Soil cleanup can be a lengthy process.
It’s been more than a decade since the Environmental Protection Agency first targeted Iola’s properties as in need of remediation, contaminated from when zinc smelters operated a century ago.
Now, with end of the first phase of the soil cleanup project in sight — nearly 500 “time critical” properties with unsafe levels of lead will have been cleared by then — the EPA can start planning for its next phase.
A crowd of about 50 gathered at the Iola Public Library Thursday to hear EPA’s proposal for its final remediation plans.
The session is necessary to gather public comment before phase 2 planning can begin, explained Don Bahnke, EPA’s remedial projects manager.
A CENTURY OLD ISSUE
Iola was the home of several zinc and lead smelting plants in the early 1900s, at the height of the local gas boom.
The United Zinc and East Iola smelters were on the east edge of town — just west of Jump Start Travel Center — while the Lanyon Smelter was on the west side of town on land that eventually became the IMP Boats plant.
The smelters shut down about 20 years later because the local natural gas supply had been depleted, but not before depositing lead-filled pollutants throughout Iola.
The lead tailings wafted in every direction, contaminating nearby properties. In addition, large slag piles near the smelters were popular among townsfolk as a cheap source of fill material. That also spread pollution.
As a result, almost 1,500 residential properties were left with varying levels of lead, Bahnke said.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL Protection Agency got involved in 2005, with a preliminary study of properties near the old smelter sites.
Of those, 129, including the McKinley Elementary School property, were found to have unsafe lead levels, more than 800 parts per million.
