off the raincovers on the lagoons.
I was told not to worry about the hole that it would be taken care of.
The next weekend after I first saw the hole I went out by the lagoons and observed Robert Webber checking a pump that was located on the Northeast corner af lagoon as shown to me on a dra'ing maintained by the NRC.
This pump was running and the suction hose was lay ng on the raincover of lagoc., D and water was being expelled from an outlet hose the end of which was located about 5 to 10 ft from the Northeast corner of the fence and about 2 fee @ from the fence.
This water was being pumped into the gully created under the fence that I had seen the week before.
The raincover of lagoon D that separated the rainwater from the contaminated water below the raincover was one in the same because the northern end of the raincover having sunk into the lagoon caused a mixture of the two waters.
I asked Webber if he was pumping contaminated water and he said no, that the water was clean meaning not contaminated.
He was referring to all the water in the lagoon and said that Tom Ittaleg (Phonetic) told him (Webber) that the water was clean as drinking water.
I do not know how 1cng the pump ran because Webber shut the pump off shortly after I got thare.
It is my opinion that the gully under the fence was created by the pumping of the water.
I never saw the pump actually pumping again but I saw the pump in the same location the next weekend. - The suction end of the hose was laying down in the lagoon water itself and the other end of the hose was bent over towards the side of the lagoon.
It is my opinion that the following people were also aware of the
I
' Individual C 2
pumping from the lagoon.
Mike Morrissey, Will Pearuit, Charles Leibherr, and Steve Granier, all guards should have seen the pumping.
I later talked in general about this pumping with Pearuit and Morrissey.
The water that was discharged from this pump was clear water.
There was no separation of the water M top the raincover and under the cover.
I would estimate the water level of the lagoon to have dropped 4 ft during the pumping operation. There was no other personnel present other than Webber when I observed the pumping the cne time.
The gully created by the pumping and draining of the water under the fence remained there far in excess of 4 weeks into late December.
I asked Schultz, who was the acting Shift Supervisor what we were going to do about the hole, and he said he knew about it and it was going to be taken care of.
He didn't say how or when.
Schultz just generally told us not to worry about the hole.
While discussing these issues I have realized that I am mistaken about the time period during which i observed this pumping.
I now believe that this pumping ' occurred in early 1978 possibly March.
Referring back to the hole under.the fence it remained as described for approx-imately 4 weeks until it was fillsd.
I belfive UNC contractea with a man named Chamberlain to get the hole grated and filled in.
It was common knowledge among the guards and supervisors that the hole was there and would be taken care of later.
I never saw any other holes ur. der the fence caused by pumping the lagoons and I never saw the lagoons pumped out onto the ground again.
There were some irregularity reports written about the hole, at least one that I know of.
After this report was submitted Schultz told me and the others not to write any other irregularity reports about the hole becau e it would be taken care of.
During the summer of 1977 lagoon B was being dug out.
During this time, Frank Boyle, the janitor and Jim Wakefield, a Process Supervisor were standing about 20 feet South of (A) lagoon along what is now referred to as E lagoon.
I was talking with them at the time when Boyle told Wakerield that the reason they were having seepage into the ground under lagoon B was that an individual who I think he said was Owen McCormick deliberately wadded out into the lagoon a,d punched holes in the liner with some type of instrument in order to get the water to seep into the ground and lower the water levels.
I assumed this happened when they had rep 2 irs made on the walls of lagoon B but I don't know when that was.
There was no further specific discussion
. about this.
I personally have no knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the lagoon being deliberately pierced and know no more about it other than what Boyle said.
I know of no other individuals who know about this incident.
c
' Individual C 3
I know of only one instance when a cement block was thrown into a lagoon but I don't know if the cover was on the lagoon at that time.
This occurred during the winter of 1978 possibly in February.
This individual, a guard named Downs threw a cement block into lagoon C to see if it was frozen enough for him to walk over. Because it was frozen I do not believe there was a cover over the lagoon.
I witnessed Downs do this at the time.
I know of no other instances in which any individual threw any rocks, boulders, lead weights or other heavy objects into the lagoons in order to deliberately tear the covers.
In addition, I would also add that Russel Lacey, another guard was also familiar with the pumping of lagoon D.
In reference to the pumping incident it is my opinion that Robert Webber felt he was pumping non-contaminated water based on what information from Tom Ittaleg who apparently sampled the water.
I have no way of knowing whether the water pumped out to the fence area was actually contaminated or not.
I have read, initialled all corrections and understand the abcve nine page statement which was written by Mr. Christopher of the NRC as we di: cussed its contents.
It is true and accurate to the best of my ability and, recollection, b
(Signature) 12/19/80 12:40 AM Subscribed and sworn to this 19th day of Dec. 19C3 at 12:40 AM R. Keito Christopher 12/19/80 12:40 AM Investigator, USNRC Witness.
l Jerome Roth, Fuel Facility Inspector, USNRC 12/19/80 12:41 AM NOTE:
Information in the above statement which would disclose the identity of Individual C has been deleted or paraphrased in accordance with 10 CFR 9.
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l EXHIBIT 11 STATEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL E December 16, 1980 I, hereby i..ake the following voluntary statement to Mr. Raymond E. Shepherd who has identified himself to me as an Investigator with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement freely with no threats or promises of reward having been made to me.
I was employed at the United Nuclear Corpora-tion facility at Wood River Junction, RI, for a period of time including September 1977 through December 1978.
I have no knowledge of any operation involving the pumping of rainwatcr from the top of the lagoon covers.
I have no knowledge of anyone punching holes in or cutting lagoon 1.iners for the purpose of having the lagoon contents seep into the ground or for any other reason.
I have no knowledge of anyone pumping the waste contents or contaminated material in a lagoon onto the ground during 1978 or at any other time.
I have no knowledge of anyone throwing rocks, boulcers, lead weights or other heavy objects.into the lagoons or thru lagoon covers.
I have no knowledge of any holes or opening under the Protected Area fence that may have been associated with any pumping of liquid in the lagoon area.
I have read the foregoing statement consisting of two handwritten pages.
I have made any necessary corrections and have initialed them in ink.
I have signed the first page at the bottom.
This statement is the truth to the best of my knowledge and belief.
(Signature) 12/16/80 1620 hours0.0188 days <br />0.45 hours <br />0.00268 weeks <br />6.1641e-4 months <br /> Subscribed and sworn to before ma this sixteenth day of December 1980.
Raymond E. Shephard 12/16/80 1621 hours0.0188 days <br />0.45 hours <br />0.00268 weeks <br />6.167905e-4 months <br /> Witnessed:
R. Keith Christopher, Investigator, RI, NRC NOTE:
Information in Individual E's statment which would disclose his identity has been deleted or paraphrased in accordance w'ith 10 CFR 9.
Information in Individual E's statement which concerns a separate NRC 'nvestigation, unrelated to this investigation, has been celeted and will be reported in NRC Investigation Report No. 70-S20/80-23.
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EXHIBIT 12 STATEMENT OF ALFRED A. DIRAIMO DATE:
12/17/80 I, Alfred A. DiRaimo, do hereby make the following free and voluntary statement to Mr. R. K Christopher, who has identified himself to me as an Investigator for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement with no threats having been made against me or promises extended to me.
I was employed at the UNC plant at Wood River Junction as a Security Officer for the Wackenhut Corp. from Sept. 1977 to Sept. 1978.
I have na knowledge of any operation involving the pumping of rainwater from the top of the lagoon covers at Wood River Junction.
