UNITE D STATE S ENVIRONMENTA L PROTECTIO N AGENC Y

REGION VII I ' 9 99 18th STREET - SUITE 500

DENVER , COLORADO 80202-2466

27118

FINAL POLLUTION REPORT Midvale Slag OU2 (RV5 ) Cemetery

ADMINISTRATIV E RECORD

I . HEADIN G

Date: Subject: From:

.To :

POLREP No. :

SFFiL E NUMBE R Z-17-of

07/07/96 Midvale Slag NPL Sit e (OU2 ) [RV5 ] Cemetery Mike Zimmerman, OSC Anne Spencer, EPA Headquarters

Emergency Response POLREP #2 and Final

I I . BACKGROUN D

Sit e No. : CERCLIS No: Response Authority: State Notification : Action Memorandum: Start Date: Completion Dates71UTD081834277 CERCLA UDEQ Notified

10/29/96

10/31/96

04/17/97

III . SIT E INFORMATIO N

A. Inciden t Category

Time-Critical , NPL

B. Site Description

1. Site Description

T he entire Midvale Slag site consists of about 530

acres; OU2 covers about 200 acres of the Site . A smelter operated on OU2 from 1897 until 1958. Over the

years, it changed from a copper to a lead smelting

facility , producing gold/lead/silver bullion from

sulfide ores. Thi s Removal Action addressed the need

to mitigate the threat of contamination of the

air, surface and ground water posed by lead and arsenic

which was the result of the slag, dross, and dust from

Printed on Recycled Paper
a former copper and lead smelting operation and calcine

derived from the roasting of arsenopyrite. The Sit e is

the portion of OU2 which is an old cemetery and

provides 1) direct access to visitors/trespassers in

the areas where hazardous substances exist, and 2)

airborne migration of hazardous substances from the Site .

2. Description of Threat

T he former smelter area, where the Sit e is

located, contains a variety of heavy metals that are

considered pollutant s or hazardous substances as

defined by Sectio n 101(14} of CERCLA because the "mixed

smelter waste" in this area has concentrations of

hazardous substances from the smelter building

demolition debris, tailings (miscellaneous smelter

waste) , calcine, and bag dust. The Sit e has visitors

to the cemetery and trespassers. The semi-arid climate

of the area provides a situation for the hazardous

substances and/or contaminants on-site to be airborne

and migrate off-sit e during the dry, windy days.

C. Sit e Evaluation Results

As a part of the Midvale Slag OU2 Engineering

Evaluation/Cos t Analysis (BE/AC), the Site was included in Phase I and Phase II investigations and background study

(EPA Contract No. 68-W9-0032) . The EE/CA Summary Report

(May , 1994) is contained in three volumes and is available

in the Superfun d Records Center for Region VIII EPA. The

analyses demonstrate that serious levels of contamination

existed at the cemetery site, with lead and arsenic in the

calcine reaching levels as high as 13,490 ppm and 21,268

ppm, respectively .

I V . RESPONS E INFORMATION

A. Situatio n

On October 31, 1996, the EPA ERCS Contractor mobilized

to the Sit e and the excavation was initiated by a crew of

six cleanup technicians, a field clerk, response management,

and an industrial hygienist. Excavated material was

transported to OU2 and stockpiled in a temporary storage

area. Dust suppression for the stockpile was provided by a

water truck, and a fire hydrant hose was used to suppress

dust from the excavating machinery. Surfactan t was used to

cover the stockpile at the end of each workday. Sit e work

was completed and the crew demobilized on Apri l 17, 1997.
V . COST INFORMATION

Amount Costs Budgeted To Date

ERGS Contractor $170,000 $197,000 TAT/START $ 60,000 $ 10,000

Contingency $ 50,000 $ -0-

EPA S 37.940 S 10.000

Estimated Final Costs $317,940 $217,000

The above accounting of expenditures is an estimate based on

figures known to the OSC at the time this report was

written. The cost accounting provided in this report does

not necessarily represent an exact monetary figure which the

government may include in any claim for cost recovery.