Nebraska Superfund Site: Bruno Co-Op Association/Associated Properties
Fight Air Pollution & Water Pollution With an Environmental Toxic Tort Lawsuit
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Do you need a Toxic Tort Lawyer in The Tree Planters State? The E.P.A. has designated Bruno Co-Op Association/Associated Properties in Nebraska as a Superfund site because of its amounts of environmental toxins and threat to the environment. You can read the report for the site below.
Some Superfund sites are on the National Priority Site Lists. The National Priorities List ("NPL") is the list of hazardous waste sites in the United States eligible for long-term remedial action financed under the federal Superfund program. Environmental Protection Agency regulations outline a formal process for assessing hazardous waste sites and placing them on the NPL. The NPL is intended primarily to guide the EPA in determining which sites warrant further investigation.
Sites are listed on the NPL upon completion of Hazard Ranking System (HRS) screening, public solicitation of comments about the proposed site, and after all comments have been addressed. EPA may delete a final NPL site if it determines that no further response is required to protect human health or the environment. Sites where a remediation was completed through the Superfund program are typically deleted from the NPL.
Living near Superfund Sites in Nebraska may place you and your family at risk of developing a disease from proximity to the site and experiencing a loss of value for your property, but there are steps you can take to fight back: The EPA says,
[We have] set up a "Post Construction Completion" (or PCC) strategy to ensure that Superfund response actions provide for the long-term protection of human health and the environment. EPA's Post Construction Completion activities also involve optimizing remedies to increase effectiveness and/or reduce cost without sacrificing long-term protection of human health and the environment.Despite this, most of the Superfund sites are still very dangerous to the health of those near-by.
When you rely on Weitz & Luxenberg, you benefit from the legal experience of accomplished Toxic Tort lawyers who will help fight back against polluters and win you and your community the compensation and environmental remediation to which you are entitled.
Below you can read the EPA report for the Bruno Co-Op Association/Associated Properties Superfund site. If you, a loved one, or someone in your community has gotten sick due to exposure to a Superfund site Bruno Co-Op Association/Associated Properties, or if your property has lost value because of pollution, you will need a toxic tort attorney who knows the people of the State of Nebraska . Learn more about your legal options by filling out this simple form. There is no obligation, and your case will be evaluated within one business day. To refer a friend, neighbor, or loved one, follow this link to let them know about the environmental toxic tort lawyers at Weitz & Luxenberg.
Bruno Co-Op Association/Associated Properties
This site is not a Federal Facility.
Bruno Co-Op
Association/
Associated
Properties
Nebraska
Epa Id# Ned981713829
EPA Region 7
City: Bruno
County: Butler County
Other Names:
08/07/2003
Site Description
The Bruno Cooperative Association/Associated Properties (Bruno Co-op) site is located in
Bruno, Nebraska and consists of two contaminated municipal wells and an associated
groundwater plume containing grain fumigants. One well is located at the intersection of Pine
and Third Streets and the second well is positioned 1,000 feet northwest of the first and is
located on property that has been used to store grain since the 1940s. The site was originally
owned by the Chicago and North Western Railway Company from 1947 to the 1960s and part of
the property was leased to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) which used it as a
Federal grain storage facility. Local farmers purchased all but one of the corn crib bins in 1964
and moved them off-site. The Bruno Co-op purchased the remaining bin and in 1988 the
company also purchased Wagner Mills, Incorporated, a second business operating on the site.
Currently, the Bruno Co-op has two functional bins.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were first detected in 1986 by the Nebraska Department of
Health (NDOH). These contaminants had been poured or pumped into the grain as fumigants
and were also disposed at the surface for rodent control. The surrounding area is primarily
agricultural, with a limited amount of commercial and residential use.
Site Responsibility:
The site is being addressed through federal and
state oversight of responsible parties conducting
cleanup activities under a Consent Decree.
Npl Listing History
Proposed Date:10/14/1992
Final Date:
Deleted Date:
06/17/1996
Threats And Contaminants
The EPA and NDOH have conducted tests and detected various VOCs, including
carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, and 1,2-dichloroethane in the two wells. A
subsurface VOC groundwater plume is emanating from the site. People who ingest
or come into direct contact with groundwater containing these contaminants could
be at risk; there are no groundwater use restrictions in the surrounding rural area.
Groundwater is heavily used for agricultural purposes in this region and may also
be used by individuals with private wells as a drinking water source. People within
the Bruno community use two new municipal wells that provide the village with
good quality drinking water and do not currently consume water from the impacted
former municipal wells.
Cleanup Approach
Response Action Status
Initial Actions: The EPA supplied bottled water to 150 Bruno residents from mid-1989 to late
1990 as the Bruno Public Water Supply Company constructed new wells. Site characterization
activities were initiated by USDA with oversight by EPA and the Nebraska Department of
Environmental Quality (NDEQ).
Entire Site: The investigation of the nature and extent of contamination was completed in the
fall of 1994 and the subsequent feasibility study was completed in July of 1998. A Record of
Decision (ROD) was signed on September 30, 1998; the selected remedy included groundwater
treatment using extraction and air stripping technology. Additional components of the remedy
included the abandonment of one of the former municipal supply wells, treatment of water from
the other historic well during times of high demand so that it could be used as a seasonal
supplemental source of drinking water, and beneficial re-use of the air stripped effluent water by
the Village of Bruno.
An engineering study was completed subsequent to the ROD to determine if a more efficient
treatment technology, groundwater circulating wells (GCWs), would be applicable to the
cleanup at Bruno. The study was completed in 2000 and indicated that the original remedy
selected in the 1998 ROD was the optimum choice. The cost of the original remedy was updated
and an Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD) was finalized in August of 2000 following
public comment. The ESD elaborated on the cost increase over time and updated the decision
document following the completion of the GCW technology study.
Negotiations with the responsible parties were initiated following the release of the ESD and
agreement was reached in 2002. A Consent Decree for remedial design and remedial action
(RD/RA) was lodged on October 17, 2002. The RD/RA work is being conducted by the Union
Pacific Railroad Company with partial funding supplied by USDA and local administrative
support by the Bruno Cooperative Association. These three entities are the signatories to the
Consent Decree entered into with EPA.
Remedy Design:The remedial design began in October 2002 and is ongoing.
Conestoga-Rovers and Associates is the primary contractor of the Union Pacific
Railroad Company and is thus conducting the RD/RA responsible party work at the
site. A design meeting and field visit were conducted on October 30, 2002 and the
draft remedial design work plan was submitted on December 12, 2002. The RD
work plan was approved by EPA and NDEQ in January 2003 and a pre-bid
meeting for the drilling contractor was held at the site in April 2003. The remedial
design includes the performance of design investigation studies.
Site Facts:
The site is a former USDA grain bin facility with a groundwater plume containing
carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, and 1,2-dichloroethane. The Village of Bruno
is a small rural farming community with a population of less than 200 people.
The two municipal wells serving the village were impacted thus requiring the
temporary provision of bottled water to village residents prior to the construction
of two new municipal wells. The new wells are a permanent source of drinking
water but the impacted groundwater plume remains uncontrolled pending the
design and construction of a pump and treat system. The selected remedy also
includes abandonment of one of the former municipal wells and seasonal
treatment of the other municipal well during times of water shortage. The
cleaned, air stripped water will be available for beneficial re-use by the village as
desired. The work is being conducted by responsible parties under oversight by
EPA and NDEQ. The project is currently in the remedial design phase.
