During World War II, the Manhattan Engineering District (MED) utilized facilities in the Buffalo, New York area to extract natural uranium from uranium-bearing ores. The Linde property is one of several properties within the Tonawanda, New York Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) site, which includes Linde, Ashland 1, Ashland 2, and Seaway. Union Carbide Corporation's Linde Division was placed under contract with the Manhattan Engineering District (MED) from 1942 to 1946 to extract uranium from seven different ore sources: four African pitchblende ores and three domestic ores. Over the years, erosion and weathering have spread contamination from the residuals handled and disposed of at Linde to adjacent soils. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) negotiated a Federal Facilities Agreement (FFA) governing remediation of the Linde property. In Fiscal Year (FY) 1998, Congress transferred cleanup management responsibility for the sites in the FUSRAP program, including the Linde Site, from the DOE to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), with the charge to commence cleanup promptly. All actions by the USACE at the Linde Site are being conducted subject to the administrative, procedural, and regulatory provisions of the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the existing FFA. USACE issued a Proposed Plan for the Linde Property in 1999 and a Final Record of Decision (ROD) in 2000. USACE worked with the local community near the Tonawanda site, and after considering public comment, selected the remedy calling for removing soils that exceed the site-specific cleanup standard, and transporting the contaminated material to off-site locations. The selected remedy is protective of human health and the environment, complies with Federal and State requirements, and meets commitments to the community
