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Fact Sheet

November 2007

EPA Removal Action to Begin, S. Bruce Stark Site, Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas

INTRODUCTION

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 7, will begin a cleanup action at the S. Bruce Stark Site, 4610 South Laura in Wichita, Kansas on Monday, November 12, 2007. Radium-contaminated soils will be excavated from the site and replaced with clean soil. This cleanup action is expected to be completed by the end of December.

BACKGROUND

Beginning in the 1900s, paint made from radium compounds was used on watch and clock dials because the paint glowed in the dark. This luminescent paint was also used on aircraft dials so that pilots could read the dials at night.

The S. Bruce Stark Site housed a dial repair shop between 1967 and 1970. The shop used radium-containing paint on the dials. Paint waste has contaminated soil in the back yard at the site. A single-family residence is now located at the site. The current residents were not involved in the dial repair business.

THE CONTAMINATION

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) conducted a Unified Focus Assessment at the site in October 2006. The assessment identified several areas in the back yard with elevated radium concentrations in the soil. The EPA conducted field activities at the site in July and August 2007. The field screening used radiation detectors and soil samples to further define areas of contamination. Through these investigations, KDHE and EPA documented radium concentrations above 7 pico Curies per gram (pCi/g) in soil at the site. This is the action level established by EPA for removal of radium-contaminated soil.

CLEANUP REMOVAL ACTION

The cleanup removal action will quickly address the potential threat to human health and the environment that is posed by the radium-contaminated soil. The objectives of the removal include:

EPA anticipates that all cleanup work will be completed by the end of December.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

EPA encourages the community to review the Administrative Record file, which will be available at the following locations in early December: 

Wichita Department of Environmental Services
1900 East 9th
Wichita, Kansas

EPA Region 7
Records Center
901 N. 5th Street
Kansas City, Kansas

If you have questions or need additional information, please contact:

Randy Schademann
On-Scene Coordinator
U.S. EPA Region
7901 N. 5th Street
Kansas City, KS  66101
Phone:  1-800-223-0425
schademann.randy@epa.gov 

Dianna Whitaker
Office of Public Affairs
U.S. EPA Region
7901 N. 5th Street
Kansas City, KS 66101
Phone: 913-551-7003
Toll Free: 1-800-223-0425
whitaker.dianna@epa.gov

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