This story is part of the series Courier Press Top Stories
Wet weather delays EPA's cleanup of toxic soil in city's Jacobsville Superfund Site
More than a decade after the Environmental Protection Agency named Evansville's city center among the most contaminated in the country, the cleanup is still underway. Jessie Higgins
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Soggy conditions are delaying the continuation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's toxic soil cleanup in the city's Jacobsville Superfund Site.
"It was supposed to start Monday, but we have to wait for the clean soil to dry out," said Jena Sleboda, EPA's remedial project manager for the cleanup.
Contractor's working for the federal agency have been replacing lead and arsenic-contaminated soil with clean soil and sod in a 4.5-square-mile area surrounding Downtown, working as funding becomes available.
Twelve years and $60 million dollars after the cleanup began, the project is still several years away from completion.
The amount of dirt excavated by the cleanup is significant. Where properties have tested positive for unsafe levels of lead or arsenic, workers remove and replace the first two feet of soil from the entire property.
Ingestion of the lead and arsenic can have toxic results for people, especially children. While it can affect adults, children 6 years old and younger are most at risk because they are still developing.
Longterm exposure to lead can cause children to have decreased bone and muscle growth, damage to their nervous system, developmental delays and speech and language problems.
Although it is unknown how many people may have been affected by the contaminated soil, the EPA considers the risk of exposure is high. Lead poisoning affects the brain, nervous system and kidneys. High levels can cause behavioral problems, learning disabilities, seizures and possibly death.
However, Sleboda said the contamination does not rise to a level that would cause the soil to be considered hazardous waste. Because of this, it is disposed of by using it as landfill cover at Laubscher Meadows Landfill, she said.
The contamination was first detected in 2000 in the Jacobsville neighborhood, an area north of the Lloyd Expressway and west of North Main Street. However, the contamination was found to extend beyond the neighborhood as workers tested properties further away to define the contaminated area.
Although the area is mostly older residential and commercial properties, in the late-1800s and early 1900s, several large manufacturers operated there, including one which made lead shot. It's believed factory smoke dispersed the lead, arsenic and other pollutants over the area.
Evansville was added to the federal National Priorities List of polluted sites needing extensive cleanups in 2004, and the cleanup began in 2007.
The factories most likely responsible ceased operating so long ago that there are no potentially liable parties which can be legally held responsible to pay for the cleanup. Because of that, the work has proceeded as funding becomes available, with EPA paying 90 percent and Indiana contributing 10 percent.
About 2,300 properties have been cleaned up so far, Sleboda said. Although they mostly include residential properties, some parks and daycare facilities have also been cleaned up.
Once work resumes, it is expected to last through summer and fall, she said. This year's cleanup will include an area around West Uhlhorn Street and North Sixth Avenue, Sleboda said, as well as the historic area southwest of Downtown and near the riverfront.
"If all goes well, we are hoping it will be complete in five to six years," Sleboda said.