LENEXA, KAN. (NOV. 17, 2022) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 will hold a Community Meeting on Thursday, Nov. 17, at Memorial Hall in Blanchette Park, 1900 W. Randolph, St. Charles, Missouri.
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m., with representatives from EPA, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. After a presentation by EPA, the agencies will hold a question-and-answer session followed by an open house where they’ll be available to speak with community members until 8 p.m.
The purpose of the Community Meeting is to provide an update on EPA’s oversight of the Record of Decision (ROD) implementation for Operable Unit 4 of the Findett Corp. Superfund Site, in particular the status of the Consent Decree, and to allow partner agencies to provide updates on their work regarding the site.
“EPA is committed to identifying the source of the contamination on the city property and determining the proper actions to mitigate any potential impact to the city system,” said EPA Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister.
“The Missouri Safe Drinking Water Law requires public water systems to monitor for contaminants and take corrective action if any health-based standards are exceeded,” said Dru Buntin, director, Missouri Department of Natural Resources. “The Department of Natural Resources implements those laws in Missouri, and we will work with the city to ensure the system continues to provide safe drinking water to the public if wells are reopened.”
St. Charles’ drinking water supply meets the drinking water health standards established by Missouri’s Safe Drinking Water Law and the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Water distributed to the public after treatment at the city’s water treatment plant has been sampled regularly for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including vinyl chloride, since 2008 and has never shown any level of contamination.
On June 30, 2021, EPA issued a ROD selecting the remedy to clean up Operable Unit 4 (OU4) of the site. EPA and the state of Missouri have jointly worked to establish a Consent Decree (CD), which requires Ameren to perform the remedy selected in the ROD. This action will be taken under the requirements of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as the Superfund law. The proposed CD, now pending in federal court, allows future actions if ROD cleanup standards aren’t met. The CD will not prevent EPA from investigating or conducting cleanup of wellfield contamination or holding liable parties responsible for future response actions. The CD is an essential element in creating legally enforceable obligations that will require Ameren to conduct and pay for the necessary work to protect the wellfield.
EPA is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. For reasonable accommodations at the Community Meeting, please contact Euleashia Embry at: embry.euleashia@epa.gov.
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