Top Ten U.S. Metal Recycling Company

Emergency Response, Remediation, Instrumentation, and Monitoring

We provided emergency response and radiological remediation services to a top ten U.S. metal recycling company at three locations in two states and were responsible for safely and compliantly executing all planning and work involving emergency response actions, site safety inspections, site stabilization, implementation of environmental controls, hazard identification and controls, characterization, decontamination and remediation, waste disposal, and final status survey (FSS). Activities included establishing site controls and security, employee and regulator training, and interfacing with multi-regulatory agencies (i.e., local, state, and federal).

Project Details

The Nuclear Services sector of Perma-Fix was deployed on an emergency response action and radiological cleanup effort for a top ten U.S. metal recycling company. The project team deployed within six hours of notification which included mobilization of emergency response trailers, radiological and safety instrumentation, and fully trained and qualified personnel. The breadth of the emergency response included multiple states and locations at one time. The two primary locations included a Nonferrous Metals Recovery Plant located in the Midwest while the other was an Auto-Crusher Plant located in the Northeast.

Working closely with the client and numerous regulatory agencies, the impacted areas were quickly identified, contained and later remediated to meet unrestricted free-release criteria. This work involved careful coordination of multiple contractors, regulators, and shareholders to ensure the public, environment and site workers were all protected. Although the facilities and process equipment were rather specialized and very unique, the response teams were able to employ proven technologies and methodologies to perform all work safely and compliantly. The extent of conditions included protection of above and below grade water sources, open land areas, structures, heavy equipment and transport vehicles. Several innovative technologies were deployed to control any migration of contaminants and for decontamination activities. Equipment and materials used to perform remedial activities included, but were not limited to: cranes, mag crane, loaders, excavators, vacuum-loaders, waste water collection and treatment, blast track units, scabbler, Soil-Tack, HEPA vacuums, welders, grinding tools, aerial lift platforms, scaffolding, shot-blasters, containment units, negative air machines, GPS monitoring and surveillance systems, fork lifts, and many other specialized tools and equipment. Through our instrumentation lab, we provided all radiological and Industrial Hygiene instrumentation which enhanced the project capabilities, quality and reduced costs further for our client.

The primary command center was set up in the Midwest where our project teams effectively and efficiently managed multiple projects at one time, while concentrating efforts on those deemed most important to environmental health and safety and clients need to resume operations. Our teams quickly engaged with several industrial Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to better understand the unique operations and equipment in order to perform all work safely and compliantly.

Manager of Projects and Project Manager for this response, Stace Johnson, said "We are all very proud of our team, the efforts of the client and for such a great working relationship with all the different regulatory interfaces."

Health Physics Services Manager, Eric Laning said, "We provide world-class radiological response capabilities and are often times called to respond quickly. This project was indeed complex and presented our field staff with many challenges that we quickly responded to. It feels great to get our client and all of its employees back to work in a safe work environment."