ML24236A704
| ML24236A704 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07000925 |
| Issue date: | 08/23/2024 |
| From: | NRC/NMSS/DREFS/EPMB2 |
| To: | |
| References | |
| Download: ML24236A704 (6) | |
Text
Cimarron Site Decommissioning Pl an Environmental Assessment Documentation Pertaining to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is conducting an environmental review for an application submitted on October 7, 2022, by Environmental Properties Management, LLC.
(EPM) for an amendment to special nuclear materials license SNM-928. If granted, the license amendment would approve a revision to EPMs dec ommissioning plan (DP) to install, operate, and dismantle a groundwater treatment system at the site of the former Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Facility (Cimarron site) in Logan C ounty, Oklahoma (EPM 2022a). The treatment systems would reduce the concentration of uranium in groundwater to allow for release of the site from the NRC license in accordance with requirements in 10 CFR Part 20 and with the release criteria in condition 27 of the license (NRC 2011a).
The NRC staff is preparing an environmental assessment (EA) under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), to determine whether to prepare an environmental impact statement or finding of no significant impact. In accordance with 36 CFR 800 Protection of Historic Properties Section 800.8(c), the NRC staff is using the NEPA process to comply with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (NHPA), in lieu of the procedures set forth in 36 CFR 800.3 through 800.6. The EA will include identification of historic and cultural resources and historic properties, an analysis of potential effects of the proposed action, including potential effects on historic and cultural resources and historic properties as well as the NRC staffs preliminary determination. The NRC staff is soliciting comments from Indian Tribes and the public on the NRCs Section 106 findings and the cultural resources information provided below.
Please submit any comments on the information below to Christine Pineda at Christine.Pineda@nrc.gov by September 27, 2024.
DRAFT EA Historic and Cultural Resources Sections
Historic and Cultural Resources
The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (NHPA), requires Federal agencies to consider the effects of their undertakings on historic properties, and the proposed groundwater remediation activities are an underta king that could potentially affect historic properties. As stated in the act, historic properties are any prehistoric or historic district, site, building, structure, or object included in, or eligible for, inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). This includes cultural resources, sites, or artifacts that may be associated with Native American tribes.
This section describes the known historic and cultural resources on and in the vicinity of the site and the potential impacts of the proposed action on known resources.
1 Affected Environment
The site is situated on approximately 500 acres along the south bank of the Cimarron River.
Prior to the construction of the facility, much of the property was used for grazing and farming.
In 1965, the Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site was established to enrich uranium fuel for use in nuclear power plants, while large areas of the site continued to be used for grazing, farming, and harvesting grass for cattle. Fuel fabrication continued until 1975 and then decommissioning activities began.
The proposed groundwater remediation project would disturb areas of the site needed for groundwater remediation infrastructure, including two buildings, aboveground and underground piping, wells, trenches, and utilities. The area of potential effect (APE) is approximately 214.5 ha (530 ac), comprising the Cimarron site and the adjacent 10 ha (25 ac) that were formerly part of the site but are now owned by Cimarron Holdings. This adjacent area is included as part of the APE because, as proposed in the revised DP, EPM would remediate the groundwater underlying this area.
At the request of the Oklahoma Archeological Survey (OAS 2019), EPM conducted a cultural resources survey in May 2020 and produced a report that describes the resources identified and provides determinations of eligibility for listing on the NRHP (B&M 2020). The survey identified seven standing historic structures and no archaeological resources. Section 6 of the survey report contains detailed descriptions of the seven resources and their respective NRHP-eligibility determinations. The NRC staff provided t hese eligibility recommendations to the SHPO and the OAS, and the SHPO and OAS agreed with the NRCs recommendations and determinations (SHPO 2023; OAS 2023). These resources are depicted on figure 3-12 and briefly described below:
- Resource 01/01a: Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication building and associated cooling plant -
This building (Resource 01) was used from 1970 until 1975 for the production of plutonium-containing nuclear fuel. This resource is on the adjacent 10-ha (25-ac) property that is no longer part of the Cimarron site.
