Published on 10

[We have received many reports of an Environmentally Unsafe UND . After We Reported Unsafe Conditions to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), they in cooperation with the Electric Power Research Institute have held a workshop to try to keep everyone safe.] the Editors

For Immediate Release:
Nov. 18, 1998

For More Information Contact:
Dana Mount, Director
Division of Environmental Engineering
North Dakota Department of Health
Phone: 701.328.5188
E-mail: dmount@state.nd.us

North Dakota Department of Health and the University of North Dakota Reach Agreement

BISMARCK, N.D. – The North Dakota Department of Health and the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, N.D., recently reached an agreement concerning civil penalties levied against UND for violations of state and federal radioactive material requirements.

If the University of North Dakota meets the conditions of the agreement, $41,250 in civil penalties will be suspended and eventually dismissed. The judgment was filed in Northeast Central District Court in Grand Forks County Oct. 12, 1998.

"The North Dakota Department of Health is pleased with UND’s willingness to implement the requirements of the agreement," said Dana Mount, director of the Division of Environmental Engineering.

UND has agreed to implement steps to improve its overall radiation safety. In addition, the university will produce and distribute its proposed Supplemental Environmental Project, a radiation and chemical safety training program for North Dakota high schools.

"The state health department believes that this training will improve laboratory safety for students," Mount said.

The conditions of the agreement include:

Conducting fume hood testing and certification in UND laboratories (fume hoods remove and exhaust harmful vapors from hazardous chemicals and radioactive materials)
Developing and implementing a laser radiation safety program for the university
Expanding the radiation safety training requirements to include more university personnel
Improving UND’s radioactive waste handling and security procedures
Recycling or disposing of unused sealed sources of radioactive material
Completing the radiation and chemical safety training project for high school students

ND Health Department

Published on February 13, 2000, Grand Forks Herald (ND) COAL GAS CONCERN CHECKS UND HOCKEY FAN PARKING
UND police and parking officials barred hockey fans from the parking lot between the Energy and Environmental Research Center and the Engelstad Arena Friday night during a Sioux game. The problem was a coal gasification test that could have dirtied the finish on fans' cars.

IT DIDN'T STOP THE 6,000-PLUS FANS FROM FILLING THE HOCKEY ARENA FRIDAY. SATURDAY NIGHT, THE PARKING LOT WAS OPEN FOR HOCKEY FANS.

The concern Friday was that tar-like lignite coal byproducts from an EERC

[ just So that you know that this has been going on for a long time-here is an excerpt from an article in the Herald from ten years ago]-Editors

Published on 10/25/1990, GRAND FORKS HERALD

MORE UND NEWS
UND LIABLE FOR CLEAN AIR VIOLATIONS, FINED $65,000

The state and the state agreed on Wednesday.

UND and the State Department of Health and Consolidation Laboratories agreed that UND was liable for violations of air pollution codes. As a result of that agreement, a district judge levied a $65,000 fine against UND Wednesday. The entire amount will be suspended and ultimately dismissed if UND complies with the conditions set out by Judge Lawrence Jahnke.

Pollution Prevention

Coal Combustion Residues Workshop
January 10-11, 2001
EPA's Environmental Research Center,
Classroom 1
Research Triangle Park, NC

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been working cooperatively with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Electric Power Research Institute in providing data and information on control technologies for mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants and the resulting residues from the use of these control. Issues regarding the ultimate fate of mercury from the management of residues may exist if the Agency goes forward with a positive determination regarding evaluating regulatory options for reducing mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants.

