By Maria Altman, St. Louis Public Radio
ST. LOUIS – The EPA ordered former owner ACF Industries to commission a study on clean-up options for contaminants like PCBs and asbestos.
That study is done and the EPA has chosen its preferred clean-up alternatives, but spokesman Chris Whitley said that the federal agency must get public input.
The EPA is holding a public meeting Monday evening on the options for cleaning up the Carter Carburetor Superfund Site on St. Louis' north side.
The huge industrial complex once owned by ACF Industries has high levels of several contaminants, including PCBs and asbestos.
EPA spokesman Chris Whitley said that the federal agency is getting public input on clean-up alternatives recommended by both the former owner and the EPA.
"The ultimate objective, of course, of EPA is to try to get this property cleaned up and returned to productive use, " Whitley said, "And to ensure that there is no environmental contamination there that's posing a threat to human health."
Whitley also said that the meeting may give the EPA a different perspective on how to solve the issues at hand.
"In certain cases in the past at other sites public comment has helped influence the selection of an entirely different remedy," Whitley said. "So we'll just have to see what is said and what makes sense."
Monday's meeting will take place from 6 p.m to 8 p.m. at Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club of America on north Grand, near the superfund site. EPA Regional Director Karl Brooks and Congressman William Lacy Clay Junior will attend.
EPA will take public comment on the Carter Carburetor Superfund site until Oct. 27.