U.S. EPA REGION 5 LA SALLE COUNTY
LA SALLE
Congressional District # 11
MATTHIESSEN AND HEGELER ZINC COMPANY
EPA ID# IL0000064782
Last Updated: February, 2007 Site Description
The Matthiessen and Hegeler Zinc Co. occupies approximately 160 acres where an inactive primary zinc smelting and rolling facility are located in the city of La Salle, La Salle County, Illinois (population 9,646). The southern portion of the property contains one active business, Carus Chemical Company. The Carus Chemical Company is a manufacturer of potassium permanganate and other specialty chemicals and employs approximately 100 people. The site itself is surrounded by the Little Vermillion River on the north and east sides and by private residences on the south and west sides. North and east of the site across the river lay farmland and a limestone quarry, respectively. Operation at the Matthiessen and the Hegeler Zinc Co. began in 1858 with all operations ceasing in 1978. The rolling mills were constructed in 1866 and incorporated into the business in 1871. The site also had an ammonium sulfate fertilizer plant which utilized some of the sulfuric acid that was generated; however, it only operated for a few years in the early 1950’s. Matthiessen and Hegeler quit mining coal onsite in 1937, and in 1961 stopped the zinc smelting process. The manufacture of sulfuric acid was discontinued in 1968; from 1968 until it closed in 1978 only the rolling mills were in operation.
The rolling mills were purchased in 1979 by new owners and became the La Salle Rolling Mills, with operations at this location beginning in 1980, until it went bankrupt in 2001. Large piles of slag material from past smelting operations are located on the property adjacent to the Little Vermillion River.
Drinking water for the city is obtained from several municipal wells; the closest well is located approximately 3,700 feet south of the site. A CERCLA Screening Site Inspection, conducted by the Illinois EPA (IEPA) in 1991, indicated that the slag piles contained elevated levels of heavy metals, which led to the listing of the site on the NPL. This site was listed on the NPL in September 2003.
Site Responsibility
This site is being addressed through federal, state, and potentially responsible party (PRP) actions.
Threats and Contaminants
Samples, collected from the two large slag piles located along the Little Vermillion River, found that the material has elevated concentrations of several metals that include cadmium, copper, chromium, lead, nickel, and zinc. Samples, collected from the sediment within the river, were also found to contain high levels of the same metals found in the slag piles, indicating that the river has likely been impacted by the site. The surface water pathway was the primary pathway used to score this site for the NPL. Other samples collected onsite show low levels of a variety of contaminants that include pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and solvents and chemicals found in oil and coal. In September 1999, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the Illinois Department of Public Health issued a public health statement, stating that the site was a public health hazard due to the presence of cadmium and lead found in soil in the adjacent residential area. Cleanup Progress
In September 2003 an Administrative Order by Consent (AOC) was signed by U.S. EPA and the Responsible Parties (RPs) to address several areas of concern in an emergency removal operation at the La Salle Rolling Mills, including oil-contaminated waste piles, asbestos, and numerous storage tanks. The onsite removals have been completed and the cyanide-contaminated waste material that was removed is being stored onsite and awaiting disposal at a licensed facility.
The long term cleanup of the Site will be addressed under Superfund's remedial process. On September 26, 2006 an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent for Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) was signed by the U.S. EPA and Carus Chemical Company. In this order the Carus Chemical Company agreed to perform the RI/FS on the portion of the Matthiessen and Hegeler Zinc Co. Site that they currently own as well as the Little Vermilion River. The U.S. EPA will concurrently conduct the RI/FS on the remainder of the Site and in the residential area adjacant to the Site.
The residential area will be investigated to determine if any of the contaminants migrated from the facility into the residential area. U.S. EPA will begin sampling residential yards in the spring of 2007.
Contacts
Remedial Project Manager, U.S. EPA
stephanie linebaugh (linebaugh.stephanie@epa.gov)
(312) 353-2315
Aliases
MATTHIESSEN AND HEGELER ZINC CO.