This EPA-sponsored workshop was designed to provide a forum for exchanging research information about the characterization and management of coal combustion residues (CCRs), discuss potential data gaps and research needs, and identify potential opportunities for collaboration. The focal piece of work presented at the workshop was a draft report prepared for EPA by the Research Triangle Institute entitled "Characterization and Management of Residues from Coal-Fired Power Plants". This report contains a mass balance characterization of CCRs and evaluates different residue management practices including a wide variety of beneficial uses and land disposal. A number of additional presentations were given from top experts in the field and group discussions were held to help provide feedback to EPA on research priorities, technical approaches, and opportunities for future collaboration

Published on 04/21/1990, GRAND FORKS HERALD

STUDENT GROUP: UND NEEDS RECYCLING POLICY

Pollution and overconsumption are serious problems at UND, a student group declared Friday -- but not as serious as the lack of institutional attention to the problems.

"There is no waste reduction programs," said James Scoles, presenting results of an audit conducted by the Environmental Conservation Organization. "There are no policies addressing air pollution or energy conservation or water conservation

As the Story Goes: 6 Kids in Belfield, ND came down with Lukemia in on year. The Feds met in Dickinson. Finally, a clean-up of Nuclear Waste began.

http://nepa.eh.doe.gov/ea/ea1206/ea-1206.html

"In the proposed surface remedial action, which is scheduled to start in FY 1996, all residual radioactive material from the Belfield site will be relocated 97 kilometers (60 miles) south, to the Bowman, North Dakota site, for co-disposal."

2 Radiation and radioactivity levels, Bowman, North Dakota, ashing site

	Range	Average	Source
Gamma exposure rate^a
Background^b	11.9-13.4 microR/hr	12.8 microR/hr	BFEC, 1986b
Onsite contaminated areas	11-358 microR/hr	NA	BFEC, 1986b
Radon-222^c
Onsite flux	15-94 pCi/m²/s	58 pCi/m²/s	FBDU, 1981
Onsite flux	(0.56-3.48 Bq/m²/s)	(2.15 Bq/m²/s)	FBDU, 1981
Soil radioactivity-background^b
Radium-226	0.8-2.0 pCi/g	1.4 pCi/g	BFEC, 1986b
Radium-226	(0.03-0.07 Bq/g)	(0.52 Bq/g)
Thorium-230	1.0-1.9 pCi/g	1.4 pCi/g	BFEC, 1986b
Thorium-230	(0.04-0.07 Bq/g)	(0.05 Bq/g)
Soil radioactivity-onsite^d
Radium-226	0.4-415.0 pCi/g	42.8 pCi/g	BFEC, 1986b
Radium-226	(0.01-15.36 Bq/g)	(1.6 Bq/g)

Belfield, North Dakota (Umtra Site)

Belfield and Bowman are two of the 24 uranium mill processing sites designated by the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act for remediation by the Department of Energy. During the 1960s, private firms processed most of the uranium ore mined in the United States for the Atomic Energy Commission, a predecessor of the Department of Energy. Congress passed the Act in 1978 in response to public concern regarding potential health hazards from long-term exposure to uranium mill tailings. It authorized the Department of Energy to stabilize, dispose of, and control uranium mill tailings and other contaminated material at 24 uranium mill processing sites and vicinity properties. For a general discussion of the UMTRA Program, see the overview presented in the New Mexico section of this report.

The cost estimate model used for this report provides costs for each of the UMTRA sites. All costs for waste management activities, program management, and relevant landlord activities attributable to the Department are provided for within the scope of environmental restoration. There are no Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act sites with either current or planned nuclear material and facility stabilization activity needs. Funding for all sites is 100 percent nondefense.

Pursuant to the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act, the Department of Energy entered into a Cooperative Agreement in 1983 with the State of North Dakota. The agreement outlines the roles and responsibilities of each party. It also delineates the cost sharing arrangement that states that the Department of Energy is responsible for 100 percent of the assessment costs and 90 percent of the remediation costs, and the State is responsible for the remaining 10 percent of the remediation costs. In addition, the Department of Energy is responsible for paying 90 percent of the State's 10 percent, and the State is responsible for the remaining 10 percent of these costs (one percent of the total). The Nuclear Regulatory Commission concurred on the original agreement and is required to concur on all major modifications thereafter.