The 2nd and Smelter Superfund Site (site) consisted of portions of two vacant lots owned by Watco Companies LLC (Watco) in Pittsburg, Crawford County, Kansas. The property is the location of the former Robert Lanyon Zinc Works which was one of three local lead and zinc smelter. operated by the Lanyon Family. This specific smelter ceased operations in the early 1900s. Multiple rounds of environmental sampling identified piles of smelter waste and widespread heavy metal (most notably lead) contamination in the soil at the site.
In 2019, Watco and EPA entered into a settlement agreement obligating Watco to address the site’s heavy metal contamination.
Watco and EPA then negotiated a Removal Action Work Plan (RAWP) which spelled out how the remediation of the site would be performed. This agreement included a plan to manage the smelter waste and impacted soil to facilitate future industrial development, while protecting human health and the environment.
This plan was to cover smelter waste and contaminated soil with a minimum of 16 inches of clean soil followed by revegetation and the placement of a deed restriction on the property to ensure that it is only used for industrial purposes in the future. Work began in September 2023 and continued through December of 2024. Final vegetative cover was monitored through the spring of 2025 and a final signed Removal Completion Report was accepted June of 2025.