- Resource 02: Warehouse #4 - This warehouse was used to support nuclear fuel manufacturing operations until 1975. After 1975, the building was used for other industrial purposes as described in section 6.1.3 of the survey report. This resource is on the adjacent property that is no longer part of the Cimarron site.
- Resource 03: Emergency Response Building - This building served as an emergency response station during the nuclear manufacturing facilitys operating years. This resource is on the adjacent property that is no longer part of the Cimarron site.
- Resources 04, 05, and 06: Abandoned Diesel Pumps - These abandoned diesel pumps were used to pump water from the Cimarron River to the facility and are located at the northwest corner of the property along the south bank of the Cimarron River.
- Resource 07: A Mid-twentieth Century Corral and Associated Wire Fence - This resource consists of three pens connected to a hallway or corridor and is described further in section 6.1.6 of the survey report.
2 Resources 01/01a, 02, 03, 04, 05, and 06 maintain historic associations with a facility important in the nuclear history of the United States sand are eligible for listing on the NRHP. Resource 07 is not eligible because it does not have any known historical associations important to local or national history, is not distinctive in form or design, and is not part of an archeological site (NRC 2023e; SHPO 2023).
Area of Potential Effect, Survey Results, and NRHP-Eligible Resources Source: B&M 2020
Potential Impacts on Historic and Cultural Resources
All proposed ground disturbance would occur in areas away from the identified historic resources. To ensure the protection of any unknown resources that EPM may encounter during excavation and other ground-disturbing activities, and consistent with SHPO recommendations to preserve the visual quality of the resources associated with the former fuel fabrication facility (SHPO 2023), the NRC would add a condition to license SNM-928 that would require the following:
- If archaeological artifacts are discovered during ground-disturbing activities, EPM must cease all work within 15 m (50 ft) of the discovery and secure the location against further disturbance. EPM must notify the NRC, SHPO, and OAS of the discovery before the close of business the next working day after the discovery. If human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony are encountered, EPM must
3 cease all activities within 15 m (50 ft) of the discovery and secure the location. EPM must notify the NRC, SHPO, and OAS within one working day.
- Upon completion of the groundwater remediation project, and except for the permanent WATF building and associated utilities and ancillary equipment, the site must be returned to pre-construction condition (for example, trenches must be filled and revegetated). This is to ensure that the proj ect has no lasting visual effect on the NRHP-eligible properties.
Based on this information and the addition of the license condition, the NRC staff concludes that the proposed action is not likely to adversely affect identified historic resources. With the license condition in place, the NRC staff also conclude s that EPM would prevent or mitigate disturbance to resources that may be encountered during excavation activities.
Consultation And Coordination
In June 2019, the NRC staff sent letters to 21 tr ibes offering consultation on this project (NRC 2019b), following the letters with telephone calls to tribes who did not respond by letter or email.
The tribes the NRC contacted are:
- Muscogee Creek Nation
- Caddo Nation
- Tonkawa Tribe of Oklahoma
- Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town
- United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma
- Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
- Seminole Nation of Oklahoma
- Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma
- Seneca-Cayuga Nation
- Wyandotte Nation
- Fort Sill Apache Tribe
- Wichita and Affiliated Tribes
- Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma
- Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma
- Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma
- Otoe-Missouria Tribe
- Delaware Nation
- Thlopthlocco Tribal Town
- Osage Nation
- Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes
In response to this invitation, four tribes (Muscogee Creek Nation, Caddo Nation, Tonkawa Tribe of Oklahoma, and Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town) expressed their preference to be updated on project activities but did not request formal consultation. Thirteen tribes did not respond to NRC communications and four tribes (Delaware Nation, Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, Osage Nation, Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes) indicated that either the project is out of their area or they prefer to be notified only in the event of an inadvertent discovery. In June 2023 (NRC 2023f), the NRC staff sent updates by email to all the tribes except for those four who
4 indicated they do not wish to be contacted further or only in the event of a discovery. In the update emails, the NRC staff described recent project activities, provided the cultural resources survey report, and identified next steps in the NRCs environmental review process.
