LINCOLN, Neb.—The University of Nebraska has begun an eight- to 12-week project to clean up hazardous waste buried at the former Nebraska Ordnance Plant near Mead.
Trucks and backhoes are being used to remove chemical, biological and radioactive waste from around four trenches near the bomb-loading lines at the old munitions plant, which operated during World War II and the Korean War.
The material will be sealed in drums and other containers and sent elsewhere for proper disposal, the Environmental Protection Agency said.
The site is now the Agricultural Research and Development Center for the university, which bought the land in 1964. The university used some of the property in the 1970s and ’80s as a disposal site for hazardous wastes including radioactive medical waste, solvents, pesticides and radioactive animal carcasses.
Such practices were permissible at the time, but since have been banned.
An estimated 1,500 cubic yards of soil—150 dump truck loads—will be removed, officials said.
Workers will wear protective gear, and the university will monitor the site to ensure that they are not exposed to hazardous substances.
Plans for the cleanup began in 2002, when the U.S. Justice Department sued the university to force it to decontaminate part of the ordnance plant. Other areas, including contaminated groundwater, are being cleaned up by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In 2006, university officials said they did not have the money to pay for the cleanup, estimated at that time at about $6 million, and asked the Legislature for help.
Lawmakers appropriated about $4.17 million from the general fund and transferred $2.76 million from the Nebraska Environmental Trust.
EPA project manager Scott Marquess said there may be cleanup work required after the initial phase is finished. It’s possible there is some soil and groundwater contamination near an old landfill south of a small natural resources district reservoir.
Joel Pedersen, associate general counsel for the university, said NU would be vigilant in making sure the job is done right.
He estimated the project cost could go higher than $6 million if much work is necessary to clean up the landfill area.
Mead is 31 miles north of Lincoln.
———
On the Net:
University of Nebraska:
