Former Bannister Federal Complex

The Problem

Various manufacturing operations previously conducted at the site resulted in hazardous materials being stored, used and transferred at the site. During operations, on-site releases of hazardous materials left contaminated soil and groundwater. Additionally, building materials containing asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and paint containing heavy metals were located throughout the facility buildings. 

Contaminants of Concern

Common industrial chemicals, solvents, paints, volatile organic compounds, PCB oils, diesel fuel, gasoline, low-level radioactive waste and mixed waste (hazardous and radioactive) are present at the site in soil and groundwater.

What’s Been Done

Following the governor’s approval of an early transfer request, DOE/ NNSA transferred the property west of the railroad tracks to BT&D on Nov. 15, 2017. For more information about the investigation, demolition, cleanup and redevelopment of that part of the property, visit the department's Bannister Complex webpage.

The USACE, on behalf of GSA, conducted a remedial investigation of the closed landfill. An investigation report was completed in October 2016, and a feasibility study report in January 2022.

What’s Left to Do

The USACE is drafting a proposed plan for the closed landfill. The proposed plan will summarize potential remedial alternatives and identify a preferred final remedy. The public will have the opportunity to review and provide comments on the proposed selected remedy, before the final remedy is selected. 

For information about the remaining portions of the property, visit the department's Bannister Complex webpage.

Site Description 

The approximately 309-acre site is bordered by Troost Ave. to the west, a wooded bluff and Legacy Park to the north, Blue River to the east and Indian Creek and Bannister Road to the south. From 1942 until November 2017, the Bannister Federal Complex was a federal government-owned, contractor-operated federal installation. From 1942 to 1963, the complex was owned by the Defense Plant Corp., Reconstruction Finance Corp. and the U.S. Department of Navy. The U.S. Navy built the main manufacturing building in 1942. Pratt and Whitney Corp. used the main manufacturing building from 1943 to 1945 to build aircraft engines for the Navy in support of World War II. From 1948 until 1961, Westinghouse Electric Co. built jet engines in the main manufacturing building for the U.S. Navy in support of the Korean Conflict. In 1949, Bendix Corp. subleased part of the building to manufacture non-nuclear components of nuclear weapons for the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). Bendix merged with Allied Corp., who merged with Signal Corp. and became Allied Signal Inc., who acquired Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies LLC, the last operator of what was formerly known as the Kansas City Plant. The AEC was abolished in 1974. In 1975, the Energy Research and Development Administration was created and took custody of the Kansas City Plant until it became part of DOE, which was created in 1977.

From 1942 to1964, government contractors operated a 40-acre DOD landfill as a disposal site for the entire complex, located in the southeast area of the complex. Building tenants used the landfill to dispose of solid waste, such as construction debris, floor sweepings, wastebasket contents and possibly industrial wastes. Historic information indicates the public may have used the landfill for disposal during its early years of operation.

After the U.S. Navy stopped engine production, the parts of the site that DOE did not already own were placed under the ownership and management of GSA. DOE owned the Kansas City Plant, which occupied 136 acres. GSA owned the remaining property, including the closed landfill. GSA operated a warehouse in the western part of the building and leased other building space to other federal agencies. In 2000, DOE created NNSA, which became the owner of the Kansas City Plant. The Kansas City Plant continued to manufacture electrical, mechanical, plastic and other non-nuclear components of nuclear weapons at the site. The items manufactured at the Kansas City Plant included electrical, electronic, electromechanical, mechanical, plastic and non-fissionable metal components. 

In 2013, DOE/ NNSA moved their operations to new facilities. In 2014, GSA moved their various operations to new locations. Anyone leasing buildings on the portion of the federal complex west of the railroad tracks, relocated by December 2015. In 2017, after completing the early transfer process, BT&D took ownership of approximately 225-acre areas of the site west of the railroad tracks, plus two acres off-site of the main complex. BT&D is making considerable progress redeveloping their part of the site. GSA owns the remaining 82 acres of the former federal complex east of the railroad tracks, which includes the closed landfill. GSA is leasing this property to the U.S. Marine Corps under a long-term lease. 

