United States Environmental Protection Agency Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5502G) EPA520-F-92-016 Fall 1992 vvEPA Superfund At Work Hazardous Waste Cleanup Efforts Nationwide Lansdowne Radioactive Residence Site Profile Site Description: Three-story duplex dwelling, located in a residential area of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, two miles from Philadelphia Site Size: 1/2-acre Primary Contaminants: Radium and other radionuclides Potential Range of Health Risks Without EPA Cleanup: Increased risk of cancer from ingesting or inhaling radioactive dust and gases Nearby Population Affected: 11,000 people within one mite of the site Ecological Concerns: Radioactive contamination of soil and air Year Listed on NPL: 1985 Year Deleted from NPL: 1991 EPA Region: m State: Pennsylvania Congressional District: 7 This house was a Superfund site. A physics professor refined radium in the basement of this duplex for nearly twenty years, leading to high levels of radon gas in the structure and surrounding soil. Success In Brief EPA Completes Cleanup of Nation's Only Residential Superfund Site In 1991, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USAGE), carefully dismantled and removed the country's only private residence Superfund site. The former home laboratory was used for radium refining and processing from 1924 to 1944. The history of the site is an intriguing one, and the cleanup exemplifies the Superfund program's effectiveness. High- lights of EPA actions at the site include: • Destroying and removing an entire house, which was highly contaminated with radioactive gas and dust, with no adverse effects to cleanup workers or local residents; • Completing the $11.6 million cleanup of the three-story brick house and adjacent soil within one year; • Establishing the precedent for cleanup of radiation in residential areas; • Maintaining strong community relations with the local residents of Lansdowne and keeping them informed of Superfund activi- ties through meetings and personal visits by EPA staff; and • Deleting the site from EPA's National Priorities List (NPL) in September 1991. continued on page 3, col 3 The Site Today Today the former Lansdowne site is a cleared lot, replanted with grass. Six neighboring yards have been excavated and filled with clean soil, and two garages have been rebuilt. The site has been , eliminated from the National Priorities List, the roster of the nation's most hazardous waste sites eligible for long-term cleanup. The site is considered to be complete in every respect, so it has been excused from the usual five-year review process. ------- Superfund At Work Lansdowne Radioactive Residence, Lansdowne, PA • Fall 1992 The former Lansdowne site consisted of a three-story duplex located at 105/107 East Stratford Avenue in the borough of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, approximately two miles west of Philadel- phia. The surrounding area is a densely-populated residen- tial neighborhood that was established in the latter part of the 19th and early 20th centu- ries. Approximately 11,000 people live within a one-mile radius of the site. From 1924-1944, Dr. Dicran Hadjy Kabakjian, a physics professor at the University of Pennsylvania, operated an unregulated, "mom and pop" radium processing laboratory in the basement of 105 East Stratford Avenue. The professor's entire family was employed at least part-time in his business, supplying ra- dium implant needles to local physicians and hospitals for the treatment of cancer pa- tients. "I'd take the raw stuff and cook it until you get [sic] these radium crystals," said A Site Snapshot Alice Lewis, 74, the late professor's daughter (Bucks County Courier Times, 4/23/89). "No secret was made of the work we did here. If my dad knew all the trouble it caused, he'd be devastated," said Louise Treichel, another surviving daughter of the professor (Delaware County Sunday Times, July 31,1988). It was not known "If my dad knew all the trouble it caused, he'd be devastated." -Louise Treichel, scientist's daughter then that radium, a refined prod- uct of uranium ore, decays and forms radon gas and other carci- nogenic by-products. Radiation contamination of the house and surrounding soil manifested itself in the form of radon gas (released during the decay of radium), and gamma radiation (a particulate by-prod- uct released during the decay of radon gas). Radon gas is approximately 20 times more hazardous than gamma radia- tion. Levels for both radon and gamma radiation found at the site were several times higher than federal standards permit. Further threats existed through the release of radon gas and gamma radiation particles into the air and soil. Professor Kabakjian died in 1945 of emphysema, possibly connected to acid fumes re- leased during the professor's radium refining process. When Dr. Kabakjian's body was exhumed for study in 1965, his skeleton registered the highest levels of radiation ever re- corded in a human body. Certainly the primary threat at Lansdowne was to human health, through breathing or ingesting radioactive particles and fumes. No other Lansdowne residents have suffered health effects as a result of the site. The worst potential effects of the radiation were inside the house itself. Lansdowne Radioactive Residence Timeline • Dr. Kabakjian dies, possibly as a result of the refining process Dr. Kabakjian begins production of radium needles in basement of 105 East Stratford Avenue 1 U.S. Public Health Service and U.S. Air Force conduct initial cleanup • Kizirian family temporarily evacuated 1924 1944 1945 Page 2 1964 ------- Superfund At Work Lansdowne