&EFA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Information session
Representatives from EPA, local
communities, Kerr-McGee and
other organizations will make
themselves available to the public
to discuss the cleanup project at
an informal meeting Wednesday,
Aug. 10, 4 - 8 p.m., West Chicago
City Hall, 475 Main St. This is
not a formal public meeting, rather
you are free to stop by at any time
during the session to talk with
these representatives.
This particular meeting will focus
on the cleanup of Reach 1 from a
storm sewer outlet on Kress Creek
to May Street. Detailed cleanup
design information on this section
will be available to the public by
the time of the information session.
Documents available
Official site-related documents
are available for public viewing at
these libraries:
West Chicago Public Library
118 W.Washington St.
Warrenville Public Library
28W751 Stafford Place
On the Internet: epa.gov/region5/
sites/kerrmcgee/index.htm
Continues on Page 3.
Cleanup Schedule Announced for
Contaminated River and Creek
Kerr-McGee Kress Creek/West Branch DuPage River Site
Kerr-McGee Sewage Treatment Plant Site
DuPage County, Illinois August 2005
Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp. working under the oversight of U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency has released a proposed cleanup schedule
for radioactive contamination in and around portions of Kress Creek and
the West Branch of the DuPage River in DuPage County, 111. Kerr-McGee
has divided the cleanup into sections called "reaches" and will work on
the project in phases over the next four years moving from upstream to
downstream. Cleanup of the first section, called Reach 5 A, began earlier
this summer and will be completed this month. Reach 5A runs along the
West Branch DuPage River from the West Chicago Sewage Treatment
Plant to Gary's Mill Road (see map insert). After Reach 5A is completed,
cleanup work on the next section, called Reach 1, will immediately begin
and last into November, according to the planned schedule. Reach 1 goes
along Kress Creek from a storm sewer discharge pipe to May Street. The
proposed schedule calls for all sections to be cleaned up by late 2009. The
entire cleanup schedule and a map are laid out in detail on the middle pages
of this fact sheet. The EPA-approved cleanup plan calls for contaminated
riverbank soil and river mud (sediment) to be dug up from each section and
disposed of in an approved facility away from the site.
Site history
The EPA Superfund sites in the West Chicago area were contaminated
by radioactive thorium waste material. The waste was generated by a
processing facility (now closed and owned by the Kerr-McGee Chemical
Corp.) that operated in West Chicago between 1932 and 1973. The Kerr-
McGee facility itself is not part of the Kress Creek site and is being cleaned
up under the supervision of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency,
Division of Nuclear Safety.
Sand-like waste known as mill tailings was available as free fill material
from the 1930s through the 1950s and was used throughout the West
Chicago area for landscaping projects and filling in low ground around
the West Chicago sewage treatment plant. It was later determined that the
radioactive material was potentially hazardous. Waste from the Kerr-McGee
facility also entered Kress Creek through a storm sewer, contaminating the
creek and the West Branch DuPage River. The thorium was also deposited
onto floodplains during high water periods and eroded from the sewage
treatment plant grounds. The source of the pollution has been controlled so
no more thorium is entering the creek.
Radioactivity surveys performed in the West Chicago area by the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission resulted in EPA placing the sewage treatment plant
and Kress Creek sites on the Agency's National Priorities List of Superfund
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sites in the early 1990s. EPA began studying the sites in
1993. Later by legal agreement Kerr-McGee took over
the investigation and did some cleanup work on residential
properties located along Kress Creek and on portions of
the sewage treatment plant property. This latest schedule
of cleanup projects will tackle contamination in the river
and creek and along their banks.
Cleanup details
EPA selected the final cleanup plan for the Kress Creek/
West Branch DuPage River site in a document called a
record of decision signed this March. The site consists
of about a mile and a half of Kress Creek and about five
miles of the West Branch DuPage River south of where
the creek joins the river.
The cleanup involves isolating the contaminated areas
and "dewatering" them by pumping out the water to allow
dry excavation. As the cleanup progresses downstream,
entire sections of the creek or river will be blocked off,
and the water will be pumped around those sections using
a bypass system. After the radioactive soil and mud have
been removed, Kerr-McGee will restore and replant the
areas affected by the cleanup.
EPA selected the final cleanup plan for the two different
portions of the sewage treatment plant site in a record
of decision signed in September 2004. The section of
the site containing the sewage treatment plant is called
the upland portion and polluted soil was removed from
there in 2003 and 2004. The DuPage River portion of
the sewage treatment site runs from the riverbank next to
the facility for a little more than a mile to where Kress
Creek joins the river. Similar to the Kress Creek site, this
cleanup involves isolating the contaminated areas and
pumping out the water to allow dry excavation. In some
stretches, small areas of contamination will be isolated
and removed without having to block off an entire section
of river.
