DESCRIPTION: The Staten Island Warehouse (SIW) is a 1.25-acre site on the north side of Richmond Terrace, directly below the Bayonne Bridge in Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York. SIW was used by African Metals Corporation to store high-grade Belgian Congo uranium ore from 1940 to 1942. The uranium ore was later purchased by the Manhattan Engineering District (MED) in support of MED activities.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) identified contamination in the northwest corner of the property in 1980. The DOE conducted an eligibility review in 1985-1986 and determined the Site was not eligible for the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) based on contract language that indicated the Government did not take possession of the ore until it was removed from the Site. However, following the review of additional radiological survey information gathered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from the property in 2008 as well as additional contract language, the DOE found the Site eligible for inclusion in FUSRAP in October 2009. The DOE referred the Site to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in 2021, in accordance with Article III.D of a 1999 Memorandum of Understanding executed between the DOE and USACE.
AUTHORIZATION: The Fiscal Year 1998 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill, signed into law on October 13, 1997, transferred management of the FUSRAP to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). FUSRAP was created in 1974 to clean up sites where work was performed during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s as part of the nation's early atomic energy program. Most of those contaminated sites were cleaned up under the guidelines in effect at the time, which were not as strict as today’s standards in most cases.
STATUS: USACE has conducted a Preliminary Assessment and Site Inspection at the SIW site. The Site was officially added to FUSRAP in May 2021 and USACE completed a Supplemental Site Investigation confirmatory sampling field effort in September 2021. Based on the results, the USACE completed an Action Memorandum documenting a decision to perform a time critical removal at the site. The time critical removal will be completed in Fiscal Year 2024.
DOCUMENTS
Staten Island Warehouse FUSRAP Preliminary Assessment
Staten Island Warehouse FUSRAP Site Inspection
CONTACT:
Kathleen Cuzzolino, Project Manager
Phone: (917) 790-8330
Email: Kathleen.Cuzzolino@usace.army.mil
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District
Programs and Project Management Division
26 Federal Plaza
New York, NY 10278