Scientists still don't fully understand the risks posed by the lead and other metals to adjacent wetlands. The EPA will perform an ecological risk assessment of the wetlands, to be completed by this summer. Bureaucratic foot-dragging usually is the first suspect. This is a slow but necessary process mandated by the Superfund law. Those responsible need to pay their share of the cleanup to spare Superfund monies.
Environmental cleanup is an inherently slow process.
That's the story here. It may have taken a decade to make this mess, but it will be closer to three decades by the time it's more or less restored. The message is one we hear across all sectors. It's easier to fix an oil leak than to replace a burned-out car engine. And much smarter to avoid contaminating land or water in the first place, than to deal with cleanup after the fact.