Jefferson County mining site added to EPA's Superfund priority list

By Casey Nolen

KSDK -- The Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday the clean up of a large swath of Jefferson County contaminated with lead is now a top priority for the agency.

There are thousands of Superfund sites around the country that the EPA is working to remediate.

Now, parts of Jefferson County are at the top of the list in a select group of sites -- which is good news for those affected since most of the sites are people's front yards.

Even before Missouri was a state, minors worked the hills of southern Jefferson County for lead.

But over the years, some of that lead has poisoned the soil and water in parts of the county -- spread by mining, transportation and even wind. And recently lead has come with landscaping.

In the Liberty Ridge sub-division in Desoto, a half-dozen yards were contaminated with lead when loads of dirt were brought in for fill.

"Kids or anybody could get into it," says Desoto resident Rick Boyer.

His yard tested negative for lead, but several of his neighbors we not so fortunate - testing at more than 1,200 parts per million for lead says the EPA. And Boyer is still awaiting test results for lead in his well water.

For the last three years the EPA has worked to dig up and replace contaminated yards.

But the problem goes beyond Desoto, the Agency says, nearly 300 homes across the county need remediation.

Wednesday, the agency said that effort would get priority attention with the effort moving to a National Priority List.

"What it does is elevate the southwest Jefferson County mining site, for a lack of a better term to the worst of the worst, in terms of need for recourses as far as the EPA is concerned," says Chris Whitley with the EPA's Region 7 office.

Exactly how much money will be funneled to this clean-up is still to be determined, Whitley says.

Those at the greatest risk of lead poisoning are children and pregnant women.

EPA Region 7 covers Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and nine tribal nations.

For more information on the EPA Technical Assistance Grants, visit www.epa.gov/superfund/community/tag.