The ASARCO Site is located in Taylor
Springs, Montgomery County, Illinois, and consists, in part, of an
approximately 533-acre area, known as the Custodial Trust property, that is
currently owned by the ASARCO Multi-State Environmental Custodial Trust. Within the Custodial Trust
property is a 96-acre area, known as the Facility Area, where former zinc
smelting operations were conducted and which includes, but is not limited to,
the slag yard and Coal Pocket Lake. The ASARCO Site includes the following areas: the
533-acre Custodial Trust property, drainageways bounding the property, the
adjacent residential area which includes individual private properties,
alleyways, roadways, and drainage ditches along roadways where process residues
were used as fill or surfacing material, and the shallow groundwater within the
Custodial Trust property. Elevated concentrations of lead associated with
historic smelting operations were found in various media at the Site.
This EPA-funded time-critical removal action will be the second removal to be conducted at the Site. The first removal was conducted in 2008 by the Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs). This second removal action began in September 2023 and will address lead contaminated soil on up to seven residential properties. The cleanup will occur this fall and may continue into Spring 2024 pending suitable weather conditions for property landscape restoration such as planting grass.
