Thorium being removed from Lakeshore East
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December 17, 2002 (USEPA to WARD)
From : Micke.Fredrick@epamail.epa.gov
To : Richard Ward <neweastside@hotmail.com>
CC : joyce.mike@epamail.epa.gov
Subject : Re: THANK YOU & FOLLOW-UP
Date : Tue, 17 Dec 2002 12:01:27 -0600
Thank you for the reply. I hope the meeting helped everyone understand
the project and removed some the concerns about radioactive material.
As an update, the excavation of known contamination at the site was
completed on December 6. The last area to be worked on was the north
slip area. The north slip had spotty areas of contamination that went
as deep as 12 to 13 feet. The slips were filled in with a lot of
different material and unfortunately some of it was radioactive.
The work going on now is site wide excavation and grading. The work is
being done in 18 inch lifts so that the material can be scanned for
radiation. In addition, the bottom and sidewalls of the lifts are also
being scanned. We hope that nothing is found, but we will not know for
sure until the lifts are completed. So far, no additional contamination
has been found.
If you have any further questions, please contact me ASAP. E-mail or
phone is fine. My phone # is 312-886-5123.
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November 20, 2002 (WARD to USEPA)
FROM: Richard Ward
TO: FREDRICK MICKE/R5/USEPA/US@EPA, Larry Jensen, and Mike Joyce
Thank you for the very informative presentation last night to the residents of the NewEastside area regarding the Thorium clean-up of the Lakeshore East construction site. To continue the discussion of the probable areas and depth that you are apparently finding the Thorium, please review the 1891 Army Corps of Engineers map of the area and the location of the 2 large ship slips
facing Lake Michigan and the 3 smaller slips facing the chicago River. In creating the webpage http://NewEastsideForum.homestead.com/HISTORY.html , I superimposed a 1994 map of the area (after adjusting the scale with a copy machine) over the 1891 map to determine historically what was under our existing buildings. The tips of the 5 arrows represent the location of the buildings. As you can observe the 195 building was build right in the center of the long southeast slip that extended north of the 400 building, similar to one of the main areas where you are finding the Thorium. The other location that was reported last summer appears to be at the end of the
old northeast slip. These 2 relatively long and probably deep slips are where you are finding the Thorium waste from the Lindsey plant. The reason I am focusing on these two areas is the probable depth you may have to dig to get to the historic lake bottom water depth of 16 to 18 feet. Because the historic flat railyard was at the plus 6 foot Chicago City Datum (CCD), the Thorium may be as low as 24 feet. It appears that you are only digging less that 12 feet in the area west of 195 and north of 400. Do the drilled samples below the 12 foot levels reveal any elevated levels of the Thorium material?
My relationship with the USEPA goes back to the early 1970's with Francis Mayo and Valdus Adamkus regarding the O'Hare Sewage Treatment Plant and the Chicagoland Deep tunnel Plan. I prepared and delivered a 630 page response by the City of Des Plaines to your draft EIS to Mr. Adamkus just a half-hour before the comment deadline. The resultant odor and bacteria and virus
emission problems are still the subject of a long scientific debate. My experience with the USEPA Region 5 personnel has always been positive and I appreciate you being our watchdogs next to our homes in downtown Chicago.
I have about 300 email addresses of the local residents and am willing to use the list to communicate anything you consider important. Also the website http://neweastside.org has been a resource for the community and I will publish anything you could create to explain the work you are doing on this site. It has received over 16,000 page visits in the past 2 years. Let me
know if I can help. Sincerely, Richard Ward
Richard F. Ward
155 Harbor Dr. #5101, Chicago IL 60601
Fax & Home Phone: 312-938-0884
Email: neweastside@hotmail.com
Websites:
http://neweastside.org
http://155harbor.org
http://vp18.homestead.com
