A federal agency says sampling shows “most alarming” levels of contamination in Missouri River sediments near the ASARCO lead refinery in downtown Omaha and more investigation should be done.

Sampling by ASARCO itself shows lead concentrations in river sediments ranging from 1,200 to 14,000 parts per million. At other sites, far lower concentrations - ranging from 23 to 700 ppm - have triggered action for cleanup but none has been scheduled in the river near ASARCO or downstream.

Sampling at two locations also showed high levels for arsenic, silver and zinc, the EPA said.

“The sediment sampling results are most alarming and deserve further scrutiny,” the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a letter seeking assistance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in evaluating current and potential ecological risks posed by the contaminated ASARCO property.

“The EPA believes there are issues that must be resolved prior to allowing ASARCO to proceed with the proposed cleanup plan, which ignores risks posed by contaminated groundwater discharges to the Missouri River and the contaminated sediments of the river itself,” an EPA scientist wrote to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

ASARCO operated a lead refinery on the banks of the Missouri for more than 100 years. The company discharged wastes, some of them toxic, into the river, groundwater and soil.

Although discharges violated the Clean Water Act for more than 20 years, state officials never cited ASARCO nor ordered a fine.

Over the last two years, the Daub administration, Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) and ASARCO have negotiated in secret to close the plant and turn the 23-acre site into a public park.

No one other than ASARCO has sampled the river sediments around the plant to try to determine the impact of the tons of lead and other pollutants discharged from the plant. ASARCO has done a small amount of sampling off the river bank and further into the stream.

The EPA scientist said ASARCO failed to provide the documentation of the actual sampling locations, the off-shore distance or the depth at which samples were taken.

Concentrations of lead and other toxins in river sediments could affect the health of fish that forage along the river bottom and the wildlife that eat those fish.

Neither the Nebraska Departments of Health nor Environmental Quality has studied the impact of ASARCO’s discharges on fish, wildlife or people who use the river for boating, fishing, water-skiing, jet skiing and other activities.

The Health Department has in effect a fish advisory warning people against consuming large amounts of fish caught in the Missouri River between Omaha and Plattsmouth and at Rulo. The department said the primary contaminants are PCBs and Dieldrin in the Omaha-Plattsmouth stretch of the river and Dieldrin at Rulo. Health officials have not implicated ASARCO in those advisories.

The Fish and Wildlife Service could become involved in the ASARCO situation because the service is responsible for protecting endangered and threatened wildlife species. A number of endangered and threatened species inhabit the river. They include the pallid sturgeon and lake sturgeon.

The proposed ASARCO-Daub-NDEQ plan did not call for removing contaminants from the refinery property or keeping contaminated groundwater from continuing to flow into the river. Monitoring wells on the property show arsenic concentrations up to 20,000 times the drinking water standard and lead concentrations up to 5,500 times the EPA drinking water standard.

The NDEQ is to announce a revised plan shortly.

Environmentalists and wildlife enthusiasts hope the Fish and Wildlife Service stimulates studies of:

The river near ASARCO and downstream to determine the contaminant’s impact on fish and wildlife.
Health risks of eating fish caught in the river.
Impacts of contaminants on wetlands, backwaters and riverside habitat, and the wildlife using those areas.

Members and others interested in getting the Fish and Wildlife Service involved should write to: Brent Esmoil, Contamination Specialist, Fish and Wildlife Service, Federal Building, 203 West 2nd St., Grand Island, NE 68801.