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U.S. EPA Water Test Challenged: Two Area Groups Want Radiation Measurement Used in Stark Scrapped

Posted on: Wednesday, 19 April 2006, 09:00 CDT

By Bob Downing, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio

Apr. 19--Two groups associated with a Stark County toxic waste dump want the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to scrap the way it tests water for radiation and re-evaluate sites where this method of testing has been used.

One of those locations is the Industrial Excess Landfill, a 30-acre Superfund site off Cleveland Avenue Northwest in the Uniontown area of Lake Township.

The request by the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker social action group based in Akron, and the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that oversees government operations, was made in a three-page letter to U.S. EPA Administrator Steve Johnson that was released Monday.

A similar request was filed earlier by Chris Borello, spokesperson for the local grass-roots organization Concerned Citizens of Lake Township.

In the new letter, the two groups charge that the EPA's testing method for plutonium and other man-made radiation "has been, frankly, botched."

They cited what they called "significant inadequacies and inherent biases" in the testing method used in Uniontown.

They were especially critical of the EPA for separating solid particles from the groundwater during tests in 1992-93 and not testing the particles immediately for radiation. That may have resulted in detecting lower levels of radiation than existed at the site, the groups said.

Those findings are supported by scientists working with Borello's organization, they said.

The two groups called on the EPA to drop the radiation-testing methods used at Uniontown and at other Superfund sites. Better testing methods are available, they said.

The letter, which was signed by Greg Coleridge of the American Friends Service Committee and Danielle Brian of Project on Government Oversight, also urged the agency to re-examine past decisions made based on the radiation-testing methods used at Uniontown.

For many years, the EPA has defended the testing methods and has concluded that radiation is not an issue at the Uniontown dump. What radiation has been detected, the EPA contended, is what would normally be found.

Timothy Fischer, an EPA project manager in Chicago, said the agency does not consider the radiation-testing issue raised by Borello, Coleridge and Brian to be new or significant. The agency responded to Borello with a letter on March 29 and will respond to Coleridge and Brian, Fischer said.

In a related development, the U.S. EPA is kicking off a five-year review of the effectiveness of the remedy at the Uniontown dump, which accepted an estimated 1 million gallons of toxic waste and 750,000 tons of local trash between 1966 and 1980, when it was shut down.

The five-year review is designed to ensure that the federal actions are effective and will protect human health and the environment. It is mandated under federal law where hazardous waste remains on site.

The review, to be completed by Sept. 30, will look at how well the remedy is working and whether additional action is needed.

The report will be filed at the Uniontown Public Library, 120 Market St. N., Lake Township.

Questions or concerns should be directed to Fischer, Remedial Project Manager, EPA Region V (SR-63), 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604, 312-886-5787 or 800-621-8431. You can also e-mail him at fischer.timothy@epa.gov.

A year ago, U.S. District Judge John Manos in Cleveland signed an agreement that makes Bridgestone/Firestone, Goodyear, B.F. Goodrich and GenCorp -- companies that dumped material in Uniontown -- responsible for implementing the final remedy.

The companies agreed to spend $7 million to implement the plan and $18 million to reimburse the federal and state EPAs for Uniontown dump costs.

Under the remedy, the waste will remain underground and the contaminated aquifer will be allowed to naturally cleanse itself. The aquifer will be monitored. A system is in place to collect potentially explosive methane gas from decaying garbage.

Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio

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Source: Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio)

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