*>EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
For more information
If you have questions, comments or
need more information about the
Aircraft Components site you can
contact these team members:
EPA
Jcmet Pope is the new community
involvement coordinator. A 30-year
EPA employee, most of Superfund
public participation and community
outreach experience has come from
working on Indiana and Illinois
projects.
Janet Pope
Community Involvement
Coordinator
312-353-0628
pope .j anet@epa.gov
Jennifer Cheever
Remedial Project Manager
312-353-4627
cheever.jennifer@epa.gov
EPA toll-free: 800-621-8431,
9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m., weekdays
MDEQ
Judith Alfano
Project Manager
517-373-7402
alfanoj @michigan.gov
On the Web
EPA has established a website to
provide current information at
http://www.epa.gov/region5/cleanup
/aircraft/index.html
Internet access is available at the
Benton Harbor Public Library, 213
E. Wall St.
EPA Proceeding with Water
Treatment Injections
Aircraft Components, Inc., Superfund Site
Benton Harbor, Michigan	March 2014
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proceeding with its
planned groundwater-treatment injections at the Aircraft Components
Inc. site in Benton Harbor. This treatment applies technology commonly
referred to as "in-situ chemical oxidation," or ISCO. The treatment
material will be injected into groundwater through boreholes spread over
the pollution source area. Groundwater is an environmental term for
underground sources of fresh water.
This injection work began at the end of February and is expected to
continue through this March. After the injection work is complete, EPA
will perform groundwater monitoring to evaluate how effective the
treatment is.
The treatment should break down a plume of volatile organic compounds
into nonhazardous products such as carbon dioxide, carboxylic acid and
chloride. Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, are hazardous,
petroleum-based chemicals. A plume is a mass of contaminated
underground water. The ISCO process may also continue to chemically
reduce the plume long after the injection. This is because the catalyst or
oxidant in the treatment material remains dissolved in the groundwater or
reacts further with naturally occurring elements of the soil or
groundwater.
History of site activities
EPA has been working at the site to clean up pollution since 1997. The
Agency completed a three-phase removal action at the Aircraft
Components location between November 1997 and March 2000. The
cleanup activities included the following:
•	Demolition of Buildings 1 and 2 (recessed concrete foundations)
•	Disposal of materials affected by radium-226 (painted gauges, etc.)
•	Decontamination
Background
The Aircraft Components site consists of 17 acres of land in Benton
Harbor bounded by the Paw Paw River, North Shore Drive and
residential property. The main building on the site consisted of a
combination warehouse/office building connected to a warehouse.
Outbuildings included a large metal-walled Quonset hut and a small
Quonset hut. The buildings were used for 40-50 years as storage for
radioluminous aircraft gauges containing radium as part of a mail-order
distribution service known as Aircraft Components, Inc.

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Photo shows a Geoprobe being used to drive the injection
rods into the ground.
Photo shows the injection rod during ISCO treatment.
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