Burrell Disposal Cell

Uranium and other ores were processed at Canonsburg,
Pennsylvania, between 1911 and 1966. This milling
operation generated process-related waste and tailings,
a sandlike material containing radioactive materials and
other contaminants associated with the ore. In 1956 and
1957, tailings were removed from the Canonsburg site
and transported for use as fill on privately owned rail-road
property at Burrell Township, near Blairsville, Pennsylvania.
The Federal Government acquired the Burrell Disposal
Site through condemnation proceedings in 1986. The
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) encapsulated the
tailings in an engineered disposal cell at the Burrell site
in 1987.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission included the
Burrell Disposal Cell under general license in 1994. DOE is
responsible, under the general license, for the long-term
custody, monitoring, and maintenance of the site. The
DOE Long-Term Surveillance and Maintenance (LTSM)
Program at the DOE Grand Junction (Colorado) Office is
responsible for the long-term safety and integrity of the
disposal site.

In 1988, DOE established the LTSM Program to provide
stewardship of disposal cells that contain low-level
radioactive material after completion of environmental
restoration activities. The mission of the LTSM Program
is to ensure that the disposal cells continue to prevent
release of contaminated materials to the environment.
These materials will remain potentially hazardous for
thousands of years. As long as the cells function as
designed, risks to human health and the environment
are negligible