EPA proposes lower lead cleanup levels at Colorado Smelter Superfund site; Benedict Park targeted for soil removal

EPA staff updated the Board of County Commissioners on the Colorado Smelter Superfund site in Pueblo. Sydney Chan, the lead remedial project manager for the site, said EPA is proposing more conservative cleanup levels for lead based on new guidance and epidemiological work: exterior soil cleanup would move from 350 parts per million (ppm) to 240 ppm, and the proposed indoor-dust threshold would drop from 275 to 110 ppm. "We have proposed a new, more conservative cleanup level of 240 parts per million," Chan said.

EPA staff summarized prior work: of roughly 2,060 residential properties in the operable-unit 1 study area, EPA had sampled about 96% for exterior soils and remediated about 97% of those homes that exceeded prior cleanup goals; interior dust sampling access was about 88% and remediation access about 91% of needed homes. Chan told the board the new proposed thresholds would bring roughly 700 additional exterior properties and about 500 additional interior dust remediations under the existing sampling data. "This doesn't come at a cost to y'all," Chan emphasized; "EPA pays for all of these remediations." The proposed documents were released to the public on Sept. 1 with a 30-day comment period that closed in early October.

EPA also described a non-time-critical removal action proposed for Benedict Park (operable unit 2) that would remove surface soils down to one foot, place a demarcation layer, backfill with clean fill and revegetate; EPA estimated the bench-scale removal and revegetation work could take 30–60 days, and the Beaujoint Town Foundation and City Parks and Rec are partnering on planned park improvements. Commissioners asked whether the county would need to cost-share; EPA replied the county would not be required to cost-share and welcomed letters of support during the comment period to document community backing.