The Broadway Street Lead Site (Site) is located in Lenoir City, Tennessee approximately 25 miles southwest of Knoxville along the banks of the Tennessee River. The Site consists of individual properties located in the vicinity of the Lenoir Car Works (LCW) property.
The Lenoir City Company began building the town in 1890. It was incorporated in 1907. LCW began operation some time before 1893 as the Bass Foundry and Machine Shops. By 1907 the operation had been purchased by Southern Railway and produced hopper cars, employing over 500 men. The facility occupied approximately 100 acres and eventually included three foundries. Operations continued on this property through 1985 providing rail cars and their components to the industry.
As part of the LCW operation slag and foundry sand were disposed of on site. The brass smelting furnaces did not have smoke stacks; emissions entered the atmosphere through the windows. There was also a lead melting vat on site that vented directly to the atmosphere. The property is now owned by Southern Region Industrial Reality, Inc and is being addressed by the Remediation Division of the Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation (TDEC). The close proximity of the LCW operations to residential properties in the city prompted an off site investigation by the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH). At the request of TDH, TDEC conducted sampling in the area. The investigation revealed potential lead and arsenic contamination on residential properties adjacent to the LCW property. TDEC referred the Site to EPA for further delineation.
