The Former W&J Lanyon Zinc Works is currently located on property that comprises the current Mission Clay Products (MCP) facility. The property is located at 800, 824 and 826 East 4th Street, Pittsburg, Crawford County, Kansas. The legal description of the site is the northeast ¼ of Section 29, Township 30 South, Range 25 East. This Site consists of a portion of the former W&J Lanyon Zinc Works smelter where zinc smelting activities were conducted. MCP uses the Site for storage of broken, off-spec and finished clay products, including clay pipe sections and tile. The former W&J Lanyon Smelter was approximatedly 20 acres in size and is located on the western side of the MCP facility with the manufacturing building and storage areas east and south of the Site. The property to the north is owned by A. Messenger Lumber and Millwork Construction Company. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad is located southwest of the Site. Approximately 400 feet south of the Site, Surface water flows south and southeast to a tributary named Taylor Creek. The Site is within the 100 to 500 year floodplain of the Cow Creek drainage basin. No drinking water intakes are within 15 miles downstream from the Site.
In 2005, a KDHE contractor conducted a Phase II assessment on the former W&J Lanyon Zinc Works and S.H. Lanyon Smelter sites. The site assessment activities included surface and subsurface soil and groundwater sampling at the properties. Surface water, sediment and sludge (smelter waste) samples were also collected from the sites. Lead, cadmium and arsenic concentrations in surface and subsurface soils were found to exceed Risk-Based Standards for Kansas (RSK) at both of the former smelter properties. Also, cadmium, lead and zinc were detected in shallow groundwater samples at concentrations that exceeded RSK values (Burns and McDonnell 2005 a, b). In June 2008, KDHE conducted an Expanded Site Inspection (ESI) that involved collection of surficial
soil samples from 27 residential properties and parks around the site. Discrete surface soil samples were collected at each property and analyzed (using both field screening and laboratory methods) for lead, arsenic, cadmium and zinc. Concentrations of those metals were detected as high as 610 milligrams per
kilogram (mg/kg) for lead, 20.7 mg/kg for arsenic and 2,200 mg/kg for zinc. This investigation identified lead-contaminated soils (i.e., exceeding 400 mg/kg, the residential RSK) at four of the 27 properties. Relative concentrations of other metals of concern typically mimicked the lead levels (KDHE 2008a).
From November 29, to December 3, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted sampling activities for the Integrated Site Assessment dated May 16, 2011, at MCP. Six of the 180 cells sampled were identified (by XRF screening) with lead concentrations exceeding 1,000 mg/kg (the non-residential RSK value). The lead concentrations in these surface soils ranged from 1,011 to 3,335 mg/kg. Each of these cells had been sampled during the previous assessment activities in 2009. The cells with lead concentrations greater than 1,000 mg/kg were: F6, G5, G6, G7, G8 and H7. The lead concentrations in the remaining cells ranged from non-detect to 792 mg/kg. The average lead concentration in soil for Crawford County is 36.78 mg/kg (U.S. Geological Survey [USGS] 2007). The RSL for lead in industrial soil is 800 mg/kg. No SCDM CR or RfD values have been established for lead. XRF lead concentrations in the 0- to 2-foot soil samples ranged from 33 to 6,319 mg/kg. In the 12 cells sampled at a 2- to 4-foot depth, lead concentrations ranged from 20 to 3,978 mg/kg. XRF readings for lead in the soil samples submitted for laboratory analysis ranged from 15 to 6,319 mg/kg, while the laboratory results ranged from 9.7 to 7,640 mg/kg.