In April 2019, the NRC initiated consultation with the Oklahoma SHPO and the Oklahoma Archeological Survey (OAS) under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NRC 2019a). In response, the SHPO stated that the SHPO would defer to the OASs opinion regarding the need for a cultural resources investigation (SHPO 2019). The OAS indicated that an archaeological field inspection was indeed necessary (OAS 2019). In May of 2020, Burns &
McDonnell Engineering Company, Inc., conducted a field survey of the site (B&M 2020). On October 10, 2023, the NRC staff sent letters to the SHPO and the OAS enclosing the survey report and providing NRHP-eligibility determinations (NRC 2023e). The OAS responded on November 3, 2023, concurring with the NRCs conc lusions and deferring to the SHPO regarding historic properties (OAS 2023). The SHPO responded on November 6, 2023, concurring with the NRCs recommendations (SHPO 2023). The SH PO also requested the NRCs agreement that, after completion of the proposed action, the Cimarron site would be revegetated and left in a state that would not detract from the visual quality of the NRHP-eligible buildings. The SHPO stated that the NRCs consultation would be co mplete upon providing this agreement. After informally consulting with the SHPO on the content of a proposed license condition to address the SHPOs concerns, the NRC sent a letter to the SHPO dated April 6, 2024, describing the proposed license condition and closing out the Section 106 process (NRC 2024a).
[The NRC staff will update the text above to reflect comments received on the historic and cultural resources sections of the EA.]
REFERENCES
10 CFR Part 20. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 10, Energy, Part 20, Standards for Protection Against Radiation.
36 CFR Part 800. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 36, Parks, Forests, and Public Property,
Part 800, Protection of Historic Properties.
B&M (Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company). 2020. Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of the Cimarron Environmental Response Trust Property, Logan County, Oklahoma. D. Rodriguez, B. Harris, A. Gottsfield. Fort Worth, Texas. September 2020. ML23083B826.
EPM (Environmental Properties Management). 2022a. Cimarron Environmental Response Trust Facility Decommissioning Plan - Rev 3. Kansas City, Missouri. October 7, 2022. ML22284A150 (text) ML22286A041 (all files).
NRC (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission). 2011a. Materials License SNM-928, Amendment
- 21. Washington, D.C. February 14, 2011. ML110270373.
NRC (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission). 2019a. Letters to the OK SHPO and OK Archeological Survey re: Notification and Request for Consultation Regarding Environmental Properties Managements Proposed Decommissioning Activities for the Former Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Facility. Washington, D.C. April 18, 2019. ML19093A049.
5 NRC (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission). 2019b. Letters to Tribes re: Request for Consultation Regarding Environmental Properties Management's Proposed Decommissioning Activities for the Former Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Facility. Washington, D.C. June 11, 2019.
NRC (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission). 2023e. Letters to the Oklahoma SHPO and Oklahoma Archeological Survey re: Recommendations of Eligibility for Historic Properties at the Former Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Facility. Washington, D.C. October 10, 2023. ML20336A207.
NRC (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission). 2023 f. Email Updates to Tribes re: Cultural Resources Survey of Cimarron Site. Washington, D.C. June 2023. ML23268A032.
NRC (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission). 2024a. Letter to Oklahoma SHPO Closing Out Section 106 Consultation Related to Cimarron Site. Washington, D.C. April 6, 2024.
OAS (Oklahoma Archeological Survey). 2019. Letter to NRC re: OAS FYI 9-1807 Decommissioning Activities for former Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Facility. Norman, Oklahoma.
May 23, 2019. ML19311C325.
OAS (Oklahoma Archeological Survey). 2023. Letter to NRC re: OAS FY24-0035 Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of the Cimarron Environmental Response Trust Property. Norman, Oklahoma. November 3, 2023. ML23335A149.
SHPO (Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Office). 2019. Letter to NRC re: File #1578-19
[Former File #2295-18]; CERT License Amendment for the Cimarron Fuel Facility Decommissioning Plan for Groundwater Remediation, Logan County, Oklahoma. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. May 8, 2019. ML19311C323.
SHPO (Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Office). 2023. Letter to NRC re: File #0107-24;
[Former File #2562-20]; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Proposed Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Plant Project in Cimarron City Vi cinity, Logan County, Oklahoma. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. November 6, 2023. ML23335A148.
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