Jacobsville Lead Clean-Up
By: Christy Porter
Updated: September 19, 2007
The industrial company that used to stand in Evansvilles Jacobsville neighborhood is long gone - but the lead contamination it and other companies left behind is still there.
Now, the federal government is stepping in to clean up some of the most polluted areas.
A survey team from the Environmental Protection Agency is in the near-north side neighborhood collecting confirmation samples at several homes.
Those samples will be used to guide an excavation team that will remove several tons of lead tainted top soil in October.
So far, samples from 36 homes showed lead levels 3 times more toxic than levels that usually warrant a clean up.
Lead contamination in Jacobsville came from several sources over the course of the last century.
EPA officials will conduct another study around the 36 contaiminated homes.
But due to limited funding, the number of homes to be cleaned up will not exceed 100.