This March, Kerr-McGee signed two separate legal
agreements, one with the federal government and the state
of Illinois, and one with the local communities. Under
the agreements, Kerr-McGee will design and carry out the
cleanup work in the creek and river under the oversight of
EPA and the local communities. In addition to removing
the targeted areas of contamination, Kerr-McGee will
restore the ground affected by the cleanup. The cleanup
design plan for each segment of the creek and river will
contain a detailed restoration plan that you can read in the
official site documents (see box front page).
Cleanup progress
Reaches 1 through 5B (refer to map) must be completed
before any of the reaches downstream of the creek/river
confluence can be cleaned up. The proposed cleanup
schedule anticipates that the reaches will be cleaned up in
the following order: 5A first, followed by Reaches 1,2,3,
4, 5B, 5C, 5D, 5E, 6, 7 and 8.
The announced timetable will be adjusted as necessary
throughout the project. For example, if the work in Reach
1 can be completed ahead of schedule, then the next
segment, Reach 2, would start earlier than anticipated.
Similarly, a delay in the work within a particular segment
would delay the start date for the following reach. The
final cleanup design for each section will be available
for review at the document libraries (see box front page)
as they are finished. Each design plan will contain an
updated schedule for all remaining reaches so the public
can follow the project as it progresses.
In November 2004, Kerr-McGee started some cleanup
work on portions of Reach 5A and removed 562 cubic
yards of contaminated soil from along the eastern edge of
the sewage treatment plant property. EPA approved the
cleanup design for all the remaining areas of Reach 5 A
earlier this year, and Kerr-McGee resumed cleanup work
there in late June. The Reach 5A work is expected to be
completed this month.
The next area to be cleaned up will be Reach 1. As of this
update, EPA, the local communities and other parties are
reviewing Kerr-McGee's revised design for Reach 1. EPA
anticipates that the design will be approved in time for the
cleanup work to begin there this month and last about 14
weeks. After Reach 1, cleanup of Reach 2 will begin and
so on through the numbered sections.
Kerr-McGee will contact each affected property owner
during the design process for that particular reach and
explain the cleanup work and discuss how their property
will be restored following the cleanup. Each property
owner will have input into how their property will be
restored.
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Information Session
Reach 1 Cleanup
Wednesday, Aug. 10
4 - 8 p.m.
West Chicago City Hall
475 Main St.
Continued from Page 1.
Contact EPA
EPA staffers are available to
answer questions:
Stuart Hill
EPA Community Involvement
Coordinator
(312)886-0689
hill.stuart@epa.gov
Rebecca Frey
EPA Remedial Project Manager
(312)886-4760
frey.rebecca@epa.gov
Scott Hansen
EPA Remedial Project Manager
(312)886-1999
hansen.scott@epa.gov
Toll-free: (800)621-8431,
weekdays 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Office address:
EPA Region 5
77 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604
Mailing list additions
If you or someone you know would like to be added to the mailing list for the Kerr-McGee Kress Creek/West Branch
DuPage River or Sewage Treatment Plant sites, fill out this form and mail it to the address below:
U.S. EPA Region 5
Office of Public Affairs (P-19J)
77 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604
Name
Address
City/State/ZIP.
^Affiliation
* Phone (Daytime)
* E-mail Address
* (Evening)
Items marked with (*) are optional.
Once you are on the mailing list, you will automatically receive information from EPA regarding the Kerr-McGee Kress Creek/
West Branch DiiPiige River or Sewage Treatment Plant site.
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1020000
1030000
-^
REACH 1
(August - November 2005 )
REACH 2
( November 2005 - Summer 2006
w/winter shutdown
A
REACH 5A
(June -August 2005 )
REACH 3A
(Summer 2006 )
WILSON ROAD
REACH 3B
(Summer 2006
REACH 58
( Fall 2006 )
REACH 4
( Summer - Fall 2006
REACH 5C
( Fall 2006 - Late Spring 2007 )
w/winter shutdown
REACH 5D
( Fall 2006 - Late Spring 2007 )
w/winter shutdown
, FOREST VIEW DRIVE
REACH 5E
( Fall 2006 - Late Spring 2007
w/winter shutdown
•y
REACH 6
( Late Spring 2007 - Fall 2007 )
t
(F
REACH?
I Fall 2007 - Fall 2008 )
w/winter shutdown
KERR-McGEE CHEMICAL LLC
KRESS CREEK / WEST BRANCH DuPAGE RIVER
AND SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT SITES
REACH DESIGNATION
and
ESTIMATED CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE
I 4
EXTENT OF REACH
7/18/05
1030000
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&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Region 5
Office of Public Affairs (P-19J)
77 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604
FIRST CLASS
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
KERR-McGEE KRESS CREEK/WEST BRANCH DuPAGE RIVER SITE
KERR-McGEE SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT SITE
Cleanup Schedule Announced for Contaminated River and Creek
This fact sheet is printed on paper made of recycled fibers.
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