ML20196F948

Final Response to FOIA Request for Documents.Documents Requested Available for Review in PDR Under Hills FOIA 87-765

ML20196F948
Person / Time
Issue date:	03/01/1988
From:	Grimsley D NRC OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION & RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (ARM)
To:	Carpenter T GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT
References
FOIA-87-771 NUDOCS 8803040272
Download: ML20196F948 (1)

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U S. NUCLEAR REGULATO,1Y COMMISSION su so a mi%t si ~wvana s.

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INFORMATION ACT (FOlA) REQUEST

% . . . . . /* MAR 1 1988 ooc.it~uo. .i,i % ,

1. f0U.5 Tim PART t.-RECORDS RELEASED OR NOT LOCATID (See checked bones!

No agency records avbysct to the request havo been located No addatonal agency records sub, set to be req 6est have been located.

Agency records evbpect to the roovest that are identJed e Appen6s are skeady availab8e for pubhc irspecten and copeng in the NRC Pm Document Room.

1717 H Street. N W. Washegton. DC Agency records subpoet to the roo.est that are centAed in Appenen s's beeg made avadaNo for p.Nic especton end copyeg in the NRC Pubiec Documeet Room.1717 H Street. N W . Washington, DC. m a to6 der under the FOIA numter and reovester name The woe.t,y v.- e ce repo usi esi you agro.d io saopi . e ie,ephone coev.rsat n ~e . ~mb.r e m, sta,f . now e.eg made avauNe fo, p N.c .nspeci n and coy.g si e. NaC P ooc ~ei Roo,n. niu st,oei. N W . w ohegtoe. oC . 4 ,oee, ond., e,s Foi A nomeo, and ,co.este, na,ne Enciosed a mformaton on how you may obtem scc 00s to and the charges for copye9 records placed a the NRC fuNec Document Room.1717 H Street. N W.. Was%egton. OC Agency roCorce Abrect to the request are enclosed Any apphcable charge for copes of the records prowded and payrrwnt procedur es are noted m the comments secten Records subrect to the request here been referred to ano*ber Federal agency (est for revew and direct response to you in new of NRC s response to es roovest. no further octon a beeg taken on appeal letter cated PART fl A-INFORMATION WITHHELD FR0i4 PUBLIC DISCLO5URE Certae eformaton m the roovested records e beerg with* sid from pubiec d4cksvre pursuant to tw FOIA esemptoes ducrew m and for the rusons stated e Part 61. sec.

tions 8. C. and D Any reipsed portons of the docvfrwnts for #sch only part of tre record e btg withhed are being Nos available for pun.c especten and copyeg m the NRC Pwbhc Document Room.1717 H Street. N W.. Washangton. OC e a folde' nu der the F0in nwmter and requester nam Comments 4 e

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s, GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT 25 E Street, N.W., Suite 700 Washington, D.C. 20001 (202) 347 0460 DIEEDOM OF INFORMAT)0N REQUEST November 10, 198 N-Director

" W '77/ /h [J l Office of Administration Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington D.C. 20555 PREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST l

Dear Director:

1 Pursuant to the Freedom of Info mation Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. I

$552, as amended, the Government Acccuatability Project (GAP) re-quects copies of any and all agency records and information, in-cluding but not limited to notes, letters, memoranda, drafts, minutes, diaries, reports, procedures, instructions, engineering analyses, drawings, files, graphs, charts, maps, photogra; *is, l agreements, phone messages, computations, voice recordings, com- I puter runoffs, any othat data compilations, interim and/or final reports, status reports, and any and all other records relevant to and/or generated in connection with the NRC's Region III investigation of the illegal disposition of americium-241, resulting in two spills, at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio in September, 1986.

The NRC's investigation was described in the November 5, 1987 edition of the Plain Dealer, a Cleveland newspaper. We have enclosed a copy of the article to assist you in your search.

This request includes all agency records as defined in '.0 C.F.R. 9.3a(b) and the NRC Manual, Appendix 0211, Parts 1.A.2 and A.3 (approved October 8, 1980) whether they currently exist in the NRC official, "working", investigative or other files, or at any other location, including private residences.

