skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Superfund Record of Decision (EPA Region 7): John's Sludge Pond, Wichita, KS. (First remedial action), September 1989. Final report

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6911127

The Johns' Sludge Pond site is in a relatively undeveloped area in the city of Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas. During the 1950s and 1960s the Super Refined Oil Company used the sludge pond for the disposal of waste oil and up to 15,000 cubic yards of oily sludge generated by the oil recycling and reclamation operation. Because sulfuric acid was used to refine waste oil for recycling, the wastes dumped into the pond were very acidic. Additionally, high lead concentrations and low PCB concentrations (less than 50 ppm) were also detected in the sludge. As surface water flowed into the pond, an extremely acidic layer of water formed on top of the sludge which often overflowed into nearby surface waters. The city subsequently built berms to prevent further surface runoff. In 1983 EPA ordered the city to undertake interim cleanup activities which consisted of excavating and solidifying the sludge using cement kilm dust with redeposition of the treated sludge into a compacted clay-lined cell followed by capping using a compacted clay cap. Surface and ground water monitoring following the interim action have not detected any contaminant levels that could require further action.

Research Organization:
Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (USA). Office of Emergency and Remedial Response
OSTI ID:
6911127
Report Number(s):
PB-90-197633/XAB; EPA/ROD/R-07-89/025
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English