ML19219A242

Email to Sc Shpo/Department of Archives & History Regarding Nrc'S Preliminary Determination Regarding Historic and Cultural Resources at Westinghouse'S Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility

ML19219A242
Person / Time
Site:	Westinghouse
Issue date:	07/16/2019
From:	Jessie Quintero Environmental Review Branch
To:	Johnson E State of SC, Dept of Archives and History
References
Download: ML19219A242 (3)

Text

Quintero, Jessie From: Quintero, Jessie Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2019 2:44 PM To: Johnson, Elizabeth

Subject:

RE: RE: REQUEST: Review NRC preliminary determination regarding historical and cultural resources at the Westinghouse facility in Richland County, SC Hi Mrs. Johnson, The environmental report does not discuss the groundwater well installation. However, I can provide the procedures and some estimates for number of borings/wells. The approval for installing the groundwater wells happens through DHEC. Ill send that information shortly.

I also wanted to offer up that I will be down in Columbia on Thursday (25th) for a community meeting being led by DHEC and could come to your office. If yall are available, I could meet you on WedFri. I have not made my travel arrangements yet so I have some flexibility.

Thanks, Jessie From: Johnson, Elizabeth <EJohnson@scdah.sc.gov>

Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2019 11:25 AM To: Quintero, Jessie <Jessie.Quintero@nrc.gov>

Subject:

[External_Sender] RE: REQUEST: Review NRC preliminary determination regarding historical and cultural resources at the Westinghouse facility in Richland County, SC Thank you for your email. To help us better understand the potential for any effects to cultural resources we need more information about what the well installation process would consist ofhow large is the area of disturbance, are there any staging areas etc?. Is that information within the new environmental report, if so, can you point me to the page number(s) where I can find the information.

Also, while I know the number and location are not yet known, could you give a general estimateis it likely to be 5 or 50 for example?

Finally, please provide a copy of the procedure to handle inadvertent discoveries from land disturbing actitives, or provide a reference to it an existing document.

Thanks in advance for providing the additional information, Elizabeth Elizabeth M. Johnson Director, Historical Services, DSHPO State Historic Preservation Office SC Department of Archives & History 8301 Parklane Road Columbia, SC 29223 Ph: 803.896.6168 Fax: 803.896.6167 https://scdah.sc.gov/historicpreservation 1

Note that our web site address has changed.

From: Quintero, Jessie [1]

Sent: Tuesday, July 09, 2019 10:57 AM To: Johnson, Elizabeth <EJohnson@scdah.sc.gov>

Subject:

REQUEST: Review NRC preliminary determination regarding historical and cultural resources at the Westinghouse facility in Richland County, SC Good afternoon Ms. Johnson, I am following up from a call we had with you on April 5, 2019, about the status of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissions (NRC) ongoing review of a license renewal application from Westinghouse for its Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility in Hopkins, South Carolina. If approved, the facility would continue to operate for an additional 40 years, making fuel assemblies for commercial nuclear power plants. When we first began the review, the NRC sent a letter to your office in May 2015, requesting concurrence on the NRCs determination that the 40-year renewal of the operating license for Westinghouses facility would not adversely affect any historical or cultural resources at the site [ML15104A268]. On May 28, 2015, your office responded with concurrence on our finding [ML15161A537].

In June 2018, the NRC published a Final Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) related to the 40-year license renewal request [ML18120A318]. The NRC concluded that it did not expect any impact on historic or cultural resources from continued operation because no new construction was planned. Further, Westinghouse has a procedure in place to handle inadvertent discoveries during land-disturbing activities. However, shortly after the EA publication, there was an equipment leak that released contamination into the subsurface in July 2018. In addition, Westinghouse was conducting additional investigations into a previous buried pipe leak. Therefore, the NRC decided to re-open its environmental review.

Westinghouse submitted a new environmental report to the NRC for its review [ML19088A100]. The proposed action40 year license renewalhas not changed. However, Westinghouse will be conducting further investigation into water and soil contamination which includes collecting lithographic samples and installing groundwater monitoring wells in previously undisturbed areas of the site. The exact locations and number of wells are not known at this time. Well installation activities are short-term and cause minimal land disturbance. Once installed, the wells would be sampled several times a year.

The NRC concluded in its 2018 EA that the NRC does not expect any impact on historic or cultural resources from continued operation because no new construction was planned. However, your May 2015 letter noted that the site has a very high probability of significant archaeological properties, and that any future ground disturbance in previously undisturbed areas should be submitted to your office for review and comment. Therefore, we are coming back to your office to address the new activities occurring in undisturbed portions of the site.

The installation of new groundwater wells will be performed by a contractor and they will follow their procedures to avoid subsurface objects (e.g., human remains, underground utilities) and thus should be able to avoid digging in an area that might have remains or artifacts. Further, Westinghouse has a procedure in place to address inadvertent discoveries and Westinghouse must follow state law. Therefore, the NRC believes its previous conclusionno impacts to any historic or cultural resources expected from continued 2

operationremains the same. The NRC staff is requesting your offices concurrence with the NRCs preliminary conclusions within 30 days of this email (August 9, 2019). The NRC is also reaching out to the Catawba Indian Nation to make them aware of the new activities. The NRC intends to publish a Draft Revised EA for public review and comment and your office will also have an opportunity to provide comments on it. We will send information on how to comment once the Draft Revised EA is published. The schedule is still being developed.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to give me a call or email me.

Sincerely, Jessie Muir Quintero

Jessie Muir Quintero Environmental Project Manager, NMSS/FCSE/ERB U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Phone: 301.415.7476 Email: Jessie.Quintero@NRC.gov Mailstop: TWFN 4B16

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