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Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (Usdoe)

This site is currently on the EPA Superfund National Priorities List and remains under federal cleanup oversight. Most-cited contaminant of concern: Trichloroethene.

5501 Hobbs Road, Kevil, Kentucky · ZIP 42053 · EPA ID KY8890008982

See Mccracken ContaminantsEquity contextHow we read Superfund data
CLEANUP TIMELINE

Listing-date and cleanup-phase enrichment from EPA's per-site SEMS profile is queued for a follow-up ingest pass. Until then, this section will populate from EPA's published timeline data.

Anomaly engine

Notable Signals

No notable signals at this Superfund site for the current ingest. Cleanup-phase and SEMS-action flags are deferred to a follow-up engineering pass.

Contaminants of concern · per EPA SEMS

What's In This Site

Each row pairs a contaminant with the medium it was found in (the exposure pathway). Hover any named contaminant for an agency-cited health-risk summary. Cited count = number of SEMS decision records (RODs and related) that name the pair.

ContaminantPathwayCited
TrichloroetheneHealth riskTCE. IARC Group 1 carcinogen — kidney cancer; suspected liver cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. EPA MCL 5 µg/L; common DNAPL groundwater plume contaminant. (IARC, EPA, ATSDR)Groundwater6
1,1-DichloroetheneHealth riskVinylidene chloride; IARC Group 3 (inadequate evidence in humans) but liver toxic in animal studies; common TCE/PCE biodegradation product. (IARC, EPA)Groundwater3
TrichloroetheneHealth riskTCE. IARC Group 1 carcinogen — kidney cancer; suspected liver cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. EPA MCL 5 µg/L; common DNAPL groundwater plume contaminant. (IARC, EPA, ATSDR)Soil3
1,1-DichloroetheneHealth riskVinylidene chloride; IARC Group 3 (inadequate evidence in humans) but liver toxic in animal studies; common TCE/PCE biodegradation product. (IARC, EPA)Soil2
ArsenicHealth riskIARC Group 1 carcinogen via inhalation and ingestion. EPA MCL 10 µg/L; chronic exposure causes skin, lung, bladder cancer and cardiovascular disease. (IARC, EPA, ATSDR)Soil2
Chloroethene (Vinyl Chloride)Health riskIARC Group 1 carcinogen — angiosarcoma of the liver. Final TCE/PCE biodegradation product; commonly found in groundwater plumes. EPA MCL 2 µg/L. (IARC, EPA)Groundwater2
Chloroethene (Vinyl Chloride)Health riskIARC Group 1 carcinogen — angiosarcoma of the liver. Final TCE/PCE biodegradation product; commonly found in groundwater plumes. EPA MCL 2 µg/L. (IARC, EPA)Soil2
ManganeseHealth riskExcess inhalation can cause manganism, a Parkinson-like neurological disorder. (ATSDR)Groundwater2
SilverHealth riskChronic exposure can cause argyria — irreversible blue-grey skin discoloration. Generally low systemic toxicity. (ATSDR)Soil2
Technetium-99Groundwater2
UraniumHealth riskIARC Group 1 carcinogen; chemical kidney toxicity exceeds the radiological risk at most environmental levels. EPA MCL 30 µg/L total uranium. (IARC, EPA)Soil2
AluminumHealth riskInhaled aluminum fumes can cause lung scarring (aluminosis); high cumulative exposure has been linked to neurological effects. (NIOSH)Soil1
Americium-241Health riskIARC Group 1 carcinogen (alpha emitter, half-life ~432 yr for Am-241); produced in nuclear reactors and weapons. (IARC, EPA)Soil1
AntimonyHealth riskInhaled antimony trioxide is an IARC Group 2B possible carcinogen; respiratory and cardiovascular effects from long-term exposure. EPA MCL 6 µg/L. (IARC, EPA)Sediment1
AntimonyHealth riskInhaled antimony trioxide is an IARC Group 2B possible carcinogen; respiratory and cardiovascular effects from long-term exposure. EPA MCL 6 µg/L. (IARC, EPA)Soil1
Aroclor 1260Health riskPCBs. IARC Group 1 carcinogen; immune, reproductive, and neurological effects; bioaccumulate in fish and breast milk. Banned in 1979; persist as legacy contamination. (IARC, EPA)Liquid Waste1
Aroclor 1260Health riskPCBs. IARC Group 1 carcinogen; immune, reproductive, and neurological effects; bioaccumulate in fish and breast milk. Banned in 1979; persist as legacy contamination. (IARC, EPA)Soil1
ArsenicHealth riskIARC Group 1 carcinogen via inhalation and ingestion. EPA MCL 10 µg/L; chronic exposure causes skin, lung, bladder cancer and cardiovascular disease. (IARC, EPA, ATSDR)Sediment1
BariumHealth riskSoluble barium compounds are toxic if ingested, affecting the heart, kidneys, and nervous system. Insoluble forms (e.g. barium sulfate) are far less toxic. (EPA)Soil1
Benzo(B)FluorantheneSoil1
Benzo(Ghi)PeryleneSoil1
Benzo(K)FluorantheneSoil1
Benzo[A]PyreneHealth riskPAH; IARC Group 1 carcinogen; the prototypical PAH used to benchmark PAH-mixture cancer risk. EPA MCL 0.2 µg/L. (IARC, EPA)Soil1
BerylliumGroundwater1
BerylliumSediment1
BerylliumSoil1
Bis(2-Ethylhexyl)PhthalateSoil1
CadmiumSoil1
Cesium-137Health riskBeta/gamma emitter (half-life ~30 yr); whole-body irradiator; legacy of nuclear weapons fallout and reactor accidents. (EPA)Soil1
ChloroformGroundwater1

Showing the top 30 pairs by SEMS citation count. 49 additional (contaminant, pathway) pairs are recorded for this site.

Drinking-water linkage · SDWIS

No Groundwater PWSes Serving Communities Within 3 Miles

No SDWIS public water systems drawing groundwater (or mixed sources) serve a community whose centroid sits within 3 miles of this site. Empty results are not a guarantee of non-impact — distance is computed to served-place centroids, and SDWIS does not expose individual wellhead locations.

Methodology: served-city centroid (TIGER 2020) is used as the PWS coordinate. Source-water classification from SDWIS primary_source_code; only groundwater and mixed-source systems are queried. Click any system above for its full SDWIS profile.

Equity context · ACS 2018-2022 block-group demographics

Who Lives Near This Site

Mccracken County, Kentucky (no Census block groups within 1 mile and no host city — falling back to containing county): a population of 67,573. Why we surface this →

POPULATION SHARE
15.2%

Low-income

POPULATION SHARE
17.8%

People of color

POPULATION SHARE
6.0%

Under age 5

POPULATION SHARE
20.1%

Over age 64

Source: Census ACS 2018-2022 (5-year) + USEPA-clone EJ blockgroup stats (raw indicators + EJ disparity mirror). NPL site proximity contributes to the national EJ pattern; indicator-level percentile and disparity scores are surfaced on the county page and the state page.

Source. EPA Superfund Enterprise Management System (SEMS) · retrieved 2026-05-07. SEMS is a federal public-domain dataset under 17 USC §105.

What this is not. We report EPA's published Superfund record — site listing, status, and contaminants of concern as named in EPA's decision documents. We do not perform site visits, independent air or water sampling, or current-state health-risk assessment. NPL listing reflects EPA's Hazard Ranking Score at a point in time; it does not by itself describe present-day exposure.