The Southside Chattanooga area is immediately adjacent to downtown Chattanooga and was prone to flooding during the early 1900’s and prior to the development of damming and flood control measures by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Several of the homes along Read and Mitchell Avenues appear to have been built on 4-5 feet of clay fill.

In addition, the Battle Academy Elementary School which neighbors the site was sampled in mid June 2012. A 20’ by 20’ grid was laid over the school property and 140 grids were screened using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF). No significant lead contamination was found and all lead levels were below 55 ppm.

On October 28th, the ERRs crew completed removal efforts at 1700 Underwood Street and conducted repair on a sewer line, the sewer line clean out and capped an abandoned utility line. 

On 10/29/13, the crew backfilled the dig area at 1700 Underwood and added gravel to create a parking area, per request from the property owner.  During backfill operations, half of the crew also began removal efforts at the adjacent property, 1708 Underwood.  An industrial roll compactor was delivered to the site and was utilized to compact the soil and gravel parking area at 1700 Underwood.  Once removal of approximately one third of the property at 1708 Underwood was removed, the crew backfilled this dig area.  Sod was also delivered this day.

On 10/30/13, the crew placed sod at 69 E. 16^th Street and at 1700 Underwood. Once the task was completed, the crew continued removal efforts at 1708 Underwood.  The crew compacted the parking area a second time at 1700 Underwood.  On this day, one third (middle section) of the 1708 Underwood property was removed and backfilled.  Also on this day, four EPA lawyers visited the site to observe operations and learn about the site history. 

On 10/31/13, the crew completed removal at 1708 Underwood. Once all the remaining contaminated soil was removed, the crew spread several loads of crush-n-run to create a large parking area, per request from the property owner. Once all the rock was placed, the area was compacted.

Nov 4th through Nov 8th 2013

On November 4th, the ERRs crew removed contaminated soil from the area of grass between the fence and Underwood Street in front of 1700/1708 Underwood. Once complete, this area was backfilled with top soil and tamped. Then crew then moved to the area adjacent to the fence at the back of the property. This area will be utilized as garden space, so the crew added top soil and compost, and corrected the rock that was placed along the alley way.  The crew then began removal work at 1627 Underwood (back side of 1626 Market Street building).  Work commenced at the very small back yard of this property.  The soil at this location was very black in color and large chunks of coal were observed.  Clay was never observed at the back yard of this location. The crew made way toward the front of the property and also addressed a small area at 1621 Underwood (back side of 1620 Market Street). This location is utilized as garden space by the tenants at 1627 Underwood.  During removal work, a water line was clipped. The site plumber was called and completed the repair on this day.

11/5/13, the crew continued removal work at 1627 Underwood Street, working in the front yard.  Once removal was complete, the crew began backfill of the back and front yard of 1627 Underwood, and backfill at the small garden area at 1621 Underwood. Due to ponding in the back yard, the crew installed a drainage ditch in the back yard which extended to the front yard of 1627 Underwood.  Rock was added to the back yard area (too much shading for grass to grow) and the crew created a small rock pathway for the tenants to access the back yard and garden space. A small load of crush-n-run was also placed in front of the parking pad at 1621 Underwood.

11/6/13, the crew began work at 1729 Read Ave. A larger excavator (Volvo EC220D) was utilized at this empty lot to quickly complete the removal work. The removal was completed at approximately 1300 hours and the excavator was moved to 1729 Mitchell Ave, another empty lot. The crew partially backfilled the 1729 Read Ave lot during excavation of the 1729 Mitchell lot. 

11/7/13, the crew completed removal work at 1729 Mitchell and backfilled the lot the same day.  Sod was placed in front of the fence at 1700/1708 Underwood, at 1627 Underwood, at a small area of 1621 Underwood, and at 1609 Read Ave.  The crew also installed a french drain in the front yard of 1627 Underwood which was tied into the drainage ditch for extra drainage management.

The OSC continues to coordinate clean up efforts and assessments with Tenn Dept of Environmental Conservation (TDEC) and Tenn Dept of Health as well as Hamilton County health officials. TDEC and the OSC plan to update Chattanooga City Council during November 2013. A specific date has not been set by City Council.

The OSC, Tenn Dept of Health and Tenn Dept of Environmental Conservation (TDEC) are currently preparing an assessment strategy for Chattanooga City Council addressing future lead assessments in the downtown area.

The OSC, Tenn Dept of Health and Tenn Dept of Environmental Conservation (TDEC) are currently preparing an assessment strategy for Chattanooga City Council addressing future lead assessments in the downtown area.