Closure Operators

The Army has programs for risk management, safety, and occupational and environmental health in place at its chemical stockpile disposal sites. The recommendations set forth below are provided with the committee s expectation that if they are carried out, workers employed in closure operations will be less likely to encounter the posited risks. 

Finding 5. Stockpile disposal facilities that do not use components of the baseline incineration system, or modified versions of it, lack a means to achieve thermal decontamination of secondary wastes during closure operations. 

Finding 17. The introduction of new structural risks during closure operations is a potential source of accidents. Dismantlement and removal of building structural components, such as the concrete floors of the explosion containment rooms, could pose added risks of structural instability during closure operations, as could temporary loadings from stacked materials or heavy equipment. 

Recommendation 17. Throughout closure operations, the sequence and extent of building demolition should be planned to ensure continuous separation of contaminated waste from uncontaminated waste. Professional engineers should review the proposed sequence and extent of demolition actions. The effects of demolition on structural integrity in the event of a contingency condition (such as a typhoon) should be considered. A system of work permits and controls should be established for operation of heavy equipment... 

This report examines the planning, documentation, and planned execution of closure operations through April 200 U for JACADS and provides findings and recommendations... 

Because practically no physical demolition had occurred through April 2001, the report does not include an assessment of actual closure operations. 

Assess the overall safety and effectiveness of planned closure operations. 

Travel to JACADS to observe the scope and planning of closure operations. 

More specifically, current plans call for the Army to place the site under the jurisdiction of the Air Force upon completion of JACADS closure activities. Although it is likely that FWS will ultimately assume stewardship responsibility for Johnston Island, the Army presently plans to provide part-time monitoring staff for a period of 5 years after closure operations have been completed. 

Although the Army anticipates procuring equipment, systems, and tools that are unique to closure operations, closure planning documents made available to the committee addressed this issue in a cursory way (U.S. Army, 2000c). Section 3.3 of the decommissioning plan simply states a requirement for vendor contracts and engineering guidance. WDC said, however, that it has a very extensive and sophisticated company procurement manual (O Shea, 2000). Because of the importance of materiel procurement, the Army should insist on full disclosure of the contractor process, and all interested parties must understand and... 

Closure operations at JACADS began approximately in January 2001 and are estimated by the Army and WDC to be completed in October 2003, a total of 33 months (Bush-... 

Much effort has been (and continues to be) expended to plan the closure of JACADS in advance and in great detail, and much will certainly be learned in the course of closure operations and facility closeout. With eight continental U.S. sites for disposal of the remaining U.S. chemical stockpile now operating, under construction, or planned, significant economies in time and cost associated with their eventual closure may be obtained through careful and timely dissemination of the lessons learned from closure activities at JACADS. 

Recommendation 17. Throughout closure operations, the sequence and extent of building demolition should be... 

The implementation phase can be viewed as a period of actual closure operations, followed by facility closeout (postmortem). Here, too, there may be some overlap of the two activities. Finally, the facility site may undergo postclosure activities in accordance with agreed-upon regulatory requirements. 

Assessment anci Decision Making Closure Plan Development Closure Operation Facility Closeout Postclosure Activities... 

The sulfuric acid layers are transferred directly into the 500-ml. short-stemmed separatory funnel to be used in the next step. The solution, which usually has a light brown color, should be cold and well mixed before the ring-closure operation. The ratio of acid to water is important, and only the amounts specified should be used. 

A product should be closed as soon as practicable after filling. The only major exception to this is the freeze drying procedure, whereby the container is filled with liquid, partially closed, and freeze dried. Then the closure operation is completed. 

Agent in soil or concrete is not a problem during ordinary operations because gas-phase monitoring of agent suffices in areas where agent spills may occur. However, it is a potential problem during cleanup and closure operations when these materials must be certified as agent free. 

Finding 2c. Advances in monitoring technology could reduce response times and/or false positive alarm rates and could possibly make simultaneous monitoring of different agents feasible. This could reduce the risk of worker exposure during both disposal and closure operations. 

Recommendation 3c. The Army should develop and deploy advanced technologies for rapidly and accurately measuring residual agent and agent degradation products of concern associated with solid waste, particularly on solid waste surfaces and spent activated-carbon stocks encountered during closure operations. 

The issues surrounding the effects on closure operations from waste generation and management before and after completion of stockpile disposal operations are also considered. 

Significant amounts of secondary wastes are generated at each site as a result of operations, and additional quantities of wastes will be generated during closure operations. Closure wastes will be discussed separately in Chapter 4. In Chapter 3, the secondary wastes generated as a result of operations are identified by type, followed by a discussion of the challenges faced by each site. 

During a closure operation, all contaminated equipment, structures, and soils must be properly disposed of or decontaminated. The act of removing any hazardous wastes or hazardous constituents during closure results in the owner or operator becoming a generator of hazardous waste. The waste must be managed in... 

The three most voluminous closure wastes at the incineration sites are metals, spent activated carbon, and rubble or debris. Of these, contaminated metal is probably the easiest to manage as it will most probably be cut up and put through the metal parts furnace for decontamination and disposal. Provisions for recycling treated scrap metal have already been included in the RCRA permits for each site. A review is needed prior to closure to ensure that scrap metal from closure operations can be handled in the same fashion and that proper analytical and on-site decontamination procedures are in place to clear the metal for shipment. 

The elegant work of H. C. van der Plas and colleagues provides proof that the Sn(ANRORC) mechanism (addition of the nucleophile to the heterocycle, ring opening, and ring closure) operates in some Chichibabin reactions under homogeneous conditions (85T237). 

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