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Superfund Program Implements the Recovery Act

Jacobsville Neighborhood Soil Contamination

Evansville, Indiana

Site Description
The Jacobsville Neighborhood Soil Contamination site is located in a mostly residential area of Evansville, IN, where environmental justice issues are a concern.  Four now-closed facilities operated outdoor foundries in the area from 1880 to 1950.  These operations likely released lead and arsenic particles into the air that eventually ended up in the soil.  

Cleanup Activities to Date
EPA added the site to the National Priorities List in 2004.  To address the site, EPA has divided the cleanup into two parts or operable units.  In 2008, EPA issued a cleanup decision document for the first operable unit, which calls for cleaning up lead and arsenic soil contamination in the yards of approximately 350 homes in a 140-acre area.  EPA will clean up these residences in three phases.  EPA plans to issue a cleanup decision document for the second operable unit, which will address approximately 4,000 homes, during the summer of 2009.  EPA’s previous removal actions at the site have addressed soil contamination in the yards of 83 homes.

Recovery Act Project Activity
EPA will use the up to $5 million of Recovery Act funds allocated to this site to conduct all of the cleanup and restoration work at approximately 125 homes in the first operable unit.  Lead and arsenic-contaminated residential soils will be excavated to the depth of elevated concentrations, a maximum depth of two feet.  EPA will dispose of contaminated soil off-site.  Yards will then be reseeded and returned to their original condition. This cleanup will be the start of the first long-term cleanup action at the site.  Use of the Recovery Act funds will allow EPA to speed up the cleanup of the first operable unit, which will result in the reduced exposure of residents to contaminants.

 

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