I have no knowledge of anyone punching holes in or cutting the lagoon liners for the purpose of having the lagoon contents seep into the ground or for any other reason.
I have no knowledge of anyone pumping the contents of a lagoon onco the ground during 1978 or any other time.
I have no knowledge of anyone throwing rocks, boulders, lead weights or other :eavy objects into the lagoon rain covers.
I have no knowledge of any holes or openings unJer the Protected Area fence that may have been associated with any pumping of liquid in the lagoon area.
I have read, initialed all corrections and understand the above two page statement which was written by Mr. Christoph'er as we discussed its contents.
(Signature) Alfred A. DiRaimo 17 Dec. 80 Witness:
R. K. Christopher 12/17/80
EXHIBIT 13 STATEMENT OF ROBERT L. HAMPTON DATE:
12-18-80 TIME:
Oras I, Robert L. Hampton, do hereby make the following free and voluntary statement to Mr. R. K. Christopher, who has identified himself to me as an Investigator for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement with no threats having been made against me or promises extended to me.
I was employed as a Security Officer by the Wackenhut Corp. at the UNC Wood River Junction plant in Wood River, RI.
I oecame a Sgt. in the latter part of 1978.
I worked at this site from Jan. 1978 to June 1979.
During this period I worked approximately 60-70 hrs. a week on random shifts and random times.
I nave no knowledge of any operation involving the pumping of wasta material or contaminated material during 1978 or any other time out onto the open ground.
I recall rainwater being pumped off the top of the iagoon covers but I can't recall where it was pumped to.
I am sure they did not pump any material from under the raincovers onto the open ground.
I have no knowledge of anyone punching holes in or cutting the lagoon liners for the purpose of having the lagoon contents seep into the ground or to permit seepage from the lagoon.
I have no knowledge of anyone throwing rocks, boulders, lead waights or other heavy objects into the lagoons or through the rair. covers.
I have no knowledge of any holes or openings under the Protected Area fence that may have been associated with any pumping of liquid in the lagoon area.
Based on the amount of time I spent at the plant and on the different shifts I know of no way they could have done any pumping as described without my knowing.
I'have read, ir.itialed all corrections and understand the above 2 page statement which was written by Mr. Christopher as we discussed its contents.
(Signature) Robert L. Hampton 12/18/80 Subscribed and sworn to this 18th day of Dec. 1980 at 10:15 AM R. K. Christopher, USNRC 12/18/80 9.-._.-
EXHIBIT 14 STATEMENT OF DALE M. SCHULTZ DATE:
12-18-80 TIME:
1711 I, Dale M. Schultz, do hereby make the following free and voluntary statement to Mr. R. K. Christopher, who has identified himself to me as an Investigator for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement with ne threats having been n:ade against me or promises extended to me.
I was Manager of Compliance (which included Security) at the UNC Plant in Wood River Junction from Jan. 1977 to Nov. 1978.
From Nov. 78 to Dec. 1980 my job assignment did not include security.
I have no knowledge of anyone punching holes in or cutting the lagoon liners for the purpose of having the lagoon contents seep into the ground or to permit seepage from tne lagoon.
I hc/e no knowledge of anycne pumping waste or contaminated material from the lagocas into open ground during 1978 or any other time.
I have no knowledge of anyone throwing rocks,- boulders, lead weights or other heavy objects into the lagoons or
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through the lagoon raincovers.
ILalso have no knowledge of any holes or openings created under the Protected Area fence that may have been associated with any pumping of liquid in the lagoon area.
In referenc6 to a statement made by Leonnard Mello that I told him not to write an irregularity report on a hole in the North side of the Perimeter fence, I would say that if I did tell him that, it was because the hole, which reasured 4" by 4" had bean there for several months and was small egough to be within regulatory limits.
This hole was used to run a fire hose from the lagoons to the swimming pool on the north side.
1 I have.no knowledge of Leonnard Mello being instructed not to write an irregu-larity report on a hole under the fence in the Northeast corner.
I would say that what the UNC supervisor told him was correct in that I had instructed the Supervisors not to write redundant irregularity reports on holes in the rear fence bacause it was a repetitive problem that was identified and routinely handled by maintenance.
I would state that I have no knowledge.of any erosion holes being caused by the pumping of the lagoons under the Protected Area fence.
I am aware that rainwater was periodically pumped out of the lagoon raincovers.
I am not familiar with where the rainwater was pumped to each l
time. To the best of my knowledge the rainwater was always tested before it I
was pumped out.
I also know lagoon G was pumped out several times before waste effluent entered it but I am not sure exactly where this water was pumped to.
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I have read, initialed all corrections and understand the above four page statement which was written by Mr. Christopher at my request as we discussed its contents.
It is true and accurate to the best of my ability and recollec-tion. I have no objection to being identified in this investigation or its subsequent report.
End of Statement Dale M. Schultz 12/18/80 Subscribed and sworn to this 18th day of Dec. 1980 st 1515 R. K. Christopher 12/18/80 1515 Investigator, USNRC Witness:
9.aymond E. Shepherd, Investigator, Region I, USNRC 12/18/80 5:16 PM 9
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EXHIBIT 15 STATEMENT OF DONALD B. DOWNS DATE:
1/13/81 TIME:
10:40 I, Donald B. Downs, do hereby make the following free and voluntary statement to Mr. R. K. Christopher, who has identified himself to me as an Investigator for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement with ne threats having been made against me or promises extended to me.
I was employed'as a security officer by the Wackenhut Corp. at the UNC Wood River Junction Plant from July 24, 1976 to July 24, 1978.
I worked approximately 70 hours8.101852e-4 days <br />0.0194 hours <br />1.157407e-4 weeks <br />2.6635e-5 months <br /> a week primarily on the 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM shift and on weekends.
I have no knowledge of any operation involving the pumping of rainwater from the top of the lagoon covers or of pumping of lagoon waste material directly from the lagoons out into the open areas in the Nortteast ce"ner of the Perimeter fence.
I have no knowledge of anyone punching holes in or cutting lagoon liners for the purpose of having the lagoon contents seep into the ground or to permit
' seepage of lagoon waste materiol I have no knowledge of anyone throwing rocks, boulder., lead weights or other heavy objects into the lagoons or through the lagoon. air. covers.
I have personally never thrown anything into the lagoons and. aver through anything into a lagoon that was frozen to see if I could walk on it.
I have no knowledge of any holes or openings under the Protected Area fence that may have been associated with any pumping of liquid in the lagoon area.
I have read, initialed all corrections and understand the above two page statement which was written by Mr. Christopher of the NRC as we discussed its contents.
It is true and accurate to the best of my ability and recollection.
(Signature) Donald B. Downs
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1/13/81 Time:
11:05 Subscribed and sworn to this 13th day of Jan 1981 at 11:05 AM R. K. Christopher 1/13/81 USNRC.
11:05 AM 1
EXHIBIT 16 STATEMENT OF ROBERT E. WHITE DATE:
1/13/81 TIME:
2020 I, Robert E. White, do hereby make the following free and voluntary statement to Mr. R. K. Christopher, who has identified himself to me as an Investigator for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement with no threats having been made against me or promises extended to me.
I was employed as a Security Guard by the Wackenhut Corporation at the UNC Plant in Wood River Junction, RI from about April 1977 until July of 1979 when Interstate Security took over for Wackenhut. This was a part time position in which I worked 16 hrs on the weeksads.