If any records as defined in 10 C.F.R. 9.3.a(b) and the NRC Manual and covered by this request have been destroyed and/or re-moved after this request, please provide all surrounding records, including but not limited to a list of all records which have been or are destroyed and/or removed, a description of the action (s) taken relevant to, generated in connection with, and/or issued in order to implement the action (s). This is intended to cover records destroyed or to be destroyed pursuant to any normal or special policies covering destruction of any documents that may be responsive to this request. I hereby request that any such destruction of records, whether pursuant to "normal" or spe-cial policy guidelines, be stayed until a court of competent jurisdiction passes on the legality of such policies.

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GAP requests that fees be waived, because "finding the  !

information can be considered as primarily benefiting the general l public," S 0.S.C. $552(a)(4)(a). GAP is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest organization concerned with honest and open government. Through public outreach, the Project promotes whistleblowers as agents of government accountability. Through its Citizens Clinic, GAP offers assistance to local public inter-est and citizens groups seeking to ensure the health and safety of their communities. GAP currently is working with and repre-sents several community groups and organizations in the Southwest Ohio region.

We are requesting the above information as part of an ongo-ing monitoring project on the adequacy of Region III's and OI's efforts to protect public health and safety in regards to the americium-241 incidents at the Wright-Patterson Air Force base located near Dayton, Ohio.

For any documents or portions of documents that you deny due to a specific POIA exemption, please provide an index itemising and describing the documents or portions of documents withheld.

The index should provide a detailed justification of your grounds for claiming each exemption, explaining why each exemption is relevant to the document or portion of document withheld. This index is required under Vaughn v. Rosen, 484 F.2d 820 (D.C. Cir.

1973), cert. denied, 415 U.S. 977 (1974).

We look forward to your response to this request within ten working days.

Sincerely, homas E. Ca penter Director, Citizens Clinic GAP

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i och tim PLMNDEATFs OHOS LARGEST levyprtR GDEX.MO. THLhDM. NDwOdBDI i 1957

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)*I AF hid 2 Ohio $c,adioactive r spills .

"'"5": Material smugglddronto Wright-Patterson Base ~

{ WASHINCTON - The Aar Force engaged la a cover-up to keep secret the severity of smo sensitive m:11tary lastalletaons. abent the base W. O nopeudess to a m4New let- peeleg of it at a eeemerelal deep. thee g highty radseactive spells last fall at Wright-Pal. , el6eg and emaggligg of hazardena Wemees .8mf af sammare shoot the ierldent hem Gov. destroying all writase evtdemse of the pies. .

sence Air Forte base near Dewan.accordseg es este a military base, and about the allatary .Blehmed F. Celease, sesy have manied Ceessee neteeding es she NRCeneummmet .

comradestpl Nuclear Regulatory Comasssace Aertes' abshty to gaert the publ6c or even theer, ' shout es asseriqr of the r% condamame-  :

Later, a hidier4seet Air Puste emit in Sem doc,umscats T e d - atta.nrd by The- Ptaen re rrDeale.r. own persommel to pesential

..e e he.t alt.h e threstuL

-h h u.e Th. co.ia...aue. ,ina er tie.st m e,Wein.berger portrayed the lecident as. a======

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• At eme poemt. meseral home empimpens suuremmi-I The s!!csntsons en the docum prepared by less project erJy new neartng conspieuse at a hte Amr ~ _;; eadsty emaspind to lemurh a powder to lavestigators at the NRC. rasse serious aguest4ess cost to taxpayers approachang Si smallaaet seent etsemap that weedd houw involved ameslo- O

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.r eeenes Creep La Col gew, og e.rener ae,ma,ss,a,g es be seis etta Are rene essnaw r v es. and seenal pueren me ree-ause see eepwty esoner venar Deat ee8mr #ar semed tem ene freerteres emusree ese aus se e two sawmese en a+y usees esses een ne mortes In, gnee pai he had empresevir and remeest Done e.s m retere euegeni Mee.qt fee g4epeens peere tant 76ered u has emre a's8.*rueng metr *wl #se a sorw Site b,ghest reebieg emeee erew.ag a me hac ,

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M PLAM OgAEA TKatou, segganggq g, i Air Fom's emetal l6censee held Not umul Oct 33 w as gays summes op Weinberswa mes anou=abie by one NR: .ner the nrit spin - d,d une NnC *s war 7 bey saw uim wa )

But on the same da . Sept ag. a i sensor staffer at the [rtadioiactope learn there had been any relesse radioneuw of radioactivity at Wr1ght Patter. be normd soost" poison er anym .

