(Alma) Morning Sun on May 1 Reported on Tour of Burn Pit
Article by Greg Nelson , “EPA provides tour of toxic Velsicol sites in St. Louis,”
The U.S Environmental Protection Agency and its contractor Jacobs provided an up-close look Tuesday at work taking place on two contaminated properties in St. Louis.
A group, including St. Louis city officials, members of the Pine River Superfund Citizens Task Force and the media, were given a tour of a portion of the 53-acre former Velsicol Chemical Co. plant site and the Velsicol Burn Pit, located across the Pine River from the plant property.
EPA Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore made her second trip to the site in the past year but admitted she didn’t realize what took place there more than 50 years ago had resulted in the “largest agricultural disaster” in Michigan history when cattle feed was mistakenly mixed with a fire retardant that led to tens of thousands of head of livestock to be destroyed and millions of state residents being exposed to the toxic substance PBB.
Although a lot of remediation has taken place at the sites over the past several years “there is still much to do,” Shore said.
She credited passage of the 2022 bipartisan infrastructure law for providing the agency with millions of additional dollars to cleanup polluted Superfund properties throughout the U.S.
Several portions of the former plant site have already been remediated and the EPA is now focusing on the Burn Pit, which is located in an out-of-bounds area of the Hidden Oaks Golf Course. Each is classified as a Superfund site.
EPA Remedial Project Manager Jennifer Knoepfle, who’s in charge of both the plant site and Burn Pit, provided a powerpoint presentation prior to the tour showing participants what had already taken place and what will be done in the next year.
The small contaminated Burn Pit has 30-foot high sections of screened fencing separating it from the golf course with a short “cart path” on the east side allowing golfers a route to safely navigate past the contaminated area.
Those on the tour were also able to view a 1.4-acre well field, with depths ranging from 12 to 32 feet, where thermal heating will take place to remove 150,000 pounds of dense non-aqueous phase liquid, a hazardous chemical that has accumulated on the site.
That area has been covered with a one-foot mixture of concrete and styrofoam that will allow it to reach a temperature of 212 degrees fahrenheit
It’s estimated that the electricity to heat the site will cost about $135,000 a month
Tour participants were also able to view the carbon filtration system, and a floating pontoon bridge crossing the Pine River that includes separate pipes carrying vapors and groundwater to a treatment facility on the main plant site.
Reusing that facility is expected to save the agency about $2 million rather than building a new one at the Burn Pit.
Once cleaned the water will be released back into the river. However, before that occurs much sampling and testing will take place to ensure it meets strict remedial criteria.
Cleanup of the Burn Pit is expected to take about a year and cost $33 million.
More details regarding remediation efforts taking place at the contaminated Velsicol sites are available on the EPA website.