Doe Run differs with EPA

Recent test results of lead levels from the Doe Run Co. in Herculaneum could either show that the situation has deteriorated or that it has improved, depending on which entity is interpreting the results.

In July, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency directed Doe Run to expand the area to collect samples of lead in the surface soil and gravel driveways at residential properties within one mile of the lead smelter. Test results were released in October.

According to the EPA, of 372 properties sampled, 129 had at least one area exceeding the 400 parts/million action level for lead. A total of 104 of those 129 “action level” properties had already undergone soil remediation within the past nine years, under work previously ordered by EPA.

“The recontamination we are seeing in Herculaneum is unacceptable,” said William Rice, acting regional administrator. “EPA intends to work with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) to correct this problem by requiring Doe Run to implement a comprehensive, permanent solution to address this persistent problem.”

Doe Run sees the results differently.

A statement issued Tuesday by the general manager of the Herculaneum smelter, Gary Hughes, said that “very few of the sampled properties in Herculaneum have an average that is above the level of concern defined by EPA, which is 400 parts per million for residential property. The samples found only 30 of the 370 properties had an average above this level, representing approximately 8 percent. In some places around town, levels of lead in soil went down.”

Herculaneum City Administrator Jim Kasten says that the discrepancy in opinions is due to the portion of property considered in the test results. EPA considered the entire property as being contaminated even if only one quadrant of the yard was over the 400 ppm level, while Doe Run determined the property to be contaminated only if it was the entire yard.

Kasten says that since some of these properties had never been tested before, it suggests they could have been contaminated prior to when increased regulations for Doe Run were put into place.

Both EPA and the MDNR have taken a number of enforcement actions against Doe Run over the years

Doe Run previously replaced about 500 yards that had contaminated soil with clean soil.

Some properties that did not get remediated but tested high for lead in the past, actually got better, Kasten says.

“Yards will remediate themselves over time,” he said.

In addition, testing has only been done on soil samples and not on driveways, Kasten said. Gravel rock brought in from the quarries for driveways contains lead and when it rains, could have run onto the lot, he said. And since some properties were along the haul route, lead particles could have easily fallen off the trucks and washed into the yards, he said.

Over the past few years Doe Run has been required to ensure that all trucks and other vehicles leaving the facility are clean and free of lead concentrate and slag dust.

Kasten believes that due to these and other restrictions, there are actually less contaminants produced by Doe Run than before. He says more time is needed to study the results to determine any future action.

Doe Run representatives met with Herculaneum staff to share the results of the findings.

“We’ll be working with residents and EPA on what needs to be done on each individual property,” Hughes said. “We want to make sure residents know we care about their families and their concerns, and we’ll be keeping the lines of communication open as we work through the process with EPA.”

In the meantime, EPA Region 7 is considering a range of enforcement actions against Doe Run Resources Corp.

Doe Run’s facility has been in operation for more than a century and is the largest smelter of its kind in the United States. EPA’s enforcement-related involvement with the facility began three decades ago, over concerns with air emissions, children’s elevated blood lead levels, elevated lead levels in residential yard soils, and home interior dust in Herculaneum.

During the first eight months of this year, all of the ambient air monitors near the Herculaneum smelter had successfully met the current National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for lead of 1.5 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air, which is currently applicable to the area.

However in October 2008, the EPA adopted a new NAAQS for lead, lowering the acceptable level of lead in ambient air to 0.15 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air.

The timetable for attainment of the new NAAQS for sites “with existing monitors in place and sufficient data” must demonstrate attainment with the new standard by January 2016.