Union Pacific Railroad Co.

Background/ History

The Union Pacific Signal Shop is located on 130 acres at 601 S. Marshall St. in Sedalia. Missouri Pacific (MOPAC) began operating the MOPAC Railroad Car Shop, a railroad maintenance and repair shop, at the facility in the early 1900's. Operations included the servicing of coal-fired steam locomotives, manufacturing and servicing of railcars, repair of signal boxes and train jacks, and manufacturing of silk screen signs. In 1961, MOPAC stopped servicing coal-fired steam locomotives and the use of the facility significantly declined. 

The activities at the facility from its opening until 1986 included sandblasting, metal forming, welding, cleaning, and painting. A variety of hazardous wastes, such as lacquer thinner, were produced as part of the facility operations. The department conducted an inspection in May 1985, and discovered that MOPAC was operating two unpermitted, non-interim status hazardous waste land disposal areas. One area was used for the disposal of waste lacquer thinner and the second was used to dispose of waste oil. MOPAC immediately began managing their hazardous waste for off-site disposal.

Cleanup Summary

In 1986, the Missouri Pacific Railroad merged with the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR). After the merger, the operations at Sedalia were further reduced and many of the old buildings were demolished. In April 1987, MOPAC entered into a consent agreement with the department (UPRR was still in the process of acquiring ownership of the property). MOPAC agreed to develop a groundwater monitoring plan, perform a preliminary assessment to determine the horizontal and vertical extent of any hazardous waste contamination, and submit a closure plan which fully remediates the illegal land disposal of the hazardous wastes. Initial investigations confirmed groundwater contaminated with volatile organic compounds and heavy metals.