32 homes in West Chicago to be tested further for thorium

Additional testing will be required for more than 30 West Chicago homeowners to determine whether their properties are contaminated with thorium, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official said Friday.

Crews from the EPA have begun testing properties near the site of the former Kerr-McGee Co. factory, which was responsible for distributing the radioactive material throughout West Chicago.

The contamination led to two cleanups in the 1980s and 1990s.

Becky Fry, a project manager for the EPA, said crews started performing surface scans last month on 41 residential properties officials feared may contain thorium. The sites included properties that were previously certified clean by the agency.

Fry said 32 homes will need further testing to determine whether the sites are contaminated. Of those properties, EPA crews have obtained permission to do more extensive testing on 23 sites.

Among the homes slated for more testing for thorium is that of Sandy Riess.

Riess and her husband moved out of their home last September after radioactive levels 300 times above what's considered safe were discovered on her property. Tronox, the successor to Kerr-McGee, has been paying for some of the family's living expenses.

"Sandy's property certainly has the most locations for testing," said Riess' attorney, Mark Sargis. "It seems like everyone in the neighborhood is watching to see what happens."

More than 200 locations on the Riess property will be bored down to five feet to scan for radiation and take soil samples.

Fry said EPA crews already have begun boring holes on two properties.

Fry couldn't say when the EPA would be done with its testing, but she said she expects the work to be completed sometime this year.

As for how the testing is affecting the property values in the neighborhood, "it's a difficult question to answer," Sargis said. "There's certainly a stigma attached to having a property next to an active Superfund site."

Riess and 18 homeowners within a two-block radius of her property recently received lowered property tax assessments.

Many of the homes had their assessments lowered 25 percent, Sargis said. Riess, meanwhile, had her property's assessment lowered by 90 percent of its value.

"That's basically saying my house is worthless," Riess said.