Western Minerals Products Company, 3520 South I Street, Omaha, Nebraska
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EPA
Region		 Location of facility Type of facility Amount
of ore
received
(in tons)		 Did
EPA
visit
the
site?		 Were
samples
taken?		 Results of
evaluation
7 3520 South I Street, Omaha, Nebraska Former exfoliation facility 166,467.5 Yes-April 19, 2000 Yes According to an EPA database compiled from W.R. Grace shipping invoices, 166,467.5 tons of vermiculite ore from the Libby mine were shipped to this site between January 1967 and January 1991. At the time of EPA's visit, a gutter company owned the site and leased the basement portion of the building to an archery club. The owner of the gutter company said he had purchased the property from W.R. Grace around 1990. Before then, the property had been vacant for a few years. The building located on the site was thought to have been a barrel manufacturing plant before W.R. Grace purchased it. A newer portion of the building appeared to have been set up as a bulk materials handling facility. The gutter company owner said the environmental audit performed before he purchased the property identified only some former fuel storage tanks as a problem, so he thought there must have been some heating units that had operated inside the newer part of the building. EPA did not find any residues in this area. The north side of the site had truck access docks that were covered with asphalt and the south side had docks that were accessible to a rail line (which had been removed). The north side of the building, where the rail spur had been, was partially covered with concrete and an open field of about 1 acre extended beyond it. In this open area, EPA found many mica flakes and some expanded vermiculite. EPA concluded that the layout of the facility and the presence of the mica and the vermiculite were strong indications that the facility had been operated as a vermiculite expansion facility by W.R. Grace or one of its subsidiaries. In October 2000, EPA collected five surface soil samples. One sample, analyzed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), contained less than 1 percent asbestos. Of the remaining four samples, analyzed using polarized light microscopy (PLM), three contained less than 1 percent asbestos and one contained no detectable levels of asbestos. EPA determined no further action was needed. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s (ATSDR) health consultation report for this site can be found at ATSDR.

GAO-09-6R