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Looking north from a spot near the site of the former Colorado Smelter in Pueblo toward I25 and the Sante Fe Avenue Bridge. The Superfund study area extends to a radius of about a half a mile around this site and contains some 1,900 homes.
SHANNA LEWIS / 91.5 KRCC
The clean up addresses toxic lead and arsenic left behind when the smelter closed more than a century ago. This plan would allow work to start on some 27 properties known to have high risk.
Depending on feedback, it could involve replacing as much as 18 inches of soil in affected yards.
Project manager Sabrina Forrest says they’ll work with homeowners to determine the best options for replanting the property.
“Pueblo can be very dry and dusty and having some sort of cover over the clean soils and that really helps to keep our remedy for the long term,” says Forrest.
The plan also includes indoor dust clean up. Once the plan is finalized, work is likely to begin around the end of the year.
The EPA has proposed this interim plan so clean up can begin on high risk homes sooner, while work continues on the remedial investigation, which involves testing and analyzing soils on other properties in the site.
Public meetings will be held August 8th through 10th, with comments accepted through August 14. View the plan here.
Public meetings:
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
6–9 p.m.
Pueblo City-County Health Department
3rd Floor Conference Room
101 West 9th Street
Pueblo, Colorado 81003
Community Advisory Group Meeting: Tuesday Aug 8, 2017
Second Tuesday of each month, 5:30–7:30 p.m.
Steelworks Museum
215 Canal St.
Pueblo, Colo.
Listen to the radio spot at KRCC.org
Shanna Lewis - Radio Journalist, Photographer 