EPA announces $4.1 million clean-up plan for former Alcoa plant site in East St. Louis
A $4.1 million plan to clean up the site of a former aluminum refinery plant in East St. Louis includes removing contaminated waste and soil materials, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday.
The 400-acre North Alcoa site is just north of Illinois 15.
The plant operated until the mid-1950s, when buildings were demolished and the property was sold. Since then, the EPA conducted environmental studies at the site and divided it into two sections: Operable Unit 1 and Operable Unit 2, the target of the new cleanup plan.
The new remediation project will focus on Unit 2.
The site includes commercial properties along Missouri Avenue and is near residential properties on Louisiana Drive, according to the EPA. More than 50 years of aluminum waste collected at the site contaminated the soil around it, preventing future use of the area.
Operable Unit 1 is the main area of the site, which was remediated with EPA Superfunds in 2016. Waste was covered with clean soil and the area was fenced in.
Brooke Smith, city manager for East St. Louis, said she had not been involved in the project and could not immediately comment. An EPA spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
