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 Streets 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.
In May 1998, Mr. Frank Brown, President of the Omaha City Council, sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requesting the assistance of the EPA in addressing problems with lead contamination in the Omaha area. The EPA initiated a process to investigate the lead contamination using authority under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 9600, et seq., more commonly known as the Superfund Law.
Currently, there are a group of thirty-nine residential properties that are in-work. All but one of these properties exceed the non-foundation soil concentrations greater than 2,500 mg/kg. However, one property located at 1618 Spencer is being reviewed to make sure it qualifies under this removal action.
Total lead anlysis is being added to the sampling of the second 1,000 ton stock pile to determine if the landfill can use the soil for daily cover instead of burying the soil.
The plan is to continue the implementation of this removal action that includes excavating lead contaminated soil from residential properties with one or more non-foundation soil concentrations greater than 2,500 mg/kg.
There have been eight properties that have been excavated and backfilled this week. There is approximately 2-3 weeks of work remaining for the currently tasked group of 39 assigned properties.
Per the responsible EPA Remedial Project Manager, Mr. Donald Bahnke, a new group of 10 residential properties under the first removal action involving elevated blood-lead levels and day care properties is expected soon.
Currently, a buy-out process is being formulated for individual property owners where there had been minor damage to concrete sidewalks or driveways. An amount of money will be offered to the property owners in exchange for not repairing minor damage. The final determination will actually be an agreement made between the property owner and EPA whether to have EPA perform the repair or for the property owner to accept the buy-out.
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