Madison County Mines
Madison County, Missouri

Site Description

The Madison County Mines site is located in southeastern Missouri which for decades was the country's major source of lead ore. Past mining operations have left at least 13 areas of mine waste. This waste contained elevated levels of lead and other heavy metals. The waste has contaminated ground water, sediment, surface water and soil with a number of heavy metals, including lead. Additionally, mine waste has been used on residential properties and driveways as fill material, for road construction, and on public roads to control snow and ice in the winter. In 1999 State and county health department studies found that some children in Madison County had elevated levels of lead in their blood.

Current Site Status and Cleanup Actions to Date

• In 2000, EPA took short-term actions to remove lead-contaminated surface soil in residential yards and other areas often used by children. The action included removing soils in areas with elevated lead concentrations and replacing it with clean soils.
• EPA selected an interim cleanup plan to address lead-contaminated surface soil at residences in July 2008. The plan includes excavation, disposal, and replacement of residential surface soil with lead concentrations greater than 400 parts per million. These actions, along with a health education and institutional controls pilot project, allow EPA to address the human health risk posed to young children by residential property surface soil.
• EPA expects to clean up approximately 1,100 residential properties across Madison County in the next four years with excavation, disposal, and replacement of contaminated residential soil starting in fall 2008.

Current Funding Status

• In Fiscal Year 2008, EPA obligated approximately $7 million for residential surface soil cleanup activities in Madison County.
• To date, EPA has obligated a total of nearly $21 million for cleanup activities at this site.

For more information on this site, please read the Madison County Mines fact sheet (PDF) (6 pp, 54K, http://www.epa.gov/region07/cleanup/npl_files/mod098633415.pdf) on the Region 7 Superfund web site.