New Jersey Zinc - DePue, IL

Operable Unit 4 (OU4) Summary Information

OU4 includes soil impacted by plant operations within the Village of DePue, including residential yards, public parks, the school, and other public areas, alleys, etc. A cleanup plan was determined in 2017 and is detailed in the Record of Decision (PDF, 145 pp).

Generally the plan includes removal of contaminated soil up to 18 inches below ground surface in yards (up to 24 inches below ground surface in gardens), backfill with clean soil, and restoration of the property to its existing conditions.

Soil Sampling

Soil samples must be collected from properties to determine which areas and depths of the property require cleanup. The number of samples collected at each property is based on the size of the property. Typically, samples are collected from front yards, back yards, side yards, the drip zone of the house, the discharge locations of the downspouts, play areas, and gardens. Samples are generally collected using small equipment and/or hand tools. Five boreholes are typically collected from each sample area (i.e., five locations are advanced to represent the front yard). Samples collected from these boreholes are combined into one composite sample for analysis and are collected to a depth of 18 inches below ground surface in yards and 24 inches in gardens. The boreholes are returned to their original condition upon completion of the sampling.

 Soil samples are analyzed for arsenic, cadmium, lead, and manganese. These metals were determined to be the contaminants of concern for OU4. The results are compared to health-protective remediation goals determined in the  2017 Record of Decision . 

 OU4 Soil Cleanup Process

If the results of the soil sampling are above the remediation goals set in the 2017 Record of Decision, then cleanup work should be conducted. If the soil sampling results are below the remediation goals, then no further work is required. See the flyer  Recommendations to reduce exposure to potential contamination in soil (PDF, 2 pp) . All cleanup work will be conducted at no cost to the property owner. 

The soil cleanup process generally goes as follows:

• Meeting with property owner to go over the specifics of the cleanup.
• Utility locations identified and marked.
• Excavation of contaminated soil according to designs.
• Backfill with clean soil.
• Restoration of lawn areas, vegetation and landscaping items.
• Maintenance period of 30-60 days for restored grass and plants.
• Closeout meeting with owner to ensure the restoration work was completed as agreed in the pre-cleanup meeting.
• Property owner receives a letter of cleanup completion

OU4 Soil Cleanup Progress

Construction began in July 2020. To-date, 481 properties have been remediated. 173 properties have not been remediated as the soil sampling results were below the remedial goals outlined in the 2017 Record of Decision.

Please reach out to Rose Guardino, Remedial Project Manager, at 312-886-2407 or  guardino.rose@epa.gov  to find out the status of your property or to sign up for sampling.

Soil clean-up will continue until all properties that require remediation are cleaned.

Interactive Data Viewer (Click anywhere on the dashboard below to get started)

Note: for privacy protection purposes, sample results have been organized into block groups (see map below) and no individual addresses are shown.

• Use the buttons on the left side to filter samples by location, chemical, sample area type, or if it exceeds its remedial threshold value.
• Click on a Selected Sample result to the right of the Filter Panel to show a flashing Block where the sample was taken.
• Click any block on the map to view summary statistics for that area.
• Download the entire dataset as a CSV file using the hyperlink at the bottom left of the dashboard.
• Go full-screen with the button at the top right of the dashboard.