KRESS CREEK JUST EAST OF EJ&E RR TRACKS
The Kerr-McGee Kress Creek/West Branch of DuPage River site is one of four National Priorities List (NPL) sites in the West Chicago area that were contaminated with radioactive thorium wastes. The radioactive waste originated from a nearby facility known as the Rare Earths Facility (REF). The REF, operated by Lindsay Light and Chemical Company and its successors from 1932 until 1973, produced non-radioactive elements known as rare earths and radioactive elements such as thorium, radium, and uranium along with gas lantern mantles for private entities and the United States government's use in federal atomic energy programs. The REF produced these elements by extracting them from monazite sands, bastnasite (rare earth ore), and other ores, using an acid leaching process. Production of these elements resulted in the generation of radioactive mill tailings that contained residual levels of thorium, radium, and uranium as well as certain other insoluble metals. Kerr-McGee purchased the REF in 1967 and maintained operations until closing the facility in 1973. At the Kress Creek/West Branch of DuPage River (KC/WBDR) site, creek and river sediments and banks and floodplain areas are contaminated with radioactive thorium wastes. The site became contaminated when radioactively-contaminated surface runoff and discharges from the REF were carried by a storm sewer into nearby Kress Creek and, from there, downstream to the West Branch DuPage River. The site includes approximately 1.5 miles of Kress Creek from the storm sewer outfall to the creek's confluence with the West Branch DuPage River and approximately 5.2 miles of the river from the confluence downstream to the McDowell Dam in Naperville, IL, for a total of 6.7 miles of creek and river. Approximately 20,000 people live within three miles of the site. Drinking water in the area is obtained from municipal or private wells and is not impacted by site contaminants. Site Responsibility This site was addressed through potentially responsible party (PRP) actions until January 2009, when Tronox (formerly Kerr-McGee) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. EPA successfully negotiated a settlement of environmental claims that established the West Chicago Environmental Response Trust, with Weston serving as Trustee, to complete the site cleanup.
8,422 |
People living within a 1 mile radius |
$90,043 |
Average Income |
1,943 |
Occupied homes |
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