5. W.R. Grace and Company Site
W.R. GRACE AND COMPANY SITE
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SITE SUMMARY
W.R. Grace and Company Site is on an industrialized peninsula in south Baltimore, Maryland. It is bordered on
the north by Curtis Bay, on the west by Curtis Creek, on the east by the Patapsco River, and on the south by the
Baltimore Municipal Landfill.
During the 1950s, W.R. Grace milled thorium for the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), a predecessor agency
of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). W.R. Grace began processing radioactive materials at the site in the
mid-1950s, when Rare Earths, Inc. (W.R. Grace's predecessor) entered into a contract with AEC to extract
thorium and rare earths from naturally-occurring monazite sands. Rare Earths' contract with AEC and its license
to possess, transfer, and use radioactive thorium were transferred to W.R. Grace & Company. The facility where
thorium processing took place (Building 23) operated until the late 1950s, when W.R. Grace and AEC agreed
to terminate the contract. The wastes were buried in a landfill-type area.
Thorium processing at the W.R. Grace and Company Site, for U.S. Government and commercial entities, resulted
in lowJevel radioactive waste that was buried on the property. Radiation surveys of the burial area and the
surrounding area identified ( 1) randomly distributed contamination over the waste burial area; (2) elevated levels
of radioactivity in several other locations on a waste management area surrounding the burial area; (3)
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W.R. Grace and Company
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The W.R. Grace and Company Site 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.
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6. National Defense Authorization Act (NOAA) Long-Term Stewardship Report
contaminated surfaces in Building 23 exceeding guidelines, especially around vats and hoppers; and (4) alpharadiation surface contamination exceeding guidelines on all five levels of Building 23. The primary contaminant
of concern is thorium-232.
The site was designated by DOE for remedial action under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program
(FUSRAP) in 1984. The Corps' 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 W.R. Grace and Company Site, please contact:
Baltimore District
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
10 South Howard Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
Phone: 410-962-7608
or visit the Internet website at: http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/
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