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Sangamon Street Right of Way Hook OU1

 
Site Contact:
Steven Faryan
On-Scene Coordinator

(faryan.steven@epa.gov)

Site Location:
1800 South Sangamon Street
Chicago, IL 60605
 response.epa.gov/SangamonHook

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co. have agreed to expand the soil cleanup of the Sangamon Street Right of Way site in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago to include the portion of the railroad right-of-way between 16th and 18th streets along Sangamon St.

EPA and BNSF agreed to amend a March 2016 administrative settlement agreement and order on consent to include lead-contaminated soil removal at this portion of the site. BNSF is required to pay response costs incurred by EPA for the additional cleanup.

Soil samples were collected at the Sangamon Street right-of-way in 2013 as part EPA’s cleanup of the Loewenthal Metals Corp. site. The results showed the right-of-way exceeded EPA lead standards in soil. BNSF continued sampling the right-of-way to determine the extent of the contamination and agreed to clean up the site before the company shut down operations in the area.

For more information, please visit:
https://www.epa.gov/il/sangamon-right-way


Sangamon OU1 Restoration Completed View of temporary fence placed on the south end of the site along 18th Street looking northeast. View of temporary fence placed on the south end of the site along 18th Street looking north. View of the northern portion of the site with a placed and graded layer of gravel looking south. View of RP contractor shutting down and demobilizing air monitoring equipment. View of RP contractor reconstructing a portion of fence along the southern entrance to the site along West 18th Street. View of truck on site with a load of gravel. View of DustTrak in place for air monitoring just to the northwest of the northern site entrance. The northern portion of the site prior to rail line and vegetation removal. View of the center portion of the site rail line removed. View of vegetation and fence removed on the western boundary of the site. View of western boundary of the site with vegetation removed. View of the eastern boundary along the northern portion of the site. View of the site looking north. View of the entrance on the north end of the site looking north to BNSF owned active railway area. EPA, START, BNSF, Stiles, and TRC personnel conducting a site walk prior to beginning removal work. View of the south end of the site along West 18th Street. View of the site from the south end looking north.