Reed-Keppler Park sits on 11 acres in West Chicago, Illinois. A nearby Rare Earths Facility operated from 1932 to 1973, producing rare earth elements and radioactive materials for industrial and federal atomic energy programs. Radioactive tailings from that facility were deposited at the park site, which had also served as a sand and gravel quarry, a community park, and a municipal landfill. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) placed the site on the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1990. The NPL is the federal list of the most serious uncontrolled hazardous waste sites in the country.
The main contaminants are thorium, radium, and uranium. Uranium has specifically been identified in groundwater across the site. Investigations began as early as November 1983, and a full remedial investigation and feasibility study ran from 1992 through 2002. Cleanup work included excavating 114,652 cubic yards of radioactively contaminated material, then backfilling, grading, reseeding, and replacing groundwater monitoring wells. That physical work finished in November 2000. Groundwater monitoring continued through 2007. In September 2002, EPA selected a "No Further Action" remedy after confirming the cleanup had eliminated health threats.
Human exposure is under control. No unacceptable exposure pathways currently exist. Contaminated groundwater migration is stabilized, and there is no unacceptable discharge to surface water. Because no residual contaminants remain that would prevent unrestricted use, five-year reviews are no longer required. Institutional controls, including zoning restrictions, remain in place to prevent land uses that would be inconsistent with the cleanup level.
EPA deleted the site from the NPL on February 8, 2010. The park has since been fully redeveloped for public use. Recreational facilities now include sports fields, a skateboard park, playgrounds, a 25-acre nature sanctuary, a dog park, and the Prairie Oaks Family Aquatic Center, which opened in 1995 on a cleaned portion of the site during the cleanup process. As of December 2024, nine on-site businesses employed 93 people and generated approximately 9.9 million dollars in annual sales.
Community members with questions can contact the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator or Remedial Project Manager directly using the contact information below. Documentation about the site, including 213 administrative records, is available through EPA's Superfund records system.