Committee ave "an inaccurate m The cleasup. Cbee Na neitation" the infonmation M Os N v. S m ees lae. of atna. U Swanson to the satt's ebsef eneen- y,,,w,o,, it.,43 C,eleste gy ,y wr,ote g,to now esumated to eest 300.00 bye,11 Col John Burf. the um N is nelshed lawr The staffers "mischarseterita- esals had not been mou.ned more montlL he, company dochned a tion of the spill as a manor eveat ppgy, g;,e, g, g ,, '"

meat for this story, was in direct conAiet* with Swan- "#**"8 8 "8 MI' But Air Force spokesman W: assessment Weinbear nphed two monthe $sas caid all that remais Four days later -- and 12 day later, la a letter dated Jet N. teu- Building 4000 an som a ,

anae the first spill - the Air Fore,s ing Celeste, W nkase of neglig8* of the broken foundabon, wa tent two Wnpt-Patterson worters b6e amants of Aawntium,341." to be hauled to Chen Nueh to the Mound Plant, a Department occurnd but was coatsiast low #+1 rodeoneuw waste sat of Energy facility at M6amisburg, He addd *%e han nmed aH Barnwell.1C.

0 4that uses radioneuve matenais, but saa drums c( the contaminated He sand the Air Force decidi for "body count

• lasta. The exams matenals" and indsested the als desttty rather than proceed were meant la determine if they would soon follow. "Tk building cleaning up the buildaag "for had inhaled Amenetum 341. has been secured emul Anal dia- monne reasont" he highly b The delay la gmag tests to the posal actions have been een- tive wort involved as air l two men snul SepL JD could have pieted" strippable paint. nocasults been significant. But the tests There was no aienues of the remote TY eamerat turned up segative. according to asjer cleanup that had beta the plant's environmental rassager, uncersay for more than three half a bas (aethell courtButidia Charles Friedman, se the only sienthL "For such a small building, a quesuon is whether the Air Fom Gary Holland, Celeste,s emer* a tremendous undertaking,' I arranged for checkups soon 8,eacy preparedness lialsen, said.

enough.

The aert day. Oct 1. base com .

mander Foz also selectively with-beld taformauea ... which would have alened the NRC to the release " according to the docu-mentt Mesenhile, a cleanup project had begun, involving a pnvate con-treetor. Dunng this effort on Oct 8, a secorid spill released "an even greater etatauti entlos" than the first it happened nearly the same way, when a worter, detecting as

• marsplained high redLatsoi lewl" for any substances thought to be stored la the buildlag, opened a drum of Amencium Dunne that aptil, Ricel lahaled alttsorae Amenetus.14tets may haw exeoeded federal limita of 18 ataccuries. ug other worters were wearing pro-teeQW suitt their personal ed tag was coetaminated Ricel and two other oorliers were again tested at the Mound plant Racen is sult anaiung final mults.

Three days later. Oct 9. a techni-eien entered the building. regis. l ,

tenng surface contamination levels .

at 1F75 million disintegrations per i minute - more than 140.000 times above levels the NRC requires for a cleanup.

Airberse radiesetivity was approximately I adhon bmes the N RO limit Dough "the neverity of the con-tarainauon' requinns the posung of special mahtary radisuoa spe-etahsts and emlisa contract coa-sultants war hoose to the Air Fom Ra4.aorotope Coramittee, the group misled the NltC.

On several occasions the group "ehstsetettaed the (Americium) retease as sunor, acewnhstandire k.rsendedje and lefofTJtioS to the contrary?

S