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W.R. Grace and Company

Long-Term Stewardship Site Highlights

W.R. Grace and Company (page 3)
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Table of Contents

Table of Contents

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National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Long-Tenn Ste\\anlship Repod

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W.R. Grace and Company Site

W.R. GRACE AND COMPANY SITE

SITE SUMMARY

W.R. Grace and Company Site is on an industrialized peninsula in south Baltimore, Maryland. It is bordered on the north by Curtis Bay, on the west by Curtis Creek, on the east by the Patapsco River, and on the south by the Baltimore Municipal Landfill. During the 1950s, W.R. Grace milled thorium for the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), a predecessor agency of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). W.R. Grace began processing radioactive materials at the site in the mid-1950s, when Rare Earths, Inc. (W.R. Grace's predecessor) entered into a contract with AEC to extract thorium and rare earths from naturally-occurring monazite sands. Rare Earths' contract with AEC and its license to possess, transfer, and use radioactive thorium were transferred to W.R. Grace & Company. The facility where thorium processing took place (Building 23) operated until the late 1950s, when W.R. Grace and AEC agreed to terminate the contract. The wastes were buried in a landfill-type area. Thorium processing at the W.R. Grace and Company Site, for U.S. Government and commercial entities, resulted in lowJevel radioactive waste that was buried on the property. Radiation surveys of the burial area and the surrounding area identified ( 1) randomly distributed contamination over the waste burial area; (2) elevated levels of radioactivity in several other locations on a waste management area surrounding the burial area; (3)

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W.R. Grace and Company

The W.R. Grace and Company Site is one of the 21 Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) sites where cleanup responsibility was transferred to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) in accordance with the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act for FY 1998. At these 21 sites, the Corps is responsible for remediation and DOE is responsible for long-term stewardship activities, if any are deemed necessary. The cleanup decisions for these sites are not yet final and, therefore, the extent of long-term stewardship required for these sites, if any, is not yet known.
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National Defense Authorization Act (NOAA) Long-Term Stewardship Report

contaminated surfaces in Building 23 exceeding guidelines, especially around vats and hoppers; and (4) alpharadiation surface contamination exceeding guidelines on all five levels of Building 23. The primary contaminant of concern is thorium-232. The site was designated by DOE for remedial action under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) in 1984. The Corps' remedial action for this site is not yet complete and, therefore, the extent of long-term stewardship required, if any, is not yet known.

For additional information about the W.R. Grace and Company Site, please contact:
Baltimore District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 10 South Howard Street Baltimore, MD 21201 Phone: 410-962-7608 or visit the Internet website at: http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/

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