v>EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Contact information If you need more information about the cleanup work at the Bautsch- Gray Mine Superfund site, contact: For general questions: Cheryl Allen U.S. EPA Community Involvement Coordinator 312-353-6196 allen.clien l«epa.go\ For technical questions: Pamela Molitor U.S. EPA Remedial Project Manager 312-886-3543 molitor.pamela@epa.gov U.S. EPA toll-free: 800-621-8431, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., weekdays U.S. EPA Region 5 Superfund Division 77 W. Jackson Blvd. Chicago, IL 60604 Illinois EPA contacts Charlene Falco 217-785-2891 charlene .faleo@illinois .gov Michelle Tebrugge 217-524-4825 ' michelle.tebaigge@illinois.gov New Round of Sampling Planned for Spring, Summer Bautsch-Gray Mine Superfund Site Jo Daviess County, Illinois February 2014 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to collect soil and water samples at the Bautsch-Gray Mine Superfund site this spring and summer. The samples will help U.S. EPA determine what is contaminating the groundwater, sediment, soil and surface water, and where it is located. These are areas that were not taken care of in the 2010-2012 cleanups (see Page 2). Once the investigation is complete, possible cleanup plans will be presented to the community for comment and U.S. EPA will select a plan and begin the cleanup. Questions from the community In the fall of 2013, U.S. EPA interviewed local residents and officials about the Bautsch-Gray Mine Superfund site to gain more insight into community concerns. The information was used to prepare a community involvement plan. Here are some of the questions U.S. EPA heard most often. What else is left to clean up at the site? The upcoming round of testing should help answer that question more completely. U.S. EPA will study samples of the groundwater, sediment, soil and surface water to find out where additional cleanup is needed. Who is going to pay for the cleanup? The site is eligible for federal Superfund money, but U.S. EPA always tries to identify parties that might be responsible for the contamination and require them to pay. In this case, Superfund will pay for the cleanup and U.S. EPA will begin a legal process to seek reimbursement from the responsible parties. Are you sampling more wells? Yes, but only from selected residential wells near the site. This will be done during the spring sampling project. Additionally, U.S. EPA may install and test monitoring wells in areas around the site to evaluate the extent of groundwater contamination Has U.S. EPA thought about reuse of the property? U.S. EPA does not own the property and has no authority to determine reuse of the property. The Agency's current focus is on investigating the extent of contamination at the site. Are there health issues if tailings get into the well water? Yes. Lead contamination in well water can cause central nervous system effects as well as anemia in people. For more information on lead contamination, visit the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry website at www.atsdr.cdc.gov/substances/toxsubstance.asp?toxid=22. When will this site no longer be a Superfund site? The site will be removed from the National Priorities List - which U.S. EPA calls "delisting" - when all cleanup goals have been met. ------- Is there potential for public access to the site? Public access will be determined by the property owners and by the cleanup plan U.S. EPA selects. What happens to the mines where there are tailings? The Bautsch and Gray mines were closed in the 1970s and are no longer accessible. U.S. EPA does not plan to do any cleanups directly associated with the underground mines. What happens to the tailings? Once the investigation phase is done, U.S. EPA will determine what to do with the mine tailings. The Agency could use biosolids - as in other parts of the site - and other innovative "green" cleanup options on the mine tailings. (See the next section for more on biosolids.) Previous cleanup work U.S. EPA cleaned up part of the site in September 2010 and into the summer of 2011 .The Agency built four retention ponds on the mine tailings pile area. One residential property was cleaned up and a water treatment system was installed. A berm was built along Blackjack Road to keep tailings from washing onto the road. Another cleanup was done in September-October 2012 at the Horseshoe Area. The area was graded and covered with topsoil and biosolids. Biosolids are the nutrient-rich organic materials resulting from the treatment of sewage sludge generated from domestic sewage treatment facilities. In this "green" cleanup process, biosolids are spread over non-vegetative tailings to prevent surface exposure of metals to the environment. The area was then seeded and native plants were put in. Today the area is flush with vegetation. Also, a drainage channel lined with riprap was removed. In September 2012, the site was added to the National Priorities List - the nation's most serious uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites. Site description The Bautsch-Gray Mine Superfund site is on South Blackjack Road, about four miles south of downtown Galena in rural Jo Daviess County. The site is surrounded by forests, residential areas, farms, wetlands and Smallpox Creek. The Mississippi River is approximately two miles west of the site. The site includes three principal sources of contamination: a 40-acre mine tailings pile, a horseshoe-shaped settling pond west of the mine tailings pile and contaminated soil along the overland flow route from the Settling Pond to Smallpox Creek. All three source areas contain elevated levels of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead or zinc. v/EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 Superfund Division (SI-7J) 77 W. Jackson Blvd. Chicago, IL 60604-3590 Bautsch-Gray Mine Superfund Site Community Update ------- |