Sandoval Zinc Company operated a smelter for 85 years.  Zinc smelting is the process for converting zinc-bearing ores into pure zinc.  The company closed in 1985 and filed bankruptcy in 1986.  Air emissions from the plant included metals and wind-blown ash.  Large amounts of the cinder/slag from smelting were used in constructing and surfacing secondary roads and for fill material on the property.  The cinder/slag material not used by the plant was offered to the public and the Village of Sandoval to construct roads, driveways, sidewalks, parking lots and for fill for residential properties.  Many areas in town exhibit evidence of past use of this material, some of which has been covered with concrete.

Site Background - Illinois EPA

The Sandoval Zinc Company site was placed on CERCLIS on December 1, 1983 in response to concerns that past site activities may have resulted in soil and sediment contamination on the site and throughout the surrounding area.  The Illinois EPA conducted a Preliminary Assessment in 1986, a Screening Site Inspection in 1988, and an Expanded Site Inspection in 1997.

In 1991 Illinois EPA placed a seal order on the abandoned facility.  Also that year, Illinois EPA undertook removal actions in response to a spill of fuel oil from an above ground storage tank.  Additional cleanup activities performed by Illinois EPA in 1998 consisted of repairing and replacement of fencing, the removal of hazardous substances inside the buildings and the demolition and disposal of site buildings.  In October 2009, an Expanded Site Inspection (ESI) was conducted as part of the site assessment process.

Currently the former Sandoval Zinc site is abandoned.  An additional Expanded Site Inspection was conducted during the week of October 19-22, 2009.  During the ESI, the Illinois EPA sampling team collected fifteen sediment, twenty-seven soil, and four slag/waste samples from the Sandoval Zinc facility and surrounding area.  The 2009 ESI was conducted to help determine the levels of contamination present at the Sandoval Zinc facility as well as any receptors which could potentially be impacted by former activities at the site.  These potential receptors include designated wetlands, environmental and aquatic wildlife and human receptors.  The twenty-seven soil samples collected as part of the Illinois EPA's ESI were collected from residential areas within Sandoval, located west of the Sandoval Zinc property.  These samples were collected to help determine whether contamination from Sandoval Zinc has been utilized in the filling of low residential areas and as base for roads and sidewalks and whether these activities could pose a hazard to the residents.  The soil samples were collected with hand trowels and analyzed for the inorganic portion of the Target Compound List.  All soil samples were collected within the top six inches of soil.

Based upon the Illinois EPA results, on March 11, 2010, the Illinois EPA submitted a letter to U.S. EPA requesting assistance from the U.S. EPA Region 5 Superfund Division in conducting a potential time-critical removal action at the Site.

Site Background - U.S. EPA

The FIELDS Group (U.S. EPA Region 5) and Removal Program conducted a soil sampling event from August 23 through August 26, 2010 on residential properties in Sandoval, Illinois (Marion County) as part of the Sandoval Zinc Superfund Site evaluation and Site Assessment.  The report produced by FIELDS details the XRF levels for Arsenic, Lead, and Zinc metals in residential soils, data collection methods, and analysis performed on these data.  At the completion of the sampling event, 156 residential soil samples were collected representing 69 different properties.  A total of 22 properties were screened and sampled by the US EPA Removal Program as part of the Removal Site  Assessment to determine the highest lead concentrations within the residential properties.

In late October, 2011, USEPA mobilized Emergency and Rapid Response Services (ERRS) and Superfund Technical Assessment and Response Team (START) contractors to assist with the removal of lead impacted soils found at many of the residential properties in Sandoval, Illinois.

On October 27, 2011, US EPA mobilized ERRS and START contractors to the site to begin lead removal and residential property restoration activities.

START obtained 11 completed access agreements for lead removal purposes. 

START collected a representative sample from the low-level lead impacted soil stockpile. 

A soil staging area was established in order to stockpile low-level lead impacted soil and clean backfill.

A hand-held X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) field instrument was utilized to determine the presence and extent on lead impacted soil located in the residential properties.  The USEPA residential cleanup standard of 400 ppm was used for all properties associate with this removal action.

The soil staging area was restored to final grade and reseeded on April 9, 2012.

A total of eight properties were remediated as part of this removal effort.  Two property owners rescinded access.  Therefore, those two properties were not remediated.

After waiting four months for the grass growing warm season, USEPA dispatched a 3-person work crew from ERRS including one small tracked loader with EZ-grader attachment to conduct final grade-work of the 8 remediated properties and the former soil staging area.  Rye grass was broadcast applied to the former staging area. 

On April 10, 2012, a hydro-seed sub-contractor spray applied a “Jaguar” seed mix with a quick growing fertilizer to a total of 7 remediated properties.  Please note that one property owner elected not to accept the hydro-seed restoration offer. 

Progress of Residential Lead Removal Activities:

No additional response activities are planned by USEPA Region 5, Emergency Response and Removals Branch. 

All field work is complete at this time.  Residential property owners will assume watering and maintenance care of re-established grass cover.