Usually this was a day shift on Saturdays and an afternoon shift on Sundays.
I have no knowledge of any operation involving the pumping of rainwater from the top of*the lagoon covers.
I have no knowledge of anyone punching holes in or cutting lagoon liners for the purpose of having the lagoon contents seep into the ground or to permit seepage from the lagoons.
I have no kncwledge of anyone pumping the waste contents or contaminated material in a lagoon out onto the ground in 1978 or any other time.
I can. state without question that at no time did I ever observe a hole under the fence in the Northeast corner of the Perimeter fence.
I checked that area every weekend and if I was a roving guard it was checked at least every other hour.
I have no knowledge of anyone throwing rocks, boulders, lead weights or other heavy objects into the lagoons or through the lagoon raincovers.
However, I recall on several occasions that there were small rocks on top of the ice during the winter. This was in either the winter of 1977 or 1978.
I don't recall whether these rocks broke the ice or not and I didn't pay any attention to it.
I have read, initialed all corrections and understand the above two page statement which was written by Mr. Christopher as we discussed its contents.
It is true to the best of my ability and recollection.
(Signature) Robert E. White 1/13/81 2020 Subscribed and sworn to this 13th day of Jan 1981 at 8:20 PM R. K. Christopher, USNRC 1/13/81 8:20 pM
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Y, EXHIBIT 17 STATEMENT OF INDIVIOUAL F DATE:
1/14/81 TIME:
1125 hrs.
I, do herby make the following free and voluntary statement to Mr. R. K.
Christopher, who has identified himself to me as an Investigator for the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement with no threats having been made against me or promises extended to me.
I was employed as a guard at the UNC/FR0 plant by the Wackenhut Corp. during a period including May 1977 through December 1978.
During this period I worked an average of 50 hours5.787037e-4 days <br />0.0139 hours <br />8.267196e-5 weeks <br />1.9025e-5 months <br /> on all shifts including weekends.
I have no knowledge of any operation involving the pumping of rainwater from the top of the lagoon covers.
I have no knowledge of anyone punching holes in or cutting lagoon liners for the purpose of having the lagoon contents seep into the ground or to permit the seepage of lagoon waste material.
I have no knowledge of anyone pumping the waste contents or' contaminated material during 1978 or at any other tima from a lagoon onto the ground.
I have no knowledge of anyone throwing rocks, boulders, or lead weights or other heavy objects into the lagoons or through the lagoon rain covers.
I have no knowledge of any holes or openings under the protected area fence that may have been associated with any pumping of liquids from the lagocns.
I have read, initialed all corrections and understand the' above 2 page state-ment which was written by myself as I discussed its contents with Mr. Christopher of the NRC and it is true and accurate to the best of my ability and recollection.
For protection of my family, I request my name not be used in any report
' distributed to the public.
(Signature) 1/14/81 1145 hrs.
Subscribed'and sworn to this 14th day of Jan 1981 at 11:45 AM R. K. Christopher 1/14/81 11:45 AM NOTE:
Information in Individual F's statement which would disclose his identity has been deleted or paraphrased in accordance with 10 CFR 9.
EXHIBIT 18 STATEMENT OF JAMES H. WAKEFTELD United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Systems Wood River Junction, Rhode Island December 4, 1980 1:30 p.m.
I, James H. Wakefield, make the following voluntary statement to Mr. Raymond E. Shepherd who has identified himself to me as an Investigator with the Uni +.ed States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement freely with no threats or promises of reward having been made to me.
Mr. Shepherd is writing this statement for me at my request.
Beginning in early June 1980 I was Production Supervisor during the lagoon processing operation at United Nuclear Corporation (UNC), Wood River Junction, Rhode Island and reported to Mr. Charles Bowers.
Around January or February 1978, operations and maintenance personnel at the UNC site were involved in pumping rainwater from the top of tne lagoon covers and the rainwater was pumped or discharged outside the protected area fence.
I did not observe the actual pumping and discharge of rainwater from the top of the lagoon covers but such pumping and discharge of rainwater was discon-tinued when the lagoon cover on any lagoon was ripped or damaged in such a way that.the rainwater commingled with the contents of a lagoon.
I have no knowledge of any pumping and discharge of lagoon sludge or other contents in a lagoon to the surface of the ground when the rainwater on top of the lagoon covers was being discharged.
I have no knowledge of any erosion of soil or openings under the protected area fence which resulted from the pumping of rainwater from the top of the lagoon covers and which degraded the Security of the fence in such a way that a person could crawl through the opening under the fence.
I have no knowledge of anyone punching holes in lagoon liners for the purpose of having the lagoon contents seep into the ground.
I have read the foregoing statement consisting of three (3) handwritten pages.
I have made any necessary corrections and have initialed them in ink.
I have signed the first page in the left hand margin.
This statement is the truth to the best of my knowledge and belief.
(Signature)
James H. Wakefield 1352 hrs.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this fourth day of December 1980 at United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Systems, Wood River Junction, Rhode Island Raymond E. Shepherd 12/4/80
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Witnessed:
William W. Kinney, Fuel Facility Inspector, USNRC 12/4/80 NOTE:
Information in Wakefield's statement which concerns a separate NRC investigation, unrelated to this investigation, has been deleted and will be reported in NRC Investigation Report No. 70-820/80-23.
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EXHIBIT 19 STATEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL G December 5, 1980 I, make the following voluntary statement to Mr. Raymond E. Shepherd who has identified himself to me as an Investigator with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement freely with no threats or promises
'of reward having been made to me.
Mr. Shepherd is writing this statement for me at my request.
I am presently employed at United Nuclear Corproation Recovery Systems, Wood River Junction, Rhode Island.
I had no in"civement in any operation at UNC which involved the pumping of rainwater from the top of the lagoon covers onto the ground adjoining the lagoon area.
I have no knowledge of any pumping of lagoon contents onto the ground adjoining the lagoon area and I never saw any holes or openings under the fence around the lagoon area which were associated with the pumping of rainwater from the top of the lagoon covers.
I have no knowledge of anyone punching holes in the lagoon liners for the purpose of having the lagoon contents seep into the ground.
For personal reasons, I must ask that the NRC extend as much confidentiality as possible to me in this matter.
I have read the foregoing statement consistng of two (2) handwritten pages.
I have made any necessary corrections and have initialed them in ink.
I have signed the first page in the left hand margin.
This statement is the truth to the best of my knowledge, recollection and belief.
(Signature) 1400 hours0.0162 days <br />0.389 hours <br />0.00231 weeks <br />5.327e-4 months <br /> Witnessed:
Raymond E. Shepherd, Investigator, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 12/5/80 William W. Kinney, Fuel Facility Inspector, USNRC 12/5/80 NOTE:
Information in Individual G's statement which would disclose his identity has been deleted or paraphrased in accordance with 10 CFR 9.
Information in Individual G's statement which concerns a separate NRC investigation, unrelated to this investigation, has been deleted and will be reported in NRC Investigation Report No. 70-820/80-23.
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EXHIBIT 20 STATEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL H December 5, 1980 9:05 a.m.
I, hereby make the following voluntary statement to Mr. Raymond E. Shepherd who has identified himself to me as an Investigator wit, the United States Nutlear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement freely with no threats or promises of reward having been made to me.
I am presently employed by United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Systems (UNC), Wood River Juncticn, Rhode Island. Mr. Shepherd is writing this statement for me at my request.
For personal reasons, I must ask that the NRC extend as much confidentiality as possible to me in this matter.
