&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Emergency and
Remedial Response
(5201G)
EPA 54O/F-98/O2O
OSWER 9365.0-1FS
PB98-963305
January 1999
Returning Superfund Sites
To Productive Use
Luminous Processors
Athens, Georgia
BEFORE
Radioactive waste
site from the
manufacture of
luminous watch
and clock dials
AFTER
McDonalds fast
food restaurant and
outdoor children's
playground
IMPACT
Local jobs and
income, increased
property values,
increased public
revenues
McDonald's opens their restaurant on the former Luminous Processors site,
taking advantage of the high commercial growth occurring in the area.
If you drive today along the Atlanta Highway on the outskirts of Athens,
Georgia, there are no signs that a radioactive hazardous waste site
once blighted the landscape. What you see instead is an abundance of
commercial activity, including shopping malls, gas stations, and
restaurants. In fact, a McDonald's restaurant currently sits on top of the
former hazardous waste site called the Luminous Processors Superfund
site. As it does with many contaminated sites across the country, EPA
cleaned up the property to enable redevelopment to occur. What follows
is the story of how EPA worked with the community and the State of
Georgia to return this property to productive use, and the economic,
environmental, and social impacts that have resulted.
Luminous Processors Site
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Site Snapshot
Luminous
Processors,
Inc.
Georgia
PROBLEM
• Soil contaminated with
radium-226 and tritium.
• Buildings and debris
contaminated with
radioactive waste.
SOLUTION
• 18,000 cubic feet of
contaminated soils
excavated.
• Contaminated buildings
and debris removed.
• Site backfilled with clean
soil and grass planted.
• Fence and warning signs
installed.
PARTNERS
• U.S. EPA
• Georgia Department of
Natural Resources
• Local Community
• McDonald's
From 1952 to 1978, Luminous Processors operated its manufacturing facility on a 1-acre
site alongside Highway 78, the Atlanta Highway. The company made glow-in-the-dark
watch and clock dials, popular and useful household items. But the dials glowed
because they were painted with radioactive isotopes. When Luminous Processors
abandoned the site in 1980, the company left behind not only an empty building, but
also soil contaminated with high levels of radioactive waste.
Before
Using funds from the Superfund, workers from the State of Georgia
clean up the radioactive contamination at the site in 1982.
From Radiation...
In 1981, EPA placed the Luminous Processors property on its list of high-priority
Superfund sites. Shortly after its listing, EPA awarded funds to the State of Georgia for
the cleanup of the site. With this assistance, workers were able to remove
contaminated soil and hazardous waste and debris from the property. They also
backfilled excavated areas with clean soil, seeded the areas with grass, and fenced in
the property. The entire cleanup was completed in only five months, and in December,
1982, the site was deleted from ERA'S Superfund site list. What had once been a 1-acre
patch of radioactive waste was now a grassy site ready for new construction.
... To Redevelopment
While the Luminous site was being cleaned up, developers were building the Georgia
Square Mall, an 830,000-square-foot shopping center, across the street. This and other
commercial growth in the area attracted the attention of the McDonald's Corporation,
which saw a potential market in the large number of hungry shoppers being drawn to the
mall. McDonald's purchased the Luminous property in 1990 and built a restaurant,
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After
A McDonald's fast food restaurant and playground now occupies the
former hazardous waste site, providing many positive benefits to the
community.
complete with an outdoor playground. Because EPA's cleanup was so thorough,
McDonald's was able to redevelop the property without liability concerns. In fact, so
complete is the transformation that few people today realize that the property was once
a radioactive waste site.
Community Benefits
The replacement of a dangerous eyesore with a successful restaurant has had an
enormous impact on the surrounding community. The rapid and successful cleanup of
the Luminous Processors property has ensured the protection of human health and the
environment, while the restaurant itself has provided local jobs and revenue. With a
thriving business replacing an abandoned, contaminated factory, property values at and
around the site have also increased. The aesthetic improvements and the commercial
vitality of the area continue to attract new businesses, bringing further economic and
social benefits to the community.
Keys to Success
EPA's partnership with the State of Georgia and the local community was key to the
successful redevelopment of the Luminous Processors site. This cooperation was
crucial to developing a cleanup plan that satisfied everyone's concerns. Community
members had input into EPA's and the state's redevelopment planning as well. The
site's comprehensive cleanup minimized potential liability concerns, making the property
suitable for redevelopment at a critical time when other development was occurring in
the surrounding area. This cooperative effort among EPA, the state, the local
community, and corporate interests is bringing positive results to the local economy, the
environment, and area residents today, and will continue to do so for years to come.
POSITIVE
ECONOMIC IMPACTS
Short-Term
• 38 short-term jobs during
five months of cleanup
• $920,000+ in annual
income resulting from
short-term cleanup jobs
Long-Term
• 26 permanent/full-time
jobs with McDonald's
• $430,000 in total annual
income and $340,000+
in spending resulting
from permanent jobs
Public Revenue
• $55,000+ in sales tax
revenue at the
McDonald's
• $15,000 in state income
tax for permanent jobs
Property Value
• $460,000 increase in
property value
• Roughly $480,000
potential increase
in residential property
values within two miles
of site
I
ENVIRONMENTAL &
SOCIAL BENEFITS
• Public health in busy
commercial region
protected
• Spread of radioactive
contamination to
surrounding areas
prevented
• Attraction of new
businesses to the area
continued
• Aesthetic quality of area
due to landscape
improvement enhanced
• New playground for
children constructed
Luminous Processors Site
-------
I.Atlanta Highway
2. Future location of
Georgia Square
Shopping Center
3. Location of
Cleanup Actions
• Exposure to contamination
eliminated
• Protection of nearby
residents, workers, and
shoppers
• Short-term cleanup jobs
and income
4. Location where
McDonald's
constructed
• Productive use of formerly-
contaminated property
• Permanent jobs, Income,
and tax revenues
• Increase in property values
of site and surrounding
area
• Attraction of new
businesses to the area
Cleanup and Redevelopment
The Luminous Processors site, seen here in 1982 prior to cleanup, and the surrounding
area have been transformed following tremendous commercial growth along the Atlanta
Highway.
Want to Know More?
The Technical Appendix to this fact sheet provides detailed information on the economic impacts associated with this site,
Including the specific calculations used, sources of information, and possible limitations associated with the calculations. To
obtain copies of the Technical Appendix for this fact sheet, or to learn more about the economic analyses performed for this
site or other Superfund sites, please write to reuse.info@epa.gov or contact:
Melissa Friedland
Office of Emergency and Remedial Response
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(703)603-8864
For more information about the cleanup and redevelopment of the Luminous Processors site, contact:
Georgia Natural Resources Department
Hazardous Waste Corrective Action Division
205 Butler Street, Suite 1154
Atlanta, GA 30334
(404)657-8600
To learn more about the redevelopment or reuse of Superfund sites, write to reuse.info@epa.gov, or call the Superfund
Hotline at 800-553-7672 or (703) 412-3323 (Washington, DC area).
To see this fact sheet, and similar fact sheets showing how Superfund sites have been returned to productive use, visit our
Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/accomp/redevel/
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