The Du Page County Forest Preserve District is expected to reopen a section of the Blackwell preserve along the West Du Page River now that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has ruled the waterway is safe for use.
A narrow, one-mile stretch of the preserve bordering the river and part of Kress Creek upstream was put off limits by the district May 13. Officials feared there could be radioactive contamination in soil along the banks downstream from a former Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp. plant in West Chicago.
The river runs through the western part of the Blackwell preserve. The preserve is just south of a five-mile test area along Kress Creek and the West Du Page River monitored by the NRC as part of a long-standing effort to assess clean-up responsibility for the contamination.
The closed area of the preserve includes a 50-yard strip on one or both sides of the river from Kress Creek south to Butterfield Road, near Warrenville.
The NRC study reported that soil on the banks of the creek and the river has shown concentrations of radioactive thorium in excess of Environmental Protection Agency standards. Officials believe that the source of the thorium was the former Kerr-McGee plant.
According to Roland Lickus, the NRC`s regional chief of state and government affairs, ”conditions further downstream (including the preserve property) would present a lesser risk owing to lower contamination levels.”
”We see no need to initiate another study of the area at this time,”
Lickus said in a May 28 letter to the district.
The NRC`s finding is consistent with remarks made by Lickus May 13 that the precautionary measure by the district was unnecessary. The district refused to reopen the preserve until it was assured in writing that the action wasn`t necessary or until further NRC testing was done in the area.
The 1,119-acre preserve is expected to be opened later this week, pending a review by the district of the NRC`s findings.
However, if the closed area is reopened, signs warning visitors of potential exposure to low-level contamination will be posted in the area, district officials said.
The question of whether Kerr-McGee should be required to submit a cleanup plan is currently pending before the NRC`s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. Once the board makes a decision, the NRC staff will consider whether additional surveys of the West Du Page River are necessary, Lickus said.
