A EPA	Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study Update
United States	Eagle Picher Carefree Battery Superfund Site
Environmental Protection	Socorro, New Mexico	June 2015
Agency	'
This Fact Sheet will tell you about...
•	Current Activities
•	Community Meeting
•	Past Activities
•	Site Location
•	Site History
•	For More Information
•	On the Web
Current Activities
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in
conjunction with the New Mexico Environment De-
partment (NMED) are conducting a Remedial Investi-
gation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS) for the Eagle
Picher Carefree Battery Superfund site (Site). A Re-
medial Investigation is an investigation to determine
the extent of the contamination at the site and poten-
tial risk to the community. A Feasibility Study will
examine and evaluate various remedial cleanup alter-
natives. The current RI/FS will focus primarily on
collecting data to determine if any risk is present to
residents from vapor intrusion.
EPA plans to conduct the sampling in two phases. In
the first phase EPA will be collecting external soil gas
samples from approximately 40 locations near homes
located along the groundwater plume area. The sec-
Soil gas sampling around a residence. Photo
provided by EPA CLU-IN (http://clu-in.org/).
ond phase will involve collecting indoor air and sub-
lab soil gas samples. If, after the first phase, external
soil gas data indicates no exposure risk from vapor in-
trusion, then sampling will end and EPA will not be
implementing the second phase of indoor air and sub-
slab soil gas sampling. If indoor air samples are re-
quired, EPA will be contacting individual
homeowners to gain access for sampling. Indoor air
sampling will require samplers to be left in homes for
a period of 24 hours. Subslab soil sampling will re-
quire collection of samples underneath the home by
drilling a small hole through the foundation.
Community Meeting
The EPA will hold a community meeting on Tuesday,
June 9, 2015, at 6 p.m. at the Socorro City Hall, 111
School of Mines Road, Socorro, New Mexico. This
meeting is being held in a fully accessible facility.
Should you have any specific needs or questions
about the facility, please contact EPA Community In-
volvement at 1.800.533.3508.
Past Activities
An RI/FS was completed for the Site in early 2014
and the EPA issued a Record of Decision (ROD) on
September 29, 2014. During this RI/FS, the EPA col-
lected extensive samples of soil, soil gas, construction
debris and groundwater to characterize the extent of
contamination and risk to human health and the envi-
ronment. Based on the data collected, the EPA pro-
posed a remedy in the 2014 ROD for treating soil,
construction debris and groundwater contamination
present at the Site. During the ROD process, the EPA
determined that there was insufficient data to charac-
terize vapor intrusion risk in indoor air to residents
living in homes that are located above the contami-
nated groundwater plume. Therefore, EPA has de-
cided to address the contamination at the Site in two
Operable Units:
•	Operable Unit 1 (OU1) consists of soil, con-
struction debris and groundwater
•	Operable Unit 2 (OU2) consists of indoor air
The EPA and NMED will continue to provide infor-
mation regarding the cleanup of the Eagle Picher Site

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to the community through public meetings, announce-
ments published in the El Defensor Chieftain newspa-
per, fact sheets, EPA's website, and the
Administrative Record file for the Site.
Site Location
The Eagle Picher Site is located in the City of So-
corro, Socorro County, New Mexico (see the area
map on page 3 of this fact sheet). The City of Socorro
is located in the central part of Socorro County, New
Mexico along the Rio Grande Valley. The Site en-
compasses two large tracts that are approximately
equal to 173 acres and located along 1-25, 2 miles
north of Socorro, New Mexico.
Site History
The area east of NM 408 contains a large structure
(the manufacturing plant), several outbuildings, and
vacant land. The property to the west of NM 408 in-
cludes the older historical facility, and contains a
number of buildings in various states of decay, along
with assorted construction-type debris.
The property was initially owned by the United States
government and was used as Civilian Conservation
Corps barracks in 1932. From 1936 to 1956, the facil-
ity was utilized as a State of New Mexico tuberculosis
sanitarium. Septic waste from the sanitarium was dis-
charged into wastewater impoundments located in the
southeast portion of the property.
Multiple investigations have been conducted at the
Eagle Picher Site from 1987 until the present by
NMED and its predecessor agency. Site investigations
have revolved around evaluating contamination dis-
covered in public wells (Eagle Picher and Olson
wells) near the Site. Results from past investigations
have indicated the source of contamination as emanat-
ing from the former Eagle Picher facility.
In August 2012, NMED in cooperation with EPA be-
gan an RI/FS and completed site investigation and
risk characterization in early 2014.
In September 2014, EPA issued a ROD outlining the
selected remedy for addressing OU1 that includes
soil, construction debris and groundwater. EPA and
NMED are currently planning the Remedial Design
for the selected remedy.
For More Information
Sai Appaii, Remedial Project Manager
U.S. EPA Region 6
1445 Ross Avenue (6SF-R)
Dallas, TX 75202
214.665.3126
1.800.533.3508 (toll-free)
Appaj i. sairam@epa.gov
Jason T. McKinney, Community Involvement
Coordinator
U.S. EPA Region 6
1445 Ross Avenue (6SF-VO)
Dallas, TX 75202
214.665.8132
1.800.533.3508 (toll-free)
Mckinney.jason@epa.gov
Sabino Rivera, Project Manager
New Mexico Environment Department
Superfund Oversight Section
1190 St. Francis Dr. Ste. N2300
Santa Fe, NM 87505
505.827.2890
Sabino. rivera@state.nm.us
For press inquiries, please call the EPA Press Office
at 214.665.2200.
An Information Repository is available at:
Socorro Public Library
401 Park Street
Socorro, NM 87801
On the Web
On the internet, information about the Eagle Picher
Carefree Battery Site can be found at
http://www.epa.gov/region6/6sf/pdffiles/eagle-picher-
nm.pdf
Information about U.S. EPA Region 6 and the Super-
fund Program can be found at:
http://www.epa.gov/region6/6sf/6sf.htm
Call U.S. EPA at 1.800.533.3508 (toll free) to receive
a Spanish translation of this fact sheet.
Para recibir una traduction en espanol de esta Hoja de
Datos, comunicarse con la Agencia de Protection del
Medio Ambiente de los EEUU (la EPA) al numero de
telefono 1.800.533.3508 (llamada gratis).
2

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Base Map Source: Aerial photograph provided by NAIP, 2011
3

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vvEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Region 6
1445 Ross Ave. (6SF-VO)
Dallas, TX 75202
4

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