Fact Sheet
August 2005
Second Five-Year Review Begins, Doepke-Holliday Superfund Site, Johnson
County, Kansas
INTRODUCTION
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducts regular five-year reviews on Superfund sites where cleanups have been completed. These reviews are required by the Superfund law [42 U.S.C. § 9621(c)]. EPA Region 7 has initiated the second five-year review of the Doepke-Holliday Superfund site in Johnson County, Kansas.
Site Background
The Doepke-Holliday Superfund Site includes a former industrial and commercial waste landfill located on an 80-acre parcel of land on the southern bluffs of the Kansas River, near where Interstate 435 (I-435) crosses the river.
Between 1963 and 1970, the site operated as a private industrial and commercial landfill and accepted unknown quantities of wastes such as paint sludges, solvents, pesticides, metal sludges, and fiberglass resins. Liquids seeping from the site flowed through a culvert under Holliday Drive into the Kansas River. In the early 1960s, many wastes were burned and buried. Liquids were later stored in ponds on the site. In 1966, with County approval, 374 drums of various pesticides and solvents were placed with fire debris in a trench. In 1970, at the direction of the Kansas Department of Health and the Environment and the Johnson County Health Department, the landfill was closed and all commercial waste disposal activity halted.
In 1977 the site was used for disposal of waste rock materials from the construction of I-435.
The former waste disposal activities left the ground water, the soil, and the subsurface soils contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pesticides, benzene, and lead.
The selected remedy for the site was completed in 1996. It included construction of an impermeable multi-layer cap over the waste disposal area. The cap was designed to prevent contact with any of the contaminated materials in the old disposal area and reduce infiltration of surface water through that area, thereby minimizing runoff from the site. Cap maintenance and ground water monitoring will continue at the site indefinitely.
Five-Year Review
The first five-year review was conducted in 2000 and concluded the remedy at the site continued to be protective of human health and the environment. During this second five-year review, EPA will evaluate the deed restrictions on the property, inspect the site, and study site files and information to make sure the remedy continues to be protective. We encourage the community to tell us about site conditions or any concerns.
At the end of the review, a final report will be prepared and will be available in the site information repositories. The goal is to complete the review and report in September, 2005.
Additional Information
Detailed site information is available at the following locations:
Johnson County Public Library
8700 West 63rd Street
Merriam, Kansas
EPA Region 7 Records Center
901 North Fifth Street
Kansas City, Kansas
If you have questions or need additional information on the Doepke-Holliday Superfund site or the five-year review process, please contact:
Fritz Hirter
Community Involvement Coordinator
EPA Region 7
901 N. 5th Street
Kansas City, KS 66101
913-551-7003
Toll free: 1-800-223-0425
E-mail: hirter.fritz@epa.gov