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EPA: Soil excavation underway at Nuclear Metals site; agency says confirmation sampling and dust controls in place
Summary
EPA said soil and sediment excavation is under way at the Nuclear Metals, Inc. Superfund site, removing contaminated soils down to 10 feet where needed, replacing excavated areas with clean fill, and using real‑time dust monitoring and asbestos controls; officials reported 18,000 soil samples and frequent confirmation sampling.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and its contractors told a public meeting in April 2026 that large‑scale soil and sediment excavation is underway at the Nuclear Metals, Inc. Superfund site and that crews are removing contaminated material to protect future site users.
Cara, the EPA remedial project manager, said the cleanup plan in the 2015 Record of Decision requires soil that poses a risk to be excavated to about 10 feet, the depth considered most likely to be encountered by future workers. "Since the site was listed in 2001 as a Superfund site, there have been 18,000 soil samples collected, 280 sediment samples, 150 surface water samples, and 17,000 groundwater samples," Cara said to describe the scale of site characterization.
The agency and the settling defendants described a stepped process: pre‑design sampling on a 30‑foot grid, targeted excavation to clean soil or the 10‑foot depth, confirmation sampling after cuts, off‑site disposal of impacted material, and restoration with clean fill and topsoil. Work areas include early excavations completed in the southwest and northeast corners of the property; other areas remain under design and investigation.
To limit worker and community exposures, officials said teams are operating perimeter air monitors (upwind and downwind), using water trucks and soil‑misting equipment to suppress dust, and installing erosion controls such as silt fence and coir logs. Cara described how building slabs were broken into smaller pieces, combined with excavated soils, and loaded into lined trucks that are scanned prior to leaving the site.
The project team also noted an unexpected finding during slab demolition: asbestos‑containing piping in some subsurface utilities. Cara said licensed asbestos contractors isolated, bagged and containerized the material for off‑site disposal and that an Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD) was prepared to document the additional requirements.
Officials said waste management is handled in a lined staging area, the pile is covered nightly while exposed, and most contaminated soils are consolidated in covered trucks and moved by transload/rail to an out‑of‑state disposal facility. The presenters said drums removed from buildings during prior actions went to a licensed radioactive landfill and that current contaminated soils are being routed through a rail transload to a Michigan disposal facility.
The meeting closed with EPA offering to share the annual groundwater and soil reports online and to provide documents to interested residents by email. The project team estimated intensive construction activities continuing for several years and said confirmation sampling will continue to ensure excavation goals are met.
