EPA Announces the Completion of Eight Five-Year Reviews for Cleanups in the Heartland and the Start of Seven More

EPA Announces the Completion of Eight Five-Year Reviews for Cleanups in the Heartland and the Start of Seven More

October 1, 2026

LENEXA, KAN. (OCT. 1, 2026) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has completed eight Five-Year Reviews for Superfund sites in the nation's Heartland. These reviews provide EPA with the opportunity to evaluate the implementation and performance of a site's cleanup remedy to determine whether it remains protective of human health and the environment.

Recently completed Five-Year Reviews that have been filed in their respective Administrative Records and uploaded to their site profile pages are listed in the chart below.

What's Next? Sites with Non-Protective Remedies

The remedies at Minker/Stout/Romaine Creek in Imperial, Missouri, and Chemical Commodities, Inc. in Olathe, Kansas, were deemed not protective of human health and the environment.

In Imperial, the remedial project manager for the site has scheduled meetings with community members to discuss these findings and is planning a removal action to address the potential exposures to dioxin at the site. A removal action is a quick response taken to address immediate threats hazardous substances can pose to the public. A fact sheet that summarizes the Five-Year Review is available online.

In Olathe, the EPA Region 7 site team continues to work with the potentially responsible parties to delineate the extent of contaminated groundwater plume migration. EPA continues to conduct vapor intrusion testing; inspect vapor intrusion mitigation systems (VIMS); and install VIMS where needed. EPA will hold a public meeting to discuss the findings of the Five-Year Review and discuss the path forward at the site.

What's Next? Sites Where Protectiveness Statements Were Deferred

At the Hastings Groundwater site, OU14, managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a determination on the protectiveness of the remedy was deferred until additional information can be gathered from structures overlaying the contaminated groundwater plume.

In Ogallala, EPA Region 7 has deferred a protectiveness statement while gathering more information from the contaminated groundwater plume and the evaluation of nearby residential and commercial buildings overlaying the contaminated groundwater plume.

In Winfield, EPA Region 7 deferred making a protectiveness statement until additional sampling is completed and more information is gathered. The groundwater extraction treatment system is preventing contaminated groundwater from reaching water supply wells.

Five-Year Review Starts

EPA Region 7 has also begun the Five-Year Review process of the following sites:

• Conservation Chemical Company in Kansas City, Missouri
• Former Nebraska Ordnance Plant in Meade, Nebraska
• Fort Riley in Junction City, Kansas
• John's Sludge Pond in Wichita, Kansas
• Oronogo-Duenweg Mining Belt in Jasper County, Missouri
• Solid State Circuits, Inc. in Republic, Missouri
• Syntex Facility in Verona, Missouri

These reviews are taking place in conjunction with Five-Year Reviews that started earlier in 2026.

Background

EPA performs Five-Year Reviews at sites where hazardous substances remain on the site above levels that would allow sites to be returned for unlimited use and unrestricted exposure in accordance with the statutory authorities granted to the agency by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the National Contingency Plan (NCP).

Learn more about the Superfund cleanup process and Five-Year Reviews.

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