Radioactive Residence, Lansdowne, PA Fall 1992 Success in Brief continued from page 1 The Superfund cleanup team, comprised of EPA, USAGE and their contractors, thoroughly eliminated all radiation-con- taminated debris and soil at the site. The Lansdowne Radiation case is a classic example of how the Superfund program was intended to work in situations where an owner or operator of a hazardous waste site cannot fund the cleanup. EPA Sets Two Precedents for Radiation Cleanup EPA encountered and resolved two unique regula- tory problems at the site. In 1986 there was no existing federal safety standard for levels of radiation in residential communities. At Lansdowne, EPA set the precedent for addressing radiation levels in residential areas. This in- volved imposing even more stringent levels than those set forth by the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 (UMTRCA), which only applies to radioactive material at processing or depository sites. The Lansdowne site was the first test case for establishing safety standards for radiation in urban areas. The Lansdowne site helped set yet another precedent for the Superfund program. Generally, radiation sites tend to be feder- ally owned facilities and are handled under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. As a result of Lansdowne's proposal to the NPL in 1985, EPA expanded the criteria sites must meet to qualify for Superfund cleanup. One of these criteria was the issuance of a public health advisory, as occurred in Lansdowne. The expanded criteria have allowed other such cases to be included on the NPL. Superfund is enacted > Lansdowne site brought to attention of EPA EPA investigation finds Lansdowne radioactivity endangering duplex residents EPA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency conduct emergency evacuation r 1 Site placed on National Priorities List ' First EPA technical plan requires permanent relocation of occupants Second EPA technical plan calls for totally dismantling the house, excavating soils, and removing 246 feet of sewer lines Cleanup crews begin work Cleanup is complete Monitoring begins to assure target levels met • Site is deleted from the NPL 1980 1983 1984 1985 1986 1988 1989 1991 Page 3 ------- Superfund At Work Lansdowne Radioactive Residence, Lansdowne, PA Fall 1992 EPA Cleanup of "Hot House" Eliminates Radiation Contamination From 1924 to 1944, refined radium ore was delivered to the garage of the residence in a sandy form. Dr. Kabakjian refined the ore using an acid process. As a result of this mishandling of radium, acid fumes released during the purification process permeated both halves of the duplex. Waste liquids were poured down sinks and toilets, contaminating 246 feet of sewer lines. Wearing nothing more protective than kitchen-style aprons, the professor and his wife routinely worked over a work- bench covered only by newspa- pers, and burned contaminated papers in the chimney. By track- ing the wastes around on their shoes, the Kabakjian's uninten- tionally but extensively contami- nated the house and grounds. Broken laboratory apparatus, empty chemical bottles and tailings from the operation were buried on the grounds of the professor's property as well as neighboring properties. What began as one professor's humani- tarian research to help cancer patients became a nightmare for Lansdowne residents. 1964 Cleanup Partially Reduces Radiation Threat The 1988-89 Superfund cleanup was preceded by an attempt in the early 1960s to purge the East Stratford Avenue home. In 1963, the Pennsylvania Department of Health inspected the house and found extremely high levels of radioactivity. In 1964, the U.S. Public Health Service and the Pennsylvania Department of Health made a joint attempt to decontaminate or stabilize the existing radiation of the 105 residence, which had since passed into the ownership of Harry and Mary Kizirian. The U.S. Air Force performed the physical cleanup from early May to September, 1964. This effort involved removing and disposing of the contaminated interior, including furniture, rugs, walls, and floors. Air Force personnel tore apart concrete A significant portion of radium — one gram, the weight of a paperclip — remained behind. floors and walls to remove radia- tion. They sanded, vacuumed, and scraped off the extreme "hot spots," sealed contaminated fireplaces, and fixed areas of lesser contamination under several layers of paint or stucco. This eliminated the radiation contamination levels by approxi- mately 90%, and the house was considered to be safe for habita- tion once again, with one provi- sion — that the occupants not spend more than 16 hours per day in the house. With that knowledge, the Kizirians — who were temporarily evacuated — moved back into 105 East Stratford Avenue. However, radiation levels still exceeded federal limits. Once Is Not Enough: Radiation Continues to Plague the Duplex The 1964 cleanup did not address contamination of the "107" half of the residence, the twin garages, the soil or sewer lines. Nor did the initial cleanup address off-site contamination, such as neighbors' garages, yards, driveways, and area vegetation. However, a significant portion of radium — one gram, the weight of a paperclip — remained be- hind. This amazingly small amount of radiation was suffi- cient to fully permeate the entire duplex structure, a formidable illustration of the contaminant's potency. Superfund Program Created to Address Hazardous Sites The legislation creating the Superfund program was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1980. The primary intent of Superfund is to compel companies or individuals