Public Notice: Big River Mine Tailings/St. Joe Minerals Corp. National Priorities List (NPL) Superfund Site, St. Francois County, Missouri
Summary
Administrative Record Available for Time-Critical Removal Action
Contaminated Soils at Residential Yards and Child High-Use Areas
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 has compiled the Administrative Record (AR) file for a Time-Critical Removal Action across St. Francois County, Missouri, at the Big River Mine Tailings/St. Joe Minerals Corp. National Priorities List (NPL) Superfund Site (site) to remediate (clean up) lead-contaminated, priority residential properties, including child high-use areas.
The site is located within the Old Lead Belt in southeastern Missouri, where hundreds of years of mining and smelting caused widespread contamination. Detailed site information, including ARs, is available at the Information Repository.
ARs are official site files that contain technical documents about EPA’s response actions. EPA developed this AR to provide a clear understanding of the site actions. To view, please visit: Big River OU-1 AR File #67768 (under Site Documents & Data at Information Repository link above). For more site information, see the related Fact Sheet.
If you do not have internet access, you can view these documents online at a local library, such as:
Farmington Public Library
101 North A St.
Farmington, MO 63640
573-756-5779
Lead is the main contaminant of concern at this site. It is a toxic metal that is harmful if inhaled or ingested and can pose serious health risks, particularly to children under 7 years old, as well as pregnant women and nursing mothers. Learn how to protect your family from lead hazards.
Lead Testing Opportunity
If your residential property has not been tested by EPA, contact us about yard soil testing and private, drinking water well testing. At this time, residential yard soils and child high-use areas may be remediated by EPA.
- Call EPA’s testing/sampling contractor, Tetra Tech, at 573-358-8772; or
- Call EPA at 913-551-7241 or email Sarah Hensley, EPA remedial project manager (RPM), at hensley.sarah@epa.gov.
Annual Childhood Lead Testing
EPA encourages parents and caregivers to have children under 7 years old tested for elevated blood lead levels annually. The only way to know if your child has an elevated blood lead level is to have his or her blood tested; lead-poisoned children do not always look or act sick. Talk to your pediatrician, general physician, St. Francois County Health Center (1025 West Main St., Park Hills, MO 63601; 573-431-1947), or other health care professionals about testing your child and to arrange for blood lead screening.
Contact EPA
If you have questions about this Time-Critical Removal Action, please contact:
- Valerie Wilder, on-scene coordinator, at wilder.valerie@epa.gov or 913-551-7181
- Elizabeth Kramer, community involvement coordinator, at kramer.elizabeth@epa.gov or 913-551-7186
- If you have technical site questions, contact Sarah Hensley (see contact info above); or Rachel Page, Lead RPM, at page.rachel@epa.gov or 913-551-7581.
U.S. EPA Region 7
11201 Renner Boulevard
Lenexa, KS 66219
Toll-free: 1-800-223-0425