I have no first hand knowledge of rainwater being pumped from the top of the lagoon covers onto the ground near the protected area fence at the UNC fact'ity during 1978 or at any other time.
I did not see any holes or openings under the protected area fence resulting from rainwater or any other material being pumped from the top of the lagoon covers onto the ground near the fence.
I have no knowledge of any pumping of lagoon sludge or liquid material from the lagoons onto the ground near the protected area fence at the UNC facility during 1978 or at any other time.
I have no knowledge of anyone punching holes in or damaging or cutting lagoon liners for the purpose of having the lageon contents seep into the ground. Approximately five (5) years ago I took four (4) or five (5) core samples from lagoon B by inserting a pipe, measuring about three (3) feet long and one and one half inches (11/2") diameter into the surface of the lagoon at various locations where the depth of the lagoon was approximately four (4) feet deep. At no time did I insert the pipe more than three (3) feet into the lagoon surface nor did I contact the lagoon liner when taking such samples.
I feel that anyone who is not knowledgeable in the method I was using to take the above core samples and who may have seen me or other UNC operations personnel taking such samples could have mistakingly thought that the pipe which we used to take the core samples was being used to punch holes in the lagoon liners, which was not the case.
I have read the foregoing statement consistng of three (3) handwritten pages.
I have made any necessary corrections and have initialed them in ink.
I have signed the first page in the left hand margin.
This statement is the truth to the best of my knowledge and belief.
(Signature) 0945 Witnessed:
Raymond E. Shepherd, Investigator, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 12/5/80 William W. Kinney, Fuel Facility Inspector, USNRC 12/5/80
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Individual H 2
NOTE:
Information in Individual H's statement which would disclose his identity has been deleted or paraphrased in accordance with 10 CFR 9.
Information in Individual'H's statement which concerns a separate NRC investigation, unrelated to this investigation, has been deleted and will be reported in NRC Investigation Report No. 70-820/80-23.
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~ EXHIBIT 21 STATEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL I December 9, 1980 9:30 a.m.
I, hereby make the following voluntary statement to Mr. Raymond E. Shepherd who has identified himself to me as an Investigator with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement freely with no threats or promises of reward having been.made tc me.
Mr. Shepherd is writing this statement for me at my request.
I am currently employed at UNC. Approximately two (2) years ago, around February or March, I recall that UNC operations people had pumped rainwater from lagoca G onto the ground area near the notheast corner of the UNC protected area.
At the time of the above pumping operation, lagoon G had not yet been used to hold process material.
I helped to set up equipment that was used for the above pumping operation.
The rainwater which was pumped from lagoon G was discharged onto the ground through a fire hose, measuring about 2 1/2 inches in diameter, which was connected to the pump.
The fire hose was not placed under the protected area fence, to the best of my knowledge but was placed within the protected area approximately six (6) feet from the protected area fence and about twenty-five (25) feet from the northeast corner of the fence.
I do not recall seeing any holes or openings under the fence resulting from soil erosion that may have been caused by the above pumping operation.
I did not participate in nor see anyone pump rainwater from the top of any lagoon covers.
I have no knowledge of any pumping of lagoon sludge or liquid material from the lagoons onto the ground during 1978 or at any other time.
I have no knowledge of anyone punching holes in, damaging or i
cutting lagoon liners for the purpose of having lagoon contents seep into the ground or for any other reason. With regard to the pumping of rainwater from lagoon G, as I mentioned above, I would estimate that the level of the rainwater in lagoon G was lowered by about four (4) or five (5) feet by the above pumping process.
I have no knowledge of anyone throwing rocks, boulders or lead weights into or through the lagoon raincovers.
I have reac the foregoing statement consisting of three (3) handwritten pages.
I have made any necessary corrsctions and have initialed them in ink.
I have signed the first page in the left hand margin.
This statement is the truth to i
the best of my knowledge.
For personal reasons, I must ask that the NRC extend as much confidentiality as possible to me in this matter.
(Signature) 10:57 A.M.
Witnessed:
Raymond E. Shepherd, Investigator, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 12/9/80 Jerome Roth, Fuel Facilities Inspector, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 12/9/80
, Individual I 2
NOTE:
Information in Individual I's statement which would disclose his identity has been deleted or paraphrased in accordance with 10 CFR
, 9.
Information in Individual I's statement which concerns a separate NRC investigation unrelated to this investigation, has been deleted and will be reported in NRC Investigation Report 70-820/80-23.
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O EXHIBIT 22 aTATEMENT OF KARL HELGESON United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Systems Wood River Junction, Rhode Island December 9, 1980 2:20 p.m.
I, Karl Helgeson, hereby make the following voluntary statement to Mr. Raymond E. Shepherd who has identified himself to me as an Investigator with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement freely with no threats or promises of reward having been made to me.
Mr. Shepherd is writing this statement for me at my request.
I have been employed at United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Systems (UNC), Wood River Junction, Rhode Island since September 1976 and am currently employed at UNC as Manager of Nuclear and Industrial Scfety.
My records show that about two (2) feet of rainwater was pumped from lagoon G around March or April 1978 and the rainwater was discharged through a fire hose to an area near the protected area fence on the east side of the UNC protected area.
At the time of the above pumping operation lagoon G had not been used to contain waste material from the process building.
The rainwater was discharged on the ground near the northeast corner of the protected area at a location which is in the immediate area of a light pole adjacent to lagocn D.
The discharged rainwater disturbed the soil near the fence, making it a little muddy, but there was no gap created between the fence and the ground as a result of the pumping operation.
I know of no instance where lagoon contents, other than the rainwater ir jagoon G as mentioned above, was pumped onto the ground. All pumping of rainwater from the top of the lagoon covers was done during the day shift (from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) because there was no haalth physics coverage during the off shifts and it would be necessary for operations personnel to obtain approval from health physics personnel before performing any rainwater pumping operation.
I have no knowledge of anyone punching holes in, damaging or cutting lagoon liners for the purpose of having the lagoon contents seep into the ground or for any other reason.
I have no knowledge of anyone heaving rocks, boulders, lead weights or other l
large objects into the lagoons or through the iagoon rain covers.
I have read the foregoing statement consisting of three (3) handwritten pages I have made any necessary corrections and have initialed them in ink.
I have signed the first page in the left hand margin.
This statement is the truth to 7
l the best of my knowledge.
(Signature)
Karl A. Helgeson 1517 hours0.0176 days <br />0.421 hours <br />0.00251 weeks <br />5.772185e-4 months <br /> l
Subscribed and sworn to before me this ninth day of December 1980 at United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Systems, Wood River Junction, Rhode Island l
Raymond E. Shepherd 12/9/80 i
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Karl Helgeson 2
Witnessed:
Jerome Roth, Fuel Facilities Inspector, RI, NRC 12/9/80 NOTE:
Information in Helegson's statement which concerns a separate NRC investigation, unrelated to this investigation, has been deleted and will te reported in NRC Investigation Report No. 70-8?0/80-23.
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EXHIBIT 23 STATEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL J December 10, 1980 11:43 a.m.
I, hereby make the following voluntary statement to Mr. Raymond E. Shepherd who has identified himself to me as an Investigator with the United Stated Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement freely with no threats or promises of reward having been made to me.
Mr. Shepherd is writing this statement for me at my request.
I am presently employed at the United Nuclear Corporation (UNC) facility at Wood River Junction, Rhode Island.
For personal reasons, I must ask that the NRC extend as much confidentiality as possible to me in this matter.
