The Site is located in the Omaha metropolitan area and encompasses Council Bluffs, Iowa,Carter Lake, Iowa, and east Omaha. It is centered around downtown Omaha, Nebraska.
ASARCO Incorporated (ASARCO) operated a lead refinery at 500 Douglas Street in Omaha, Nebraska, for over 100 years beginning in the 1870s. The operation of the refinery ceased in 1997. As a routine part of the refinery operation, lead particles were emitted into the atmosphere at the refinery. In addition, the Gould Incorporated Lead Battery Recycling Plant was located at 555 Farnam Street in Omaha and was a secondary smelter of lead from discarded lead batteries. The blast furnace used to smelt the lead at the Gould plant emitted lead particles into the air from that refinery. The Gould plant closed in 1982.
Several other facilities in the Omaha area used lead in their manufacturing processes. A few of these included Carter White Lead at 21st and Locust Street which produced white lead paint bases and red lead and litharge protective coatings until 1936, Omaha Shot and Lead which later became Lawrence Shot and Lead, and then became National Lead Company which manufactured lead shot by melting pig lead, Grant Storage Battery Company, Storage Battery Factory, and Exide Corporation which manufactured lead storage batteries.
Numerous other locations in the Omaha area such as foundries, iron works, metal salvaging companies and other manufacturers used or processed lead at their facilities.
On March 25, 2004, an Action Memorandum Amendment was signed. This amendment changed the scope of work to include daycare facilities and elevated blood levels (EBLs) that were previously addressed under the first Action Memorandum, however, still addresses highly contaminated properties with soil concentrations of 1,200 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) or greater.
Continued activities are being centralized from the Missouri River Treatment Plant located at 5600 S 10th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68107-3501. The city of Omaha has partnered with the EPA to allow the use of a portion of the facility.
There were 11 properties excavated and back filled during this reporting period. So far during this phase of the time-critical removal action (phase III), there have been a total of 78 properties excavated, 74 backfilled, and 48 sodded.
Continued prioritization will be given to EBLs, day care facilities, and highly contaminated properties where children seven years of age or younger live. The majority of those higher priority locations have been completed, therefore, geographic groupings of properties will now be implemented.
There are currently 28 EPA contractor personnel working extended work hours 6 days a week. The breakdown of personnel is comprised of two excavation crews and two backfill crews. There is also a "punch list crew" that follows behind the other work teams to re-install fences and other needed repairs. A local sod subcontractor lays new sod on these properties and, as a final step, the sod is watered by the EPA for two weeks.
The Missouri River Treatment facility has encouraged the EPA to continue to utilize the same areas of the facility for another year under the existing terms as stated in the access agreement that has been amended with a new expiration date of May 2005.
There is a list of 570 properties, with greater than 1,200 ppm lead, that is currently being prioritized for this phase of the project.
Any additional EBLs or day cares (affecting children), once received, are receiving the highest priority.
After those prioritized properties have been cleaned up, geographic locations will be utilized to maximize available resources concerning the greater than 1,200 ppm lead properties. Sometimes there are difficulties encountered when attempting to contact property owners for scheduling, however, diligent efforts toward this goal are maintained.
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All of the lead-contaminated soil that is being removed from the day cares, EBLs, and greater than 1,200 ppm properties is being stockpiled at the Missouri River Treatment Plant.
The lead-contaminated soil is accumulated in 1,000 cubic-yard piles. The 4th, 1,000 cubic-yard pile of contaminated soil is almost completed.
Once a 1,000 cubic yard pile is created, a composite sample is taken and analyzed for Toxic Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) lead and total lead.
During the last two phases of the time critical removal action, the contaminated soil has be sent to the Loess Hills Regional Sanitary Landfill, 59722 290th Street, located in Malvern, Iowa 51551.
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