Adrian Facility

Site Description and History

The Adrian, Michigan, Site (formerly the General Motors Site) is located at 1450 E. Beecher Street, on the eastern side of Route 52 in Adrian, Michigan. The town of Adrian is approximately 20 miles southwest of Ann Arbor and 30 miles northwest of Toledo, Ohio. The site encompasses the former General Motors (GM) plant, a large complex covering approximately 17 acres.

During the 1950s, the previous owner of the site, the Bridgeport Brass Company, machined and shaped uranium metal under contract with the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) for the fabrication of reactor fuel elements in the Hanford, Washington, and Savannah River, South Carolina, nuclear reactors. (The site was sold to Martin Marietta in the early 1960s and then to GM in 1974). At the end of the contract, the site was decontaminated to comply with radiological protection standards in effect at the time.

In 1977, Oak Ridge National Laboratory conducted a radiological survey at the site and identified residual uranium contamination in areas underneath the floor. Contaminant levels exceeded the current guidelines, and remediation was deemed necessary. The area that required remedial action comprises approximately 41,000 square feet of the plant.

During excavation for new construction at the site in 1985, additional contamination was identified in a tile drain line. The portion of the drain line directly under the manufacturing area was subsequently removed, placed in 55-gallon drums, and shipped to a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for disposal. In addition, oil, scale, and sludge remaining in the pipe chase and oil collection system contained concentrations of uranium exceeding the current guidelines.

The Adrian site was designated for remedial action under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) in July 1988.

In 1994, DOE conducted a detailed radiological survey at the site. Results from that survey showed that the manholes, sumps, pipe chases, and associated piping were contaminated.

Decontamination at the Adrian site included a high-pressure water wash to remove water, oil, sludge, and scale from the sumps, manholes, and associated piping; pumping liquids into lined drums to remove oil/water and sludge; wiping the floors and walls to remove oil and scale; and excavating a 3-square-foot area.

Some materials with contamination that exceeded the guidelines were left in place in the piping system because of the high costs of complete remediation and the economic impact that would result from shutting down the GM plant to accomplish the remedial action. A hazard assessment concluded that contamination left in the piping system would not result in risk to the general public. Supplemental limits were approved for the contamination left in place. Supplemental limits may be applied in place of the primary limits established in DOE guidelines at locations where the cost of remediation would be unreasonably high compared to the long-term benefits, and the residual contamination does not pose a present or future risk to workers or members of the public.

Remedial action at the site was completed in July 1995.
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