This Superfund site stretches nearly seven miles along Kress Creek and the West Branch of the DuPage River in DuPage County, Illinois. Contamination traces back to a Rare Earths Facility that operated from 1932 to 1973, producing gas lantern mantles and rare earth elements. Radioactive mill tailings piled up on the property, and contaminated runoff entered Kress Creek through a storm sewer over the years. EPA placed the site on the National Priorities List (NPL) in February 1991.
The contaminants of concern are radium, radium-226, radium-228, thorium-232, uranium, uranium-235, and uranium-238. All of these have been found in both soil and sediment across the site. EPA determined they posed an unacceptable risk to human health and the environment based on potential exposure pathways and measured contamination levels.
Cleanup involved excavating more than 129,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil and sediment. Work ran from July 2005 through October 2012 at a cost of $144 million. The West Chicago Environmental Response Trust, formed after Tronox (formerly Kerr-McGee) filed for bankruptcy in 2009, carried out the cleanup using Department of Energy reimbursements. The selected remedy for the one operable unit included excavation, revegetation, offsite disposal, dewatering, temporary onsite storage, and monitoring. Maintenance and monitoring continued through 2016. The site has been cleaned up to unrestricted use levels, human exposure is under control, and EPA has determined no unacceptable exposure pathways remain.
The site is now being considered for removal from the NPL. EPA published a Notice of Intent to Delete in the Federal Register and is accepting public comments on the proposed deletion through April 3, 2026. The site remains eligible for deletion, but if Department of Energy Title X funding to the West Chicago Trust becomes unavailable, EPA may need to use Superfund money to complete any remaining work.
Community members who want to weigh in on the proposed deletion can submit comments through the EPA website. For questions, contact the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator or Remedial Project Manager.
