JEFFERSON CITY, MO, OCT. 15, 2021 - The Missouri Department of Natural Resources issued a final hazardous waste permit to the Port Authority of Kansas City (Port KC), allowing the company to continue post-closure care and corrective-action activities at its Kansas City facility.
AK Steel operated a steel manufacturing facility at the site, located at 7000 Winner Road in Kansas City, Missouri. The facility contained a closed hazardous waste landfill, which AK Steel used to dispose of electric arc furnace dust generated during the steel-making process. Wastes handled at the AK Steel facility included aqueous waste, baghouse dust, construction debris, corrosives, inorganic sludges/solids, organic sludges/solids, solvents, waste metals and used oil.
The former AK Steel facility is jointly owned by: Port KC; Blue Summit, LLC; Ross Custom Properties, LLC; The Andersons, Inc.; CTE Properties, LLC; Hansen Property Development, Inc.; Planned Industrial Expansion Authority; and Moly-Cop USA, LLC. Port KC is conducting corrective-action investigations and remediation activities at the site under a department-issued Missouri Hazardous Waste Management Facility Part I Permit and a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-issued Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments Part II Permit. On May 30, 2018, Port KC, as the new property owner and operator, submitted a permit application to the department to modify and renew its hazardous waste permit.
Portions of the former AK Steel Facility not owned by Port KC are not being included in the reissued Part I Permit. These properties are not included in this permit based on the absence of contamination and/or prior completion of corrective action through implementation of interim measures. This includes properties owned by: The Andersons, Inc.; CTE Properties LLC; Hansen Property Development, Inc.; Planned Industrial Expansion Authority; and Moly-Cop USA LLC. Corrective action for the property owned by Ross Custom Properties, LLC will be implemented, monitored and maintained pursuant to a separate, enforceable Corrective Action Abatement Order on Consent between the department and Ross Custom Properties. Corrective action for property owned by Blue Summit, LLC will be implemented, monitored and maintained pursuant to a separate, enforceable Corrective Action Order that the department issued to Blue Summit, LLC.
After a thorough technical review of the permit and the preferred final remedy, and after the public comment period, the department approved the proposed final remedy and issued a final Part I Permit. Port KC’s final permit requires the company to conduct corrective-action and remediation activities and continue post-closure care of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) landfill.
The final remedy for Ross Custom Properties includes: completed interim measures at Solid Waste Management Units (SWMUs) 7 and 33, and Areas of Concern 1 and 9; cap maintenance, engineering controls and institutional controls at SWMU 3; monitored natural attenuation of groundwater at SWMUs 13, 17 and 33; and engineering and institutional controls in the form of an enforceable Environmental Covenant.
The final remedy for Hansen Property Development, Inc. is No Further Action with continuing existing institutional controls. The final remedy for Planned Industrial Expansion Authority/Midwest Scrap Management is No Further Action with continuing existing institutional and engineering controls. The final remedy for The Andersons, Inc., CTE Properties LLC, and Moly-Cop USA LLC is No Further Action.
EPA decided not to prepare a Part II Permit, since EPA has no site-specific conditions for the facility, beyond those contained in the draft Part I Permit, and Missouri is fully authorized for all permitting, post-closure, and corrective-action activities at the facility. According to Code of Federal Regulations 40 C.F.R. § 270.51(d), the existing Part II Permit will remain in effect until the department issues a new Part I Permit.
No comments were submitted on the proposed final remedy or draft Part I Permit during the public comment period. Any parties adversely affected or aggrieved by the department’s decision to approve the proposed final remedy and issue the final Part I Permit may be entitled to pursue an appeal before the Administrative Hearing Commission. Appeals may be filed by filing a written petition by Nov. 1, 2021, according to the procedures outlined in Code of State Regulations 10 CSR 25-2.020 and Sections 260.395.11 and 621.250 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri (RSMo). If the petition is sent by registered mail or certified mail, it will be deemed filed on the date it is mailed. If it is sent by any other method, it will be deemed filed on the date it is received by the Administrative Hearing Commission. Appeals must be sent to the Administrative Hearing Commission, Truman State Office Building, Room 640, 301 W. High St., P.O. Box 1557, Jefferson City, MO 65102. The department also asks that a copy of the petition be provided to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Waste Management Program Director, P.O. Box 176, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0176.
The final Part I Permit and final remedy decision and additional information are available at the Kansas City Public Library’s North-East Branch, or the department’s Elm Street Conference Center in Jefferson City.
For more information about the final Part I Permit and final remedy decision, or to obtain a written copy of the final Part I or final remedy decision, please contact Christine Kump-Mitchell, PE, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Hazardous Waste Program, P.O. Box 176, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0176, by telephone at 314-416-2464 or 800-361-4827, or by email at christine.kump@dnr.mo.gov. Hearing- and speech-impaired individuals may reach Christine Kump-Mitchell through Relay Missouri at 800-735-2966.