I recall that, approximately during the Spring of 19/8, operations personnel at UNC were involved in pumping rainwater from the top of the lagoon covers in the area of lagoons C, D, E, F and 1.
To the best of my knowledge the rainwater was discharged from the lagoon or lagoons directly onto the ground area immediately adjoining the lagoon area on the east side of the lagoon area near the northeast corner of the protected area.
The discharged rainwater seeped into the ground and some of it passed under the protected area fence and went approximately three (3) or four (4) feet beyond the fence.
I had occasion to see UNC health physics personnel ceasure the conductivity of three (3) or four (4) samples of the rainwater that was discharged from the top of the lagoon covers.
Sometime after the Spring of 1978, I saw operations personnel pump rainwater from lagoon G, which had a liner installed in it, but lagoon G had not yet been used to hold process material. Approximately six (6) feet of rainwater was pumped from lagoon G onto the ground in the same general area as described above.
It took approximately less than one week to pump the rainwater from lagoon G.
All pumping of rainwater from lagoon G, as described above, and all pumping of rainwater from the top of the lagoon covers would have to have occurred during the day shift because any pumping of rainwater would have to be approved by someone in authority in the Health Physics department.
There was no pumping of rainwater from the lagoon area during any offshift hours when I was onsite.
I have no knowledge of anyone punching holes in or cutting lagoon liners for the purpose of having the lagoon contents seep into the ground or for any other reason.
I have no knowledge of anyone pumping the contents of process waste from a lagoon onto the ground during 1978 or at any other time.
I have no knowledge of anyone throwing rocks, boulders, lead weights or other heavy objects into a lagoon or through the lagoon raincovers.
I have no knowledge of any holes or openings under the protected area fence that may have been associated with any pumping of liquid in the lagoon area.
I have read the foregoing statement consisting of four (4) handwritten pages.
I have made any necessary corrections and have initialed them in ink.
i have signed the first page in the left hand margin.
This statement is the truth to the best of my knowledge and belief.
(Signature) 12:32 P.M.
O
Individual J 2
. Subscribed and sworn to before me this tenth day of December 1980.
Raymond E. Shepherd, Investigator Witnessed:
Jerome Roth, Fuel Facilities Inspector, RI, NRC 12/10/80 NOTE:
Information in Individual J's statement which would disclose his identity has been deleted or paraphrased in accordance with 10 CFR 9.
Information in Individual J's statement which concerns a separate NRC investigation, unreleated to this investigation, has been deleted and will be reported in NRC Investigation Report No. 70-820/80-23.
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EXHIBIT 24 STATEMENT 0.C NICHOLAS VUONO United Nuclear Corporatior; Recovery Systems Wood River Junction, Rhode Island December 10, 1980 10:06 a.m.
I, Nicholas Vuono, hereby make the following voluntary statement to Mr. Raymond E. Shepherd who has idert~ fied himself to me as an Investigator with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement freely with no threats or promises of reward having been made to me.
Mr. Shepherd is writing this statement for me at my request.
I have been employed at the United Nuclear Corporation (UNC) at Wood River Junction, Rhode Island since May 1969 and am presently employed at UNC as a Health Physics Technician.
I have no first-hand knowledge of any operation involving the pumping of rainwater from the top of the lagoon covers.
I have no knowledge of anyone punching holes in or cutting lagoon liners for the purpose of having the lagoon contents seep into the ground or for any other reason.
I have no knowledge of anyone pumping the contents of a lagoon onto the ground.
I have no knowledge of anyone throwing rocks, boulders, lead weights or other heavy objects into the lagoons or througn tt lagoon covers.
I have no knowledge of any holes or openings under the protected area fence that may have been asso-ciated with any pumping of liquid in the lagoon area.
I have reaa the foregoing statement consisting of two (2) handwritten pages.
I have made any necessary corrections and have initialed them in ink.
I have signed the-first pcge in the left hand margin. This statement is the truth to the best of my knowledge and belief.
(Signature) Nicholas Joseph Vuono 10:46 AM Subscribed and sworn to before me this tenth day of December 1980 at United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Systems, Wood River Junction, Rhade Island Raymond E. Shepherd, Investigator Witnessed:
Jerome Rnth, Fuel Facilities Inspector, RI, NRC 12/10/80 NOTE:
Information in Vuono's statement which concerns a separate NRC investigation, unrelatec to this investigation, bas been deleted and will be reported in NRC Investigation Report No. 70-820/80-23.
O
EXHIBIT 25 STATEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL K December 10, 1980 8:43 a.m.
I, hereby make the following voluntary statement to Mr. Raymond E. Shepherd who has identified himself to me as an Investigator with the United Stated Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statment freely with no threats or promises of reward having been made to me.
Mr. Shepherd is writing this statement for me at my request.
I am presently employed at the United Nuclear Corporation (UNC) facility at Wood River Junction, Rhode Island.
For personnel reasons, I must ask that the NRC extend as much confidentiality as possible to me in this matter.
I have no knowledge of any operauton involving the pumping of rainwater from the top of the lagoon covers.
I have no knowledge of anyone punching holes in or cutting lagoon liners for the purpose of having the lagoon contents seep into the ground or for any other reason.
I have no knowledge of anyone pumping the contents of a lagoon onto the ground.
I have no knowledge of anyone throwing rocks, boulders, lead weights or other heavy objects into the lagoons or through the lagoon raincovers.
I have no knowledge of any holes or openings under tae protected area fence that may have been associated with any pumping of liquid in the lagoon area.
I have read the foregoing statement consisting of two (2) handwritten pages.
I have made any necessary corrections and have initialed them in ink.
I have signed the first page in the left hand margin.
This statement is the truth to the best of my knowledge and belief.
(Signature) 0927 Subscribed and sworn to before me this tenth day of December 1980 at United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Systems, Wood River Junction, Rhode Island Raymond E. Shepherd, Investigater 12/10/80 Witnessed:
Jerome Roth, Fuel Facilities Inspector, RI, NRC 12/10/80 NOTE:
Information in Individual K's statement which would disclose his identity has been deleted or paraphrased in accordance with 10 CFR 9.
Information in Individual K's statement which concerns a separate NRC investigation, unrelated to this investigation, has been deleted and will b; reported in NRC Investigation Report No. 70-820/80-23.
. ~..
0 EXHIBIT 26 STATEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL L December 16, 1980 1:28 p.m.
I, hereby make the following voluntary statement to Mr. Raymond E. Shepherd who has identified himself to me as an Investigator with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement freely with no threats or promiser of reward having been made to me.
Mr. Shepherd is writing this statement for me at my request.. I am presently employed at the United Nuclear Corporation (UNC) facility at Wood River Junction, Rhode Island.
For personal reasons, I must ask that the NRC extend as much confidentiality as possible to me in this matter.
I was aware that UNC managenient had planned to pump rainwater from the top of the lagoon covers sometime in 1978 but I did not have any direct involvement in that operation and never saw the rainwater pumping operation and do not know if the plan was ever carried out.
I have no knowledge of anyone punching holes in, or piercing or cutting lagoon liners for the purpose of having the lagoon contents seep into the ground or for any other reason.
I have no knowledge of anyone pumping the waste contents or contaminated material in a lagoon onto the ground during 1978 or at any other time.
I have no knowledge of anyone throwing rocks, boulders, lead weights or other heavy objects into the lagoons or through the lagoon raincovers.
I have no knowledge of any holes or openings under the protected area fence that may have been associated with the pumping of liquid in the lagoon area.
