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Fact Sheet

July 2012

EPA Begins Removal Activities, Cedar Valley Electroplating Superfund Site, Cedar Falls, Blackhawk County, Iowa

INTRODUCTION

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 will begin a Time-Critical Removal Action near the end of July 2012 at the Cedar Valley Electroplating (CVE) Superfund Site. The site is located at 5611 Westminster Drive in Cedar Falls, Blackhawk County, Iowa. The site is in an industrial park and is surrounded by residential and commercial properties.

WHY A TIME-CRITICAL REMOVAL?

EPA typically conducts removal actions to address emergency situations, or to eliminate immediate risks to human health and the environment.

Previous EPA compliance inspections at the site revealed the illegal storage of electroplating wastes on-site. These wastes pose a threat to human health or the environment due to their corrosive and toxic nature. EPA has confirmed these hazardous substances are being stored in a non-secure manner, some containers are leaking, and there have been releases of these wastes into soils at the site. The threat of continued releases remains until the wastes are controlled or removed. 

BACKGROUND

CVE formerly electroplated zinc onto carbon steel parts at the site. The sole structure at the site is an 8,500 square-foot building that is divided into an office and operational area.

Previous operations conducted at the site included electroplating from the mid-1990s to 2004. R Squared Properties, LLC acquired the Site in 2004, and leased it to CVE. CVE has operated at the site since 2004.

EPA inspected the site in September 2005 and in September 2010 under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Program for operating hazardous waste facilities. As a result of these inspections, EPA documented that twenty 55-gallon drums containing hazardous wastes were being stored at the site. In addition, there were five 250-gallon containers of other contaminants in storage on-site.

In October 2011, the site was inspected by the Cedar Falls Fire Department, who reported that the facility was no longer operational. In January 2012, a prospective purchaser conducted an investigation of the property and determined that there were large amounts of waste liquids, plating production chemicals, used and unused chemicals in storage at the site, as well as wastewater and sludge from the wastewater treatment process conducted on-site.

The EPA Superfund Program is conducting the removal and cleanup of these wastes under this Time-Critical Removal Action.

TIME-CRITICAL REMOVAL ACTION

A Time-Critical Removal Action will serve to quickly address these wastes by removing them and properly disposing of them, and any contaminated soil, at an appropriate off-site disposal facility.

The objectives of the removal include:

The removal action is expected to begin the end of July and will continue through the end of the summer. EPA is planning to begin removal operations during the week of July 30, 2012.

The removal will be conducted weekdays during normal business hours, and there should be no disruption of daily routine traffic.

ADMINISTRATIVE RECORD

EPA has established an Administrative Record which contains information about cleanup activities being conducted at the site. The Administrative Record is available for public review during normal business hours at the following locations:

Cedar Falls Public Library
524 Main Street
Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613
319-273-8463

EPA Region 7 Records Center
901 N. 5th Street
Kansas City, Kansas 66101
1-800-223-0425

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

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

Belinda Young
Community Involvement Coordinator
Office of Public Affairs
U.S. EPA Region 7
901 N. 5th Street
Kansas City, KS 66101
Phone: 913-551-7463
Toll-free: 1-800-223-0425
young.belinda@epa.gov

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