Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
1/23/2015
As it continues to gather information on the best remedy for cleanup at the West Lake Landfill, the Environmental Protection Agency needs additional site characterization to determine if more radiologically-impacted material (RIM) exists outside the previously marked area, the agency said in a letter to the Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster and responsible parties last week. The EPA’s additional characterizations would take place in the area under a current court dispute between Republic Services, the operator and responsible party for the site, and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) over the requirement for additional temperature and carbon monoxide monitoring reports.
Originally, the EPA had only accounted for the RIM located within Operable Unit 1, Area 1, of the West Lake landfill portion of the site, but tests indicated more material may exist west and south of this area in the adjacent North Quarry of the Bridgeton Landfill, which is included in the Superfund site. “Because the results of the Phase I investigation indicate radiologically-impacted material (RIM) located outside of the previously defined boundaries of Operable Unit 1, Area 1, EPA requests that the potentially responsible parties perform additional [Gamma Cone Penetration Test] sampling with confirmation sonic coting investigation necessary to fully delineate the nature and extent of RIM contamination south and west of the previously-defined boundaries of Operable Unit 1, Area 1,” EPA Associate Deputy Regional Counsel Alyse Stoy said in a Jan. 15 letter to responsible parties.
According to EPA Region Seven Administrator Karl Brooks, the additional characterizations will help satisfy the agency’s Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) responsibilities while also providing more information for the remedy decision-making process. “As we described to you last week, one of our priorities is to utilize our full legal authorities under CERCLA to gather additional data in support of identifying the nature and extent of RIM contamination south and west of the previously-defined boundaries of Operable Unit 1, Area 1,” Brooks said in a separate Jan. 15 letter to Koster “While the parties have been performing this investigatory work in support of identifying a location for construction of an isolation barrier, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also believes this data is important to better understand the location of RIM contamination for purposes of supporting the EPA’s remedial decisions for Operable Unit 1.”
Area Subject to Additional Monitoring Court Battle
The state sought a court order to require additional monitoring of the North Quarry after fears developed last year that the smoldering fire in the South Quarry was spreading closer to the contaminated area. Republic agreed to move two temperature monitoring probes to the area, but said it would not providing monthly reports on carbon monoxide to the state because DNR did not have jurisdiction at the site— only the EPA does, Republic argued. “The letter reinforces our belief that the Environmental Protection Agency has jurisdiction in the matter,” Republic spokesman Richard Callow said. “We will review the request with Exelon and the U.S. Department of Energy – the other parties addressed by the EPA – and respond to the EPA.”
For Koster, the additional characterization is a long awaited step by the EPA. “This is a step I have long called upon the EPA to take, and I hope the elevated pressure in recent weeks is beginning to bear fruit,” Koster said in a statement. “We know that radioactive material extends beyond the previously defined boundaries of the West Lake Landfill. However, the lack of a full understanding of the extent of the radioactive material in the North Quarry has for too long been used as an impediment to further action. I am pleased to see EPA moving ahead with the next phase of the site characterization. The state of Missouri will remain vigilant to protect public health and the environment as we gain a fuller understanding where radioactive material is located.”
Air Quality Consistent with other Midwest Cities
Meanwhile, the EPA announced this week the air quality around the West Lake Landfill matched that of the surrounding area and other Midwest cities. There had been fear the fire would spread alpha and beta radiation to the surrounding area through air contamination, but the EPA’s studies showed values that were also consistent with the variability of natural geological radiation sources in the area, the EPA said. “These efforts to monitor the air and conduct a thorough scientific analysis will help us monitor construction activities to keep them protective of protective of public health,” Brooks said in a statement. “The radiation levels being measured indicate there are no releases of hazardous contaminants from the landfill as the readings are no different than that of other Midwest cities. However, I know that the people who live around the West Lake Landfill have too frequently experienced bad odors from the site and that impacts their quality of life.”
Smoldering Fire Adding Cleanup Urgency
The West Lake Landfill cleanup project has taken on an added sense of urgency after recent reports revealed that the site contains more radioactive waste closer to the nearby smoldering fire than previously thought. Currently, the West Lake Landfill is under the supervision of the EPA’s Superfund program, which took over responsibility for the site in 1990. The EPA is conducting an engineering survey and groundwater analysis of the site to determine the best location to construct an isolation barrier to prevent the spread of the fire located near the radioactive part of the landfill. The EPA has also brought in the Army Corps of Engineers to assist on the project by providing technical review and oversight of the site owner’s cleanup plans and activities at the site, after public outcry called for a more experienced approach to the cleanup. In a recent analysis of the project from the fall, the Corps estimated that the construction of an isolation barrier to separate the fire from the contamination would not start for at least 18 months, but EPA Region Seven Administrator Karl Brooks hopes to have a proposed remedy plan ready by the end of 2017.
