Cs-137 in Plum Brook

In May of 2006, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) retained HaagEnviro to contribute to NASA’s evaluation efforts as it decommissioned NASA’s Plum Brook Reactor Facility (PBRF) near Sandusky, Ohio. 

NASA particularly wished HaagEnviro to assess the potential hydrogeologic distribution of a radioactive isotope of the element cesium, known as ¹³⁷Cs, or Cs-137.  NASA had discovered small amounts of Cs-137 in the sediments of a creek known as Plum Brook, which passed through the NASA property, and extended down to the eastern end of Sandusky Bay on Lake Erie.

The initial HaagEnviro task was to review and evaluate existing data, documenting this review in a "Concept Report" which formed the basis of a Characterization Plan, which defined proposed sampling efforts.

Based upon the Concept Report and the Characterization Plan, HaagEnviro worked with NASA and other NASA contractors to conduct 5 investigations, resulting in 5 reports, for which the areas of coverage related to the Plum Brook stream are briefly described as follows:

Groundwater Report - Selected wells on the NASA site
Floodplain Wetlands Report - Plum Brook Country Club to State Route 6
Ponds Report - Ponds on the Plum Brook Country Club
Stream Mouth Report - From State Route 6 to East Sandusky Bay
Bay Report - The Eastern End of East Sandusky Bay

Each of these 5 reports, and the Concept Report, are available to the public as free- download PDF documents on the Haag Press website.  To go to the Haag Press website page from which you can download these reports, click here.