Background/ History
The Valspar site is located at 2104 E. 18th St. in Kansas City, Missouri. From 1979 to 1991, Valspar used this facility to manufacture of a variety of varnishes, inks, and surface coating paints, including both water-based latex paints and solvent-based oil paints. The processing equipment was periodically cleaned using paint solvents, mainly methylene chloride. Valspar stopped operating in 1991.
A variety of hazardous wastes were produced as part of the facility operations. Beginning in November 1980, Valspar stored the hazardous waste in a Drummed Waste Storage Area before shipping off-site for disposal. Valspar stored the hazardous waste under the “interim status” portions of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
Cleanup Summary
Valspar closed the hazardous waste storage area in 1990. The department accepted Valspar’s closure certification in 1991. Valspar was not subject to the permitting requirements of the Missouri Hazardous Waste Management Law or federal Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments for post-closure care because they “clean closed” the interim status hazardous waste areas.
Valspar was subject to corrective action because they completed closure of the interim status hazardous waste areas after the effective date of the federal Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments. Initial investigations in the early to mid-1990s indicated that several areas required further investigation. Prior to these investigations, Valspar removed four gasoline tanks, one fuel oil storage tank and one chemical underground storage tank in 1989. Follow-up investigations conducted by the department in the mid to late-1990s indicated that contaminants remaining in soil and groundwater at the facility did not pose any unacceptable risks to human health or the environment. In May 2002, a notice was filed in the property chain-of-title, advising that one underground tank on the property had been filled with concrete and abandoned in place. Environmental Indicator evaluations, prepared by the department in February 2004, provided additional evidence that human exposures to contamination and migration of contaminated groundwater were under control, thus confirming that no further corrective action was needed. On Feb. 20, 2004, following required public notice and opportunity for comment, the department approved the proposed final remedy of no further corrective action and released Valspar from regulation as a former interim status hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities subject to the corrective action requirements of the Missouri Hazardous Waste Management Law and regulations.
