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VERMILION COUNTY
DANVILLE
Congressional District # 15
HEGELER ZINC
EPA ID# ILN000508134Last Updated: November, 2009
Site Description
The 100-acre Hegeler Zinc Site is located immediately west of the Village of Hegeler and 3.5 miles south of the City of Danville in Vermilion County, Illinois. The site is in a rural area, bordered by farmland on the west and north. An automobile salvage yard is located about 1,000 feet northeast of the site. Approximately 1,700 people live within 1 mile of the site and the nearest residential area is directly east of the site.
Hegeler Zinc began smelting zinc in 1907 under the name of Hegeler Brothers and became known as Hegeler Zinc in 1913. The zinc smelting facility operated from 1906 until approximately 1955. Hegeler Zinc produced various grades of zinc slab and rolled zinc products as well as sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid was produced from sulfur gas that was collected from the zinc ore prior to smelting. The smelting operation resulted in large amounts of slag, which was stored in piles on the site. Slag is waste residue produced by the smelting process and contains unburned residues and metals such as lead, arsenic and zinc.
During the war in 1942, the Defense Plant Corporation, a U.S. government agency, added a cadmium-scavenging process to the zinc smelters to collect cadmium dust, which was then transported off-site to a cadmium smelter. Zinc smelting operations were shut down in November 1947 due to a lack of demand after the war. Zinc rolling and sulfuric acid production continued until 1955.
In 1954, Hegeler Zinc dissolved and deeded the operations to National Distillers and Chemical Corporation. The following year, National Distillers sold the zinc rolling mill operations to Peterson Filling and Packaging. The facility was then used to package insecticides, shaving products, and other items. In 1956, Illinois Fireworks Company purchased the remaining National Distillers property for the manufacturing of fireworks. Temporary small wooden huts and inoperable tractor trailers were utilized to store fireworks and positioned throughout the site. Many of these buildings and trailers remain at the site.
In 2001, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency colleted soil, waste (slag), sediment and groundwater samples from the site and surrounding residential areas and waterways. Slag materials appear to have been used to cover roads in the Village of Hegeler and later as road base for black-top roadways, which have since been repaved with asphalt.
In May 2003, EPA installed a six-foot-high chain link fence around the site, including signage, to prevent trespassers from coming into contact with the contaminated soil and waste material. EPA proposed the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in September 2004, and finalized the site on the NPL in April 2005, making it eligible for cleanup under EPA’s Superfund program.
Complex cleanup sites are often divided into smaller, more manageable sections called Operable Units or OUs. EPA has divided the Hegeler Zinc Site into three OUs:
• OU #1: Former Hegeler Zinc property, including areas of soil, surface water, sediment, and groundwater contamination.
• OU #2: Affected areas of surface water and sediment outside the EPA-constructed fence.
• OU #3: Residential area located in the Hegeler neighborhood east of the former Hegeler Zinc property, from West Hegeler Lane east to and including Third Street.
EPA has identified several “potentially responsible parties” or PRPs for the Hegeler Zinc Superfund Site. PRPs are entities that may bear legal and financial responsibilities for a Superfund cleanup. EPA negotiated two separate administrative orders with the PRPs at the site, one order for OU2 and another order for OU1 and OU3, but as discussed below, only the order for OU2 was finalized.
Site Responsibility
The Hegeler Zinc Site is being addressed through federal and potentially responsible parties' actions.Threats and Contaminants
The primary sources of contamination at the Hegeler Zinc Site are from areas related to the former smelting operations. The contaminants of concern associated with the slag pile and site property are metals, primarily lead, arsenic, cadmium, and zinc. The highest metals concentrations in on-site soils were found near the former process building in the north-central portion of the site and within the slag pile. A significant amount of the slag within the facility is stored in a waste pile that occupies approximately 5.9 acres and rises 53.4 feet above grade. The slag pile is not contained and appears to continue to impact surface water in the area due to its proximity to the unnamed waterway flowing through the facility and into Grape Creek, which ultimately flows into the Vermilion River.
Contaminants of concern in the surface waters of the unnamed creek include pesticides, volatile organic compounds and several metals including arsenic, cadmium, and lead. In addition, pesticides and metals levels are elevated in waterway sediments of the unnamed creek, in comparison to sediments in areas that have not been impacted by industrial activity. Some fishing activity occurs within the unnamed creek. The low pH in site waters is attributed to the effects of mixing of rain water runoff with the slag waste pile. Grape Creek flows through small sections of forested wetlands and supports small wildlife commonly found in and around healthy creeks in central Illinois.
Elevated levels of arsenic, cadmium, and lead were noted in some residential yards and roadway samples adjacent to the Hegeler Zinc facility.
