Timet pushes on with radiation study

Monday, Nov. 30, 1998 | 11:02 a.m.

Timet industry scientists plan to identify the source of radioactivity in ground water running into the Las Vegas Wash by July, a company report to the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection says.

The Las Vegas Wash drains the entire valley and enters Lake Mead six miles upstream from the drinking-water intake for Southern Nevada.

Ground water contaminated with radiation and chemicals has entered the wash from the industrial complex less than three miles away.

Timet is one of several companies at the Basic Management Inc. industrial complex that is nearing the end of a decadelong study of contamination at its site. The final step is cleaning up contamination left by companies operating in Henderson since World War II. The companies could take that third step next year.

As Southern Nevada grows, housing developments and businesses have engulfed the industrial site, which continues to operate and to produce metals, chlorine and other chemicals.

The state has delayed allowing one developer to build homes on a 570-acre site known as Palm City until the source of radiation in the ground water running underneath it is identified and blocked from entering the wash.

The radiation could come from natural sources, such as the soils and rock, or from Australian ore known as rutile used to produce titanium metal.

It took seven years of coordination between the state and the industries to reach the cleanup phase.

State officials and representatives of BMI will give the public an updated report on the cleanup project's progress at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Henderson Convention Center, 200 Water St.

Aside from radioactivity and heavy metals, the ground water entering the wash contains benzene, salts and other contaminants that the state has ordered to be kept out of Southern Nevada's drinking water.

That contamination came from 50-year-old practices of dumping wastes and chemicals into unlined ponds, ditches and landfills on the property.

Allen Biaggi, administrator of the environmental protection division, sent a letter last week to the current and former industries reminding them of a Jan. 6 deadline for submitting plans to stop contaminants from entering the wash that runs into the Colorado River.

The state ordered studies at the complex in 1991. The first phase was completed in 1993 and identified the history of the companies, including Timet, Kerr-McGee and Pioneer Chlor Alkali, all of which still operate at the site. As a result, 180 additional areas were investigated during the second phase.

As of August 1994, the state required 54 more studies by Timet. The company that manufactures the lightweight but strong titanium metal for the aerospace and medical industries hired Tetra Tech E.M. Inc. of Houston to conduct the research.

In a report filed with the state in October, Tetra promised to dig eight new monitoring wells and continue testing 13 existing wells at Timet.

The report said barium, chromium and lead had been found on the property. Other salts, magnesium and five volatile organic compounds in addition to radiation have been found in the ground water.

Timet has spent about $1 million on the environmental studies so far, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

While facing the cleanup deadline and computer conversion problems for the year 2000, Timet's financial reports also say that demand for the metal is dropping. Third-quarter profits were down and the trend is expected to continue through 1999, the SEC report said. This month the company laid off 100 of its 650 Henderson employees.

The company also entered into a long-term agreement for purchasing titanium sponge produced in Kazakhstan. The sponge purchase agreement is for 10 years beginning in 1998 for up to 10,000 metric tons a year.

Timet forecasts slower production and sales through 1999.

Based in Denver, Timet moved into the BMI complex in 1950.