I have read the foregoing statement censisting of two handwritten pages.
I have made any necessary corrections and have initialed them in ink.
I have signed the first page in the left hand margin.
This statement is the truth to the best of my knowledge and belief.
(Signature) 2:10 i
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Subscribed and sworn to before me this sixteenth day of December 1980 at United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Systems, Wood River Junction, R.I.
Raymond E. Shepherd 12/16/80 Witnessed:
R. Keith Christopher, Investigator, Region I, NRC 12/16/30 NOTE:
Information in Individual L's statement which would disclose his identity has been deleted or paraphrased in accordance with 10 CFR 9.
Information in Individual L's statement which concerns a separate NRC investigation, unrelated to this investigation, has been deleted and l
will be reported in NRC Investigation Repc-t No. 70-820/80-23.
~
EXHIBIT 27 STATEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL M December 16, 1980 10:05 a.m.
I, hereby make the following voluntary statement to Mr. Raymond E. Shepherd who has identified himself to me as an Investigator with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement freely with no threats or promises of reward having been made to me.
Mr. Shepherd is writing this statement for me at my request.
I 6.a presently employed at the United Nuclear Corporation (UNC) facility at Wood River Junction, Rhode Island.
For personal reasons, I must ask that the NRC extend as much confidentiality as possible to me in this matter.
I recall that sometime during 1978, I was involved in pumping of rainwater frem lagoon G at the UNC site and this occurred before lagoon G had been used to contain any waste material at all.
The above rainwater was pumped from lagoon G onto the ground in the immedikte vicinity of the lagoon area and the level of rainwater in lagoon G was lowred at least four (4) to six (6) feet by this pumping operation. The rainwater discharged from lagoon G caused some accumulation of water on the ground adjoinir.g the lagoon area and thereby created some puddles, no deeper than three (3) or four (4) inches, both insidt and outside the protected area fence on the east side of the UNC site, at a location which was approximately twenty (20) to thirty (30) feet south of the northeast corner of the fence.
The rainwater discharged from lagoon G also
, caused some erosion of the soil under the fence at the above location aad I would estimte that such erosion may have left a space between the bottom of the fence and the ground which measured no more than four (4) inches high and o more than two (2) feet wide. Whenever such erosion occurred, UNC operations personnel closed up the space beneath the fence by filling the space with dirt, befcre completing the pumping operation on any given day. The pumping of rainwater from lagoon G was a continuing operation that lasted approximately two months.
I also recall seeing the pumping of some rainwater from the top of lagoon cover, which I believe were the covers on lagoons F and G, and this occurred around the same general time that rainwater was pumped from lagoon G.
The rainwater pumped from the top of c.e covers on lagoons F and G was also discharged onto the ground adjoining tne lagoon are-. and ary pumping of rainwater from the lagoon covers less erosion of the soil unce the protected area than was caused when we pumped rainwater from lagoon G.
I have no knowledge of l
anyone punching holes in or cutting or piercing lagoon liners for the purpose of having the lagoon contents seep into the ground or for any other reason.
I have no knowledge of anyone pumping waste material or contaminated material in a lagoon onto the ground.
I have no knowledge of anyone throwing rocks, boulders, lead weights or other heavy objects intc the lagoons or through the l
lagoon raincovers.
I have read the foregoing statement consisting of four nandwritten pages, i
including the following page where I have signed my name.
I have made any necessary corrections and have initialed '. hem in ink.
I have signed the first i
page in the left hand margin.
This statenent is the truth to the best of my l
knowledge and belief.
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To the best of my knowledge, there was never any pumping of rainwater from lagoon G, as described above, or from the top of the lagoon covers on lagoons F and G during holidays or during the second and third work shifts.
The second work shift hours were approximately 4:00 p.m. to midnight. The third work shift hours were approximately midnight to 8:30 a.m.
(Signature) 11:12 AM Subscribed and sworn to before me this sixteenth day of December 1980 at United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Systems, Wood River Junction, Rhode Island.
Raymond E. Shepherd 12/16/80 Witnessed:
R. Keith Christopher. Investigator, RI, NRC 12/16/80 11:14 AM NOTE:
Information in Individual M's statement which would disclose his identity has been deleted or paraphrased in accordance with 10 CFR 9.
Information in Individual M's statement which concerns a separate NRC investigation, unrelated to this investigation, has been deleted and will be reported in NRC Investigation Report No. 70-820/80-23.
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EXHIBIT 29 STATEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL N I, hereby make the following voluntary statement to Mr. Raymond E. Shepherd who has identified himself to me as an Investigator with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement freely with no threats or promises of reward having been made to me.
Mr. Shepherd is writing this statement for me at my request.
I am presently employed at the United Nuclear Corporation (UNC) facility at Wood River Junction, Rhode Island.
For personal reasons, I rust ask that the NRC extend as much confidentiality as possible to me in this matter.
I have no kncwledge regarding any.of the allegations against UNC operations at Wocd Riven Junction, Rhode Island as were described in an article published in th. Chartha Times, dated November 26, 1980 and entitled " Wast 2 Pumped to Open Gr,und; 2 UNC Workers."
I have read the foregoing statement consisting of two (2) handwritten pages.
I have made any necessary corrections and have initialed them in ink.
I have signed the fir st page in the left hand margin.
This statement is the truth to the best of my knowledge a,nd belief.
(Signature) 12/17/80 1137 AM Witnessed:
Raymond E. Shepherd, Investigator, Region I, NRC 12/17/80 11:38 AM NOTE:
Information in Individual N's statement which would disclose his identity has been deleted er paraphrased in accordance with 10 CFR 9.
i
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Information in Individual N's statement which concerns a separate l
NRC investigation, unrelated to this investigation, has been deleted l
and will be reported in NRC Investigation Repr-t No. 70-820/80-23.
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EXHIBIT 30 STATEMENT OF ROBERT J. GREGG United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Systems Wood River Junction, Rhode Island December 17, 1980 I, Robert J. Gregg, hereby make the following voluntary statement to Mr.
Raymond E. Shepherd who has identified himself to me as an Investigator with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement freely with no threats or promises of reward having been made to me.
Mr. Shepherd is writing this statement for me at my request.
I have been employed at the United Nuclear Corporation (UNC) facility at Wood River Junction, Rhode Island since December 1977 and.am presently employed at the above UNC facility as Plant Manager.
I never saw any pumping of rainwater from the top of lagoon covers but was aware that this was being done, approximately in early 1978.
I have no knowledge of anyone punching holes in, piercing or cutting lagoon liners for the purpose of having the li. goon contents seep into the ground or for any other reason.
I have no knowle,dge of anyone pumping the waste contents or contaminated material in any lagoon onto the ground during 1978 or at any other time.
I have no knowledge of anyone throwing rocks, boulders, lead weights or other heavy oF;. s into the lagoons or through the lagoon raincovers.
I have no knowler af any holes or openings under the protected area fence that may have been.ssociated with any pumping of liquid in the lagoon area.
I have no objection to the NRC using my name as the source of the information contained in this statement.
I have read the foregoing statement consisting of two (2) handwritten pages.
I have made any necessary corrections and have initialed them in ink.
I have l
signed the first page in the left hand margin.
This statement is the truth to the best of my knowledge and belief.
j l
(Signature) 3:02 PM 12/17/80 l
Robert J. Gregg i
i Subscribed and sworn to before me this seventeenth day of December 1980 at United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Systems, Wood River Junction, Rhode Island.
