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 and Remediation of Residential Yards and Child High-Use Areas
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 has compiled an Administrative Record 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 lead contamination. Detailed site information, including ARs, is available at the online Information Repository.
Administrative Records 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 the site’s Information Repository at the link above. (See Site Documents & Data and Big River OU-1 AR File #67913). 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
For more site information, see the related Fact Sheet.
Lead is Main Contaminant of Concern
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. For information on how to protect your family from lead hazards, visit EPA’s Fact Sheet.
Residential Lead Testing Opportunity
If your residential property has not been tested by EPA, contact us today about yard soil and private, drinking water well testing. At this time, residential yard soils and child high-use areas may be eligible for no cost remediation (cleanup) by EPA.
- Call EPA’s testing/sampling contractor, Tetra Tech, at 573-358-8772; or
- Contact EPA Remedial Project Manager (RPM) Sarah Hensley at 913-551-7241 or 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
- Hilary Elizabeth Kramer, community involvement coordinator, at kramer.elizabeth@epa.gov or 913-551-7186
- If you have technical site questions, contact RPM Sarah Hensley (see contact info above); or Rachel Page, Lead NPL Site 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