Maxey Flats Nuclear Disposal

• Site Profile
• Administrative Record Index (All PDF): OU1 (89 pp., 5.6M), Add. (8 pp., 487K)
• Fall 2001 Fact Sheet (PDF, 3 pp., 219K)
• Fall 2001 Press Release (PDF, 2 pp., 154K)
• Additional Site Documents including Five Year Reviews, Records of Decisions (ROD) and Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD).
• For documents not available on the website, please contact the Region 4 Freedom of Information Office (http://www.epa.gov/region4/foiapgs/submit.htm).

Site Background:
The Maxey Flats Nuclear Disposal Site is located in eastern Kentucky near Hillsboro in Fleming County. The Site was a disposal facility for low-level radioactive wastes. The Site is located on a spur of Maxey Flats, a ridge 300 feet above the surrounding stream valleys. The spur drops steeply on three sides, and rainwater runoff is channeled to nearby Rock Lick Creek, which feeds the Licking River. The area surrounding the Site is rural and agricultural. More than 300 people live within a five mile radius of the Restricted Area; the closest residence is within ¼ mile. More than 120 wells and 25 springs are situated within five miles; however, nearby residents receive household water from a municipal water system. From 1963 to 1977, the State, under authorities granted by the U.S. Government, licensed private operators to dispose of low-level radioactive wastes from military ships and facilities, hospitals, universities, corporations, etc.; an estimated five million cubic feet of material were disposed. Most was solid waste; however, other waste types were disposed, some were highly radioactive. Approximately 533,000 pounds of source material (consisting of uranium and thorium or ores containing them), 2½ megacuries of by-product materials, and 950 pounds of special nuclear material (plutonium and enriched uranium) were buried in an area known as the Restricted Area. During the operation of the facility, workers capped each disposal trench with a layer of soil after it was filled, but the earth eventually collapsed into the ditches. Water collected in the trenches, leaching radionuclides into the surrounding environment. An approximately forty acre Restricted Area is situated entirely on top of the flats; the fenced and patrolled Restricted Area encompasses the disposal trenches, "hot wells" (sealed concrete pipes containing plutonium and uranium), waste storage buildings, and an evaporator facility. Including the acquired Buffer Zone properties, the Site occupies 900 acres.

Cleanup Progress: Remedial Action Under Way
The Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study were conducted from 3/87 through 9/91 under an Administrative Order by Consent. The Record of Decision was issued in September 1991. Meanwhile, between 12/88 and 11/89 EPA Emergency Response solidified 286,000 gallons of tanked leachate because of significant leakage from the metal leachate tanks; then from 3/91 to 9/92 EPA Emergency Response disposed of the solidified leachate blocks in an underground on-site trench and installed 30-acres of temporary above-ground plastic, impermeable liner to prevent infiltration of rain into the waste trenches. After lengthy negotiations lasting from 6/92 until 6/95, two Consent Decrees (one for the 50 de maximis parties and one for the 306 de minimis parties) arranged for cost allocation and for the performance of the Remedial Design (RD) and Remedial Action. After the required Public Comment Periods, the U.S. District Court activated the Decrees in April 1996; the RD for the first of two major cleanup phases ( 1. Leachate Removal and Disposal; 2. Building Demolition, On-Site Disposal, and Other Items) began immediately thereafter. Construction of Phase I and Phase II of the reinforced concrete bunkers (for disposal of solidified radioactive leachate and other contaminated materials) have been completed. Approximately 900,000 gallons of leachate (radioactive contaminated trench water) was removed from within the landfill.  Construction of the Initial Remedial Phase cap was complete in 2003, followed by a Interim Monitoring Period for cap and ground water monitoring. The first Five-Year Review of the site was complete in September 2002, during the initial cap construction and prior to the Interim Maintenance Period and monitoring of the Initial Remedial Phase.  EPA anticipates that the second Five-Year Review will be complete by September 2007.