Site Narrative:
PCE – West Kansas Avenue (formerly known as Radke Oil PCE) (Site) is located near the intersection of West Kansas Avenue and South Taft Street in McPherson, McPherson County, Kansas. The Site is located at 38.36959, -97.68252. The public land survey system (PLSS) description for the Site is the SE/4, SW/4, NW/4 of Section 29, Township 19 South, Range 03 West. Surrounding land use is commercial. Some residences in the area obtain drinking water from private domestic wells.
Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) was detected in a monitoring well at the closed Radke Oil Co Inc (Radke) (U5-059-12079) leaking underground storage tank (LUST) site at a concentration of 1.4 micrograms per liter (ug/L). The Radke site is located at 1060 West Kansas Avenue. The monitoring wells at the Radke site have since been plugged and abandoned.
There are six active public water supply (PWS) wells belonging to the City of McPherson within one mile of the Site. There are 22 private domestic wells located within one mile of the Site.
The Site is underlain by the Equus Beds aquifer. Based upon a review of the lithologic logs produced during the Voluntary Cleanup Report (2014) at the nearby Chrome Plus site, clay and silt are found from 0 to 55 feet below ground surface (bgs), with some thin seams of sand encountered between 25 and 40 feet bgs. Sand is generally found between 50 and 95 feet bgs, followed by silt from 95 to 110 feet bgs. Depth to bedrock in this area is estimated to be encountered at 150 to 250 feet bgs. Groundwater in the study area is encountered at approximately 90 feet below ground surface (bgs), and flows to the southwest.
According to KDHE’s Identified Sites List (ISL), there are eight active sites located within one-mile sidegradient/upgradient of the Site. The following of which are currently addressing chlorinated solvents impacts to groundwater: PCE – North Highway 81 Bypass (C5-059-73524), TCE – West Hill Street (C5-059-73526), Chrome Plus (C5-059-71983), TCE – Chromium West Woodside (C5-059-73360), Giant Wash Laundry (C5-059-70790), Tidy Laundry (C5-059-71988), and Swick-Guth (C5-059-71988).
Based on a review of the KDHE Bureau of Waste Management (BWM) RCRA waste files and a search of the EPA Envirofacts RCRAInfo web page, nine generators of PCE were identified within one-mile upgradient of the site. These generators are: Sunflower Printing (1124 W. Woodside St.), Kansas American Tooling (1101 W. 1st St.), Smithway Motor Express (1000 W. 1st St.), North American Specialty Products, LLC (500 W. 1st St.), Certainteed Corporation (873 N. Hickory St.), Viega LLC (831 N. Vanguard), Midwest Ind & Dev LTD (1125 W. 1st St and 1200 W. 1st St), and ICS Inc (210 N. Elder).
Based upon the above information, KDHE Site Response Unit recommends a Preliminary Assessment be conducted to determine the source(s) of PCE detected in groundwater from the monitoring well associated with the Radke Oil Inc LUST site (U5-059-12079) under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) consistent with the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP) 40 CFR § 300. |