The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will offer an update Tuesday about site cleanup for Iola’s lead-contaminated properties.
EPA Region 7 representatives will discuss the Former United Zinc Superfund Site and offer information about residential soil lead guidance during an open house starting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Riverside Park Community Building, 510 Park Ave.
Updated residential soil lead guidance was released in January 2024 and lowered the screening level at residential properties from 400 parts per million (ppm) to 200 ppm. Screening levels are not cleanup levels, the EPA said in a press release, but are used to determine if the level of contamination warrants further investigation. The goal is to protect children living and playing near sites contaminated by lead in soils, the EPA said.
October is Children’s Health Month, and the EPA has conducted several events about the new residential soil lead guidance and lead health education. Open houses also took place in Missouri’s Old Lead Belt and the Tri-State Mining District, which includes Superfund sites in Kansas and Missouri.
Iola was the home of several zinc and lead smelting plants during the early 1900s. The United Zinc and East Iola smelters were located on the east side of town. The Lanyon smelters were located on the west edge of town. While these smelting plants were demolished long ago, lead contamination associated with these smelters was distributed throughout the city of Iola and remains an environmental and health hazard.
EPA has sampled 2,955 properties in Iola. Approximately 1,371 of these qualify for cleanup. As of Oct. 1, 2024, 1,150 properties have been remediated, leaving 221 properties that still need cleanup.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and the Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Department will attend the event and provide free blood lead testing for children and pregnant or nursing women.
