Massachusetts

Shpack Landfill

Long-Term Stewardship Site Highlights

Shpack Landfill (page 3)
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Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Shpack Landfill ......................................................................... 3

Massachusetts

National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Long-Tenn Stewmdship Repmt

Massachusetts

Shpack Landfill

SHPACK LANDFILV
SITE SUMMARY

The Shpack Landfill is located about 65 kilometers (40 miles) southwest of Boston in the towns of Norton and Attleboro, Massachusetts. The Shpack Landfill began operating as a private landfill in the early 1960s and received both industrial and domestic wastes. The landfill was closed in the mid-1960s under court order. In the late 1970s, a concerned citizen who had detected elevated radiation levels at the site contacted the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The NRC investigated the site and confirmed the presence of radioactivity in excess of natural background levels for the area. The landfill contains wastes that are contaminated with high-enriched uranium, low-enriched uranium, natural uranium, depleted uranium, radium, and various chemicals. Exactly when the contaminated materials were deposited at the site is not known. However, the NRC determined that the Texas Instruments plant (formerly M&C Nuclear, Inc.) in Attleboro had used the landfill to dispose of trash and other materials, some of which were generated from NRC-licensed activities at the plant. The NRC concluded that the contamination probably resulted primarily from these activities. In the 1980s, personnel from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory conducted a radiological characterization of the site, confirmed the NRC findings, and defined the general areas of contamination. Macroscopic amounts of high-enriched uranium and otherradioactive materials were also removed during the radiological characterization

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MASSACHUSETTS

12
Miles

Shpack Landfill

The Shpack Landfill 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.
Massachusetts

National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Long-Term Stewardship Report

survey. Based on the results of this survey, the former Shpack Landfill was designated for cleanup under the U.S. Department of Energy's Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). However, the Department determined that the Texas Instruments plant was excluded from FUSRAP because activities at the facility were licensed by the NRC. The Town of Norton purchased the Shpack Landfill in the 1980s. The area is fenced and posted with "no trespassing" signs, and the Town of Norton and the New England Power Company control access to the site. In the late 1980s, Shpack was listed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Priority List. The initial phase of the remedial investigation/feasibility study has been completed. Radioactive contamination at the site is believed to have come from private sources. EPA has identified potentially responsible parties for the site and the federal government was not identified. In 1997, the site was transferred to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) for remediation. The 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 Shpack Landfill, please contact:

Public Affairs Office New England District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 696 Virginia Road Concord, MA 01742-2751 Phone: 978-318-8264 or visit the Internet website at: http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/

Massachusetts