For release: Nov. 4, 1998
Contacts:
Emery Sobottka, ISU Environmental Health and Safety, (515)
294-5317
Kevin Teale, Iowa Department of Public Health, (515) 281- 6692
Steve Karsjen, Ames Laboratory, (515) 294-5643
Skip Derra, News Service, (515) 294-4917
AMES, Iowa -- The Iowa Department of Public Health has announced that the former Ames
Laboratory
chemical disposal site located on Iowa State University property meets the standards for
"unrestricted use."
The announcement comes as a result of the completion of two reports:
"Characterization Report for the Ames
Laboratory Chemical Disposal Site -- Iowa State University" and "Tracer Results
at the Ames Laboratory
Chemical Disposal Site." The first report, prepared by ISU Environmental Health and
Safety, is the result of a
complete characterization of the site; the second report, produced by LaDon Jones, an ISU
associate professor
of civil engineering, details the results of research related to water movement at the
site.
"After a careful review and analysis of the data, we agree with all conclusions and
recommendations in the
characterization report," said Don Flater, chief of the Bureau of Radiological Health
for the Iowa Department of
Public Health (IDPH). "Therefore, we concur that the site should be released for
unrestricted use."
IDPH is also requiring that groundwater monitoring continue at the site until 2002.
Officials will test 20 to 25
water samples annually from groundwater and surface wells both on- and off-site. This plan
has the support of
ISU and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"The annual monitoring of the site is part of our 'checks and balances' approach to
any project like this," said
Emery Sobottka, director of ISU's Environmental Health and Safety. "We believe the
sampling will continue to
confirm the results of the characterization study and the Jones report, which confirms the
assessment that the
underground water contaminant plume at the site has reached a steady state. We expect any
remaining
down-gradient concentrations to decrease over the coming years and, therefore, envision no
potential threat to
either Squaw Creek or the public water supply."
The former chemical disposal site is located north of Ontario Street on Scholl Road, east
of the Applied Sciences
Complex. Between 1958 and 1966, the site was used for the disposal of radioactive and
chemical wastes. The
materials, which were buried in nine pits on the site, resulted from research performed by
Ames Laboratory
scientists for the federal government on the Manhattan Project. In 1994, the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE)
spent $4 million to clean up the site, removing approximately 2,000 cubic yards of
contaminated soil and debris
which were sent to a disposal site in Utah.
"It is through the cooperation of a number of state and federal agencies and the
university that we have been able
to take this former waste site from where it was to where it is today," said Tom
Barton, director of the Ames
Laboratory. "What should not be forgotten is the essential role played by our
Community Advisory Group
members, who spent a lot of time and effort over the past few years reviewing both the
data and the process,
and raising important questions."
Ames Laboratory is operated by ISU for the DOE. The laboratory conducts research in areas
of national
concern, including energy resources, high-speed computer design, environmental cleanup and
restoration, and the
synthesis and study of new materials.
Last revision: 11/4/98 sd
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