The Madison County Mines site is in the southeastern portion of Missouri and includes all of Madison County, Missouri, and the portion of the historical “Mine La Motte Tract” that extends northward into southern St. Francois County, Missouri. Madison County is located on the southern portion of an area known as the Old Lead Belt. Mine waste has contaminated soil, sediment, surface water and groundwater at the site with heavy metals, primarily lead. Mining operations, beginning in the early 1700s and ending in the mid-1900s, resulted in 13 major tailings and chat deposit areas from mineral processing operations. Erosion of the tailings resulted in heavy metals contamination—primarily lead—of soils, sediments, surface water and groundwater. Contaminated soil, tailings and chat was transported to residential properties for use as foundation bases, driveway aggregate and for use as fill and topsoil. The site was listed on the National Priorities List (NPL) on April 30, 2003. Eight OUs are designated for the site: OU-1 Northern Madison County Unit, OU-2 Anschutz Subsite, historically known as the Madison Mine, OU-3 Residential Properties, OU-4 Conrad Tailings, OU-5 Catherine Mines/Skaggs Tailings, OU-6 Silver Mines, OU-7 Little Saint Francis River and OU-8 Railroad Lines.
Operable Unit 03-Residential Properties has a signed 2014 Record of Decision for remedial action, but it does not currently address residential properties with lead concentrations between 200 to 399 ppm. The Region 7 Remedial Program referred the properties to the Removal Program in July 2024 due to presence of lead between 200 to 399 ppm and where a MDHSS’s referral documented the presence of a sensitive population with a lead exposure residing at the residence.
This Removal Action included the excavation and disposal of lead-contaminated soils from six residential properties and followed procedures described in the Superfund Residential Lead Sites Handbook (Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation, March 2024). Excavation began on April 7, 2025 and was completed on May 21, 2025. Restoration was completed on July 23, 2025.