The Problem

Various manufacturing operations at the site resulted in hazardous materials  being stored, used and transferred at the site. DOE/ NNSA also used depleted uranium and metallic uranium in manufacturing processes at the Bannister Federal Complex. During that time, on-site releases of hazardous materials resulted in contaminated soil and groundwater. Releases from an underground tank farm, a trichloroethylene reclamation facility, a plating building and various industrial practices performed throughout the site resulted in large contaminant plumes in the soil and groundwater. The contaminant plumes contain solvents, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and petroleum products. Additionally, building materials containing asbestos, PCBs and paint containing heavy metals were located throughout the facility buildings. Volatiles have been confirmed in the groundwater at the landfill.

Environmental Restoration

Initially, DOE voluntarily performed environmental investigation and cleanup activities for the Kansas City Plant under a 3008(h) Corrective Action Administrative Order on Consent with EPA. In 1999, EPA's order was replaced by a department-issued Missouri Hazardous Waste Management Facility Part I Permit and EPA-issued Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments Part II Permit. These permits transferred the regulatory oversight responsibility and authority for the investigation and corrective action activities from EPA to the department, under Missouri’s RCRA-equivalent hazardous waste program. 

GSA had been performing environmental investigation and cleanup activities on their part of the federal complex under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). In 2012, the department and EPA modified DOE's hazardous waste permits at DOE and GSA’s request. GSA was added to the hazardous waste permits, as a permittee, and the GSA-owned property was included under the permits, except the closed landfill.

When BT&D took ownership of the property west of the railroad tracks in 2017, BT&D replaced DOE as a permittee on the hazardous waste permits. As the owner of the property, BT&D assumed responsibility for completing the environmental investigation and cleanup activities on their part of the site. For information about the environmental investigation and cleanup activities being conducted under the hazardous waste permits, including the investigation, demolition, cleanup and redevelopment of BT&D's part of the former federal complex, visit the department's Bannister Complex webpage.

The USACE is conducting environmental activities at the closed landfill under the FUDS program. USACE is completing an environmental investigation of the closed landfill in order to help determine an appropriate final remedy.

What’s Left to Do 

The USACE is drafting a proposed plan for the closed landfill. The proposed plan will summarize the evaluation, compare the potential remedial alternatives outlined in the feasibility study and identify a preferred final remedy. The public will have the opportunity to review and provide comments on the proposed selected remedy, before the final remedy is selected. 

For information about the remaining portions of the property regulated under the hazardous waste permits, visit the department's Bannister Complex webpage.

Community Involvement 

• GSA's Community Involvement Plan (under review)

Through the early transfer process, federal property can be transferred to private ownership before all environmental remedial action is complete. Early transfer is a process involving a number of required steps that ultimately requires the state's governor's approval and ends when the site is cleaned up to the agreed upon level. DOE/ NNSA determined an early transfer, with clean-up responsibilities being transferred to the new owner, would be the best way to address the part of the federal complex west of the railroad tracks.

DOE/ NNSA began the early transfer process by submitting a Letter of Intent to the Missouri governor on Feb. 26, 2015. CenterPoint Properties (now BT&D) was chosen as the preferred developer for the site. A report to congress specified $22 million for BT&D to perform the investigation that was published in the Due Diligence Summary Reports and complete the demolition and remediation plans. 

The most important submittal in the early transfer process is the Covenant Deferral Request. The Covenant Deferral Request package includes a Finding of Suitability for Early Transfer, which includes a description of the site’s status and an overview of the known contamination. The site status is further explained in the Description of Current Conditions Report. A brief description of the activities that were performed following the site transfer, including the demolition, remediation and changes to the geography of the site, is expanded on in the Corrective Measures Report, Master Demolition Plan, Bannister Federal Complex Abatement and Demolition Plan Supplements and Site Civil. A plan for the intended future use of the site is provided in the Covenant Deferral Request package as well. DOE/ NNSA submitted the Covenant Deferral Request package to the Missouri governor in September 2017, which the governor approved Oct. 16, 2017.

Following the governor's approval of the early transfer request, DOE/ NNSA transferred the property west of the railroad tracks to BT&D on Nov. 15, 2017. BT&D assumed responsibility for completing corrective action and site remediation on their part of the site. This work is being completed with oversight by the department and DOE/ NNSA. The BT&D-owned and GSA-owned properties are regulated under Missouri’s RCRA-equivalent hazardous waste program, with the department's Waste Management Program, Engineering Section providing regulatory oversight. BT&D and GSA are the current “permittees” under the hazardous waste permits. For more information, visit the department's Bannister Complex webpage.