Raymond E.' Shepherd, Investigator Witnessed:
Jerome Roth, Fuel Facilities Inspector, Region I, NRC 12/17/80 3:06 P,*1 NOTE:
Information in Gregg's statement which concerns a separate NRC investigation, unrelated to this investigation, has been deleted and j
will be reported in NRC Investigation Report No. 70-820/80-23.
1 L
EXHIBIT 31 STATEMENT OF CHARLES E. BOWERS United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Systems Wood River Junction, Rhode Island December 17, 1980 I, Charles E. Bowers, hereby make the following voluntary statement to Mr.
Raymond E. Shepherd who has identified himself to me as an Investigator with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement freely with no threats or promises of reward having been made to me.
Mr. Shepherd is writing this statement for me at my request.
I was employed as General Manager -
President of United Nuclear Corporation (UNC) Recovery Systems, Wood River Junction, Rhode Isiand from December 1974 to December 1980 and am presently employed as General Manager - President of Nickel Battery Division of Yardney Electric Corporation, Pawcatuck, Connecticut.
I have no objection to the NRC using my name as the source of the information contained in this statement.
I have no knowledge of anyone punching holes in or cutting lagoon liners for the purpose of having the lagoon contents seep into the ground.
I have no knowledge of anyone pumping the waste contents or contaminated material in any lagoon onto the ground during 1978 or at any other time.
I have no knowledge of anyone throwing rocks, boulders, lead weights or other heavy objects into the lagoons or through the lagoon covers.
I have no knowledge of any holes or openings or spaces under the protected area fence that may have been associated with any pumping of liquid in the lagoon area for the purpose of contaminated liquid waste disposal.
I have read the foregoing statement consisting of two (2) handwritten pages.
I have made any necessary corrections and have initialed them in ink.
I have signed the first page in the left hand margin.
This statement is the truth to the best of my knowledge and belief.
(Signature) 12/17/80 5:00 PM Charles E. Bowers Subscribed and sworn to before me on this seventeenth day of December 1980 at United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Systems, Wood River Junction, Rhode Island.
Raymond E. Shepherd 12/17/80 5:02 PM Witnessed:
Jerome Roth, Fuel Facilities Inspector, Region I, NRC 12/17/80 5:03 PM NOTE:
Information in Bower's statement which concerns a separate NRC investigation, unrelated to this investigation, has been deleted and will be reported in NRC Investigation Report No. 70-820/80-23.
EXHIBIT 32 STATEMENT OF FRANCIS J. BOYLE, 12/18/80 United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Systems Wood River Junction, Rhode Island December 18, 1980 I, Francis J. Boyle, hereoy make the following voluntary statement to Mr.
Raymond E. Shepherd who has identified himself to me as an Investigator with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement freely with no threats or promises of reward having been made to me.
Mr. Shepherd is writing this statement for me at my request.
I hereby give permission to the NRC to use my name as the source of the information contained in this statement.
I have been employed at the United Nuclear Corporation facility in Wood River Junction, Rhode Island since 1964 and am presently employed at this facility doing maintenance work.
I have no knowledge of any operation involving the pumping rainwater from any lagoon or from the top of any lagoon covers.
I have no knowledge of anyone punching holes in, pierciag or cutting lagoon liners for the purpose of having the lagoon contents seep into the ground or for causing any leakage of lagoon contents; I have r.o knowledge of anyone pumping the waste contents or contaminated material in any lagoon onto the ground at any time.
I have no knowledge of anyone throwing rocks, boulders, lesd weights into the lagoons or through the lagoon rain covers.
I have no knowledge of any holes, openings or spaces under the protected area fence that may have been associated with any pumping of liquid in the lagoon area.
I can not recall ever discussing with any member of the security force at the above facility any pumping of liquid in the lagoon area at any time.
I have read the foregoing statement consisting of two (2) handwritten pages.
I have made any necessary corrections and have initialed them in ink.
I have signed the first page in the left hand margin.
This statement is the truth to the best of my knowledge and celief.
f (Signature) 12/18/80 10:45 Francis J. Boyle Witnessed: -
l Raymond E. Shepherd, Investigator, Region I, NRC 12/18/80 10:46 AM R. Keith Christopher, Investigator, Region I, NRC 12/18/80 10:46 AM t
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EXHIBIT 33 STATEMENT OF FRANCIS J. BOYLE, 1/31/81 United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Systems Wood River Junction, Rhode Island DATE:
1/13/81 TIME:
11:30 AM I, Francis J. Boyle, do hereby make the following free and voluntary statement to Mr. R. E. Shepherd, who has identifed himself to me as an Investigator for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement freely with no threats having been made against me or promises extended to me.
I hereby give permission to the NRC to use my r-as the source of the information contained in this statement.
At no time did I ever say to Jim Wakefield or to anyone else that there was seepage into the ground under lagoon B or any other lagoon and I never said to anyone at any time that Owen McCormick or that any other individual had deliber-ately waded out into lagoon B or any other lagoon and punched holes into the lagoon liner with some type of instrument in order to get the water in the lagoon to seep into the ground and lower the water levels.
I have read the above statement consisting of one (1) page which has been written by Mr. Shepherd for me at my request.
I have made any necessary correctons and have initialed them in tak.
This statement is the truth to the best of my knowledge and belief.
(Signature) 1/13/81 11:45 AM Francis J. Boyle Subscribed and sworn to before me this thirteenth day of January 1981 at United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Sytems, Wood River Junction, R.I.
Raymond E. Shepherd, Investigator Witnessed:
R. Keith Christopher, Investigator, Region I, NRC 1~13/81 11:45 AM
EXHIBIT 34 STATEMENT OF THOMAS ASHLEN United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Systems Wood River Junction, Rhode Island' January 14, 1981 I, Thomas Ashley, make the following voluntary statement to Mr. Raymond E.
Shepherd who has identified himself to me as an Investigator with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
I make this statement freely with no threats or promises of reward having Leen made to me.
Mr. Shepherd is writing this statement for me at my request.
I am presently employed as Senior Plant Chemist at United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Systems (UNC), Wood River Junction, Rhode Island and have worked at UNC since June 1977.
~
I have no know12dge of anycre pumping waste material or contaminated material in a lagoon onto the grouno during 1978 or at any other time.
I have no knowledge of any pumping of liquid in the lagoon area which which resulted in sofi erosion under the protected area fence or which left large gaps, openings or spaces between the bottom of the fence and the ground.
Before lagoon G was used to contain waste process material, I recall that I assisted in pumping rainwater from lagoon G and this occurred around December 1977. The liner in lagoon G was installed sometime between September 14, 1977 and September 27, 1977.
I don't know for sure where the rainwater from lagoon G was discharged to but on at least one occasion on October 15, 1978 I observed the pumping rainwater by company personnel from the top of the raincover on lagoon G, when this lagoon was being used to contain waste process material.
There were a couple of occasions when I observed the pumping of rainwater from the top of the raincover on lagoon G and there was at least one occasion when l
I recall that the discharge hose from the pump had discharged the rainwater i
under the vehicle gate on the north side of the protected area fence near the northeast corner of the protected area coundary.
The discharge of rainwater from the top of the raincover on lagoon G did not cause any large erosion of soil under the protected area fence where the vehicle gate is located and I would estimate that any such erosion of soil may have left a space under the l
vehicle gate measuring no more than two (2) or three (3) inches high and four (4) inches wide.
