Site
Location
The
Hazelwood Interim Storage Site (HISS) and Latty Avenue Vicinity
Properties (Latty VPs) are in northern St. Louis County within
the city limits of Hazelwood. HISS is located at 9170 Latty
Avenue, 3.2 miles northeast of the control tower of the Lambert-St.
Louis International Airport and approximately a half mile
northeast of SLAPS. A chain link fence surrounds the site,
which is privately owned. Six VPs are adjacent to Latty Avenue
between Coldwater Creek and Hazelwood Avenue; some are within
the corporate limits of the City of Berkeley. Land use near
the properties is primarily industrial; other uses are transportation-related,
commercial, and residential. The residential areas nearest
the property are approximately 0.3 mile to the east in Hazelwood.
The residences in Berkeley are southeast of the properties.
Site
History
In
early 1966, ore residues and uranium- and radium-bearing process
wastes that had been stored at SLAPS were purchased by the
Continental Mining and Milling Company and moved to a storage
site on Latty Avenue. These wastes had been generated at the
Mallinckrodt plant in St. Louis from 1942 through the late
1950s under contracts with MED/AEC. Residues on the property
at that time included 74,000 tons of Belgian Congo pitchblende
raffinate containing approximately 13 tons of uranium; 32,500
tons of Colorado raffinate containing roughly 48 tons of uranium;
and 8,700 tons of leached barium sulfate containing about
7 tons of uranium. The Commercial Discount Corporation of
Chicago, Illinois, purchased the residues in January 1967.
Much of the material was then dried and shipped to Canon City,
Colorado. The material remaining at the Latty Avenue storage
site was sold to Cotter Corporation in December 1969. From
August through November 1970, Cotter Corporation dried some
of the remaining residues and shipped them to its mill in
Canon City. In December 1970, an estimated 10,000 tons of
Colorado raffinate and 8,700 tons of leached barium sulfate
remained at the Latty Avenue properties.
In
April 1974, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was informed
by Cotter Corporation that the remaining Colorado raffinate
had been shipped in mid-1973 to Canon City without drying
and that the leached barium sulfate had been diluted with
12 to18 inches of soil and transported to a landfill in St.
Louis County.
Before
the present owner occupied the property, Oak Ridge National
Labs (ORNL) performed a radiological characterization. Thorium
and radium contamination in excess of federal guidelines was
found in and around the buildings and in the soil to depths
of 18 inches. Subsequently, in preparing the property for
use, the owner demolished one building, excavated portions
of the western half of the property, paved certain areas,
and erected several new buildings. Material excavated during
these activities (approximately 13,000 cubic yards) was piled
on the eastern portion of the property.
An
additional 14,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil, from cleanup
along Latty Avenue in 1984 and 1985 and from an area used
for office trailers and a decontamination pad, was added to
the pile. Approximately 4,600 cubic yards of contaminated
soil was stored adjacent to the existing pile; the soil had
been excavated during road and drainage improvements along
Latty Avenue in support of a municipal storm sewer project.
A total of approximately 32,000 cubic yards of contaminated
soil is stored at the property.
In
1981, Oak Ridge Associated Universities conducted a radiological
characterization of the pile and surveyed portions of the
northern and eastern vicinity properties for radioactivity.
Levels of contamination (principally thorium-230) similar
to those on the pile were found in both areas. As a follow-up
to this survey, ORNL conducted a detailed radiological survey
of the northern and southern shoulders of Latty Avenue in
January and February 1984; results indicated that contamination
in excess of federal guidelines was present along the road
beyond Hazelwood Avenue. Properties adjacent to HISS were
also found to be contaminated in excess of guidelines.
A decontamination
research and development project was conducted, under the
authority of the 1984 Energy and Water Appropriations Act
(Public Law 98-360), at our sites throughout the nation, including
9200 Latty Avenue and properties in its vicinity. Subsequently,
Congress added the Latty Avenue properties to FUSRAP in order
to expedite decontamination.
