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Fact Sheet
March 2009
EPA Removal Site Evaluation to Begin, Standard Products, Inc., Wichita, Kansas
INTRODUCTION
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 will begin a Removal Site Evaluation (RSE) at the Standard Products, Inc. site at 650 E. Gilbert in Wichita, Kansas. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) conducted a Unified Focused Assessment (UFA) at the site and requested EPA to perform the RSE.
EPA PLANNED ACTIVITIES
EPA will collect soil samples for lab analysis, survey the property, screen the entire property, screen the buildings on site, and review the lab data to determine if any removal actions are warranted.
The RSE is to begin in late March 2009. Sampling will be conducted on soil at the site to determine if the site poses a threat to human health and the environment, and to propose recommendations for further action, if necessary. Sampling will last about a week.
BACKGROUND
Radioluminescent paint and radium luminous compounds have been used extensively on watch and clock faces since the early 1900s. The wide use of radium in luminescent paints continued through World War II because the soft glow of radium-produced luminescence made aircraft dials, gauges, and other instruments visible to operators at night.
The Standard Products, Inc. site was located at the above address in Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas. The site was the location of an aircraft instrument repair shop in the 1950s and 1960s. Instruments included some radium dials and faces.
THE CONTAMINATION
Radium dial repair shops were set up in the Wichita area soon after World War II to upgrade and repair radium-bearing aircraft instruments. During this repair process, the dials containing radium-bearing paint were removed, the radium bearing paint stripped from the dials with solvent, and the dials repainted. These teardown and dial-stripping operations are potential sources for solvents, heavy metal, and radium contamination of buildings, soil, and ground water.
The portion of the Standard Products building on Gilbert Street where the radium painting had taken place now consists of only a concrete slab. During KDHE's UFA, radiation was detected on tiles covering the slab. Kansas' UFA showed the soil contaminated with radium-226, arsenic, cadmium, and/or lead. Ground water collected indicated radium-226 levels exceeding federal standards. Trichloroethylene was detected in all ground water samples.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
If you have questions or need additional information, please contact:
Beckie Himes
Community Involvement Coordinator
Office of Public Affairs
U.S. EPA Region 7
901 N. 5th Street
Kansas City, KS 66101
Phone: 913-551-7253 or
Toll Free: 1-800-223-0425
himes.beckie@epa.gov
Don Lininger
On Scene Coordinator
Superfund Division
U.S. EPA Region 7
901 N. 5th Street
Kansas City, KS 66101
Phone: 913-551-7724
lininger.don@epa.gov