Cleanup Progress
Following its listing on the NPL, EPA conducted Remedial Investigation (RI) sampling at the Hegeler Zinc Site in 2006, and then analyzed the data and summarized it in an RI Report dated April 18, 2007. The 2007 RI Report included a baseline human health risk assessment and a screening level ecological risk assessment. The objectives of an RI Report are to adequately characterize the nature and extent of contamination at a site and to assess the risks to human health and the environment. The next steps in the Superfund process for this site are to complete a Supplemental RI, a baseline ecological risk assessment (BERA), and a Feasibility Study (FS). The FS will look at the ways that a site cleanup can be conducted safely, effectively, and compatibly with state and federal laws.
EPA conducted negotiations with the PRPs for completion of the next steps in the Superfund process. In July 2009, an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) was signed by EPA, KIK Custom Products Inc., General Services Administration (GSA), and the site property owner for the preparation and performance of a BERA and FS at Operable Unit 2. The OU2 AOC will address site-impacted streams (surface water and sediments) exiting the fenced former Hegeler Zinc property, including Grape Creek and an unnamed tributary to Grape Creek, and any site- and stream-related pesticide contaminant source and/or impact areas.
EPA had also negotiated a second AOC with GSA and Millennium (a subsidiary of Lyondell) for a Supplemental RI and an FS at OUs 1 and 3, but Millennium filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in January 2009, before the AOC could be finalized. Therefore, in August 2009, EPA initiated a fund-lead study to conduct the work that Millennium would have performed at OUs 1 and 3.
During the FS, a variety of potential cleanup options for the site will be developed. EPA will then recommend its preferred option and present that option, along with the list of other considered options, at a public meeting and in a written Proposed Plan. The public will be able to comment on EPA's proposed cleanup plan during a public comment period. EPA will then issue a Record of Decision (ROD), which formally documents EPA’s selected remedy for the site. The FS for the Hegeler Zinc Site is expected by 2011.
Operable Unit 1: Former Hegeler Zinc Property
EPA is currently in the planning phase for the Supplemental RI at OU1. The supplemental investigations and analysis planned will complete the remedial investigation requirements for the site, determine the nature and extent of contamination, and evaluate possible risks to human health and the environment. EPA anticipates starting the required field work at the Site in early 2010.
Operable Unit 2: Surface water and sediment outside EPA-constructed fence
In May 2009, KIK developed and submitted a BERA work plan (revision 3), which was approved by EPA, to begin an investigation into waterway sediments. The objectives of the work plan include; 1) identifying the types and quantity of pesticides- or metals-impacted sediments, 2) assessing the ecological risk associated with the detected pesticides and/or metals, and 3) attempting to identify sources of the pesticides and/or metals in the waterway sediments.
KIK collected sediment and interstitial water samples in the OU2 waterways in July and October 2009, and will prepare an initial OU2 characterization report for EPA review and approval that summarizes sampling data results and recommendations for future field investigations.
Operable Unit 3: Residential Area generally east of the Hegeler Zinc Site
EPA collected samples in December 2007 from 77 residential and 30 vacant properties in the site neighborhood. One soil sample was collected from each property and analyzed for lead. According to EPA health guidelines, residential yards generally should contain no more than 400 parts lead per million parts soil. (A part per million or ppm is a tiny amount, similar to 1 second in 12 days). All residents who participated in the sampling event were provided with their results. Only five properties that were tested showed lead concentrations slightly above the 400 ppm level. Health officials believe the risks to residents living near the site are low enough that no immediate action is required.
EPA collected additional soil samples from the residential neighborhood in July 2009 during a more complex sampling project. At each property where EPA obtained a signed access agreement, five small surface soil samples were collected from across the front yard and composited into a single soil sample, and the same was done for the back yard. The samples were analyzed for arsenic and other metals, including lead. The results of the July 2009 sampling event will be mailed to participating property owners by early 2010.
EPA is currently in the planning phase for the supplemental risk assessment work and feasibility study for OU3.
Community Involvement
EPA interviews with local residents indicated that the public is interested in information pertaining to the results of the Hegeler Zinc site investigations and potential cleanup options.
EPA held a public meeting near the Hegeler Zinc Site in April 2006 in Tilton, Illinois, to announce the RI/FS sampling work. In a June 2007 public meeting, EPA presented its sampling approaches and field results as summarized in the April 2007 RI Report.
On May 28, 2009, EPA and other state and local officials hosted an all-day availability session and provided a formal presentation to the public that same night. At the public meeting, EPA presented the progress and next steps in the Hegeler Zinc cleanup process, the results from the 2007 residential sampling project, and information about the bankruptcy of Millennium, one of the PRPs for the Site.
Site photos, presentation slides, the April 2007 RI Report, and other site-related documents can be found at the EPA website: http://www.epa.gov/region5/sites/hegelerzinc/index.htm. In addition, site documents can be read at either the Danville or Westville Public Libraries, U.S. EPA's information repositories for the site. EPA will hold future public meetings as needed.
Contacts
Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPAcolleen moynihan (moynihan.colleen@epa.gov)
(312) 353-8196