City leaders are working to begin clearing out contaminants from an abandoned manufacturing plant in Keokuk and plan to pursue more funding for the project.
The EPA already awarded the city a $2 million Brownfield Grant, one of the largest this year within the agency’s Region 7, which includes Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska.
The grant is for cleanup of the front section of the former Elkem-Carbide plant at 365 Carbide Lane. The plant smelted zinc, alloyed lead and manufactured carbon from the 1920s until 2007. The 79-acre site includes more than a dozen buildings covering about 10 acres.
“We are splitting the site into several different sections so that we can apply for a cleanup grant for each section,” said City Administrator Cole O’Donnell. “The EPA has awarded $2 million for the front section. We are starting the process for the cleanup grant on the second section. What we are doing is about 9.6, a little less than 10 acres, and it's the central section, and we're applying for a second cleanup grant on that section.”
The EPA identified residual toxins at the site from suspected waste dumping, landfilling, asbestos, and lead-based paint.
“What they were doing is they were processing carbide and that required them to use a lot of coal in their furnace,” O’Donnell said. “The majority of the cleanup that is out there is where they stored their coal and having to dig that out and dispose of it.”
O’Donnell said the city wants to redevelop and attract new business to this land.
“What we hope to do is be able to have that property redeveloped back on the tax rolls and servicing businesses and industry out there that will add to our economy,” he said.
Redeveloping the site is estimated to take the next two to three years.
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