U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt is due this month to issue a decision on the approach for remediation of radiologically contaminated material at the West Lake Superfund Site in Missouri, the agency said Tuesday.
A number of options are still being considered, according to an EPA spokesman: “cap in place”; multiple partial excavations of contaminated material with off-site disposal; and full excavation with either on-site or off-site disposal. Those alternatives are in line with options laid out in an August 2017 EPA draft final feasibility study on cleanup of “radiologically impacted material” at the site.
“EPA will make its remedy decision based on the National Contingency Plan criteria and scientific evidence presented in the Administrative Record, in consultation and coordination with its federal and state partner agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources,” an EPA spokesperson said by email.
The 200-acre West Lake Landfill Superfund Site, in Bridgeton, Mo., has been on the EPA’s National Priorities List since 1990. It encompasses the West Lake and Bridgeton landfills. Operable Unit 1 of the West Lake Landfill contains waste from former uranium production operations at Mallinckrodt Chemical Works in nearby St. Louis. Concerns about that material have risen in recent years in the face of a smoldering underground fire at the adjacent Bridgeton Landfill.
The agency is completing its remedial investigation and the final version of the feasibility study on West Lake, the spokesperson said. There is no set schedule for completion of that work.
Once the planned remedy is issued, the agency will open a public comment period of at least 30 days, including an open hearing in Bridgeton. The EPA will incorporate the public input into a “responsiveness summary,” according to the spokesperson.
The process will lead to an amendment to the 2008 record of decision on West Lake, which called for a cover and contain approach to the radioactive material that was never carried out. The amendment will designate the newly selected cleanup plan, the EPA spokesperson said.
The agency would also negotiate with the potentially responsible parties for West Lake on an enforceable deal to conduct the work, leading to design and action on the remediation program. The potentially responsible parties for the landfill are the U.S. Energy Department, Bridgeton Landfill LLC, Rock Road Industries, and Cotter Corp.
The EPA’s draft feasibility study projects that the cap and cover approach would cost $67 million for capital construction. The two partial excavation alternatives are projected to cost $313 million and $361 million, with the capital cost for complete remediation tagged at $616 million. Based on the selected option, work could take anywhere from 2.7 years to 13.4 years.
A record of decision amendment that establishes a cleanup remedy costing $50 million or more would require approval from Pruitt.
The agency has touted its “one government” approach to determining the approach to cleanup at West Lake, partnering with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and other state and federal agencies.
However, the EPA spokesperson noted that state agreement is not required under federal regulations for the agency to select a cleanup remedy. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources did not respond to a request for comment on its preferred remediation approach at West Lake.
