Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment
with Visual Asbestos Survey
1451 E. Pythian Street (Pythian Castle)
Date of Report: April 8, 2009
Assessment Funding: EPA Brownfields Hazardous Assessment Grant
Acres: 2.66
Site Background
Environmental Works, Inc. conducted a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) of the property located at 1451 E. Pythian Street in Springfield, Missouri. The subject property is occupied by Pythian Castle and is utilized as the private residence since approximately 2003. The Site has been developed since 1913 and has been occupied by several noncommercial businesses such as an employment and service agency for disabled persons, an area community action company, a military training center and recreation building for a military hospital and the Pythian Home of Missouri. Prior to the construction of this building, the Site was undeveloped land.
Findings
An approximately 12,000-gallon underground storage tank (UST) was previously located west of the building on the subject property from at least 1960 to 1991. This tank had been utilized as additional fuel oil storage for the heating system onsite and was removed by an unknown contractor for the military. The military had an Environmental Baseline Study conducted in May 1990 which stated no visible contamination was observed near the tank during its removal. It is unknown if any soil samples were taken at that time. The tank was not required to be registered with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MNDR) and they did not have any documentation regarding this tank. No additional documentation regarding the removal of this tank was identified during this assessment. The potential exists for currently unrecognized petroleum-impacted soils to be present at the subject property. This is a recognized environmental condition.
Suspect ACMs observed at the Site include floor tile mastic, modern floor tile, textured paint, acoustical ceiling tile, acoustical/insulating padding and mosaic tile mastic. Sampling and analysis of those materials would be necessary in order to determine the asbestos content of these items, if any.
