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Moss-American
Site Information
- Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee County)
- EPA ID# WID039052626
- NPL Site Narrative
- NPL Factsheet
- Site Progress Profile (CERCLIS listing)
- Alias(es): Kerr-McGee Oil Co.
Latest photos (November 2009)
Contact Information
Community Involvement Coordinator
Susan Pastor (pastor.susan@epa.gov)
312-353-1325 or 800-621-8431, ext. 31325
Remedial Project Manager
Ross del Rosario (delrosario.rosauro@epa.gov)
312-886-6195 or 800-621-8431, ext. 66195
Repositories
(where to view written records)
Mill Road Library
6431 N. 76th Street
Milwaukee, WI
An Administrative Record, which contains detailed information upon which the selected cleanup plans were based, is also located at the Mill Road Library and at the U.S. EPA Region 5 office in Chicago.
Background
The Moss-American site comprises 88 acres including a former creosote facility and six miles of the Little Menomonee River, which is adjacent to the former facility. The Moss-American property is located at the intersection of Brown Deer and Granville Roads on Milwaukee's northwest side. About 65 acres are undeveloped Milwaukee County park land. About 23 acres are owned by the Union Pacific Railroad and are currently being used for industrial purposes. (more...)
Site Updates | News Releases | Fact Sheets || Technical Documents || Legal Agreements
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Site Updates
December 2010
EPA has completed a status review of the site’s cleanup. This type of review is required at least every five years where the cleanup is complete--or ongoing--but hazardous waste remains managed on-site. These reviews are done to ensure that the cleanup continues to protect people and the environment.
The review included:
- An evaluation of background information
- Cleanup requirements
- Effectiveness of the cleanup and any anticipated future actions
- An analysis of ways for EPA to operate more efficiently.
This was the third five-year review for Moss-American. A report (PDF) (150 pp, 5.78MB) details the site progress. Previous reviews were done in 2005 and 2000.
An active ground-water treatment system is still operating because cleanup goals have not been met. EPA will continue to monitor the site through 2026 and then determine if it can be taken off the Superfund list.
EPA finished the Little Menomonee River cleanup in December 2009. Contaminated sediment in the remaining 4,300 feet of river from Appleton to Hampton Avenues (referred to as segments 4 and 5) was removed to complete the project.
Temporary access roads in and out of the river near Little Menomonee River Parkway have also been removed. They were originally built so large trucks could take dredged sediment, or mud, from the river to a nearby “staging area” to dry before it was trucked to a licensed landfill for proper disposal.
Federal Superfund money was used to finish the cleanup because the previous site owner Tronox (formerly part of Kerr-McGee) filed for bankruptcy in January 2009. In addition to filing bankruptcy claims against Tronox, the United States has also filed a suit against Kerr-McGee and Anadarko Petroleum Corp., the company that purchased Kerr-McGee. The United States believes that during the process of corporate restructuring, Kerr-McGee transferred its federal environmental liabilities out of Kerr-McGee and into Tronox to avoid having to pay for environmental cleanups. The United States is asking the bankruptcy court to set aside the liability transfers and compel Kerr-McGee and Anadarko to pay their environmental debts to the federal government.
EPA and Tronox (formerly Kerr-McGee) rerouted portions of the Little Menomonee River in five stages, or segments, beginning in 2002. The reroute included a new river channel as well as plants and trees to stabilize the new channel and bank. The first segment between Brown Deer and Bradley Roads and the first phase for segments 2 and 3 from Bradley to Mill Roads involved:
- digging a new channel
- controlling invasive plants
- burying PVC pipe to connect the new and existing channels while getting rid of standing water in segment 1
- controlling erosion near the foot bridges
- repairing fences.
Phase 2 of the cleanup of segments 2 and 3, from Bradley Road south to Good Hope Road, included:
- sections of the river being drained
- river flow being diverted into newly excavated channels
- most of the contaminated sediment being removed
- old segments being filled and graded
- access roads being built
- fences being maintained
- in-stream "probing" being done to find creosote in sediment.
The most contaminated sediment was trucked to an approved landfill for disposal.
The bike path bridge in segment 3 between Good Hope and Mill Roads will continue to be supported by large boulders in the stream. Workers were careful not to disturb the bridge or the boulders while removing as much contaminated sediment as possible.
About 1,000 feet of the upper portion of segment 4 was cleaned up from November 2005 to January 2006. Dredging as opposed to river rerouting was used here. Because of numerous bridge crossings, there wasn't enough room to create a new channel. In 2007, EPA issued a document (PDF) (16 pp, 2MB) to explain this process.
The river project followed a cleanup of the Moss-American property at Brown Deer and Granville Roads on the northwest side of Milwaukee. Since this was the source of the river's contamination, ground water and soil were cleaned up first before moving on to the river. That cleanup was completed in 2002.
News Releases
Fact Sheets
- EPA Finishes Cleanup on Little Menomonee River (PDF) (4 pp, 2.0MB) January 2010
- Cleanup Nears Completion in Little Menomonee River, December 2007 (PDF) (2 pp, 265K)
- More Cleanup Scheduled in Little Menomonee River (PDF) (2 pp, 30K) December 2005
- Little Menomonee River Reroute Progresses (PDF) (4 pp, 682K) April 2004
- River Cleanup Continues (PDF) (2 pp, 98K) November 2003
- River Cleanup to Begin (PDF) (2 pp, 220K) August 2002
- Moss-American Cleanup Continues (PDF) (4 pp, 153K) August 2000
- Proposed Plan fact sheet (PDF) ( 179K) March 1998
- U.S. EPA Announces Changes in Moss-American Superfund Site Cleanup Plan (PDF) (128K) May 1997
Technical Documents
- Explanation of Significant Differences, November 2007 (PDF) (16 pp, 2MB)
- Record of Decision Amendment, September 1998 (PDF) (40 pp, 2.0MB)
- Explanation of Significant Differences, April 1997 (PDF) (10 pp, 674K)
- Record of Decision, September 1990 (PDF) (124 pp, 5.0MB)
Five Year Reviews
- Third Five-Year review (PDF) (150 pp, 5.78MB) April 2010
- Second Five-Year review (PDF) (107 pp, 24.5MB) September 2005
- First Five-Year review (PDF) (10 pp, 626K) September 2000
Legal Agreements
- Consent Decree (PDF) (51 pp, 1.8MB) March 1997
- Consent Decree (PDF) (287 pp, 12.6MB) March 1996