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Fact Sheet
July 2010
EPA Announces Public Meeting and Comment Period, Washington County Lead District - Richwoods Site, Operable Unit 1, Washington County, Missouri
INTRODUCTION
EPA Region 7 is releasing a Proposed Plan to address soil contamination at residential yards and high child impact areas within the Washington County Lead District – Richwoods Superfund Site, Operable Unit 1. EPA is asking for your comments on the Proposed Plan.
A 30-day public comment period will run from July 20, 2010 through August 20, 2010. A public meeting is scheduled for July 21, 2010, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Richwoods R-VII Elementary School in Richwoods, Mo. EPA representatives will summarize site investigations at the meeting. Community members may comment at the meeting or submit comments by mail or electronically through August 20, 2010. Although EPA is recommending an action to address the contamination, a final decision will not be made until all public comments are reviewed. After all comments have been evaluated, EPA will make a decision, which will be published in a Record of Decision (ROD).
PUBLIC MEETING/COMMENT PERIOD
Plan to attend the EPA meeting to offer your comments on the Proposed Plan. The meeting is scheduled for:
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Richwoods R-VII Elementary School
Library
10788 State Highway A
Richwoods, Missouri
All written or verbal comments should be addressed to:
Dianna Whitaker
Office of Public Affairs
EPA Region 7
901 North 5th Street
Kansas City, KS 66101
Toll-free 1-800-223-0425
E-mail: whitaker.dianna@epa.gov
BACKGROUND
Washington County is part of Missouri's Old Lead Belt, where lead mining has occurred for several hundred years. Mining activities in Washington County
have contributed to elevated levels of lead in soil and groundwater in the area. Elevated lead levels in the environment can pose a threat to public health, especially for children six years old and younger, and pregnant women.
For the past several years, EPA has been conducting residential yard cleanups at properties with the highest levels of lead contamination under our removal program. EPA has also been providing an alternative drinking water source to residents whose private water wells were determined to have lead or cadmium contamination above EPA's drinking water standards.
Based on site-specific risk assessments (as summarized in the Proposed Plan), a cleanup level of 400 parts per million for lead in residential soil was determined to be protective of human health. Based on this cleanup number and previous soil sampling, there are expected to be approximately 98 residential properties that may require cleanup. A summary of all remedial alternatives is provided in the Proposed Plan, along with EPA's criteria to compare the alternatives.
PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE
The Preferred Alternative for the site is five-fold, and is defined as Alternative 2 in the Proposed Plan. The alternative includes excavation (digging up contaminated soil), disposal (placement of contaminated soil in an approved repository), vegetative cover (seeding on top of replaced soil in yards and public areas), health education (in-home assessments, public meetings and fact sheets) and institutional controls. Institutional controls are often used to reduce the risk of exposure to hazardous substances through an informational mechanism. The Preferred Alternative is a continuation of previous response actions where EPA excavated and disposed of residential soil that contained elevated lead levels and replaced it with clean soil.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Proposed Plan and other site-related documents are available for review during regular business hours at the following locations:
Richwoods Elementary School
10788 State Highway A
Richwoods, Missouri
EPA Region 7
901 N. 5th Street
Kansas City, Kansas
If you have questions, please contact:
Dianna Whitaker
EPA Region 7
901 North 5th Street
Kansas City, KS 66101
913-551-7598, Toll-free 1-800-223-0425
E-mail: whitaker.dianna@epa.gov
EPA Region 7 is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in the public meeting, please notify the EPA Reasonable Accommodations Coordinator, Jonathan Cooper at (1-800-223-0425), or by e-mail at cooper.jonathan@epa.gov at least seven (7) days prior to the meeting. Speech or hearing impaired individuals should e-mail or call using the local relay service.