In
October 1989, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) placed
the HISS properties on the National Priorities List (NPL).
This list required the cleanup to proceed under the guidelines
of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,
and Liability Act (CERCLA) as amended by the Superfund Amendments
and Reauthorization Act (SARA).
In
July 1990, the Department of Energy (DOE) and EPA Region VII
signed a Federal Facilities Agreement that established a procedure
and schedule for remediation of the Latty Avenue properties.
In
1996, the owner of 9150 Latty Avenue, located to the east
of HISS, expanded the facility and stockpiled about 8,000
cubic yards of contaminated soil. This stockpile, known as
the Eastern Pile, is located on the southwestern corner of
the property.
Until
1997, DOE was the lead agency responsible for the cleanup
of HISS/Latty Avenue VPs. In October 1997, FUSRAP was transferred
from the DOE to the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
by Congress through the Energy and Water Development Appropriation
Act. Since that transition was effected, SLAPS has fallen
under the responsibility of the St. Louis District USACE.
Site
Progress
Since
the transition of the program in Fiscal Year 1998 (FY98),
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has made significant
progress at the Hazelwood Interim Storage Site (HISS). Our
primary goal for HISS is to restrict the release of contaminated
materials and minimize their potential impact on human health,
wildlife, and the environment.
In
March 1998 USACE prepared an EE/CA proposing to remove the
HISS piles and impacted soil from three adjacent Latty Avenue
properties until a comprehensive cleanup could be achieved.
The proposal received public approval, and plans were developed
to allow work to proceed.
Since
the approval of the 1998 EE/CA, the following removal actions
have been performed:
1.
In 1999 USACE completed construction of the HISS/Latty Avenue
rail spur, which is capable of holding 11 rail cars or 770
cubic yards of material. USACE also completed negotiations
with an 8(a) woman-owned small business for a firm fixed-price
contract to remove the two Eastern Piles.
2.
Between April and June 2000, 6,880 cubic yards of material
were removed during the removal of East Piles 1 and 2, stockpiles
located adjacent to HISS at 9150 Latty Avenue (Latty Avenue
VP-2L).
3.
Between March and June 2000, 5,590 cubic yards of material
were removed during the removal of Spoil Piles A and B, which
resulted from the construction of the HISS rail spur in 1999,
and were temporarily stored on-site between the HISS Main
and Supplemental Piles.
4.
Between September and October 2000, 4,710 cubic yards of material
were removed during the removal of the Supplemental Pile from
HISS.
5.
Between November 2000 and January 2001, 4,440 cubic yards
of material were removed during the removal of the northern
portion of the Main Pile from HISS.
6.
Between March and May 2001, 11,950 cubic yards of material
were removed during the removal of the southern half of the
Main Pile from HISS.
7.
Between September and October 2001, 5,915 cubic yards of material
were removed during the removal of the remainder of the Main
Pile from HISS.
(Note:
All contaminated materials removed from HISS and the Latty
Avenue properties to date have been transported by covered
gondola cars for disposal at an out-of-state licensed or properly
permitted facility.)
In
early 2000 USACE collected samples from SLAPS, SLAPS VPs,
HISS/Latty Avenue VPs, Futura, and Coldwater Creek. USACE
chose to develop cleanup alternatives to address all of these
sites under the same decisional document. Cleanup alternatives
for the North St. Louis County sites, identified in the FS
and PP, were released for public review in May 2003. Comments
on the documents were accepted through July 14, 2003. The
final cleanup remedy is outlined in the
Record of Decision
for the North St. Louis County, Missouri Sites (SLAPS, HISS/Latty
Avenue, and SLAPS VPs).
In
accordance with CERCLA requirements, a five-year review was
initiated in January 2003 to ensure that human health and
the environment are being protected by the response action
being implemented. A team led by USACE and including representatives
from EPA and MDNR documented conditions at each site and the
surrounding area. In addition, members of the community were
contacted for their views about the cleanup process to date.
USACE released the draft report documenting the findings of
the review in September 2003.
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