&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
You're invited
EPA will hold two open-house style
sessions on Thursday, Oct. 28, to
give residents an opportunity to talk
one-on-one with EPA, state and local
representatives. You may stop by
during the hours listed below to ask
questions or give comments about
the Hegeler Zinc cleanup and the
sampling efforts. An appointment is
not necessary.
Thursday, Oct. 28
10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
6 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Westville High School
918 N. State St.
An EPA civil investigator will also be
present at the availability sessions to
listen to tips or leads from residents
as EPA searches for potentially
responsible parties to help pay
cleanup costs.
Contacts
Ginny Narsete
EPA Community Involvement
Coordinator
312-886-4359
narsete .virginia@epa.gov
Colleen Moynihan
EPA Remedial Project Manager
312-353-8196
moynihan. colleen@epa.gov
Fred Bartman
EPA Civil Investigator
312-886-0776
bartman.fred@epa.gov
Region 5 toll-free: 800-621-8431,
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., weekdays
Hegeler Zinc website
www. epa.gov/region5/site s/
hegelerzinc/
EPA To Host Open House
for Former Smelter Site
Hegeler Zinc Superfund Site
Hegeler, Illinois
October 2010
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will conduct soil sampling this fall
on Hegeler and Tilton residential properties near the former Hegeler Zinc
smelter site. EPA will be testing soil for contaminants such as lead and
arsenic. Sampling will be done at no cost to property owners. The results
will be used as part of EPA's ongoing investigation of the Hegeler Zinc site.
Residents can meet with officials about the sampling project and the Hegeler
Zinc cleanup process on Thursday, Oct. 28. People can also voice their
concerns and share their knowledge about the former plant site with an EPA
civil investigator who will attend the open house.
Previous sampling results
In previous rounds of residential sampling (2007 and 2009), soil samples
were analyzed for arsenic, lead and other metals. Letters were sent to all
property owners who participated in these sampling projects explaining
the process and the results. According to EPA health guidelines, residential
yards should contain no more than 400 parts lead per million parts soil (part
per million abbreviated ppm). A part per million is a tiny amount, similar to
1 second in 12 days. In previous investigations, a few properties showed lead
concentrations slightly above the 400-ppm level. But health officials believe
the risks to residents living near the site are low enough that no immediate
action is required based on available soil data.
Progress at the OUs
EPA divides complex cleanup sites into smaller parcels called operable units
or OUs. The Hegeler Zinc site contains three OUs. OU1 covers the former
Hegeler Zinc property and includes areas of soil, surface water, sediment
(mud), and ground water contamination. Ground water is an environmental
term for underground supplies of fresh water. OU2 includes the affected
areas of surface water and sediment outside the EPA-constructed fence. This
includes Grape Creek and an unnamed tributary. OU3 includes the residential
areas generally east of the former Hegeler Zinc property.
Earlier this year EPA contractors collected surface and subsurface soil,
sediment, surface- and ground-water samples at OU1. Additional on-site
work included installation of 17 ground water monitoring wells (10 were
installed during previous investigations). This fall the 27 monitoring wells
will be sampled and tested for metals to help determine the direction of the
water flow and the nature and extent of the ground water contamination.
In OU2, one of the potentially responsible parties, KIK Custom Products,
collected sediment and water samples in 2009. The samples collected were
analyzed, and KIK is working on a health risk assessment for wildlife.
Millennium bankruptcy update
U.S. Department of Justice, representing EPA and other government
agencies, lodged a bankruptcy settlement with Lyondell Chemical, parent
(continued on backpage)
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(continued from P. 1)
company of Millennium Holdings, which is another
potentially responsible party for some of the contamination
at the Hegeler Zinc site. If the Bankruptcy Court orders
payment under the settlement, the Hegeler site would
receive additional money to further the cleanup efforts.
Information on the proposed settlement is available
on the U.S. Department of Justice website: http://
www.justice. gov/usao/nys/pressreleases/March 10/
lyondellsettlementagreementpr.pdf.
Technical assistance grants
The technical assistance grant program provides up to
$50,000 to community groups to hire technical advisers
so citizens can better understand and interpret Superfund-
related technical information. Groups must represent
the community, hire reputable advisers to review and
interpret technical information in lay terms, and use
the grant money to inform everyone rather than only
group members. A grant may be available for interested
stakeholders at the Hegeler Zinc site. To learn more,
contact Virginia Narsete (contact information in P. 1 box).
Background of Hegeler Zinc
This 100-acre site was a zinc smelting facility from 1906
until around 1954. The smelter produced large slag piles
containing hazardous metals such as lead, arsenic and zinc.
In 2005 the Hegeler Zinc site was added to the National
Priorities List or NPL, a roster of the nation's most
hazardous waste sites that are eligible for cleanup under
EPA's Superfund program.
Next steps
The next step in the Superfund cleanup process after
a remedial investigation is a "feasibility study" or FS.
This study will look at ways the site can be cleaned up
effectively and will propose and evaluate cleanup options.
More contacts
Doyle Wilson
Project Manager
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
217-782-7592
doyle.wilson@Illinois.gov
Douglas Toole
Environmental Health Director
Vermilion County Health Department
217-431-2662x243
dtoole@vchd.org
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