responsible for hazardous waste sites to fund cleanups, such that federal and state expenditures are minimized. However, in the event that owners and operators have abandoned a site, or if they are deceased — as in the case of Lansdowne — a mixture of federal and state funds covers the costs of cleanup. Congress thus established a revolving Trust Fund to be used in such events, with the provision that EPA take all steps possible to recover these costs from responsible parties. In the case of Lansdowne, however, no such party could be held liable, so the Fund was used. Page 4 ------- ————•— Superfund At Work During the course of an EPA national survey of potential radioactive sites in 1983, the Lansdowne site was brought to the Agency's attention by the State of Pennsylvania's Depart- ment of Environmental Re- sources. EPA officials also learned that the owners of the duplex were planning to sell the property. William Belanger, radiation specialist for the Agency's regional office re- sponded, "I do not see a risk to the public at large, but if the house is sold, the new occupants would be getting into a poten- tially unhealthful situation." EPA visited the site in 1983 and found radon levels exceeding federal limits by as much as seven to ten times. Having discovered these elevated levels, EPA con- tacted Argonne National Labora- tory (a Department of Energy facility near Chicago) to assist in determining the extent of the contamination. EPA's Emergency Actions Safe- guard Residents In July 1984, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) advised EPA that long-term residents of the duplex were endangered by the elevated gamma-radiation and radon levels in the house. Argonne National Laboratory's findings agreed with those of EPA and CDC, so in September 1984, EPA authorized an emer- gency action to evacuate the two owners occupying 105 and 107 East Stratford Avenue. Generally, sites contaminated with radiation are not addressed by Superfund authority, but by other federal statutes. However, the danger to health posed by -adiation led EPA to amend its Lansdowne Radioactive Residence, Lansdowne, PA Fall 1992 Philadelphia International Airport NPL ranking system to allow for such cases. Thus, the site was placed on the NPL in September 1985, making it eligible for federal funding under the Superfund law. EPA immediately issued its first technical plan, calling for the occupants' permanent relocation. However, that action proved unnecessary, because the resident of 105 died, and the resident of 107 remarried and moved else- where. In the winter of 1985, EPA installed a sprinkler system on all three floors to extinguish poten- tial fires. This system was boosted by an on-site, 1,000- gallon water tank. Heavy, rein- forced plastic sheets also sealed off all the windows of the house, thereby minimizing leakage of radioactive dust or gas. hi the event of a fire, which would pose an irnminent hazard to local residents because of radioactive fallout, EPA and the local fire department designed a contin- gency plan for evacuating hun- dreds of people in the surround- ing neighborhood. Fortunately, this contingency plan did not need to be exercised. New EPA Plan Calls for Removal of "Hot" House In the aftermath of these activi- ties and in light of the 1964 cleanup, EPA decided to elimi- nate any future threat of exposure by removing the duplex structure itself. Toward that end, a second technical plan was signed in September 1986, outlining the procedure for dismantling the entire duplex, excavating con- taminated soil, removing con- taminated sewer lines, and dis- posing radium-contaminated materials off-site. After issuing 'age 5 ------- ————— Superfund At Work this plan, EPA entered into an inter-agency agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USAGE) to manage the cleanup. While cleanup designs for the site were underway, the U.S. Congress reauthorized the Superfund legislation in 1986, and appropriated $8.5 billion to continue the program nation- wide. Although the second technical plan for Lansdowne had been approved in 1986, funds were not obligated until April, 1988. The Cleanup Begins Cleanup crews arrived at the site on August 1,1988, and worked for the next 10 months. An 8-foot chain link fence was erected around the perimeter of the site and 24-hour security installed to prevent accidental exposure to the site. In addition, the area was continuously lighted. Through these actions, EPA deterred public access to the site, but certainly not public interest concerning the peculiar Lansdowne home and its Superfund status. EPA Stresses Safety First Before the actual dismantling of the duplex began, Superfund workers secured the site structure to prevent the release of radioac- tive particulates into the environ- ment. The house itself was used as a containment area: all win- dows, chimneys and doors were sealed with flexible plastic sheet- ing. A ventilation system, consist- ing of air ducts and pumps run- ning from the top to the bottom floors, assured that any possible contaminants escaping would be drawn back into the house. Workers wore protective gear Lansdowne Radioactive Residence, Lansdowne, PA • Fall 1992 with built-in ventilation systems, and had to abide by strict safety guidelines to avoid contacting or spreading radium contamination. Having established complete security at the site, the house was dismantled from the top down — from the shingles on the roof to the basement. "We're going to take it down stone by stone, brick by brick, nail by nail. There will be no bulldozers making it crash down in a puff of dust, that's not the case. It's going to be picked