&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
You are invited
EPA will be hosting two open house
sessions to explain the investigation
and cleanup of the former mine
site. At the open houses, EPA and
Illinois EPA staff will be available to
speak one-on-one with community
members. We hope you will be able
to attend one of the sessions.
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 6
Times: noon - 2 p.m. and
6 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Place: Rice Township
Maintenance Facility
3260 S. Rocky Hill Road
Galena
For more information, or
for special accommodations
at the open houses, contact:
Cheryl Allen, EPA Community
Involvement Coordinator,
800-621-8431, Ext. 36196,
weekdays, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.,
allen.cheryl@epa.gov.
Information repository
You may review site documents at:
Galena Public Library
601 S. Bench St.
Galena
Check out these Web
sites:
www.epa.gov/region5/sites/bautsch
www.epaosc.org/bautsch-graymine
www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts2.pdf
www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts 13 .pdf
Cleanup of Lead, Arsenic
Began This Month
Bautsch-Gray Mine Site
Jo Daviess County, Illinois
September 2010
-
Tailings on the Bautsch-Gray Mine property.
A cleanup of lead and arsenic contamination has begun at the Bautsch-Gray
Mine site on Blackjack Road, about four miles south of Galena, 111. U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency is conducting the cleanup to remove
tailings, or waste from mining operations.
The cleanup will involve:
• Removing contaminated soil, particularly on residential property near the
site.
• Reconfiguring the slope of the berm on the property to reduce the runoff
from rain and snowmelt.
• Planting vegetation on the berm around the site to keep the tailings and
runoff from moving off of the property.
• Diverting storm water around the site.
• Installing ponds, called sedimentation ponds, on the site to hold water
runoff.
The site is an old lead and zinc mine that operated from the early 1900s until
1975. Illinois EPA requested help last fall from the EPA Emergency Response
Program to address contamination from mine tailings that has moved off the
site toward area residences.
Tailings generally contain the remains of the mineral being mined, as well as
any chemicals used to remove the minerals.
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Map of Soil Sampling Results
Legend
Lead Results
O 0-400 ppm
© 400-1,200 ppm
O > 1,200 ppm
NOTES:
Lead results provided by
U.S. EPA FIELDS
Prepared For:
U.S. EPA REGION V
Contract No.: EP-S5-06-04
TDD:S05-0001-0909-011
DCN:767-2A-AFJA
Figure 3
XRF Sampling Locations and Lead Results
Bautsch-Gray Mine Site
Jo Daviess County, Illinois
Site assessment
In March, EPA completed a study known as a site
assessment to determine the extent of contamination at
and around the site, and to evaluate any potential health
threats.
During the assessment, EPA:
• Observed conditions on and around the property, and
took photographs to document the locations of the
mine tailings.
• Took soil samples from 150 locations on the former
mine site, the residential property next to the site,
along Blackjack Road and from a ravine where
tailings from the site have been found. Some samples
were taken from the soil and some from the tailings.
• Sampled residential wells at two locations.
• Took samples from a shallow pool of water on the
mine property and from a marshy area near the site.
The results of EPA's site observation led to several
determinations:
• The 5 5-acre site is abandoned and has very little
vegetation.
• The tailings slope toward Blackjack Road.
• An access road leading to the site is gated and the site
is partially fenced.
• A large drainage ditch running under Blackjack Road
directs water and waste onto a marshland located on
a residential property across Blackjack Road.
• The site slopes toward Smallpox Creek, which also
receives water from the marshland.
• Residential properties are located west of the site
across Blackjack Road.
• Mine tailings that have moved from the site are
affecting residential properties. The lawn and
vegetation on one property is distressed.
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Sampling results
EPA's soil, surface water and residential well water
sampling had these results:
• Lead was found in all soil samples taken in and
around the mine tailings property, on the residential
properties, in the ravine and along Blackjack Road.
(See Map of Soil Sampling locations, Page 2.)
• The lead levels in the soil and mine tailings samples
ranged from 23 parts per million to 9,577 ppm.
• Lead was found in soil samples at levels above 400
ppm* at many locations and above 1,200 ppm** in
some locations.
• Arsenic was found in soil samples taken at some of
the locations at levels above 25 ppm.***
• Lead was detected in one residential well sample
above drinking water standards.
• Elevated levels of metals were detected in one
surface water sample taken from the ravine area and
one sample taken from the former mine property.
Potential health risks
People could be exposed to contaminants through the
soil on the tailings pile, on the residential property, in the
ravine west of Blackjack Road as well as along Blackjack
Road. They could also be exposed to lead in drinking
water from residential wells that have levels of lead above
the drinking water standard.
While access to the former mine site by car is limited, it
is still possible to walk onto the property, and EPA found
evidence that this is happening. People who do this can
be exposed to the contamination on the mine property.
They could inhale dust from the tailings when walking
on the mine property. Wind or a vehicle driving along
Blackjack Road could also blow the fine tailings particles
around, allowing them to be inhaled.
Potential environmental risks
Deer have been seen on the site, and there is evidence
other animals have also been there. Wildlife could be
exposed to the lead and arsenic through the tailings
dust and by drinking the contaminated surface water.
According to Illinois Department of Natural Resources,
many endangered, threatened or rare species in Jo Daviess
County can be found in the area, including fish, birds,
mammals and plants.
Site background
The Bautsch-Gray Mine was an operational lead and
zinc mine. Since it closed in 1975, tailings from the
mine property have continued to erode and move toward
residential properties, wetlands and fisheries. In 2000
and 2001, Illinois EPA assessed the site and confirmed
that waste piles at the mine property contained elevated
levels of lead, arsenic and other heavy metals. Additional
investigations showed that nearby creeks and drainage
ditches had been affected by contaminants that moved
from a large mine tailings pile on the mine property. In
addition, one residential drinking water well was found to
have been contaminated by the mine tailings.
During a storm in August 2009, heavy rain carried tailings
from the main waste pile on the mine property across
Blackjack Road onto residential property. According to the
Jo Daviess County Highway Department, this has been a
problem in previous rainy seasons.
On Aug. 24, 2009, Illinois EPA took samples on and
around the site and the residential property and found
high levels of lead in soil samples from both places. That
prompted the state's request for federal assistance.
Lead and arsenic cleanup levels
* EPA's cleanup goal is to reduce the levels of lead in
residential soil to 400 ppm or less.
** 1,200 ppm of lead is the level that triggers a
"time critical removal" by EPA.
***EPA's and Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry's, cleanup goal for arsenic in
residential soil is 25 ppm or less.
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For more information
For more information about the site, you may contact:
Cheryl Allen
Community Involvement Coordinator
Superfund Division (SI-7J)
EPA Region 5
77 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604-3590
800-621-8431, Ext. 36196
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., weekdays
allen.cheryl@epa.gov
Leonard Zintak
On-Scene Coordinator
Emergency Response Branch (SE-5 J)
EPA Region 5
77 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604-3590
800-621-8431, Ext. 64246
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., weekdays
zintak. leonard@epa. gov
Michelle Tebrugge
Community Relations Coordinator
Illinois EPA
1021 Grand Ave. East
Box 19276
Springfield, IL 62794-9276
217-524-4825
Michelle.Tebrugge@illinois.gov
Bruce Everetts
Bureau of Land Representative
Illinois EPA
1021 Grand Ave. East
Box 19276
Springfield, IL 62794-9276
217-524-1663
Bruce.Everetts@illinois.gov
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