Chromium in Groundwater Worries Central Kansas City

To address these concerns, representatives from two federal government agencies and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment will visit Great Bend next week for public availability sessions.

Officials from U.S. EPA Region 7 and from the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry will be on hand to present the latest information from a new report on the contamination and address community concerns about the chromium groundwater plume originating from the Plating, Inc. Superfund site.

The availability sessions, which will also provide information about upcoming activities to be performed by each agency, are scheduled from noon to 2 pm, and 6 to 8 pm, on Tuesday, March 10, at The Front Door, a community meeting space at 1615 Tenth Street in Great Bend, a small city of about 15,000 people in central Kansas.

Local residents are encouraged to visit one-on-one with the agencies' representatives. No appointments or reservations are necessary.

Past investigations identified that chromium entered the groundwater as a result of leaky storage tanks in the company's facility.

Known health effects from chromium exposure may include skin irritation and ulceration, damage to the liver and kidneys, as well as damage to circulatory and nerve tissues, depending on the duration and level of exposure.

Fields near Great Bend, Kansas (Photo by Paula Stout)

The Plating Inc. site is a former chromium plating and zinc plating facility located in the Great Bend airport industrial complex, about 1.5 miles southwest of Great Bend and about two miles north of the Arkansas River surrounded by agricultural land. The site building was constructed and chromium plating began in 1968.

In 1988 the Kansas Department of Health and Environment detected soil contamination and documented that the facility had been operating without air pollution control systems. Soil was excavated and a chromium fume scrubber was installed to prevent recontamination of the soil.

In 1991 sampling revealed that the groundwater was contaminated with chromium. In 1994 KDHE and Plating Inc. signed an order which led to the facility installing a shallow remedial well to contain and remediate the shallow plume. In 2002 an additional remedial well was installed.

In 2005 the facility closed down. The following year, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment discovered several tanks of plating solutions that were abandoned and possibly leaking.

Domestic water supply wells for several nearby businesses were impacted by the contamination and chromium found in two of the wells serving area businesses have exceeded regulatory guidelines. The state agency has provided bottled water to these businesses.

In October 2007, the U.S. EPA began a cleanup action at the Plating Inc. site. Several thousand gallons of plating solutions were removed from the facility.

In March 2008, the EPA placed the Plating Inc. site on the Superfund list.

The ATSDR released its public health assessment of the site on February 27, 2009. The federal public health agency, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, evaluates the human health effects of exposure to hazardous substances.

The agency says chromium detected in seven private wells serving businesses in Great Bend, Kansas and one public water supply is "not expected to cause harmful health effects."

However, chromium levels detected in monitoring wells near the Plating Inc. facility indicate that chromium exposures would be of health concern if people were to drill private wells in this area for use as a drinking water source.

In its report, ATSDR recommends continuing efforts to reduce chromium levels in groundwater and continued monitoring of affected private wells, public water supply wells, and additional wells found to be within the chromium plume.

The agency recommends continuing to provide bottled water to the two businesses currently receiving it, restricting the installation of private wells for use as a drinking water source in areas within and near the chromium plume, and considering additional efforts to characterize the horizontal and vertical extent of the chromium groundwater plume.

A copy of the health assessment will be available for review on or after March 3, 2009 at the Great Bend Library, 1409 Williams Street, Great Bend, KS 67530

The ATSDR welcomes public comment through April 13, 2009. Comments on the health assessment must be made in writing. Comments received and the agency's responses to these comments will appear in an appendix to the final public health assessment.

Mail comments to: Records Center, ATSDR; ATTN: Plating Inc. Site ATSDR Public Health Assessment; 1600 Clifton Road, N.E. MS F-09, Atlanta, GA 30333

Concerned members of the public can contact a federal health communication specialist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Januett Smith-George is available at: 770-488-0777 or toll free at 1-800-CDC-INFO or by email at: jsmithgeorge@cdc.gov.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2009. All rights reserved.