Superfund Sites in Reuse in Nebraska
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Bruno Co-Op Association/Associated Properties
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Cleburn Street Well
The Cleburn Street Well Superfund site encompasses several areas of soil and groundwater contamination in downtown Grand Island, Nebraska. The Cleburn Street Well provided drinking water to the City of Grand Island until contamination was detected in the well in 1986. EPA placed the site on the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL) in 1992. EPA traced contamination to three dry cleaning facilities: One Hour Martinizing (OHM), Liberty Services and the Ideal Cleaners of Grand Island facility. A fourth source area is a former solvents distribution company, Nebraska Solvents. In1993, EPA installed a groundwater extraction well at the OHM facility, and used several treatment techniques to address the contaminated groundwater plume. EPA is exploring additional remedies to address contaminated groundwater. A church and an auto mechanic shop currently occupy the former OHM facility. Commercial dry cleaning operations continue at Ideal Cleaners. The Street Division of the Grand Island Public Works Department leases a portion of the former Nebraska Solvents site for a sign shop and for storage and maintenance of trucks and equipment.
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Garvey Elevator
The Garvey Elevator Superfund site is located in Adams County, Nebraska. Garvey Elevators, Inc. owned and operated a grain elevator on 22 acres of the 106-acre property until 1998 when Ag Processing, Inc. took over operations. Carbon tetrachloride, which was used by Garvey as a pest control grain fumigant until 1985, contaminated the soil and groundwater at the site. The groundwater contaminant plume extends about four miles from the facility. EPA added the site to the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL) in 2005. As part of its limited site characterization and cleanup efforts, Garvey Elevators, Inc. connected some impacted residences to the municipal water supply and constructed groundwater and soil treatment systems on its property. Garvey Elevators, Inc. declared bankruptcy in 2008. EPA took over the ongoing cleanup activities on the Garvey Elevators, Inc. property and characterization of the site in its entirety. EPA extended municipal water lines to all impacted and occupied residences. EPA has selected and is currently designing the remedies to address the contaminated soil and groundwater on the 22-acre property and the groundwater plume extending from the facility. Prior to Garvey Elevators, Inc. declaring bankruptcy, Ag Processing, Inc. purchased the property in 2005 and continues to operate the grain storage facility and cultivate crops on the remaining property.
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Hastings Ground Water Contamination
Hastings Ground Water ContaminationThe 50-acre Hastings Groundwater Contamination Superfund site in Hastings, Nebraska, is one of EPA's largest and most complex groundwater cleanup projects. State investigations showed that industrial and commercial grain chemicals had contaminated area soil and groundwater. EPA placed the site on the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL) in 1986. Cleanup activities included establishing land use controls, providing an alternate water supply for affected users, conducting a well inventory, and starting a groundwater monitoring program in 2001. EPA divided the site into seven sub-sites for cleanup purposes. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has worked with EPA and the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality to construct a groundwater extraction and treatment system which beneficially reuses treated groundwater, and has cleaned up most of the surface soil contamination at the former Naval Ammunition Depot sub-site. Closing wells monitoring groundwater and limiting access to soil have greatly increased human health and safety at the other sub-sites. From the outset of the cleanup, EPA and the City of Hastings focused on ways to benefit the local community. Several private and public entities now occupy the former Naval Ammunition Depot, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Nebraska National Guard, Central Community College and a few private landowners. The Rainwater Basin Wetland Management District also maintains about 1,000 acres of the site as the McMurtry Waterfowl Production Area. The area provides protected habitat for various species of migrating birds, whitetail deer, burrowing owls and prairie dogs. The City uses treated groundwater to irrigate the city park. When irrigation water is not required, the water flows to a manmade lake.
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Iowa-Nebraska Light & Power Co.
The Iowa-Nebraska Light & Power Co site, a former manufactured gas plant, is located on 2 acres in downtown Norfolk, Nebraska. Waste products from the manufactured gas process are present in soil and groundwater at the site. EPA added the site to the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL) in April 2016. The eastern and northeastern portions of the site are currently owned by Black Hills/Nebraska Gas Utility Company LLC. The remainder of the site is owned by Nebraska Public Power District. In 2014, EPA oversaw the potentially responsible parties’ cleanup, including building demolition and excavation and off-site disposal of contaminated material. The Black Hills portion of the site is currently used as a concrete parking lot and the Nebraska Public Power District part of the site consists of a fenced gravel lot.
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Lindsay Manufacturing Co.
The Lindsay Manufacturing Co. (LMC) Superfund site is located in the Village of Lindsay, Nebraska. In 1965, LMC began operations on site. LMC currently manufactures galvanized irrigation sprinkler equipment on 42 acres. Between 1971 and 1982, the facility discharged process wastes into an unlined earthen lagoon on site. Use of the lagoon ceased in 1983, when three monitoring wells showed contamination. Improper waste management also resulted in groundwater contamination beneath the facility. As a result, the facility began treating the groundwater. In 1989, EPA added the site to the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL). EPA expanded the cleanup to include area soil. During cleanup, EPA invited the company to consider an innovative technology to study the use of sprinkler equipment in hazardous waste cleanups. This presented a business opportunity for LMC and prompted the firm to use the idea for cleanup at its own site. EPA approved the plan in 1997. Today, both LMC and the farmer whose wells were affected by the contamination are benefiting from this unique cleanup approach. EPA and the state are allowing the use of treated groundwater as seasonal irrigation for the farmer's corn crops. What began as a routine groundwater cleanup became a partnership between the responsible party and a neighboring farmer, reducing the operating cost of the groundwater cleanup system by about $100,000 per year. Currently, an active industrial facility operates on the site.
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Omaha Lead
The roughly 17,300-acre Omaha Lead Superfund site is located in Douglas County, Nebraska. From the early 1870s until 1997, a lead-refining plant operated on 23 acres of the site in downtown Omaha. Operations at the site resulted in the emission of lead and other heavy metals into the atmosphere. Wind transported the metal’s contaminants and deposited them on the ground surface. Sampling of soil on more than 41,000 residential properties found widespread lead contamination. Blood sampling of young children also shows a high rate of elevated blood lead levels in areas near the former lead refinery. EPA added the site to the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL) in 2003. Cleanup activities include removal of soil from childcare facilities and residential properties, cleaning of home interiors and public health education. The area remains in residential use as lead cleanup and exterior lead-based paint stabilization efforts continue. EPA expects to finish soil, sod and seed replacement, and cleanup all properties by the end of 2015.
Sherwood Medical Co.
The 60-acre Sherwood Medical Co. Superfund site is located in Norfolk, Madison County, Nebraska. The site includes the manufacturing plant property and nearby monitoring wells contaminated with volatile organic compounds. . Since 1962, Sherwood Medical Company and all of its successors have manufactured medical syringes and other medical products using injection-molding processes at this plant. Chlorinated solvents were used in the manufacturing process. The solvents reached the on-site septic system through floor drains which resulted in soil and groundwater contamination. In the late 1980’s, EPA and Nebraska Department of Health sampling results showed contamination in nearby wells. EPA added the site to the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL) in 1992. Cleanup included removing contaminated soil, collecting and treating groundwater, monitoring groundwater and removing the septic and underground storage tank systems. Cleanup activities also provided drinking water to a nearby trailer park and to affected industrial properties. The site remains in industrial use by Covidien.
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