Safety-Kleen Systems - St. Charles

Background/ History

Safety-Kleen operates a commercial hazardous waste storage facility at this site, located at 4526 Towne Court, Lot 22, in St. Charles. Since 1975, this facility has been a temporary accumulation point for spent solvents, paint wastes, lacquer thinner wastes and waste oil produced by Safety-Kleen customers. The majority of Safety-Kleen’s customers are small quantity generators. Safety-Kleen also stores other types of wastes on a 10-day transfer basis. Safety-Kleen is certified to handle most hazardous waste, other than dioxin or polychlorinated biphenyl’s (PCBs) greater than 50 parts per million. Once a sufficient quantity of materials is collected in containers and tanks, the hazardous waste is shipped to a Safety-Kleen recycling facility or a contract reclaimer for processing.

Safety-Kleen operate under two hazardous waste permits, one issued by the department and one issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), originally issued in 1993, and reissued Sept. 27, 2007. The department issued the Missouri Hazardous Waste Management Facility Part I Permit. EPA issued the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments Part II Permit.

Cleanup Summary

The permits issued to the Safety Kleen St. Charles facility require corrective action in the event there is a release of hazardous waste or hazardous constituents to the environment. Former underground storage tanks were found to be contaminating soil and groundwater. By May 1997, the residual contamination was low and department determined that the site does not pose any unacceptable risks to human health or the environment. From 1998 to 2007, groundwater monitoring for only volatile organic compounds was conducted twice a year. An enhanced bioremediation pilot test was put in place in 2004, with overall positive results. In May 2006, the department approved a full-scale enhanced bioremediation project. Safety-Kleen currently is monitoring the groundwater and planning additional enhanced bioremediation activities.