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EPA expands scope of lead cleanup at Evansville Superfund Site; Hearings June 23 and 24

Release Date: 06/10/2009
Contact Information: Mick Hans, 312-353-5050, [email protected] Dave Novak, 312 886-7478, [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 09-OPA105


(Chicago - June 10, 2008) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has expanded the area to be tested and cleaned up for lead and arsenic contamination at the Jacobsville Neighborhood Lead Contamination Superfund site in Evansville, Ind. A pair of hearings to accept public comments and answer questions about the project will be held Tuesday, June 23, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Wednesday, June 24, 10 a.m. to noon, Browning Rooms A & B, Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library, 200 S.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

In late 2007 to early 2008, EPA cleaned up about 80 properties with lead levels above 1,200 parts per million. (EPA's lead cleanup level is 400 ppm, 30 ppm for arsenic.) As that effort wrapped up, EPA announced plans to clean about 400 additional properties. That work, now supported by Recovery Act funding, will begin in fall and winter 2009. A third, just-announced, expanded area encompasses about a dozen neighborhoods in a 4.5-square-mile area north and south of the Lloyd Expressway north of downtown Evansville. The expanded area includes about 10,000 properties to be tested for soil contamination. EPA expects about 4,000 may require cleanup. Work in this new expanded project area would not begin for several years.

The June 23 and 24 hearings will provide a forum for questions and public comment about testing and cleanup of the expanded area. In addition to the hearings, comments may also be submitted via e-mail to EPA Community Involvement Coordinator Dave Novak at [email protected], via fax at 312-692-2483, or to Novak via surface mail at U.S. EPA Region 5 (SI-7J), 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604. EPA has also established an Internet listserv for residents to receive Jacobsville site updates. To subscribe, send an e-mail to [email protected]. For more information, please visit https://www.epa.gov/region5/sites/jacobsville. For special accommodations at the hearings or other questions, please contact Dave Novak via e-mail or on EPA's toll-free Jacobsville phone line, 888-838-1304.

Several long-closed manufacturing companies used lead and other metals in their operations, which has contaminated the soil. The site was placed on the Superfund National Priorities List in July 2004. Though the expanded area encompasses a number of other neighborhoods, EPA will continue to use the Jacobsville name.