apart, piece by piece," said Vic Janosik, EPA's on-site Reme- dial Project Manager (Delaware County Sunday Times, 7/31/88). Janosik was referring to the After dismantling the entire house, EPA found there remained oniy one and a half bricks that were not contaminated with radiation... painstaking method used to dismantle the duplex and twin garages, without dispersing radioactive dust — the most dangerous form of the contami- nant. Two neighboring garages were also found to contain high levels of radiation, and were also dismantled and replaced. Materials were carefully re- moved, packed into specialized containers, and transported to a radiation waste disposal site in Utah. After dismantling the entire house, EPA found there remained only one and a half bricks that were not contaminated with radiation beyond safety levels. Approximately 1,430 tons of contaminated rubble were generated, filling 460 shipping boxes (each with a 90 cubic foot capacity) and 77 tractor trailers. EPA Addresses Radioactive Soil and Sewer Lines Contaminated soil was found in an area of nearly 40,000 square feet, at depths ranging from one to 11.5 feet. In addition to the duplex, approximately 4,109 tons of radium-contaminated soil from the property, as well as from six neighboring yards, were exca- vated and packed into shipping containers for disposal. This was enough to fill 878 metal shipping boxes and to load 212 tractor trailers. The excavations began at the 105/107 property as the dismantlement reached the first floor and continued until after the house was completely removed. Some 246 feet of sewer line also had to be excavated and replaced. This last phase proved the most difficult, requiring rapid expo- sure, removal, replacement and re-connection of the East Stratford Avenue sewer line. Finally, 6,776 tons of clean soil were hauled in to backfill all the excavated areas. The former duplex's lot, as well as the six neighboring yards, were regraded and planted with new vegetation. EPA then initiated monitoring, to ensure that cleanup safety levels had been met. Community Supports EPA Cleanup The Lansdowne community lent EPA their support and coop- eration throughout the process, due largely to a highly personal- ized approach by Superfund staff. This included regular visits to neighboring homes by EPA staff to inform them of on-going Page 6 ------- Superfund At Work Lansdowne Radioactive Residence, Lansdowne, PA Fall 1992 progress at the site. In addition, EPA staff conducted an active campaign to ensure that the extended community, local governments and the State of Pennsylvania were well-informed about the activities related to the site. Community relations efforts involved public meetings, neigh- borhood meetings, press confer- ences, circulation of fact sheets and a tour of the site facilities by Lansdowne officials. To com- memorate this accomplishment, EPA held a public ceremony on June 19,1989. Site is Deleted from NPL On September 10,1991, the Lansdowne site was deleted from the National Priorities List, follow- continued on back page Site Deletion from National Priorities List Sites may be deleted from the NPL if all appropriate cleanup activities have been implemented. Cleanup activi- ties are considered "complete" when: actions restore ground or surface water quality to a level that assures protection of health and the environment; measures restore ground or surface water to such a point that reductions in contamina- tion concentrations are no longer significant; or ten years have elapsed/ whichever occurs first. If no further cleanup actions are needed, a Superfund site is removed from the NPL. This process requires that EPA provide the state in which the site is located 30 working days to review the deletion notice before its publication in the Federal Register. Once the notice is published, the public may respond with comments and new data to refute or support the proposed deletion. Once the final deletion is published, the notice is placed in a local public information repository. To date, 40 Superfund sites have been deleted from the NPL, including Lansdowne. A Major Excavation Nearly three-hundred tractor trailers were needed to haul away 1,338 metal shipping boxes containing 5,539 tons of contaminated rubble and soil to a secure radium disposal site in Utah. After totally dismantling the house, EPA found there remained only one and a half bricks that were not contaminated. Page? ------- Superfund At Work Lansdowne Radioactive Residence, Lansdowne, PA Fall 1992 Cleanup of "Hot House" continued from page 7 ing a 30-day public comment period. The EPA determined that its target safety levels had been achieved, and no further actions were deemed necessary. There are no site access or use restric- The EPA is confident that the former radioactive site now contains "the cleanest dirt in southeastern Pennsylvania" tions in place, and EPA is confi- dent that the former radioactive site now contains "the cleanest dirt in southeastern Pennsylva- nia." Success at Lansdowne All of EPA's cleanup objec- tives were met, and the Lansdowne site, which had been contaminated since the 1920s, is now completely safe and unrestricted for future use. The former occupants and their families may now sell the vacant lot, at fair market value, for use as a residential site. Throughout the cleanup, EPA demanded that the safety of residents and workers came first. With this guiding prin- ciple, EPA not only eHminated all future threats posed by the Lansdowne site, but estab- lished the first safety guide- lines for cleaning up radiation contamination at residential sites. 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