I also recall that some rainwater that was pumped from the lagoon area, either from lagoon G before it was used to contain waste process material or from the l
top of the raincovers on the other lagoons, and that this rainwater v" discharged from the fire hose connected to the pump to an area near the easc side of the protected area fence near the northeast corner of the protected area boundary.
I do not recall seeing any erosion of soil under the protected area fence at the above location which resulted from the pumping of rainwater from the i
l lagoon area.
It is possible that the rainwater which was pumped from lagoon G, before it was used to contain waste process material, or from the raincover on lagoon G, was discharged from a fire hose which passed over lagoon D and the end of wMen was positioned near the east side of the protected area fence
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near the northeast corner of the protected area boundary.
I also recall that I observed pumping rainwater from the top of the raincovers on lagoons E and F, possibly during the Fall of 1977 or the Spring of 1978 and this rainwater was discharged from a fire hose which passed over or around lagoon 0 and was put under or near the east side of the protected area fence near the northeast corner of the protected area boundary, approximately 25 feet from the corner.
This pumping of rainwater from the raincovers on lagoons E and F did not cause any nott: 1able soil erosion under the fence that I can recall.
With regard to pumping rainwater from lagoon G, before it was used to contain waste material, as described above, I would estimate the the level of water in the lagoon was reduced about 2 or 3 feet by this pumping operation. With regard to pumping of rainwater from various lagoon raincovers, as described above, I would estimate that about 12 inches of rainwater was pumped from each raincover. All of the lagoon covers were black. The rainwater on top of the lagoon covers was always tested by UNC Nuclear Industrial Safety personnel before any such rainwater was pumped onto the ground.
To the best of my knowledge there was never any pumping of rainwater or any liquid from the lagoon area anto the ground during the second shift (4:00 PM - midnight) or third shift or during weekends or holidays.
It was a joint responsibility of myself and Russ Smith, a former UNC management employee, to initiate the pumping of rainwater from lagoon G, before it was used to hold waste material, and from the tops of the lagoon covers and it was our responsibility to monitor the volume changes in the lagoons, the condition of the lagoons and the lagoon covers and the water collecting on the covers.
At no time did I ever or anyone else ever, to my knowledge, initiate the pumping of rainwater off the top of lagoon covers when there was any contamination of the rainwater or commingling of the rainwater on top of the lagoon covers with the lagoon supernate uncer the covers.
I have no knowledge of anyone throwing rocks, boulders, lead weights or other heavy objects into the lagoons or through the lagoon raincovers.
I have no knowledge of anyone punching holes in lagoon liners or cutting or piercing the liners for the purpose of having the lagoon contents seep into the ground.
I have read the foregoing statement consis, ting of five (5) handwritten pages.
I have made any necessary corrections and have initialed them in ink.
I have signed the first page in the left hand margin.
This statement is the truth to the best of my knowliige and belief.
(Signature',
1/14/81 1410 Thomas Aslley Subscribed and sworn to before me this fourteenth day of January 1981 at United Nuclear Corporation Recovery Systems, Wood River Junction, R.I.
Raymond E. Shepherd, Investigator, NRC, Region I 2:11 PM, 1/14/81 L
.__._______j
PROCESS WASTE LAGOON CIIRONOLOGY LAGOON IDENTIFICATION ACTIVITY-Lagoon Installed 10/72 2/67 4/77 l 4-5/77 4-6/77 4-6777 6/77 f
A B
C D
E F
G l
Li'ner Installed 12/72 2/67 4/77 5/77 6/77 6/77 10/6/77
)
Initial Use 12/72 3/67 4/77 5/77 6/77 6-10/77 10-12/77
-l 3/13/78 11/9/77 3/13/78 11/9/77 11/9/77 Cover Installed 3/13/78 3/13/78 ' 4/78 4/78 4/78 5/78 Cover Nonfunctional for No Record Rainwater Separation Too Short Air Bubble Cover 3/20,/79,
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Installed Lagoon Emptied /Decom-l 5-6/77 o-10-80,
l' missioned 1
PUMPING RECORDS Rainwater
~8/18/77 (Possible) l l
Rainwater
.3/15/77 (Prior to First Use) 2-3 Feet 1
~43,000 Gallon Rain-3/22/78 waterfrlomFandG
~ 15, 0 0 0 9/1/78(to Swimming Pool) l Gal.
-150,000 2/79 (To 500,000 Gal.
Gal.
Covered Storage Tank)
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No te :
Where a range of dates is given, the specific date could not be determined.
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Exhibit 37 TABLE I SOIL SAMPLE ANALYSES SAMPLE (depth)
ISOTOPE RESULTS (pCi/g)
A-1 (0" - 2")
Ra-226 0.77 1 0.07 Ra-228 1.32 + 0.14 Cs-137 0.23 1 0.04 A-4 (6" - 8")
Ra-226 0.73 1 0.07 Ra-228 0.98 + 0.12 Cs-137 0.17 1 0.04 A-7 (12" - 14")
Ra-226 0.65 1 0.07 Ra-228 1.20 1 0.14 B-1 (0" - 2")
Ra-226 0.72 1 0.08 Ra-228 1.57 + 0.14 Cs-137 0.31 1 0.05 B-4 (6" - 8")
Ra-226 0.55 1 0.06 Ra-228 1.0 + 0.2 Cs-137 0.0730.03 B-7 (12" - 14")
Ra-226 0.40 t G.06 Ra-228 0.89 1 0.13 Note: Sample results are 1 1 standard deviation counting error.
Also all sample results should include a systematic error of + 50*.".
f C-1 (0" - 2")
Ra-226 0.57 1 0.07 Ra-228 1.16 1 0.14 C-4 (6" - 8")
Ra-226 0.73 1 0.07 Ra-228 1.7 + 0.2 Cs-137 2.16 1 0.07 i
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2 SAMPLE (depth)
ISOTOPE RESULTS (pCi/g)
C-7 (12" - 14")
Ra-226 0.81 1 0.08 Ra-228 1.5 + 0.2 Cs-137 0.41 1 0.04 0-1 (0" - 2")
Ra-226 0.61 1 0.06 Ra-228 1.12 1 0.13 0-4 (6" - 8")
Ra-226 0.92 1 0.07 Ra-228 1.34 + 0.16 Cs-137 0.2110.04 0-7 (12" - 14")
Ra-226 0.67 1 0.06 Ra-228 1.41 + 0.15 Cs-137 0.2630.03 Note: Sample results are are 1 1 standard deviation c]unting error. Also all sample results should include a systematic error of 1 50%.
Y-1 (0" - 2")
Ra-226 0.43 3 0.09 (offsite sample)
Ra-228 0.7 1 0.2 Cs-137 3.48 1 0.12 Y-2 (2" - 6")
Ra-226 0.74 2 0.63 (offsite sample)
Ra-228 0.5 1 0.2 Cs-137 1.16 1 0.07 X-1 (0" - 2")
Ra-226 0.37 1 0.10 (offsite sample)
Ra-228 0.7 1 0.2 Cs-137 3.78 1 0.14 l
i X-2 (2" - 6")
Ra-226 0.48 1 0.07 (offsite sample)
Ra-228 0.67 1 0.14 Cs-137 0.18 + 0.03 I
Pawcatuck River Ra-226 0.55 + 0.08 sediment Ra-228 0.64 + 0.08 (offsite sample)
Cs-137 0.06 - 0.02 Note:
Sample results are 1 1 standard deviation counting error. Also all sample results should include a systematic error of 1 50%.
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