NRC's inspector general probing W. Pa. dump cleanup

APOLLO, Pa. (AP) — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s inspector general is investigating the ongoing cleanup of a nuclear waste dump in western Pennsylvania.

The Valley News Dispatch in Tarentum reports today the inspector general’s office has confirmed the investigation, but otherwise won’t comment on its review of the ongoing cleanup about 30 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

The Army Corps of Engineers has been involved in the cleanup since 2002, but halted work in May when crews discovered unanticipated amounts of “complex” materials, like uranium and plutonium. That prompted U.S. Sen. Robert Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, to ask for the inspector general’s investigation.

Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp., or NUMEC, made nuclear fuel for submarines at a plant nearby and owned the dump site the site from 1957 until the 1980s. Babcock & Wilcox Co. most recently owned the land.