Operable Unit 2, the last of three areas to be cleaned of lead and arsenic soil contamination, consists mostly of non-residential ground on the northeast, south and west outskirts of the town, said Lisa Lloyd, project manager for the EPA's Region 8.
These areas are where several smelters -- including the Waterman Smelting Works, Chicago Smelter and Carson Buzzo Smelter -- operated, said Tom Daniels, project manager for the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. Some land in the northeast area of Stockton within Operable Unit 2 is owned by Kennecott and the Bureau of Land Management. The EPA will pay for the majority of the cleanup.
The entire Jacobs Smelter Superfund site is approximately eight square miles. From the 1860s to the 1970s, Stockton was a hub for silver and base-metal mining, milling and smelting. Smelting wastes from those operations are the sources of the contaminants. Jacobs Smelter was located on the northeast end of Stockton.
An updated proposed plan that will outline actions for cleaning up lead- and arsenic-contaminated soil in the area is set to be finished this spring or summer, which will be followed by a public comment period of 30 days, Lloyd said. A decision document outlining steps to be taken based on that plan will be released in September.
If cleanup efforts begin in 2009, Lloyd said completion would be set for 2011. However, that depends on weather, how cleanup efforts progress and when in 2009 construction will begin.
In 2004, a proposed plan for cleanup of the contaminated soil in Operable Unit 2 was completed, but because so much time has passed, the new proposed plan will be issued this spring or summer.
The level of contaminants in the soil will determine whether cleanup will consist of excavation and refill with clean dirt, or whether a clean layer of soil will be placed over the contaminated soil, Lloyd said. She added it's likely that the cleanup will involve both methods of remediation.
Daniels said contaminated groundwater has not been an issue at the site, and that it's not much of a threat because there isn't a lot of groundwater in the area.
"We haven't been able to find that it has impacted groundwater at all," he said. "The biggest impact would be to recreational users, mainly people using their ATVs. The problem there is they kick up dust and people breathe the dust. Then it's inhaled into the lungs or collected into the mucus and they swallow it."
The lead cleanup levels that have been established for Operable Unit 2 are 3,000 parts per million for ecological risk, and 10,000 parts per million for human exposure, Daniels said. He added the arsenic is co-mingled with the lead, so while lead is cleaned up the arsenic will be as well.
Two other areas, the town of Stockton proper (Operable Unit 1) and Union Pacific railroad property on the western edge of Stockton (Operable Unit 3), were cleaned up a number of years ago, Lloyd said. Railroad property was cleaned up by Union Pacific. Cleanup efforts at residential properties included removal of contaminated soil and filling in with clean soil, and efforts at the railroad property included placing soil cover over contaminated soil.
In 1999, the EPA's Emergency Response Branch cleaned up 29 of the most contaminated residential properties in Stockton. A year later, 126 more properties were cleaned up by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.
Lloyd added the EPA is also looking at historical preservation as it proceeds with remediation efforts.
Sarah Miley: swest@tooeletranscript.com
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