| Abstract |
The Radium Chemical site consists of a one-story brick building in a light industrial/residential section in Woodside, Queens County, New York. The Radium Chemical Company (RCC) produced luminous paint beginning in 1913 and later manufactured, leased, and sold radium226 to hospitals, medical centers and research laboratories. RCC abandoned the building without complying leaving a large number of radium-containing sealed devices, some of which were suspected of releasing radium and radon gas. Also onsite were hundreds of containers of laboratory chemicals. In 1989, a Public Health Advisory was issued for the site based on the threatened release of radium226. The selected remedial action for the site includes partial decontamination and complete dismantling of the contaminated building, followed by offsite disposal of debris as appropriate based on a contamination level; excavation and offsite disposal of contaminated soil and subsurface piping, followed by replacement of piping and backfilling with clean soil; and treatment of some radium-contaminated hazardous waste, followed by offsite disposal of treated and untreated radium-contaminated hazardous wastes in approved facilities. |
