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NPL Site Narrative for Conservation Chemical Co.
CONSERVATION CHEMICAL CO.
Kansas City, Missouri
Federal Register Notice: April 10, 1985Conditions at proposal (April 10, 1985): The Conservation Chemical Co. (CCC) Site covers approximately 6 acres in Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri. It is on the south bank of the Missouri River near where the Blue and Missouri Rivers meet. CCC operated a waste treatment and disposal facility on the site from about 1960 to 1980. The primary wastes handled were metal-finishing wastes, including pickle liquors, spent plating solutions, heat-treating materials, and alkaline cyanides; chlorinated and nonchlorinated solvents and other organics; alkaline refinery wastes; laboratory chemicals; and wastes containing arsenic and elemental phosphorus. Records indicate that approximately 300,000 tons of wastes were accepted. Some were incinerated, but most were buried in lagoons which were either unlined or inadequately lined. CCC attempted physical stabilization of the lagoons by mixing the lagoon contents with fly ash and waste pickle liquor. The lagoons were then covered with soil.
CCC obtained Interim Status for various storage tanks under Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) by filing Part A of a permit application. Subsequently, those wastes were disposed of off-site, and the tanks are no longer used.
EPA has detected various hazardous substances in on- and off-site surface soil and in ground water downgradient of the site. This ground water is part of an aquifer used locally as a drinking and industrial water supply. Because the ground water and the Missouri River are hydraulically connected, the contaminants are entering the river, which is used locally and regionally for recreation, industry, irrigation, and municipal water supply.
On November 22, 1982, the United States filed a civil action under RCRA and CERCLA seeking a court-ordered site cleanup and reimbursement of the Government's investigative costs. The parties sued were: CCC, its president, and its principal stockholder; Conservation Chemical Co. of Illinois (a related corporation); and four major contributors of waste to the site -- Armco, Inc., FMC Corp., IBM Corp., and AT&T Technologies, Inc. (formerly Western Electric). On June 19, 1984, the four original generator defendants filed third-party suits against 152 other generators, 7 Federal agencies, and 16 insurance companies. On October 1, 1984, 77 additional third-party defendants were added to the lawsuit.
Status (April 1987): On August 2, 1985, the Government reached a preliminary settlement under which the four original generator defendants agreed to undertake remedial design and remedial action at the CCC site and to reimburse the government $500,000 of its response costs. Additional studies during the design identified conditions that would make the remedial action more difficult and expensive.
Status (June 24, 1988): EPA is proposing to place this previously proposed RCRA site on the NPL. Based on an evaluation of CCC's record of compliance, EPA has determined that the company has demonstrated unwillingness to take corrective action.
In November 1987, EPA and the defendants agreed to a remedial action involving pumping and treating ground water. The Consent Decree was signed in April 1988.
Status (October 4, 1989): EPA has placed this site on the NPL.
In the fall of 1988, the defendants submitted the remedial designs associated with the surface cleanup, and the withdrawal and monitoring well network activities, pursuant to the Consent Decree. The ground water treatment plant design was submitted on schedule in April 1989.
Surface cleanup activities have essentially been completed. Construction has started on the well network and treatment plant.
[The description of the site (release) is based on information available at the time the site was evaulated with the HRS. The description may change as additional information is gathered on the sources and extent of contamination. See 56 FR 5600, February 11, 1991, or subsequent FR notices.]
For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.