PNO-I-88-061, on 880606,sewage Dumped on Whitaker Farm by Vynp Station & Contracted Hauler A-1 Sanitary.Agreement Made W/Contractor & Owners of Farm to Aid in Fertilization.In Jan 1986 Vynp Station Sewage Taken to Brattleboro,Vt

PNO-I-88-061:on 880606,sewage Dumped on Whitaker Farm by Vynp Station & Contracted Hauler A-1 Sanitary.Agreement Made W/Contractor & Owners of Farm to Aid in Fertilization.In Jan 1986 Vynp Station Sewage Taken to Brattleboro,Vt

ML20198M950
Person / Time
Site:	Vermont Yankee
Issue date:	06/07/1988
From:	Grant G, Haverkamp D NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I)
To:
References
PNO-I-88-061, PNO-I-88-61, NUDOCS 9710300141
Download: ML20198M950 (2)

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7 DCS No: 50271880606 Date: June 7, 1988 g,

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. (O v .LIMINARY NOTIFICATION OF EVENT OR UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE--PNO-I-88-61 (3 y f (J This preliminary notification constitutes EARLY notice of events of POSSIBLE safety or public interest significance. The information is as initially received without

' verification or evaluation, and is basically all that is known by the Region I staff on this date.

Facility: Licensee Emergency Classification:

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation Notification of Unusual Event

, Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station Alert Vernon, Vermont R F' p r , . Site Area Emergency Docket No. 50-271 General Emergency .

X Not Applicable

Subject:

LOW LEVELS OF COBALT-60 F UND i)hF BIT $$LUDGE FIELD Recent public controversy surrounding the purchase of a piece of property (the Whitaker Farm) by the town of Vernon, Vermont, involved one point of contention that sewage had been dumped on the farm by the Vennont Yankee Nuclear Power Station. In fact, although VYNPS was the likely source of the sewage, a contracted hauler (A-1 Sanitary) had been dumping the sewage on the farm by agreement with the owners to aid in fertilization.

Due to complaints by farm neighbors, the practice of spreading the sewage on fields was halted and it was subsequently dumped into a pit on the farm. This practice existed for several months in the summer / fall of 1985. In Japuary 1986, the hauler began

'(Oking VYNPS sewage to the town of Brattleboro, Vermont sewage treatment facility by W lat facility since that time.rection The ofsewage the licensee and Vernon is primarily Healthgallon from a 10,000 Department.

holding Site sewage has b tank which collects the effluent from the licensee Construction Outage Office Building (COB). This building is outside of the Radiological Control Area and sewage is primarily from lavatories. This holding tank is pumped on average twice per week.

In response to NRC Information Notice 88-22 and State of Vermont Department of Health inquiries, the licensee sampled the pit on the Whitaker Farm on May 23, 1988. Results obtained on May 25 and 27 were:

7 samples taken, two showed a small amount of activity above background

-- isotopes and concentrations: Co-60 -

134 pico curies /kg s Cs-137 -

168 pico curies /kg /J6z Ac/Th-228 - 582 pico curies /kg K-40 - 7,650 pico curies /kg .

Cs-137 could be due to worldwide fallout from nuclear weapons testing; Ac/Th-228 and K-40 are naturally occurring.

The licensee notified the State Department of Health of these findings on May 31. The main entities involved / interested in this case from the state are Department of Health, Department of Public Service, Department of Environmental Conservation and the Governor's office. Licensee management was in contact with the Governor's office on June 2 and 3 and at that time, a press release was not anticipated. Subsequently, due local press interest, the licensee made a press release on June 6. Heavy state vernment and press interest is anticipated. Region I and NRR have received state and ess inquiries.

54030 03 41 880607 PNO-I-88-061 PDR

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• PNJ-I.-88,-51 e, , 2 y licensee has currently halted transportation of sewage off site and is developing

, viampling procedure and disposal program to address this issue. The levels of activity found are more than an order of magnitude below 10 CFR Part 20 Appendix B release limits and pose no threat to health and safety.

Licensee and state discussions and interaction are ongoing.

CONTACT: G. Grant D. Haverkamp (802) 257 A?19 (215) 337-5120 DISTRIBUTION:

OWFN MNBB H-St. NL Mail: ADM:DMB -

Thafrman Zech XY6D XM5 RYS DOT:Trans only Com. Roberts ARM PDR ,

Com. Carr OGC ' NRC Ops Ctr Com. Rogers INPO----

SECY NMSS. NSAC----

CA NRR OGC OIA Regional Offices GPA 01 RI Resident Office PA SLITP ED0 OE Licensee:

(ReactorLicensees) lgionIForm83 ev. April 1988) ,

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