Lee's Lane Landfill

• Site Profile
• Administrative Record Index (All PDF): OU1 (30 pp., 731K), Deletion (5 pp., 173K)
• Additional Site Documents including Five Year Reviews, Records of Decisions (ROD) and Explanation of Significant Differences (ESD).
• For documents not available on the website, please contact the Region 4 Freedom of Information Office (http://www.epa.gov/region4/foiapgs/submit.htm).

Site Background:
The Lee's Lane Landfill located in Jefferson County, Kentucky is a 112-acre site that received over 2 million cubic yards of domestic, commercial, and industrial wastes between the 1940s and 1975. Sand and gravel quarrying occurred on the site before and during the property's use as a landfill. In 1975, residents living next to the site reported flash fires around their water heaters. After explosive levels of methane gas were detected, seven nearby homes were evacuated and purchased by local authorities. The State closed the landfill that same year. The majority of the 1,100 residents of a subdivision located adjacent to the landfill are connected to a public water supply system, which draws from an underlying aquifer. In 1980, State personnel discovered 400 exposed drums of hazardous materials, some highly flammable, and the Ohio River bank next to the landfill. They identified more than 50 chemicals including phenolic resins, benzene, and a variety of heavy metals. The air was polluted with methane gas vented from the landfill. Groundwater, soil, and surface water were contaminated with benzene, heavy metals including lead and arsenic, and inorganic chemicals.

Cleanup Progress: Construction Completed
In 1980, after methane was discovered in other homes nearby, the Kentucky Department of Hazardous material installed a gas venting system at the landfill. In 1981, the site owners pumped liquid wastes from the exposed drums found near the Ohio River. They shipped hazardous wastes to an approved disposal facility, removed the drums and other wastes from the river bank, and buried them on the site. In 1987 and 1988, EPA emergency staff performed cleanup activities at the landfill, including site security and migration control. The EPA selected a remedy for this site in 1986 which included: operation of the gas collection system: provide alternate water supplies; remove exposed drums; cap soils in "hot spots" in an area of exposed trash and dispose of exposed wastes; impose institutional controls; and monitor groundwater, gas, and air. The EPA finished cleaning up this site in 1987. The EPA entered into a Consent Order with the Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District to conduct operations and maintenance activities at the site with oversight from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The Lee's Lane Landfill site was deleted from the National Priorities List in May 1996. However, Operations and Maintenance of the Remedial Action will continue at the site until its clean-up goals are met.