The U.S. Department of the Army is modifying its hazardous waste facility permit for the Riverbank Ammunition Plant located at 5300 Claus Road, according to a notice from NI Industries that operates the plant.
In accordance with the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC), the Army is due to close the plant this summer and move the ammunition manufacturing operation to Rock Island, Illinois.
Since its initial use by Alcoa as an aluminum processing plant and later by the Army as an ammunition manufacturing plant, some areas of the plant and its groundwater have been contaminated by poisonous chemicals including arsenic and chromium. The Army installed an elaborate groundwater pumping system many years ago to contain the contamination and has accepted full responsibility for eventually cleaning the "Superfund site," according to Tim Ogden, Riverbank's economic development and housing director, who is heading up the negotiations to convert the plant to city ownership as an industrial park. The Army's Class I modification to its permit results from the coming reduction in workforce and deletes specific job functions, associated training requirements and the names of the individuals that have held these positions. No other changes have been made to the permit, according to the notice.
Interested persons may obtain further information on the permit modification by contacting: Anthony Mendes, environmental manager, NI Industries Inc, PO Box 856, Riverbank, CA 95367-0856, or by calling him at (209) 869-7276. His e-mail address is anthonymendes@niindustries.com. The office processing the permit action is the California Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Toxic Substances Control, 8800 Cal Center Drive, Sacramento, CA 95826.
The Department of Toxic Substances contact person is Beverly Rikala, (916) 255-3746; e-mail BRikala@dtsc.ca.gov.
In accordance with the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC), the Army is due to close the plant this summer and move the ammunition manufacturing operation to Rock Island, Illinois.
Since its initial use by Alcoa as an aluminum processing plant and later by the Army as an ammunition manufacturing plant, some areas of the plant and its groundwater have been contaminated by poisonous chemicals including arsenic and chromium. The Army installed an elaborate groundwater pumping system many years ago to contain the contamination and has accepted full responsibility for eventually cleaning the "Superfund site," according to Tim Ogden, Riverbank's economic development and housing director, who is heading up the negotiations to convert the plant to city ownership as an industrial park. The Army's Class I modification to its permit results from the coming reduction in workforce and deletes specific job functions, associated training requirements and the names of the individuals that have held these positions. No other changes have been made to the permit, according to the notice.
Interested persons may obtain further information on the permit modification by contacting: Anthony Mendes, environmental manager, NI Industries Inc, PO Box 856, Riverbank, CA 95367-0856, or by calling him at (209) 869-7276. His e-mail address is anthonymendes@niindustries.com. The office processing the permit action is the California Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Toxic Substances Control, 8800 Cal Center Drive, Sacramento, CA 95826.
The Department of Toxic Substances contact person is Beverly Rikala, (916) 255-3746; e-mail BRikala@dtsc.ca.gov.
