2010.03.31 – EPA reviewing Superfund site
http://standardspeaker.com/news/epa-reviewing-superfund-site-1.707888
EPA reviewing Superfund site
BY TOM RAGAN (STAFF WRITER)
Published: March 31, 2010
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is conducting a fourth five-year review at the McAdoo Associates Superfund site located in Kline Township and McAdoo Borough.
The first five-year review was completed in 1994 and the last one was completed and approved in July 2005.
More than 7,000 drums and six above-ground tanks have been removed since contamination was discovered in November 1979. EPA ordered removal of the waste from two locations in 1982.
The Superfund site is actually two sites about 1.3 miles apart. The one in McAdoo covers about one-third of an acre, and the other in Kline Township covers about 8 acres.
The five-year review is a requirement for EPA to inspect cleanups to make sure the site remains fully protective of human health and the environment.
“We do physical site inspections about every two years and we sample the groundwater and soil to ensure that the synthetic membrane cap is intact,” Brad White, the EPA remedial project manager, said.
He said that just because the site was cleaned up 20 years ago doesn’t mean it is completely clean.
“There is still residual contamination,” White said.
The EPA will continue to monitor the site until there is nothing left to monitor. The site remains fenced off and samples will be taken to separate laboratories for testing, according to the EPA.
Area residents receive municipal water and are not exposed to contaminated water. The site once was linked to abnormally high cases of cancer but EPA officials say that there is no evidence of site-related cancers.
EPA officials will continue to monitor groundwater and soil at the site for many years to come.
The EPA invites the public to express any comments and concerns about either site located in Kline Township and McAdoo. Visit the EPA Web site for Superfund sites at: http://epa.gov/reg3hwmd/super/index.htm
The results of the five-year review are expected to be available in August 2010.
tragan@standardspeaker.com