Velsicol site cleanup heads into 23rd year
The Velsicol Chemical Co. closed its St. Louis plant in 1978 following the well documented PBB disaster.
In the 1980s the factory was completely demolished and buried on the now vacant and contaminated 52-acre parcel.
It would be another decade or more before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency slowly began remediation of the property.
The cleanup continues to this day with the hope of someday turning the site into a recreational area that would include soccer fields, basketball courts, an amphitheater, park, playground, fishing platforms, a boat launch and education center.
However, that goal is still years away.
It’s estimated that more than $150 million has been spent on remediation so far and by the time work is finished that total could reach a half-a-billion dollars.
On-site groundwater is contaminated with DDT, chlorobenzene, carbon tetrachloride and other chlorinated compounds.
In addition, the soil contains PBBS, copper, chromium, zinc and magnesium.
For the past three years the EPA and Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy have been using thermal treatment technology to heat the soil and groundwater in small sections, capture the contaminants and treat them on-site.
A parcel known as Area 1 was completed in 2018 with 56,000 pounds of contaminants being removed.
A section called Area 2 is being done in two phases. The first was finished last year with an additional 183,000 pounds of contaminants and more than 4 million gallons of polluted groundwater were removed.
The EPA is now getting ready to start phase 2 of the Area 2 cleanup.
“Testing is nearly complete for the third and final phase of the in-place thermal treatment system at the Velsicol Chemical Superfund site,” EPA Community Involvement Coordinator Diane Russell stated in a press release.
Heating of the soil began earlier this month to treat approximately 1.5 acres located where chemical production once took place at the plant, she added.
That’s expected to continue until November.
An EPA report stated that the thermal treatment that took place during the first phase of Area 2 was successful and “achieved all required performance and operation goals.”
More than 11.5 million kilowatts of electrical energy was used to heat the soil in that section.
The estimated combined remediation cost of the phase 1 and 2 work in Area 2 is $25 million.
EPA Project Manager for the site, Tom Alcamo, is also asking the federal government for additional funds to finish design work at two more “potential source areas” of contamination located near M-46 and Watson Street.