The U. S. Department of Energy awarded an $8.9million task order last week for a third-party contractor to perform an Environmental Impact Statement on a portion of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory.

CDM, a Virginia-based engineering consulting firm, will examine a 290acre section of the former nuclear testing facility commonly referred to as Area IV- a site that includes the Energy Technology Engineering Center operated by the DOE and used for nuclear research until 1988.

Bill Taylor, DOE spokesperson, said the purpose of the EIS is to study the site in detail in order to determine what alternatives are available in regard to the cleanup of existing radioactive and other contamination.

"The EIS would be a decisionmaking tool that examines any adverse effects of the proposed cleanup and any alternatives associated with that," Taylor said. "These are extremely detailed studies. There's an entire range of possibilities that are examined."

In May 2007, the U.S. District Court of Northern California ordered the Department of Energy to perform an EIS in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, which was established in 1969 to help protect the environment and promote human health.

The decision was made after the court determined the department was in violation of the act when, in 2003, it decided to file a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and conduct remediation of Area IV based only on an environmental assessment.

According to Taylor, the agency will file a Notice of Intent this spring that states its commitment to performing the EIS and will soon consult with the public, elected officials and other interested parties to determine the scope of the study.

"Public participation is a big part of the EIS," Taylor said. "We want to know the initial concerns from people. We know that a lot of groups are very active in the SSFL and Rocketdyne."

For more information on Area IV of the field lab and for updates on the Environmental Impact Statement, visit www.etec.energy.gov/.